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In 2024, 64% of mobile devices imported into Kazakhstan entered the country illegally or through gray-market schemes, causing the state to miss out on approximately $200 million in VAT payments, according to MP Ekaterina Smyshlyayeva, who cited data from device manufacturers.

Smyshlyayeva noted that Kazakhstan currently lacks a procedure for distinguishing between legal and illegal devices. Existing laws do not provide for verifying IMEI codes (the unique 15-digit identifier for every mobile phone) against customs data and fail to address the secondary market or re-export of mobile devices.

The lawmaker believes Kazakhstan should integrate the IMEI system with customs data...

Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze stated that his country will restore diplomatic relations with Russia only when Georgia’s territorial integrity is restored. He also emphasized that the country’s government must pursue a pragmatic foreign policy.

«There are no diplomatic relations with Russia and they won’t be established unless Georgia’s territorial integrity is restored. However, we believe in a pragmatic approach because our country cannot survive without pragmatism,» Kobakhidze said.

He also noted that Georgia has no political relations with Russia and that communication between the two countries remains significantly hindered.

Despite political tensions, Russia...

Almaty authorities plan to completely phase out diesel buses by 2026-2027 as part of ongoing efforts to modernize the city’s public transportation system. The city has been replacing its diesel bus fleet with more environmentally friendly alternatives for several years. However, progress has been hindered by a lack of gas fueling stations in the suburbs, as discussed at a recent meeting of Almaty’s maslikhat (city council).

The need to transition away from diesel buses in Almaty has been debated for years, but deadlines have been repeatedly postponed. According to Sagyndyk Telibayev, head of the Almaty Urban Mobility Department, the primary...

The prominent European Newspaper Award has selected Kursiv, a business weekly published by Kursiv.media in Kazakhstan, as the winner in the Cover and Cover Story Nationwide Newspaper category. The world’s 26th newspaper and online media design competition received over 3,000 applications in 20 categories from 22 countries.

For the contest, Kursiv.media has chosen a newspaper issue featuring a cover story about the criminal boss’s empire from Kyrgyzstan, titled «Criminal Kyrgyzstan: The Rise and Fall of a Notorious Central Asian Kingpin» (Original: Бандитский Кыргызстан: как криминалитет соседней республики попал в кустуризацию). The article is accompanied by infographics and an illustration...

Archaeologists have uncovered rare burial mounds dating back to the fifth century B.C. in Kazakhstan’s Atyrau region, revealing unique jewelry, weapons and ceramic vessels. These findings provide new insights into the region’s ancient history, according to the press office of the akimat (local administration) of the Atyrau region.

The artifacts, including household items, jewelry and weapons, led archaeologists to identify the tombs as «royal tents.» Researchers note that the Sarmatians, the ancient people who once inhabited the area, buried their nobility with weapons, household goods and personal belongings. Excavations uncovered three such tents, each containing 10 to 15 burials.

President of the European Council António Costa called President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss prospects for cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EU. During the conversation, Tokayev invited Costa to Kazakhstan for an official visit, as reported by Kazakhstan’s president’s office.

“Initiated by the European side, a phone conversation took place between President Tokayev and President of the European Council António Costa. The conversation was focused on discussing key issues and prospects of strengthening cooperation between the EU and Kazakhstan,” the office said in a statement.

Tokayev noted that although EU-Kazakhstan relations are progressing, there is a...

MP Irina Smirnova has proposed that Kazakhstan adopt a foreign agent law, arguing that the country «must revise the rules of the game» with foreign donors, who, she claims, often disguise their interests under the pretense of promoting free media and protecting human rights.

Smirnova has prepared an inquiry addressed to Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, proposing a foreign agent law similar to those in Israel, China, Australia, the United States and France. She believes Kazakhstan should adopt this practice and require media outlets to disclose their sources of funding to readers and viewers.

Around 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Kazakhstan...

Experts from Kazakhstan’s National Bank have criticized the current implementation of minimum reserve requirements (MRR), one of the country’s key monetary policy tools, arguing that it operates too passively.

MRR mandate financial institutions to hold a certain percentage of their deposits in accounts with the central bank. In most countries, MRR serve multiple functions: regulating money market rates and liquidity, establishing liquidity buffers for financial institutions, strengthening the financial system’s resilience to systemic risks and ensuring the effectiveness of monetary policy across different economic conditions. However, the specific objectives of MRR may vary depending on a country’s economic and financial...

Nurlan Zhumagulov, an expert in oil and gas projects in the Caspian region, explained the reason behind the lack of incremental progress in the development of the Tengiz and Kashagan deposits over the past 30 years. According to him, the economy is to blame — it is more profitable for importers to deliver goods directly, bypassing import duties and VAT.  

«In order to equalize the conditions for domestic producers, the Tax Code was amended 10 years ago with a regulation stating that Kazakhstani enterprises could sell products to the Tengiz, Kashagan and Dunga projects with...

QazaqGaz, the national gas operator and a subsidiary of Samruk-Kazyna, has negotiated with PetroChina to expand gas exports to China this year, the company said in a statement.

A three-year gas purchase and sale agreement was signed by QazaqGaz CEO Sanzhar Zharkeshov and PetroChina International Executive Chair Wu Junli during a Kazakhstan-China business summit in Astana.

«The agreement will allow us to boost gas exports to China this year, proving the strategic nature of the partnership between Kazakhstan and the PRC in the energy sector. Kazakhstan’s gas industry is a reliable supplier of resources necessary for...

Kazakhstan’s birth rate has reached its lowest point in 20 years, falling back to 2004 levels.

Analysts from the DataHub Telegram channel report that in 2024, there were 18.29 live births per 1,000 people, while the total fertility rate dropped to its lowest level since 2004. Notably, the decline has continued over the past decade, with a temporary uptick during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions. However, this increase was short-lived.

Research indicates declining birth rates across Kazakhstan, with particularly low levels in the Mangystau and Atyrau regions. Among major cities, Shymkent and Astana have recorded the steepest drops.

Despite...

Kazakhstan has been ranked 88th in the global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International, outperforming Russia, Thailand and Turkey, as reported by Kazakhstan’s Anti-Corruption Agency.

«The country scored 40 points, climbing five notches among 180 nations (88th). This is a new historical high, achieved with the help of a set of comprehensive anti-corruption measures. The global average stands at 43 points, while for the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (19 nations), the average is 35 points,» the agency said in a statement. 

The Anti-Corruption Agency also highlighted that Kazakhstan has been marked...

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Education Gani Beisembayev announced that domestic technical and vocational colleges will begin training specialists in nuclear power and drone design, drawing on the experience of Hungary and China.

Starting Sept. 1, 2025, per capita financing for colleges in Kazakhstan will double, according to Beisembayev. Currently, 518 enterprises sponsor local colleges, with plans to expand this number to 4,000 over time.

«A key initiative of Kazakhstan’s Year of Working Professions will be the internationalization of 10 colleges. The primary goal is to enhance their global competitiveness and align their educational programs with international standards...

Almaty has adopted a new housing renovation program, marking the city’s third attempt in 13 years to curb the expansion of its dilapidated housing stock. The program, set to run until 2030, is expected to prioritize the interests of the city over those of developers.

This third improvement plan, adopted in late 2024, aims to sweep dilapidated and non-seismic one- and two-story residential blocks built over the period from the 1930s to the 1970s. Between 2012 and 2015, city authorities implemented a pilot house improvement project and, in 2021, launched a full-fledged renovation program. Even though the program was supposed...

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev and Advisor to the President of Kazakhstan Kuanyshbek Yessekeev have attended the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, where they have met with many prominent specialists in the sphere of AI, including representatives from OpenAI and Meta, as reported by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry.

International experts have highly rated Kazakhstani AI developments, the agency highlighted. For example, Chief AI Scientist at Meta Yann LeCun has praised the Kazakh language model KazLLM in his post on X.   

LeCun is a developer of LLaMA — Large Language Model Meta...

Kazakhstan’s proposed tax reform introduces a differentiated value-added tax (VAT) system, according to Serik Zhumangarin, minister of national economy. The standard VAT rate will be 16%, with a reduced rate of 10% under consideration for the healthcare sector. Agricultural producers will be exempt from VAT.

«We are proposing a reduced rate for the healthcare sector, but further discussions are needed to determine whether it will apply to other industries. We will gather proposals, conduct calculations and make a final decision in collaboration with experts and businesses,» Zhumangarin stated at a government briefing.

He also explained...

This year, fiscal reform should be a top priority for Kazakhstan’s government. The cabinet has proposed raising certain tax rates to boost budget revenues and reduce reliance on transfers from the National Fund. These challenging reforms are necessary because Kazakhstan has long pursued a procyclical fiscal policy, increasing government spending even during periods of high oil prices and strong economic growth. Over time, this approach has led to imbalances in public finances. Kursiv Research has analyzed how Kazakhstan established and then circumvented its budget rules, explaining why the current reforms are unlikely to fully resolve these issues.

Why exporting countries...

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Kazakhstan exported 4.8 million tons of new-crop grain by railway from September to January, a 47% year-on-year increase. In total, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the national railway company, shipped 6.1 million tons of grain over the past five months, including 1.3 million tons for domestic consumption.

The largest export destination was Uzbekistan, which received 1.8 million tons, a 40% increase year-on-year, followed by Tajikistan with 724,000 tons (+50%), China with 659,000 tons (N/A) and Afghanistan with 217,000 tons (+38%). The most significant growth was seen in shipments to Iran, which surged 29-fold to...

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Moscow for the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War. The last time the Chinese leader attended such a parade in the Russian capital was in 2015.

According to Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov, Xi has accepted an invitation to take part in the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. He shared this information in an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel.

«In turn, Xi Jinping has invited Vladimir Putin to visit China for celebrations planned for early September,» Morgulov said.

The Kremlin has confirmed that...

Mikhail Lomtadze, a majority shareholder in Kaspi.kz (owning 21.53% of the company’s shares), has been appointed chairman of the board at Hepsiburada, one of Turkey’s largest marketplaces, the company said in a statement.

The decision to nominate Lomtadze was made on Feb. 1, a day after Kaspi.kz acquired a 65.41% stake in Hepsiburada.

As part of the deal with Hanzade Doğan, the marketplace’s founder and former controlling shareholder, Kaspi.kz purchased 40 million Class A shares and 173.2 million Class B shares in D-Market Electronic Services & Trading, the legal entity operating the Hepsiburada brand.

The $ 1.127-billion deal was approved...

The Oil and Gas Council of Kazakhstan has announced its latest nomination, appointing Nurlan Muratov as deputy managing director of ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. and Tengiz asset manager.

«Nurlan is the first Kazakhstani citizen to hold this position in Tengiz asset management within ExxonMobil,» the statement read.

In 1997, Muratov graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied geology. He also earned a master’s degree in energy and mineral resources from the same university.

From 2002 to 2012, Muratov worked at ExxonMobil as a senior geologist, technical team lead and geoscience adviser...

Between 2018 and 2020, Kazakhstan’s Autonomous Cluster Fund «Park of Innovative Technologies» (PIT) financed 95 startups, allocating approximately $2 million in budget funds. However, 32 of these entities were later liquidated. According to a recent report from the country’s Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC) on the effectiveness of the digital development policy, another 21 projects have not paid taxes, indicating they are inactive. In total, 53 out of 95 startups or about 55.8% failed to demonstrate investment success or effectiveness.

Additionally, from 2016 to 2017, PIT received nearly $9 million in budget funds to establish five technology development centers and one...

Kazakhstani photographer Anel Bazylova emerged as the winner of the prestigious 2025 National and Regional Awards at the Sony World Photography Awards. Her project, which depicts women with rare genetic diseases and those diagnosed with cancer, was selected from 400,000 photos submitted by participants from 56 countries.

A piece of visual art by 35-year-old Bazylova, created within the photo project called «Bud’»(Live), was selected as the best from Kazakhstan. She began the project in 2024, pursuing the goal of supporting women with rare diseases.

«My goal is to motivate women who have found themselves in a...

In late 2024, Alexander and Igor Deriglazov, the founders and owners of the Meloman holding, sold about 50% of their assets to Aqniet Group, whose majority stakeholder is Kairat Itemgenov, according to Forbes Kazakhstan.

Reports about the potential sale of Meloman first emerged about a year ago. However, the Deriglazov brothers and Aqniet Group entered into serious negotiations only in late spring and began preparing for the deal in the fall. As a result, Aqniet Group has acquired three businesses in Moscow and four in Kazakhstan from the Deriglazovs.

«The deal covers our stores but...