News

iPhones will not be charged with luxury tax because it is going to be imposed on things more expensive than $200,000, Zakon.kz reported, citing Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov.

What happened? The minister was asked whether the government is going to impose a luxury tax on things bought on credit like iPhones.

«No. It’s not about iPhones. That’s for sure. We are talking about really expensive things like cars that cost more than, let’s say, $200,000. An owner of such a car would pay a luxury tax even if it’s bought with a loan. Concerning...

According to Kenzhebek Ibrashev, director general of the KazEnergy association, all taxes related to oil production and exports must be based on actual oil prices, not on data from foreign price assessment agencies.

«Taxes for oil production and exports must be calculated based on actual selling price with transfer pricing taken into account,» he said during a discussion on tax issues with the Senate, the upper house of the parliament.

As Ibrashev noted, oil exporters have been seriously affected by fluctuations in oil prices as the taxes are calculated based on information from price assessment...

According to the Kazakhstan Railways website, the three railway operators from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan have established a new joint entity that will be in charge of the development of the Transcaspian International Transport Route (TITR) and multi-modal service along the way.

The new company Middle Corridor Multimodal Ltd. is going to operate within the Astana International Financial Center.

«Within these joint efforts, the company will provide services as a single-window system, ensure delivery time and conduct the same policy on the development of the multi-modal service all the way through from China to Europe and...

Kazakhstan may introduce a secret examination procedure to ensure that police officers, representatives of prosecutor offices, departments for economic investigations and the anti-corruption service abide by the rules. The initiative was proposed by the Anti-Corruption Agency to reduce corruption.

What happened? The Anti-Corruption Service has published a draft document on a test for acting ethically on the legalacts.egov.kz website.

What does the document propose? The Anti-Corruption Agency is unhappy to see law enforcement agencies among the most corrupt public services as they lack effective anti-corruption mechanisms. That is why the agency has proposed a test for police officers and employees...

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has prepared a draft regulation that will prevent commercial banks from issuing banking cards to those foreigners who possess neither temporary residence permits nor regular residence permits. The draft regulation is available for public consideration on the legalact.egov.kz website.

According to the initiative, those foreigners and people with no citizenship who temporarily or permanently live in Kazakhstan have to possess a residence permit or temporary residence permit in order to obtain a banking card. The document also says that the issuing of a card is possible only if an applicant visits a bank in person...

According to the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan, a delegation from KazMunayGas is going to come to Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, and Rijeka, one of the country’s biggest ports, in order to look into possibilities of boosting Kazakhstan’s oil exports.

«In this regard, Jadranski Naftovod (JANAF, the oil pipeline company in Croatia) has shown interest in expanding Kazakhstani oil exports to customers in the Balkan region and Eastern Europe through its Adria oil pipeline in Croatia. The two sides have already agreed to get down to talks on how this route can be used to...

The national company Samruk Kazyna doesn’t plan to sell its stake (51%) in Air Astana entirely within the company’s IPO scheduled for 2024. According to Dastan Adikhodzhaev, head of the privatization and asset restructuring department in Samruk Kazyna, the holding plans to sell about 5% to 10% of the shares it controls. Once the move is done, the holding will cease to be the controlling shareholder.

“We won’t sell the entire stake (51%). That’s for sure. The fund will remain a major shareholder, just not controlling. We want to reduce control. We will offer the market...

A Kazakhstani citizen suspected of attempted fraud was extradited from Sweden to Kazakhstan. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, he faces up to ten years in jail.

What is the man accused of? According to the agency, in August 2019, several individuals impersonated themselves as national security agents trying to steal $30,000 from a businessman in Almaty.

Even though the Committee for National Security successfully prevented the crime from happening, the suspect had managed to disappear. He was added to the international wanted list.

Where was the suspect detained? According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, law enforcement agencies of the...

The international holding Freedom Holding Corp. has explained why its founder and key stakeholder Timur Turlov quit Kcell’s board of directors. (The mobile operator operates under the Kcell brand.)

According to the holding, Turlov’s decision was voluntary and motivated by the desire to avoid a conflict of interest as he wanted to focus on his business in mobile communications. The businessman became a member of the company’s board of directors as a representative of Freedom Finance, which owns a stake in Kcell, in 2019.

Freedom Finance bought 9.08% of Kcell’s shares two years earlier. Since then, the company increased its...

According to the Ministry of Energy, over the period from January to September 2023, the renewable energy sector produced 4.91 billion kilowatt-hours, a 25% increase over the same period last year.

Wind and solar stations accounted for the vast part of this energy: 2.575 billion and 1.572 billion kilowatt hours, respectively. Small hydropower stations produced 760.9 million kilowatt-hours and biopower stations produced 2.25 million kilowatt hours. In other words, the share of renewable sources of energy in the general energy production in Kazakhstan reached 5.97%.

The total capacity of the renewable sources of energy within the country is 2.7 gigawatts...

The Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan has confirmed that Ex-Minister of Justice Marat Beketaev has been detained.

«We are confirming that the detained individual is Ex-Minister of Justice Beketaev. The arrest of the suspect was authorized by the court. No more details can be revealed due to the ongoing investigation,» the press service of the agency told the Kursiv edition.

The context. On October 21, the Anti-Corruption Agency detained the former minister of justice, who is accused of lobbying interests of an affiliated business and causing serious damage to the state.

The agency...

A big traffic jam has emerged at the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (GKNB) commented on the situation.

Which border crossings reported traffic jams? According to GKNB, on October 23, more than 297 trucks entered Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan through the Ak Tilek border crossing point. (Passenger vehicles and trucks with cement from the Kant Cement Plant aren’t included.)

«Even though all necessary measures to increase the capacity of border crossing points have been applied, the Ak Tilek border crossing point reported a big jam of trucks,» the agency...

How will the visa-free regime work? Kazakhstan and China will cancel visa requirements for citizens of the two countries who travel in either direction if their purpose of the visit is medical treatment, business or private trips, transit or tourism. They will be allowed to stay in the other country for no longer than 90 days within a 180-day period.

The context. In April 2023, some media outlets reported that Kazakhstan was going to sign a 30-day visa-free regime agreement with China.

The signing of the document was held on May 18, during the official visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

According to the press service of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, during his visit to Xinjiang, he met with Ma Xingrui, a high-ranking official in the region, and discussed a range of issues, including tourism.

What did Tokayev say? As President Tokayev noted, bilateral cooperation in the sphere of tourism has huge potential. Kazakhstan has even created the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to promote this industry.

«We hope that the flow of tourists from China to Kazakhstan will grow. Next year is going to be a year of Kazakhstan’s tourism in China. We are going to facilitate...

QazaqGas, the national gas company in Kazakhstan, and Chinese Geo-Jade Petroleum Corporation are going to work together to develop the Pridorozhnoe gas field in Kazakhstan, according to the press service of QazaqGaz.

«On October 17, Sanzhar Zharkeshov, chair of the management board of QazaqGas and Xiaoping Dai, president of Geo-Jade Petroleum Corporation, signed heads of agreement. The document was signed during the Belt and Road Initiative summit where Kazakhstan’s delegation led by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part,» the company said in a statement.

The agreement is going to be the basis for joint efforts in...

Kazakhstan is handing over the Astana airport to the operational management of Terminal Holdings. The two sides have already signed a relevant agreement.

What happened? According to the press service of the prime minister, the government and the foreign investor have agreed to cooperate on the development of the Astana airport and turn it into a multi-modal hub. The relevant agreement was signed in the Turkestan region.

What is the investor going to do? Terminals Holding will conduct an assessment of the airport’s activities and assume the task of airport management.

«The top priority task for...

According to KazMunayGas (KMG), the national oil company in Kazakhstan, it is interested in the construction of a gas turbine power plant (GTPP) at the Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ) as well as the Chinese CNCEC.

«During his visit to Beijing, Chairman of the Board of KMG Magzum Mirzagaliyev met with Zhiyuan Lu, the regional director in CNCEC. The two sides have discussed current and potential joint projects, including the construction of a GTPP at the Atyrau refinery (ANPZ), a project in which both parties are interested,» the company said in a statement.

As Mirzagaliyev noted...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan has improved his assessment of the volume of land transit from China to Europe through the country’s territory by 5%. Four months ago, in June, he estimated the volume of cargo passing through Kazakhstan at 80%. Now, he has raised his estimate to 85%.

On October 18, at the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Initiative summit in Beijing, President Tokayev said that «currently Kazakhstan accounts for 85% of all land transit traffic from China to Europe.»

In June, Tokayev met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany. During discussions on cooperation within the...

Yesterday, October 16, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan signed an agreement on establishing the Turkic Investment Fund with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, according to the source of legal data Paragraph. The law on the agreement hasn’t yet entered into force.

Member states of the Organization of Turkic States (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey) made a decision on establishing the Turkic Investment Fund on March 16, 2023. The fund’s charter capital is expected at $500 million or $100 million per country. The Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, ratified the agreement at the end of September, while the...

According to the press service of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, he and President Xi Jinping of China held an official meeting in Beijing.

What happened? President Tokayev has come to China to take part in the third Belt and Road summit. During the meeting with Xi Jinping President Tokayev pointed out that Kazakhstani-Chinese relations have been demonstrating a positive dynamic.

«The trade between our states has been developing successfully. The growth is impressive. We are continuing to implement 52 joint projects worth $21 billion. Next year, we are going to celebrate the Year of Kazakhstan’s Tourism in...

According to Deputy Prime Minister Tamara Duysenova, Kazakhstanis who are suffering from domestic violence or bullying can call 111 and get the necessary help. The new emergency service has been introduced today, October 16, and will be available around the clock.

Who is eligible for the service? According to the press service of the prime minister, the new 111 service is available for every Kazakhstani who is suffering from family violence or bullying.

Who will provide the assistance? In order to help people facing challenging circumstances in life, the government has hired qualified psychologists and legal lawyers. They will provide...

Bereke Bank has restored transactions with cards connected to the international payment system Visa. The banks did the same with cards by Mastercard in August.

Thus, the bank is currently rendering services for holders of cards by the two leading international payment systems. The bank’s clients are now offered a set of routine transactions with banking cards like paying in shops or online, withdrawing cash from ATMs and making money transactions in the tenge and foreign currency in Kazakhstan and worldwide.

By bringing back transactions with Visa cards, the bank has reached its goal of restoring its capabilities and can...

The Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan isn’t interested in an out-of-court settlement of the issue related to a $5.1 billion fine with participants of the Kashagan project (NCOC), according to Yerlan Nyssanbayev, the head of the ministry.

«Today neither the government nor the ministry can influence the court’s decision. Anyway, we are going to wait for the court’s decision at the national and international level (if the NCOC participants decide to appeal to the international arbitrary – Kursiv). This is a dogma,» Nyssanbayev said.

As he noted, all legal lawsuits and...

According to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), Kaspi Bank has obtained a license for custodial services from the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM).

Once a bank has a license for custodial services, it can keep securities like a depository does. However, unlike a depository that provides standard services, a custodian can offer a more individual approach to its clients and can broaden the scope of its activities at the expense of new services.

The ARDFM issued its indefinite license for Kaspi on October 11. No other details were provided and at the moment of publication...