Organizers of a financial pyramid scheme allegedly posed as representatives of a company called Sirius Energy, which they claimed was involved in solar power generation projects in Chile. The suspects persuaded residents of Kazakhstan to invest in what they described as high-return renewable energy ventures. Read also: How Kazakhstanis lost…
Islamic mortgage products could be introduced in Kazakhstan as early as this year, according to Lyazzat Ibragimova, CEO of Otbasy Bank, the sole bank implementing housing construction savings system. Read also: Islamic finance booms in Kazakhstan, but a key piece is missing: mortgages. Ibragimova announced the plan during a briefing following a recent…
Air taxis from Alatau — Kazakhstan’s flagship future city — are expected to fly to Almaty and other cities in the Almaty region. Aircraft testing is expected to begin this year, according to the Almaty region akimat, the local executive authority. Read also: Kazakhstan to launch the region’s first dedicated…
Freedom Holding Corp. is acquiring a 99.32% stake in Turkish Bank A.Ş. from Özyol Holding and the National Bank of Kuwait. The deal still has to be approved by Turkish regulators. Deal details and development plans The core of the deal is Turkish Bank A.Ş., which has operated in Turkey…
Authorities in the Philippines are considering introducing a four-day workweek as part of efforts to reduce fuel consumption, according to a report by The Guardian. Read also: The 4-day week is a global hit — so why aren’t Kazakh employers buying in? The proposal comes as global fuel prices rise…
Kazakhstan’s national mining company Tau-Ken Samruk — a subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna — is set to develop deposits of rare and rare-earth metals in Rwanda jointly with the country’s Ngali Holdings, Samruk-Kazyna reported. «Nurlan Zhakupov, the head of the fund, met with the management of the Rwanda…
Kazakhstan has joined a new interstate standard (GOST) regulating potato chips. The document has also been adopted by Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Previously, there were no unified requirements for the popular snack across these countries, members of the CIS, according to TASS. What the new standard requires…
Kazakhstan will receive loans for several infrastructure projects, including construction of the Zhezkazgan-Karaganda highway and participation in the Kambarata-1 Hydropower Plant project in Kyrgyzstan, where Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are partners. Read also: Where will Kazakhstan’s $28 billion infrastructure plan go? The loan agreement between Kazakhstan and organizations within the World…
Robinhood Markets Inc., a California-based provider of an electronic trading platform, has announced a new premium product — the Platinum card — aimed at high-income users, Reuters reported. The company’s Platinum card carries a $695 annual fee and offers cashback and other perks. Robinhood said these benefits could total up…
The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan (ARDFM) is preparing to simplify investor access to initial public offerings (IPOs). As part of its 2026 supervisory agenda, the regulator announced plans to eliminate the requirement to pre-fund IPO applications. According to a policy…
KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company, reported a record surge in its share price. During trading on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), the stock rose 11.32%, or 2,900 tenge, reaching 29,000 tenge ($58.19) per share. This was the first trading session since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks…
Kazakhstan’s OPEC+ April quota is set at 1.579 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the organization. Meanwhile, the March quota stands at 1.569 million bpd, up by 10,000 bpd. Overall, OPEC+ decided to increase oil production in April by 206,000 bpd: Algeria — 977,000 bpd (up 6,000 bpd); Iraq…
Kaspi.kz, Kazakhstan’s leading fintech company and a major e-commerce ecosystem, has launched a special financial support program for Kazakhstanis facing travel disruptions due to the situation in the Middle East. Read also: No reports of Kazakh casualties in Middle East — Foreign Ministry. The assistance is intended for citizens who…
Kazakh analysts are divided over how escalating tensions between Iran, Israel and the U.S. could affect Kazakhstan’s economy, particularly oil prices and export opportunities. Read also: Uranium and oil dip costs Kazakhstan a massive $4.1B. Some experts believe global markets have already priced in geopolitical risks, making a sustained rise…
Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna plans to cut about 650 employees, according to the fund’s CEO Nurlan Zhakupov. The move follows criticism from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev over what he described as an excessive number of administrative staff in the capital. Layoffs to target administrative staff in Astana Zhakupov said the…
Brussels is increasingly concerned about a sharp rise in Kyrgyzstan’s imports of radio equipment and machine tools that are later shipped to Russia in violation of Western sanctions, according to the European Union’s Sanctions Envoy David O’Sullivan. Read also: Ukraine’s war drives Kazakhstan’s exports of laptops, bulldozers to Russia. Speaking…
Kazakhstan may begin supplying horse meat to Japan later this year, according to Zhanibek Kenzhebayev, chairman of the Turan Livestock Association and owner of a farm with 3,000 horses. «We plan to begin supplying horse meat to Japan, possibly in May or June 2026, if direct flights are available,» Kenzhebayev…
Kazakhstanis born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s — commonly known as Generation Z — already account for about a quarter of the country’s workforce. According to Arman Shokparov, an HR expert at Qazaq Expert Club, Gen Z workers made up just 13% of the workforce in 2018. Over the…
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy supports a proposal to abolish incentives for renewable energy development projects, Deputy Energy Minister Sungat Yessimkhanov said. Shift from support to market parity Yessimkhanov said government incentives were justified during the early stages of renewable energy development but may no longer be necessary. By the end…
The United Kingdom has expanded its anti-Russian sanctions list, adding 240 companies, seven individuals and 50 ships, including three entities linked to Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom and two employees of its subsidiaries. Read also: Why Russia’s Rosatom is the undisputed pick for Kazakhstan’s first nuclear plant. The updated sanctions…
Rompetrol Rafinare, a subsidiary of KMG International, will carry out scheduled maintenance at two refineries in Romania. To ensure all contracted deliveries are met on time, KMG International will rely on its oil reserves, according to a statement from KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s national oil company and the parent company of…
Kazakhstan is awaiting an official position from participants in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline (TAPI) regarding its potential involvement in the project, the country’s Ministry of Energy told Interfax-Kazakhstan. «As part of a preliminary exchange of views, an official letter expressing interest in exploring possible forms of Kazakhstan’s participation in the…
Turkish company Coca-Cola İçecek A.Ş. is set to begin construction of its fourth soft drink plant in Kazakhstan, worth roughly $84 million, in April. The facility is scheduled to start operations in 2027, according to the Aktobe regional administration. Coca-Cola İçecek Kazakhstan representative Veli Dinçel discussed the project’s implementation stages…
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had a profound and overlooked impact on American health. The study, recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), suggests that the restructuring of the U.S. economy following the 1994 agreement led to a measurable increase in mortality rates among the…
