Kazakhstan is no longer considering the construction of a natural gas processing plant (NGPP) at Karachaganak under the final production sharing agreement (FPSA), according to PSA, the country’s authorized body overseeing the project. According to PSA, construction of the NGPP by the project operator is impractical from a technical, commercial…
Domestic manufacturers in Kazakhstan are facing a sharp decline in demand as Chinese online marketplaces gain market share, according to Inna Apenko, founder of local brands Mimioriki and Global Nomads. Read also: Chinese e-commerce giants Temu and Pinduoduo expanding partnerships with Kazakhstan. Speaking during a discussion on the impact of…
Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan’s largest bank by assets, has not completed its planned acquisition of a 49% stake in Uzbek payment service Click within the expected timeframe, according to materials prepared for the bank’s upcoming annual general meeting of shareholders scheduled for April 23. Deal terms and timeline The bank announced…
History shows that economists and researchers have struggled to accurately predict how new technologies will affect jobs and workers. Even experts currently studying artificial intelligence in the workplace acknowledge that their projections are informed but uncertain, according to a recent report by The Washington Post. Shift from blue-collar to white-collar…
China’s National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation (CNODC) has continued filing lawsuits in Kazakh courts seeking to invalidate an April 8, 2025, order by the Ministry of Energy that revised tariffs for transporting Russian oil through Kazakhstan to China. The development was disclosed in financial statements from KazTransOil,…
International ride-hailing service inDrive acquired Pakistani quick-commerce startup Krave Mart in an all-stock deal, TechCrunch reported. TechCrunch said the deal was agreed to in 2025 and approved by Pakistan’s Competition Commission. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition supports inDrive’s strategy to become a SuperApp as it expands beyond ride-hailing…
In September 2025, Kaspi.kz sold Portmone Group, the owner of the payment service of the same name in Ukraine, which Kaspi had acquired in 2021. Although no details of the deal were disclosed, it is known that the Kazakh fintech company did not earn much from the sale. This information…
Kazakhstan is experiencing a dynamic surge in food and beverage production. Government forecasts anticipate food production volume to hit a remarkable 4.7 trillion tenge (approx. $9.7 billion) by the end of 2026. Beverage sector expansion Coca-Cola Almaty Bottlers is poised to drive growth in the beverage sector. The company plans…
InDrive CEO Arsen Tomsky said the company’s revenue grew by 31% last year compared with 2024, reaching $601.6 million. In an interview with Reuters, Tomsky said profitability per ride has improved after several years of rapid expansion. The privately held U.S.-based company is now seeking to expand its business in…
Kazakh economist Rassul Rysmambetov said the tenge could remain in the range of 490-510 per U.S. dollar if global oil prices stay above $100 per barrel amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran. Read also: How $100 oil could pay for Kazakhstan’s nuclear future. According to Rysmambetov, Iran has previously signaled…
The Chinese company Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd. has established a subsidiary in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) — Xiamen Tungsten Hanyuan Resources Co., Ltd. — according to Finmentor.kz author Arman Batayev. Previously, Xiamen Tungsten sought to gain control of the largest tungsten deposit in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region. Operations and…
To curb rising oil prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, the U.S. will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced. Coordinated release with IEA partners In a statement, Wright said that 32 member countries of the International Energy…
An unprecedented joint Israeli-U.S. military campaign against Iran has delivered a severe blow to China’s broader strategy in the Middle East. The crisis threatens Beijing’s energy security, undermines its defense export ambitions and disrupts key elements of its Belt and Road Initiative, according to reporting by Chinaobservers.eu. Energy network under…
U.S.-based Cove Capital and Kazakhstan’s Tau-Ken Samruk are set to develop tungsten deposits in Kazakhstan. Investors from the U.S. plan to establish two processing plants and a metallurgical plant worth $1.1 billion. Kazakhstan’s Minister of Industry and Construction Yersayin Nagaspayev held talks with Cove Kaz Capital Group LLC CEO Dominic…
During the second Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris, Emmanuel Macron called on Kazakhstan to increase uranium exports to the European Union. The French president said additional supplies would help Europe meet its goal of expanding nuclear fuel production as part of its long-term energy strategy. Read also: Kazakhstan holds enough…
Yerlan Akkenzhenov, Kazakhstan’s energy minister, said he expects global oil prices to remain around $80 per barrel but noted that a significant increase could bring major additional revenue to the country. Speaking about possible market scenarios, Akkenzhenov said that if oil prices reach $100 per barrel, Kazakhstan could receive about…
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…
