Kazakhstan’s National Bank is introducing amendments to the rules governing the opening and maintenance of bank accounts, as well as noncash payments and transfers. The changes will allow self-employed individuals to open special accounts. The proposed updates include: Allowing direct payments from escrow accounts to contractors for grant funding tied…
Kazakhstan’s net international reserves reached $58.3 billion in October 2025, marking the third consecutive record high, according to data from the National Bank. The figure rose 5.47% month-on-month, or by $3 billion. Since the start of the year, reserves have increased by $14.7 billion, or 33.76%. Net international reserves represent…
Major online marketplaces no longer need third-party sellers on their platforms, according to marketing analyst Chingiz Musin. In a post on Instagram, he said major e-commerce platforms relied on outside sellers only to build out their infrastructure. Musin, a marketing expert who previously worked for several large Russian retail chains,…
Kazakhstan plans to deliver 50,000 tons of oil to China in December 2025 directly from the Kashagan field, following damage to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal caused by a Ukrainian drone strike in November, according to Reuters. The shipment will move through the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline. The oil is produced at…
Kazakh Senator Gennadiy Shipovskih has proposed banning microloans for young adults under age 21. He outlined the idea on a Dec. 4 parliamentary inquiry addressed to Madina Abylkassymova, head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM). Concerns about youth debt and easy access to loans…
A $122 million auto plant will be launched in Uzbekistan’s Sirdaryo region, bordering Kazakhstan, next year. The project is being implemented jointly with Chinese companies, the government said in a statement. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced the project during a speech at a regional assembly session. However, he did not…
Meirzhan Yussupov, CEO of Kazatomprom — Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium producer — says it is appropriate for the national company to automatically receive a 90% stake in uranium mining projects upon contract renewal, regardless of the foreign partner’s previous share. Amendments advance in parliament Amendments to Kazakhstan’s Subsoil and Subsoil Use…
Freedom Bank has become the third-largest bank in Kazakhstan by transaction volume and the number of active clients, according to Timur Turlov, CEO and majority shareholder of Freedom Holding Corp., who took part in the Global Banking Summit in London. He made this statement during the panel discussion «The Future…
Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov met with executives from the U.S.-based company LanzaJet to discuss the construction of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in the Kostanay region. According to the preliminary design, the facility is planned for the city of Rudny. The plant would have an annual capacity of…
Thanks to massive deposits of critical materials, China has managed to become the world’s largest producer of electric cars, prompting the EU and the U.S. to put up tariffs and trade barriers to protect their car markets from more affordable Chinese EVs. However, by concentrating all their attention on one…
Halyk Finance, a leading Kazakhstani investment bank, has acquired shares in the U.S. pizza chain Domino’s Pizza, according to data from the consolidated pension asset investment portfolio published on Kazakhstan’s Unified Pension Fund website. On Oct. 9, 2025, Halyk Finance purchased Domino’s shares worth 157 million tenge (about $305,000). World’s…
Managing companies in Kazakhstan will soon be able to invest up to 80% of Kazakhstanis’ pension savings in foreign-currency assets. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) will introduce new limits on pension investments in instruments denominated in foreign currency. Currently, such…
The latest attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) by Ukrainian naval drones — and the resulting partial shutdown of its terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk, which carries more than 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports — underscores how vulnerable Kazakhstan’s oil exports are due to the country’s systemic…
The partial shutdown of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in Novorossiysk, Russia, after a Nov. 29 attack by Ukrainian naval drones, highlights Kazakhstan’s ongoing export vulnerabilities. The terminal, which handles over 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports, now has its Offshore Mooring Terminal-3 (OMT-3) out of service, while OMT-2 has…
The Freedom Holding Corp. Kazakhstan Manufacturing PMI® (Purchasing Managers’ Index™) posted 49.0 in November, remaining below the 50.0 no-change mark for the sixth month running and therefore signaling a deterioration in the health of the manufacturing sector. That said, the latest reading was up from 48.3 in October and pointed…
Kazakhstan is developing a comprehensive road strategy through 2040 to keep pace with rapidly growing freight transit between Europe and China, Vice Minister of Transport Maksat Kaliakparov said during a Nov. 25 briefing. Surge in truck volume from China to Europe According to Kaliakparov, the number of trucks passing through…
Freedom Bank has received permission from Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market to open a subsidiary bank in Georgia, the bank said in a statement. «The next step is the registration of FBG Company JSC, a special-purpose vehicle that will be authorized to obtain a digital…
Kazakhstan looks into introducing crypto exchange tools into payment terminals, a move that will allow payments for goods and services in cryptocurrencies. At the meeting of the Senate’s committee on finances and budget, Miras Zakiyev, the deputy chair of the committee of digital assets and breakthrough technologies of the Digital…
A Kazakhstani bank with a daily transaction volume of about $9 million can spend between $400,000 and $600,000 a year on transaction verification. The data comes from Baraiq, a developer of anti-fraud solutions for banks. Based on its data analysis, communication with financial institutions, and industry experience, the company found…
A sluggish economy, a battered real estate market, and tighter tech oversight have already squeezed China’s labor market. The rapid advance of artificial intelligence could make the situation even more challenging, according to RAND Corporation fellow Marianne Lu. Ambitious AI targets amid labor market strain Beijing has laid out sweeping…
Joint Kazakh-German venture Skyhansa has received 800 hectares of land in the Zhetysu region for the construction of a cargo and passenger airport on the territory of the Khorgos – Eastern Gate special economic zone, the region’s governor Beibit Isabayev stated during a government session. Development of the design specifications…
Batches of Kazakh honey, shubat (fermented camel milk), kumyz (fermented mare’s milk), and sweets will soon be available in stores operated by China Co-Op, a major Chinese cooperative retail chain, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade. Export operator QazTrade and the National Association of Cooperatives of Kazakhstan have reached an…
Talgar Development Ltd., co-owned by investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), plans to construct Talgar Eco City, a new urban development in the Almaty region that will house up to 180,000 people, according to regional authorities. During a recent meeting with Almaty Region Gov. Marat Sultangaziyev, Talgar Development Ltd.…
Calls to require marketplaces — especially those affiliated with banks — to publish two prices for goods, one standard and one for installment plans, represent a «strange construct,» according to Vitaliy Tutushkin, deputy chairman of Kazakhstan’s National Bank. He shared his view on Nov. 21 during a Kursiv.media roundtable on…
