In recent years, a growing number of Kazakh citizens have gone abroad for seasonal work, especially to the United Kingdom, marking a new socio-economic trend. This shift has reshaped not only labor migration patterns but also financial flows. Seasonal farm work As of May 2025, remittances from the U.K. to…
According to Tural Aliyev, an analyst at Freedom Finance Global, in the face of trade uncertainty and muted forecasts for the S&P 500, investors are better off putting their money into «old and reliable stocks.» Aliyev notes that Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025 has once…
Kazakhstan will not pursue a hardline revision of production sharing agreements (PSAs) with foreign investors operating the country’s largest oil fields — Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan — according to Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. In January 2025, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev directed the cabinet to accelerate negotiations on extending PSAs under new,…
According to estimates from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction, given current extraction volumes, the country has enough gold to mine for the next 30 years, while iron ore reserves could last an estimated 957 years. «Kazakhstan maintains its position as a country with immense reserves of natural resources. The…
The government of Kazakhstan has abandoned its earlier plan to merge the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) and the Astana International Exchange (AIX) under the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). According to Timur Suleimenov, chair of the National Bank, the decision is part of a broader reform of the AIFC that…
Kazakhstan may invest a portion of its gold and foreign currency reserves, along with assets from its National Fund, in crypto assets, according to National Bank Chairman Timur Suleimenov. Alternative portfolio «We have an alternative portfolio of gold and foreign currency reserves and an alternative portfolio of the National Fund.…
Alatau City Bank, formerly known as Jusan Bank, reported that Forbes Kazakhstan-listed billionaire Vyacheslav Kim finalized the deal to acquire a 100% stake in the financial organization. «The acquisition of Alatau City Bank is extremely important for me, and I plan to create on its basis a fundamentally new financial…
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed a decree establishing a new council to oversee the country’s National Fund, a sovereign wealth fund financed by oil revenues. Tokayev will serve as chair. The decree nullifies a 2004 order that designated former President Nursultan Nazarbayev as chair of the council. Regular members…
Kazakhstan’s net international reserves fell by $366 million (-0.73%) to $49.8 billion in June 2025, according to the National Bank. It marks the second consecutive monthly decline since the start of the year. Gross international reserves, which include assets in freely convertible currencies and monetary gold, dropped by $282 million…
KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company, reported that oil production at the Dunga field in the Mangystau region reached 340,000 tons between January and June 2025, an increase of 7,000 tons year-on-year. In 2024, the field produced 630,000 tons of oil, and KMG is projecting the output to…
Condor Energies Inc., a Canadian-based energy transition company, will build methanol and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants in Kazakhstan. Once operational, the LNG plant will be the first of its kind in Central Asia, according to the administration of the Mangystau region. The announcement followed a meeting on July 8…
Kazakhstan and other OPEC+ countries will increase oil production in August to help maintain market stability, the group announced. The increase is part of a phased rollback of voluntary production cuts. The eight OPEC+ countries — Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria and Oman —…
A new uranium processing plant has been launched in the Sozak district of Kazakhstan’s Turkestan region, according to Kazatomprom, the country’s national nuclear company. The plant is located at the South Tortkuduk deposit and is operated by KATCO, a Kazakh-French joint venture in which France’s Orano Mining holds a 51%…
Signs of a growing deficit are emerging in the global uranium market, according to Dastan Kosherbayev, chief strategy and international development officer at Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s national nuclear company and the world’s largest uranium producer. Speaking at the Virtual Uranium Conference, as reported by Inbusiness.kz, Kosherbayev warned that the imbalance is…
Kazakhstani online game Grand Mobile has raised $750,000 in investment from the Astana Hub Venture Fund. The deal was made at a company valuation of $75 million. Grand Mobile is an open-world RP life simulator created by 27-year-old Roman Lineytsev from Ust-Kamenogorsk, a participant in the Forbes «30 Under 30»…
Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) has released a draft law aimed at limiting the involvement of banks and bank holding companies in digital marketplaces, depending on the size of their capital. The proposed regulation, open for public comment through July 15, outlines new rules…
Zaman Bank, Kazakhstan’s Islamic bank, was the country’s sole financial institution to post a loss in May, reporting a deficit of approximately $2.4 million, according to data from the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The bank made headlines in November 2024 when a test payment was successfully processed between Zaman Bank…
Kazakhstan’s National Bank has welcomed a proposal by MPs to establish a crypto-asset reserve. According to Timur Suleimenov, the bank’s chair, work is underway on the development of its formation and management concept. One option involves creating a reserve within a National Bank subsidiary whose activities are focused on alternative…
The management of BNK Commercial Bank, a new financial institution in Kazakhstan’s banking sector, has announced its plans to focus on developing lending products and working with small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). This strategy is outlined in a roadmap presented by bank executives during an official ceremony marking the transformation…
Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s state-owned nuclear company, has released a response to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security regarding an ongoing investigation into the national security risks posed by imports of processed critical minerals and their derivatives. The investigation, announced in April, sought public comments by May 16,…
BNK Finance Kazakhstan, a Kazakhstani microfinance organization owned by South Korean holding BNK Capital, has received a banking license from the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM). The newly established bank has been named BNK Commercial Bank. The official ceremony for awarding the banking license was…
Between January and May 2025, Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field produced 15.9 million tons of crude oil, according to KazMunayGas (KMG), the national oil and gas company. Output at the country’s largest oil and gas field is now projected to reach 35.7 million tons by the end of the year, an upward…
According to Kazakhstan’s Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has become a tool that foreign companies use to evade taxes, turning it into something like an offshore zone within the country. The official made this claim during a discussion of the new Tax Code…
A plant for recycling plastic waste and producing PET (polyethylene terephthalate) preforms is set to be built in Almaty. The announcement came from Darkhan Satybaldy, the city’s mayor, following a recent meeting with Murat Kökoğlu, CEO of Turkish firm Köksan Holding. The facility will be constructed on a 15-hectare site…
