News

The Atyrau airport in Kazakhstan has introduced an Open Skies regime, which is expected to increase competition among airlines and potentially lower ticket prices for residents of the region, the Ak Zhaik newspaper reported.

Kairat Nurtayev, deputy akim (governor) of the Atyrau region, said the regime will have a positive impact on the airport’s development and the regional economy. Subsequently, the number of domestic and international flights is expected to increase, including new direct routes to Western Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The construction of a 16,500-square-meter terminal facility is scheduled for this year. The project envisions equipping the...

A court in Satpayev, a city in Kazakhstan’s Ulytau region, has sentenced a Kazakhstani citizen to four years and six months in prison for participating in the war between Russia and Ukraine as a fighter for the Wagner private military company (PMC), according to the court’s press office.

Case materials reveal that in the fall of 2022, while in Zhezkazgan, the administrative center of the Ulytau region, the convict decided to join Wagner PMC. In November, he crossed the Kazakhstan border near Petropavlovsk and traveled to a training camp in Russia’s Krasnodar region, where he signed a contract. He was...

During the Prada show organized within Milan Men’s Fashion Week, a 19-year-old model from Kazakhstan, Ali Daniyarov, walked the catwalk.  

While The New York Times discusses the tight pants comeback on Prada’s runway, Instagram fashion fans are admiring Ali Daniyarov, a 19-year-old fashion model from Almaty. The Kazakhstani model walked the catwalk wearing a brown jacket and leather pants. His image was complemented by a tender-blue shirt, cowboy boots tucked into pants and a bag — one of the most up-to-date coloristic and texture combinations of this year.

However, this is not Ali’s first time on a major fashion...

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Finance wants to place government stocks (GS) worth approximately $13.20 billion on the stock market. This is a 32.7% increase over the 2023 plan (approximately $9.94 billion) and a 23.2% increase over the funds raised in 2024 (approximately $10.71 billion), according to the agency’s website.

According to the plan, the ministry is going to conduct 55 emissions, part of which will be an additional placement within those previously delivered. The maturity terms of the GSs range between one and 15 years. Remarkably, for stock with a 10-year maturity, it is planned to raise about $956 million. Once...

Baring Funds sold nearly 963,000 shares of the fintech company Kaspi.kz in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to an extract from the register of shareholders of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) as of January 1, 2025.

It is unclear how much Baring Funds earned from selling its shares in Kaspi.kz. However, in Q4 of last year, the stock value ranged between 50,700 tenge ($96.97) and 58,000 tenge ($110.93). This suggests that Baring Funds may have earned between $93.3 million and $106.8 million.

As a result, Baring Funds’ stake in Kaspi.kz declined by 0.48 percentage points to 23.3%. The company...

As of Jan. 1, 2024, the volume of Stage 3 loans (non-performing loans or NPLs, as classified by International Financial Reporting Standards) in 11 Kazakhstani banks increased by over $700 million, reaching more than $5 billion, up by 9.8%. This finding was highlighted in the 2024 Asset Quality Review (AQR 2024) report by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM).

The scope of the AQR 2024 assessment expanded by 31.3%, totaling approximately $60 billion. Approximately one-third of all debt is attributed to unsecured consumer loans (roughly $19 billion). Other significant contributors include loan portfolios for large...

Mira Khalina, editor-in-chief of Kursiv.media, has been elected chairwoman of the expert council under Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) by a majority vote of the council members.

In her acceptance speech, Khalina described the expert council at ARDFM as «a positive initiative demonstrating effectiveness across all spheres.» She emphasized that council members aim to promote financial literacy among Kazakhstanis through joint efforts.

«It’s crucial to identify key areas of financial literacy development. As experts, we understand that previous information formats are no longer as effective as they once were. However...

Uzbekistan and Russia have signed a strategic partnership program in the military sphere for 2026 to 2030. The document was signed in the capital city of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, as Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived on an official visit.

The Russian delegation was received by the Uzbek defense minister, Major General Shukhrat Kholmukhammedov.

«The two sides have signed a cooperation plan between the defense ministries of Russia and Uzbekistan for 2025, along with a five-year strategic partnership program in the military sphere,» the press service of the Uzbek military office reported.

Following the reception, the...

The Binance Kazakhstan cryptocurrency exchange has announced the launch of crypto futures. The company emphasized that the expansion of its product line became possible after it obtained a full regulatory license from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) in 2024.

Following multiple examinations and consultations, Kazakhstan’s regulatory bodies determined that Binance Kazakhstan meets all the compliance and management-related requirements, authorizing the exchange to trade futures on a regulated basis. 

«We are pleased to be able to offer crypto futures to our users and meet market demand for liquidity products. We want to take the opportunity...

The UN has recommended Kazakhstan to ratify the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. If Kazakhstan adheres to its terms, Russian President Vladimir Putin could potentially be arrested in Kazakhstan under an ICC warrant.

«The Human Rights Foundation, Human Rights Watch and the Joint Submission 4 (a group of Kazakhstani non-governmental organizations) recommended [Kazakhstan] to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,» the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated in a recent report.

The Rome Statute serves as the ICC’s charter...

A consortium consisting of Hyundai Engineering and Sicim Kazakhstan may secure an EPC contract for the construction of a gas processing plant at the Karachaganak field within the next few days, according to Upstream Online.

«The government of Kazakhstan has given an ultimatum to the shareholders of Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. (KPO), demanding a final decision on the construction of a natural gas processing plant by mid-June 2025. The government expects the plant to be built and commissioned by 2029. If KPO shareholders fail to make a decision by the deadline, the project will be...

Sanction clauses will be included in contracts for the construction of Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant (NPP) with a capacity of 2.4 gigawatts (GW), according to the Ministry of Energy’s response to an inquiry from Kursiv.media.

«As part of ongoing negotiations with companies bidding to construct the NPP in Kazakhstan, issues related to sanctions are being carefully analyzed and addressed. This is necessary to minimize potential risks that could impact the fulfillment of obligations related to the construction and financing of the project. Provisions and measures for managing such risks will be incorporated into the relevant...

Home Credit Bank Kazakhstan has suspended the issuance of debit cards to foreigners, as reported by the Russian business media outlet RBC. Similar restrictions have also been introduced by Kaspi Bank, which announced that the restrictions will be lifted on Feb. 3, 2025.

In response to Kursiv.media’s inquiry, Home Credit Bank Kazakhstan stated that the issuance of debit cards to foreign nationals will remain in effect until March 3, 2025, due to undergoing internal procedures.

As for Kaspi Bank, its debit cards issued before Jan. 19, 2025, will remain valid until their initial expiration date. After Feb. 3, 2025, foreigners...

Courts in Kazakhstan are actively leveraging the advantages of artificial intelligence (AI). As Aslambek Mergaliyev, the chairman of Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court, reported to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, AI has reviewed one-third of all the court documents and cases — 665,000 out of 2 million.

Mergaliyev added that AI tools have significantly streamlined the judges’ workflows. In 2022, an AI assistant was integrated into Kazakhstan’s Digital Analytics of Judicial Practice service.

«This software is designed to understand key aspects of judicial decisions, compare them, identify anomalies and predict the outcomes of civil cases. This allows judges to gain...

Kyrgyzstani Keremet Bank, which was hit with U.S. sanctions earlier this month, has discontinued issuing payment cards supported by the international Visa system, although already issued cards remain functional at the bank’s offices and ATMs. 

Keremet Bank is trying to address the problem by offering its clients the opportunity to obtain new cards supported by a local payment system called Elcard, a process that takes 10 days. Customers can also transfer money from their cards to their bank accounts using the bank’s mobile application or withdraw cash directly from the bank. Keremet Bank doesn’t issue cards from another major card...

Spacesail Kazakhstan Limited, a subsidiary of the Chinese company Spacesail International Limited, has successfully been registered at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) with a fixed capital of $17 million. The company is often referred to in the media as a potential competitor to Starlink by Elon Musk.

In August, October and December 2024, Spacesail delivered its first 18 satellites into low-Earth orbit using the Long March 6A rocket, launched from the Taiyuan Launch Complex in northern Shanxi Province.

By 2025, the company plans to launch 648 satellites to cover the entire territory of China, with a long-term goal of...

Kazakhstani insurance company Eurasia is set to pay over $4.6 million in reinsurance of risks by American insurers to cover the damages caused by wildfires in California, as reported by the company’s press service.

One primary and two secondary schools in California were nearly destroyed by the wildfires. Educational institutions, along with other municipal buildings in the state, were insured under the Alliant Property Insurance Program (APIP), which Eurasia Insurance Company is part of.

The APIP provides coverage exceeding $500 billion for over 10,000 public facilities across 45 states, making it one of the world’s largest insurance programs. The total...

Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC), a company from Kazakhstan listed on Nasdaq emerged as a main sponsor of world rapid and blitz individual and team championships in New York, key chess events from late last year. It is worth noting that the company’s CEO Timur Turlov has been serving as president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KazChess) since January 2023. Let’s see what feeds the interest of FRHC in chess and how investments in this sport are connected with the rise of Freedom’s digital ecosystem.

Rapid and blitz championships

The individual rapid and blitz championships, which were actually four different contests...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has issued two-year «green» international bonds on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), totaling approximately $14.5 million, with a weighted average coupon rate of 13.94% per annum, according to a statement from KASE.

During the subscription process, six participants submitted 10 bids to purchase ADB bonds. Demand exceeded supply by 76%. Participants expressed interest in bonds with coupon rates ranging from 13.85% to 14.1%.

The bank accepted six bids from four participants, placing bonds worth approximately $14.5 million at a coupon rate of 13.94%. Notably, 77.1% of the issued bonds were purchased by banks, while...

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the U.S. president once again on Jan. 20, 2025. Alibek Konkakov, an analyst at independent Kazakhstani media outlet Desht.org, highlighted that during Trump’s election campaign, he announced quite radical plans, literally catching an entire world economy off guard. The expert has summarized Trump’s agenda and outlined key ideas anyhow Kazakhstan.       

According to Konkakov, with Trump in office, a new period of alignment in international trade conditions will take place. Trade wars that were postponed in recent years may now be revived under the new U.S. administration. 

Kazakhstan is likely to be affected...

Between January and November 2024, Kazakhstan exported 9.8 tons of ice cream, marking a 70% increase year-on-year (YoY) and the highest value recorded since 2002, according to Data Hub, an analytical channel on Telegram.

In 2023, media reports highlighted how the Kazakhstani ice cream producer Shin-Line stepped in to fill the market gap left by Unilever’s exit, following the departure of its Zolotoy Standart (Golden Standard) brand from the country. Among the top domestic favorites is Shin-Line’s Mishka na Polyuse (Polar Bear), whose classic flavor and familiar branding have made it a hit both at home and abroad. Turkmenistan, Tajikistan...

Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Court, the nation’s highest judicial authority, has ruled that akimats (local administrations) must provide rally organizers with alternative locations or times before denying permission to hold an assembly, according to a recent statement from the court.

This decision comes after human rights activists appealed to the Constitutional Court, challenging a provision in the law on peaceful assemblies. The appeal stemmed from the February 2023 refusal by the Astana akimat to permit a rally opposing the law on mass media. The akimat claimed that another event was allegedly scheduled for the same time and location. Activists argue that the...

Investors planning to build renewable energy facilities in Kazakhstan will be required to provide proof of land ownership before participating in an auction, according to a draft document from the Ministry of Energy.

«During the selection process for project designs of any facility utilizing hydrodynamic power of water, waste materials, biomass, biogas and other fuel sources from waste to generate electricity, copies of documents proving ownership of the land designated for the construction of the facility are required,» states one of the new requirements for renewable energy auctions.

The explanatory note to the amendment emphasizes...

Freedom Finance Global PLC has been monitoring consumer confidence levels monthly using the United Research Technologies Group methodology since November 2022. The methodology relies on computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). In each survey wave, 3,600 respondents aged 18 and older are interviewed, covering all regions and cities of national importance. The sample is representative in terms of gender, age and region of residence.

This month, Freedom Finance Global PLC presents its annual consumer confidence survey for 13 months from December 2023 to December 2024.

Confidence was shaky but showed slight improvement

Kazakhstan’s consumer confidence index (CCI) exhibited a wave-like...