An administrative court in Astana has overturned a $4.2 billion environmental fine imposed on the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the operator of the Kashagan oil field, citing procedural violations by the regional environmental authority. The court emphasized that its decision to nullify the order issued by the Atyrau Regional…
A corporate conflict is intensifying in Kazakhstan over control of the Eurasian Financial Company (EFCO), which owns Eurasian Bank and Eurasia Insurance Company. Mounissa Chodieva, daughter of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) co-owner and EFCO shareholder Patokh Chodiev, has joined a growing legal battle involving top figures connected to the firm.…
Eight OPEC+ countries — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — have agreed on a quota increase of 547,000 barrels per day (bpd) for September, according to a statement on the organization’s website following the Aug. 3 meeting. In particular, Kazakhstan’s quota…
Leading Turkish e-commerce platform D-MARKET Electronic Services & Trading (Hepsiburada) has reported a net loss of 1.1 billion Turkish lira (approximately $27 million) over the first six months, up 1.5 times from the same period in 2024 ($17.5 million), according to its financial results. At the same time, Hepsiburada’s revenue…
Oil majors developing the Kashagan field — Kazakhstan’s largest oil and gas field on the Caspian shelf — have won a $4.2 billion environmental dispute in an Astana appeals court, according to Bloomberg. Sulfur dispute The case stemmed from a 2022 fine imposed by Kazakh authorities over excessive sulfur storage…
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev believes the country has strong potential to become the leading air hub in the region. To achieve this, he emphasized the need to boost both passenger and cargo transportation. Speaking at an event dedicated to Transport Workers’ Day, the president highlighted that the most critical…
Forbes Kazakhstan has updated its ranking of the country’s richest people following a series of bold transactions in the banking sector. ForteBank owner Bulat Utemuratov rose from sixth to third place. The assets of Vyacheslav Kim and Timur Turlov also showed significant increases. Kim, co-owner of Kazakh fintech giant Kasp.kz,…
Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar has dismissed claims that the recent sharp depreciation of the tenge was caused by comments made by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov regarding the projected exchange rate of the national currency. On July 15, during a press conference, Bektenov stated that under the cabinet’s…
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Kazakhstan, part of a broader trade move affecting more than 70 countries. The order, titled «Further Modifying the Reciprocal Tariff Rates,» was published July 31, 2025, on the White House website. Previously, imports from…
Kazakhstan’s most influential business figures have come together to form the Kazakhstan Investors Union (KIU), a new organization dedicated to promoting economic development and enhancing the investment climate. The companies of prominent tycoons Timur Kulibayev, Vladimir Kim and Oleg Novachuk were among the latest to join the recently established group.…
KMF, the largest microfinance organization (MFO) in Kazakhstan, is set to launch banking services this August, the company said in a statement. The decision followed the receipt of permission to convert into a bank from Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) in March. On July…
The European Union has created an exemption in its 18th sanctions package allowing Kazakh coal to transit through certain Russian ports, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration announced. According to the ministry, the exemption applies only to coal of Kazakh origin. Additionally, the cargo must be owned by entities not…
Kazakhstan’s National Bank has launched a «regulatory sandbox» for digital assets, a controlled environment allowing companies to test new services using blockchain-based technologies, according to the regulator’s press office. The first round of pilot projects has been launched in four key areas: Real estate tokenization Digital tokens will be issued…
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has raised its inflation forecast for Kazakhstan in 2025, revising its earlier estimate of 8.2% to 10.2%, according to the bank’s July 2025 Asian Economic Outlook. The adjustment comes amid higher-than-expected inflationary pressure in Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In Kazakhstan, despite the National Bank’s tight…
Halyk Finance has expressed concern over the growing role of the government as a source of long-term investment in infrastructure and the capacity of Kazakhstani enterprises. The share of budget funding in the structure of capital investment reached 21.9% in the first half of the year. Over the first six…
Home Credit Bank (HCB) will retain its credit profile after 100% of its shares are sold to ForteBank, according to Fitch Ratings. Moreover, the rating agency believes the government is unlikely to object if ForteBank provides support to HCB. According to HCB’s 2024 financial statements, cash loans account for 80%…
Safi Holding, a major multi-sector conglomerate in Turkey, is exploring the construction of a sugar refinery in Kazakhstan, with plans to invest up to $200 million. The plans were discussed during a meeting between Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov and the holding’s CEO Atakan Safi. The company intends to…
The Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland body of water, has reached its lowest level in recorded history, dropping below minus 29 meters based on the Baltic height system (BHS-77). The sharp decline has particularly impacted the shallow northern part of the sea, which borders Kazakhstan and Russia, according to…
Kazakhstan’s Bank CenterCredit (BCC) has become the first bank in the country to enable card-to-card transfers through UnionPay International. The new service, now available through BCC’s mobile app, allows users to send money from Kazakhstan to China and other countries using UnionPay cards, the bank announced in a press release.…
The Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan (AFK), in its latest daily review of stock exchange events, advocated for Kazakhstan’s National Bank to conduct currency interventions aimed at stabilizing the tenge exchange rate. The AFK highlighted that during the trading session on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange on July 23, the USD/KZT…
Shares of KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s national oil company, have surged more than 25% over the past two months, despite a lack of clear catalysts, according to data from the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE). Steady growth Since May 22, 2025, KMG stock has climbed steadily, reaching 18,699 tenge (nearly $35) per…
Retail investors in Kazakhstan will now pay taxes based on the netting principle. All transactions starting from Jan.1, 2025, will be taken into account on a cumulative basis — with the possibility of deducting losses from profits. These changes to the Tax Code were signed into law by President Kassym-Jomart…
Kazakhstan’s national currency, the tenge, fell to a historic low of 538.9 per U.S. dollar during trading on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) on July 23. The rate dropped by 0.75% or 4 tenge by the close of the session. This marks the second record low for the tenge in…
A young population and a growing appetite for new experiences make Kazakhstan an increasingly attractive destination for international brands. However, launching a sustainable business in the country requires more than introducing a well-known name — it demands long-term investment in local capacity, infrastructure and market-specific adaptation. Fast food landscape Kazakhstan’s…
