Kazakh citizens staying in South Korea without valid work permits may voluntarily leave the country without facing fines or re-entry bans through the end of February 2026, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Labor and Social Protection said. The reminder applies to individuals who are currently in South Korea without legal employment status…
Laramide Resources Ltd., a Canada-based uranium producer, has announced that it is withdrawing from its uranium project in Kazakhstan due to legislative amendments adopted at the end of 2025. Under the new rules, foreign investors have fewer rights, with priority given to the national uranium company Kazatomprom. «Laramide to abandon…
Shares of Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, continue to reach new highs, driven by surging demand for reliable electricity and a constrained global supply of uranium, according to financial consultant Daur Imanmadirov. On Jan. 20, 2026, Kazatomprom shares on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange rose to 37,600 tenge ($74) per…
Oil production at the Tengiz and Korolevskoye fields in Kazakhstan has been temporarily suspended due to power supply disruptions, according to operator Tengizchevroil (TCO), a subsidiary of U.S.-based Chevron. Tengiz is the country’s largest oil field. TCO said the shutdown was prompted by an incident affecting parts of the power…
Kazakhstan registered 4,400 new companies or branches with foreign participation in 2025, driven primarily by businesses from China and Uzbekistan, according to the Bureau of National Statistics. As of Jan. 1, 2026, the country had about 63,900 legal entities and branches with foreign participation, including branches of foreign companies operating…
Kazakh Invest and China’s Guoyou Materials Group have discussed implementing a major Caspian Sea infrastructure project involving the construction of a $1.1 billion multifunctional transloading complex at the port of Kuryk. Once commissioned, the advanced shipping cluster is expected to boost Kazakhstan’s transit potential and strengthen its role along the…
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed a new banking law along with amendments to several legislative acts governing financial market regulation, the presidential press office reported. The changes aim to strengthen financial security, combat fraud, and reduce debt for Kazakh citizens. Measures to combat fraud The law adds safeguards to prevent…
India currently depends on overseas suppliers for roughly 90% to 95% of its semiconductor requirements. That reliance is now prompting a major domestic push, as the government moves forward with plans to establish what it hopes will be the country’s first large-scale semiconductor fabrication plant. The facility is planned for…
Higgsfield AI, a startup from Kazakhstan, has raised new funding at a valuation of more than $1.3 billion, Reuters reported. The company develops AI-powered video generation tools and is among the fastest-scaling generative AI projects globally. The company recently disclosed that it raised $130 million in a Series A funding…
KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company, rerouted 300,000 tons of oil in December 2025 amid restrictions on operations at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The company said the oil was redirected through the KazTransOil pipeline system for delivery to Germany, China, and via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) route, as…
A large business complex, Iconic Towers, will be built in the city of Alatau, with total investment exceeding $800 million. The architectural concept for the project is being developed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), an American firm known for its iconic skyscrapers worldwide. Due to the high importance of…
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has extended until Feb. 28 a license allowing negotiations for the sale of Lukoil International GmbH, the entity that owns Russian oil giant Lukoil’s foreign assets. The extension was reported by Interfax. Any deal, however, must comply with U.S. national security…
The Kazakh government has announced the start of a new phase of mineral exploration, committing 240 billion tenge, about $500 million, over the next three years to geological research. For comparison, that figure exceeds total investment in the sector over the past 15 years, which amounted to $469 million, according…
In a parliamentary inquiry, the Ak Zhol faction claimed that the government is unprepared for complex international disputes surrounding the country’s largest oil and gas projects. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov responded to the claim. What is the gist of the complaint? According to the party’s estimates, the country is losing…
Finance ministers from the G7 and several other major economies met in Washington to discuss ways to reduce their dependence on rare earths and other critical minerals from China, including possible price-stabilization mechanisms and new partnerships to develop alternative supplies, Reuters reported. The meeting, convened by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott…
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would impose 25% tariffs on all business activities with the U.S. for countries conducting business with Iran, Reuters reported. Tariffs «Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a tariff of 25% on any…
Zaman Bank, Kazakhstan’s Islamic bank, seeks to launch Halal installment plans on online marketplaces, Diar Smagulov, deputy chairman of the management board, said in an interview with Forbes Kazakhstan. “Establishing a marketplace is very lengthy and expensive — it took Kaspi around 10 years. Instead, we will collaborate with existing…
The board of directors of Kazakhstan’s flagship carrier Air Astana is set to review the acquisition of Airbus A320neo family aircraft, according to a notice available on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) website. The final amount of the deal has not been announced; however, it is noted that it would…
Central banks around the world continue to actively purchase gold, with Kazakhstan remaining one of the leaders in the trend. According to the World Gold Council (WGC), the National Bank of Kazakhstan increased its gold reserves by another 8 tons in November. In total, the National Bank purchased 49 tons…
In Q3 2025, gross inflow of foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan totaled $4.7 billion following $3 billion in Q2, according to statistics from Kazakhstan’s National Bank. More than $1 billion was invested in the manufacturing sector, along with vehicle retail and repairs; $997 million — in the mining industry; $772…
At a Jan. 4 meeting, OPEC+ decided to adhere to plans to pause production increases in the first quarter of 2026, according to Bloomberg. The decision comes against the backdrop of an oversupplied global market. Coalition members are also awaiting greater clarity on whether the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás…
What do banks and stadiums have in common? Directly, there is no obvious connection. One unproven theory, however, suggests that where large amounts of capital are concentrated, generous investments often follow — including funding for major sports facilities. Our regular contributor and data visualization creator, Nurasyl Abrazakuly, has mapped out…
Kazakhstan’s billionaire class is dominated by the financial and natural resource sectors — a relatively rare combination for a single country. The infographics below highlight Kazakhstan’s dollar billionaires and richest individuals by net worth, as ranked by Forbes. Both visuals were compiled by Nurasyl Abdrazakuly, a Kazakh data scientist and…
As of Dec. 1, Kazakhstani banks had earned a total of 2.5 trillion tenge ($4.9 billion) in profit, including 226 billion tenge ($449 million) in November alone. Most major banks continued to post stable profits, although some unexpectedly dropped out of the top 10, according to statistics from the National…
