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In a Feb. 19 article published in the Vremya newspaper, Maulen Ashimbayev, chairman of Kazakhstan’s Senate, argued that international institutions are in crisis, citing the United Nations (UN) as an example. He also pointed to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

«The once-reputable UN, in its current form, risks following the fate of the League of Nations. The WHO failed the test of the pandemic: Donald Trump, after taking office, announced the U.S. withdrawal from the organization. The WTO has proven ineffective as a dispute resolution arbiter amid geopolitical clashes,» Ashimbayev...

The Russian government isn’t happy with the way authorities conducted their investigation into the death of Mikhail Lermontov, a prominent Russian poet who was killed nearly 200 years ago. As RIA Novosti reported, MP Nikolai Burlyayev has initiated the reopening of a criminal investigation into the crime by the Investigative Committee of Russia.

«The Investigative Committee responded and joint work on the issue has begun. This includes some technical aspects. We will inform the public on the course of the investigation and its results,» Burlyayev said.

He also noted that Russian forensic experts have...

During Almaty Mayor Yerbolat Dossayev’s visit to China, he discussed the potential expansion of Kazakhstan’s sole metro with Dai Hegen, chair of the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC).

Dossayev considers metro development one of the city’s top priorities. The Almaty subway currently consists of only 11 stations spanning 13.5 kilometers with two new lines planned for construction. Chinese companies, including CRCC, are viewed as potential partners in the project.

Dai confirmed the company’s willingness to take part in the project and bid for the contract under the general conditions. Potential cooperation is currently being discussed.

CRCC is one of...

Kazakhstan will soon launch a digital service for passenger insurance in case of flight delays, according to Vice Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev, who shared the news at a recent cabinet meeting.

The new service will be integrated into airline ticketing applications, allowing passengers to insure their flights and receive instant compensation for delays.

Lastayev also noted that the digitalization of Kazakhstan’s aviation industry is progressing rapidly. As part of public-private partnership efforts, the country has introduced an E-freight system to streamline access to travel documents.

«Airports across the country are actively using the E-doc-airport...

Kazatomprom, a subsidiary of the state-owned fund Samruk-Kazyna, and the Jordanian state-owned Jordan Uranium Mining Company (JUMCO) may jointly commence uranium mining and export the resource, Samruk-Kazyna reported on its Telegram channel. On Feb. 19, official delegations from Kazakhstan and Jordan held a meeting in Amman that resulted in the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

«Kazatomprom, a portfolio company of the Samruk-Kazyna fund, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with JUMCO. The MoU outlines a study of opportunities for developing and implementing new technologies in uranium mining, as well as potential cooperation in uranium export...

China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) will invest 1 billion yuan (about $137 million) to build a transport and logistics center near Almaty, according to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the national railway company.

The decision was made on Feb. 19 in Urumqi, XUAR’s capital, during a meeting between XUAR Communist Party Secretary Ma Xingrui and KTZ CEO Nurlan Sauranbayev.

Ma noted that rail traffic between China and Kazakhstan has been increasing annually, reaching a record 32 million tons in 2024.

«Plans for 2025-2026 include creating a transport and logistics hub in the Almaty agglomeration, developing the...

Kazakhstan’s oil production is expected to grow in 2025, but lower hydrocarbon prices could reduce export revenues, according to Halyk Finance.

«By mid-2025, the Future Growth Project (FGP) at the Tengiz field is expected to be fully operational. As a result, oil production at Tengiz is projected to increase by 24.8% year-on-year (YoY), reaching 34.7 million tons compared to 27.8 million tons in 2024, which should positively impact export figures… However, the predicted decline in oil prices will offset these gains,» analysts from Halyk Finance stated.

According to Bloomberg’s consensus forecast, the average price of...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan will discuss the attack on the Kropotkinskaya pump station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), Informburo.kz reported, citing Akan Rakhmetullin, first deputy foreign minister of Kazakhstan.

«We are aware of the situation. The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan has already made a statement confirming that the drone attack has not affected oil exports. Of course, we will talk to the Ukrainians and we will meet them. We will certainly have a meeting either here or in Kyiv. We have to find a diplomatic solution to avoid a repeat of...

The annual pilot shortage in Kazakhstan has reached 600 specialists. What makes this situation even worse is that the Almaty Civil Aviation Academy lacks the international EASA Part-FCL (European Union Aviation Safety Agency Flight Crew Licensing) certification. This is why Kazakhstani airlines are forced to hire foreign pilots, according to Deputy Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev, who reported to the cabinet on the status of the aviation industry in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh civil aviation staff totals 23,000 employees, including 1,100 local pilots and 400 foreign pilots. As usual, local personnel are trained at the Civil Aviation Academy, 21 training centers across...

EAVISTA Beteiligungsverwaltungs, a Vienna-based company controlled by Arif Babayev, a former board member and managing director at Qazkom (acquired by Halyk Bank in 2018), is set to acquire a 75.1% stake in Service Bank AG, an Austrian provider of payment services operating under the Card Complete brand.

According to Service Bank AG, EAVISTA will purchase 50.1% of its shares from UniCredit Bank Austria and an additional 25% from Raiffeisen Bank International. Another financial organization, AVZ Privatstiftung, will retain its 24.9% stake in the payment company. The deal is expected to be finalized following regulatory approval.

Although no financial details have...

Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics reported $141.1 billion in external trade turnover in 2024, a 1.3% increase over 2023. The country’s exports increased by 3.1% to $81.6 billion year-on-year (YoY), while imports slightly declined by 1% to $59.7 billion.

Kazakhstan’s main export destinations include:

Kazakhstan imports from:

Solidcore Resources PLC (formerly Polymetal), a major gold producer in Kazakhstan, has secured a $60 million loan from Bank CenterCredit (BCC) with a seven-year maturity. The company will use the funds to finance the construction of electric power plants at its production facilities, Solidcore said in a statement.

«This agreement is our first deal in the debt market after restructuring. We are ready to continue our productive cooperation with BCC and other financial organizations to implement ambitious strategic projects,» said Evgenia Onuschenko, chief financial officer at Solidcore Resources.

The BCC funds will be allocated for...

In December 2024, Kazakhstan’s Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF) sold approximately $14.86 million worth of Israeli government bonds from two separate issuances. The decision to divest came after Israel agreed to a truce with Hezbollah at the end of November 2024.

The bonds were part of two 10-year issuances (out of eight held by the UAPF as of Dec. 1), maturing in 2033 and 2034. The fund purchased the first issuance, with a 4.5% coupon rate, for about $5 million in April 2023. It invested approximately $20 million in the second issuance, which carried a 5.5% coupon, in March 2024.

Kazakhstani Deputy Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev announced the establishment of an aircraft accident investigation center in Kazakhstan by the end of 2025, underlining its importance in assessing flight safety in the country.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Lastayev reported on the inspection of Kazakhstan’s major airlines following the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft accident near Aktau.

«Following your instructions previously given at the special briefing after the crash near Aktau, the Aviation Administration has inspected all major airlines. As for the aircraft accident investigation, this is one of the ICAO’s [International Civil Aviation Organization]...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged foreign investors, including those from Kazakhstan, to supply Russia with the equipment necessary to maintain the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), despite international sanctions.

Putin made the statement during a meeting with top Russian officials regarding a drone attack on a pump station along the CPC, the main route for Kazakh oil exports.

«This is not a Russian organization; this is an international organization. This is why, as far as I am concerned, this oil belongs to all foreign investors under the product-sharing agreement. I mean the oil that went...

Almaty Mayor Yerbolat Dossayev held talks with President of the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank) Wang Chunying, as reported by the press service of the Almaty city administration. The central topic of the negotiations was funding for a bunch of Kazakhstani projects, including the expansion of the city’s metro system. Estimates by some members of parliament suggest that the required loan must be $1 billion.

At the meeting, Dossayev emphasized the importance of cooperation and expressed readiness to discuss the terms of funding. In turn, Ms. Wang confirmed the bank’s readiness to support projects in the field of road...

Recent reports from the Russian Telegram channel Mash suggest that Coca-Cola may be planning a return to the Russian market. According to Mash’s sources, the company aims to combat parallel imports of its products from countries like Kazakhstan.

Currently, Coca-Cola is reportedly developing a strategy for its return to Russia. This plan includes addressing gray imports (also known as parallel imports) of its beverages and collaborating with local producers.

The proposed strategy suggests resuming production of original Coca-Cola products at the same facilities that were in use before operations were suspended in Russia. Before halting its activities, the company operated approximately...

The city of Almaty is set to launch close cooperation with China in the field of seismic safety, as Kazakhstan’s National Scientific Center for Seismological Observations and Research and China Earthquake Administration’s Institute of Geophysics have agreed to collaborate. The agreement was signed during an official visit by Almaty Mayor Yerbolat Dossayev to China.

According to the press service of the Almaty city administration, Dossayev visited the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) to explore ways to improve the seismic safety of Almaty.

«The city is located in a seismic zone, which is why ensuring safety is one...

The Kostanay region will see three new automotive manufacturing enterprises over the next two years. The new facilities are expected to create 2,500 jobs, as reported by Kazakhstan’s Central Communication Service.

The first of these is a Kia car manufacturing plant, with an annual capacity of 70,000 vehicles and a workforce of 1,500 employees, expected to be commissioned by the end of this year. The same deadline has been set for another factory producing main gears for trucks, which will offer 550 new jobs.

Furthermore, a new vehicle component plant worth approximately $35.7 million is set to be commissioned in...

Solico Group, an Iran-based food manufacturer, is set to assist Kazakhstan in establishing factories for French fries, baby food and cheese. The two countries have also arranged to expand trade in agricultural products. All of these arrangements were reached during an Iran-Kazakhstan forum in Tehran last week, as reported by Kazakhstani Ministry of Agriculture, which emphasized that the trade volume between the two countries increased by 12.3% to $340 million last year.

According to the country’s Ministry of Trade, which also took part in the event, Kazakhstan and Iran signed 10 commercial agreements worth $92.8 million. Moreover, Kazakhstan is ready...

Renowned Kazakhstani historian Zhaksylyk Sabitov presented an intriguing theory about the origins of Count Dracula’s alleged real-life inspiration, Romanian Prince Vlad III, on the Dope Soz podcast. He suggested that Vlad’s ancestry may be traced back to Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire.

According to this theory, Vlad III (Dracula) was the great-grandson of voivode (warlord) Nicolae Alexandru, who was the son of Basarab I, the founder and first independent ruler of Wallachia (one of the three principalities that formed modern Romania).

«We know that Basarab’s father was Tokhtamir (also known as Thocomerius or...

The dredging work at the port of Aktau will cost the state budget $84.5 million, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov revealed in response to an MP inquiry.

The prime minister also clarified that the international seaport of Aktau had already prepared design estimate documentation, which was approved by state experts in December last year.

According to expert conclusions, the total project cost is $84.5 million. However, in the first stage this year, the government will allocate only $41.3 million.

«Given the high importance of the dredging work in the area of the port of Aktau...

Nearly 600 bloggers in Kazakhstan understated their income and failed to pay taxes on a total of 53.3 billion tenge (approximately $100 million), according to the State Revenue Committee (SRC). Authorities are requiring them to report to the SRC and submit tax returns.

An SRC review comparing data from various sources with submitted tax declarations uncovered discrepancies totaling approximately $100 million for 594 individuals. As a result, from Feb. 13 to 14, 2025, authorities issued desk audit notices for «understatement of income» violations.

Popular media bloggers, also known as social media influencers, are required to submit additional tax filings to...

A rescue team has found the bodies of seven workers at the Zhomart mine who were trapped in the collapsed pit in the Ulytau region. Kazakhmys, the company operating the mine, has pledged to provide aid to the victims’ families. According to the enterprise, natural gas could have exploded in the mine.

The search-and-rescue operation has been completed. In the early hours of Feb. 18, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that six bodies had been found, and later in the morning, rescuers found the seventh victim. His identity is currently being confirmed.

«The bodies of...