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An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission visited Kazakhstan in late May. Head of the mission Nicolas Blanchet has summarized the results of the visit in a statement reviewing the current economic situation in the country and has given some recommendations on behalf of the international organization.

According to Blanchet, even though Kazakhstan’s economy and financial sector have remained resilient, downside risks to the outlook are substantial, particularly external risks:

Kazakhstan fully supports the United States in its effort to stabilize the situation in the Middle East and hopes that bloodshed will stop soon, according to the country’s foreign ministry.

«We are hailing a peaceful initiative by the White House aimed at cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the release of hostages, free flow of humanitarian aid and the restoration of the Gaza Strip with the help of the international community,» the ministry said in a statement.

The agency has also expressed hope that the initiative would stop the bloodshed, save civilians and create conditions for...

KMF, the biggest microfinance organization (MFO) in Kazakhstan, has changed its form of ownership, transforming itself into a joint stock company. Previously, it operated as a limited liability company.

No changes for creditors, customers or partners are expected, though. Moreover, neither corporate details of the company nor its headquarters location will change, the legal entity said in a statement.

«This is a pivotal moment for our company. We’ve pursued this transformation into a joint stock company persistently and consistently. This move has a great symbolic meaning for us because it shows our determination and commitment to...

Kairat Kelimbetov, a former head of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) from 2015 to 2023, has joined the board of directors of Freedom Holding Corp., the company said in a statement.

«Freedom Holding Corp. is confirming that the board of directors has been expanded to seven people. There are three new independent directors: Andrew Gamble, Philippe Vogeleer and Kairat Kelimbetov,» the holding reported.

The company has also created a new position of chief legal officer. Jason Kerr, a former member of the board of directors, has been appointed to the new position. He is...

The Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan will borrow $1.9 billion in the open market in June to cover the deficit of the state budget. This is a 53% increase over May when the government issued bonds for $1.2 billion, according to the Association of the Financiers of Kazakhstan (AFK), citing official data published at the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).

Most of the offerings in June will include bonds with a maturity of one year, three years, five years and six years for $225 million each. An additional $202 million will be raised with the help of eight-year maturity bonds and...

Inflation in Kazakhstan noticeably declined in April and may slow to 8% by year-end, according to analysts from the International Monetary Fund, who visited Kazakhstan in May as part of the fund’s mission. They also emphasized that the National Bank’s monetary policy is crucial in managing inflation and achieving the target rate.

On June 3, the Bureau of National Statistics published data showing that annual inflation in Kazakhstan slipped by 0.2 percentage points (p.p.) to 8.5%. The same trend was reported month-on-month, with prices rising by 0.4%, while the National Bank lowered the base rate by 0.25 p.p. to 14.5%.

According to Roman Sklyar, the first deputy prime minister of Kazakhstan, the country’s government will allocate $14 million for the evaluation of the subsoil potential of the Aral Sea area.

In particular, the funds will be spent on geological and geophysical exploration of the Zapadnyi and Vostochnyi fields. Once this work is completed later this year, the government will comprehensively review resources deposited in the area and determine the most prospective structures.

Furthermore, many independent subsoil users do the same job independently, exploring the former seabed of the Aral Sea in a bid to find something promising enough.

What can...

A new $1.5 billion copper factory will be built in Kazakhstan, the press service of the country’s prime minister reported.

The plant will be built by China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction Co. (supplier of designing services and equipment) and NFC Kazakhstan (construction contractor) for KAZ Minerals Smelting (customer). The three sides have signed this contract during an official ceremony attended by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.

The factory is expected to be set up in the vicinity of the Aktogay settlement in the Abay region. The $1.5 billion project will be commissioned in 2028. The plant will have...

Annual inflation slowed down to 8.5% in May, a 0.2 percentage point (p.p.) decline compared to April, according to the Bureau of National Statistics. In April, inflation slowed down by 0.4 p.p. year-on-year.

Over the past month, prices increased by 0.4%, whereas in April prices grew by 0.2 p.p. The National Bank raised the base rate by 0.25 p.p. to 14.5% on May 31.

«In order to reach 5% inflation in the middle-term perspective we need to proceed with our relatively tough monetary policy as long as it takes,» the National Bank said.

Over the...

The Sary Arka airport in Karaganda will be transformed into a multimodal hub capable of processing up to 200,000 tons of cargo. Once the project is implemented, it will create 2,000 permanent jobs and boost its tax payments, according to Maksut Kozhanov, head of the Department of Passenger Transport and Highways of the Karaganda region.

«As of today, there is a clear understanding of what this multimodal hub should look like. A subzone of the Sary Arka special economic zone must be opened at the airport. The government is obliged to ensure that all the necessary...

The European Union is set to invest approximately €10 billion into the development of transportation in Central Asia, according to the Delegation of the EU to Tajikistan.

«The EU announced the overall commitment to invest €10 billion in sustainable transport connectivity in Central Asia as a combined contribution from international partners. The European Commission under the EU Global Gateway strategy is preparing a regional transport program in support of the Trans-Caspian International Route (TITR),» the delegation said in a statement.

In January 2024, the Investors Forum on Sustainable Transport Connectivity between Europe and Central Asia...

In his post on X (formerly Twitter) President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid tribute to all those people who suffered from the mass famine and political repression in the XX century. The president underlined that the country’s government has been doing a lot to restore historical justice.

Tokayev has also emphasized that experts continue to examine grim chapters of Kazakhstani history and they are trying to do so objectively.

«Today is the 31st of May when we are paying tribute to the victims of political repression and famine of the last century. We will able to...

According to the Civil Aviation Committee (CAC), Kazakhstani airlines are no longer on the EU Air Safety List, which means they can fly to European countries with no restrictions. The country’s Ministry of Transport had been involved in resolving the issue since 2009.

«In May 2024, Director for Aviation (DG MOVE Directorate E) in the European Commission Filipp Cornelis informed us in a letter that the European Commission decided to stop its rigorous monitoring over Kazakhstan,» the committee said in a statement.

The CAC noted that the European Commission’s decision followed all the intense work...

According to Yerlan Ospanov, the chair of the board of directors of the Sary Arka airport in Karaganda, there is a very promising future for the airport as Timur Turlov, the founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., has acquired a share in the company.

«As partners, we share the same goal: to transform the Karaganda airport into a regional aviation cargo hub. Moreover, we are going to implement a more ambitious project of Karaganda Cargo City,» the CEO of the airport wrote on Facebook.

Ospanov revealed that he closed the deal with Turlov by...

The Open Banking project, based on Open API, is set to start on July 1, 2024, according to Chair of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Timur Suleimenov, who held a press conference devoted to the lowering of the base rate.

«We launched the Open API and Switch pilot projects last year. I hope they will be fully operational starting from July 1. I am going to talk about them in our future press conferences,» Suleimenov said.

About the technology. Open Banking allows commercial banks to open access to their clients’ data to third parties if...

Byrna Technologies, a maker of personal defense products, has leveraged the influence of three prominent U.S. radio personalities to integrate its wares into their shows. This strategic move has provided the company with weekly access to an audience of around 1.5 million listeners and propelled Byrna’s shares to climb nearly 7% since the announcement of these deals on May 23.

Details

Over the past five days, Byrna Technologies’ stock has risen by 6.72%, reaching $12.22 per share. Last week, the company announced deals with three prominent radio hosts: Dan Bongino, Dana Loesch, and Michael Gallagher. Bongino also hosts...

According to its press service Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) is going to build a container hub in the port of Aktau in conjunction with Lianyungang Port, one of the biggest port groups in China.

This arrangement has been reached during an official visit of Damir Kozhakhmetov, general director of KTZ Express, to China. In particular, he met with representatives of Lianyungang Port to discuss the joint project.

«Once the container hub is built, we will be able to create the necessary infrastructure to process and ship container freight to different destinations through the Aktau Port, as well...

Timur Turlov, the founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., has acquired a majority stake in Sky Service, a parent company for the Sary Arka airport in Karaganda. As a result of the deal, Turlov Private Holding controls a 60% stake in the airport.

The deal was signed in May with no details available to the public. According to eGov.kz, there are three major shareholders in Sky Service: Turlov Private Holding, Yerlan Ospanov (former CEO of Verny Capital controlled by Bulat Utemuratov) and Aidan Akanov (the current CEO of Verny Capital). Ospanov and Akanov used to own 95% and...

In April 2024, Inpex North Caspian Sea, a Kazakhstani subsidiary of Japan’s Inpex, exported 20,000 tons of oil to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline, according to sources familiar with statistics from the Russian Ministry of Energy, as reported by Russian Vedomosti.

Inpex, holding a 7.56% stake in the Kashagan field, has become the second Kazakhstani company to export oil to Germany through Druzhba. Previously, Kazakhstan exported oil produced at the Karachaganak field, though it remains unclear which member of the Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO) consortium facilitated this export.

Germany ceased importing Russian oil at the beginning of 2023. To address...

Trianon Limited, a company controlled by Kazakhstani billionaires Vladimir Kim and Oleg Novachuk, has sold its Baimskaya gold and copper project in Chukotka to Northern Aurora, a Russian closed mutual investment fund. In early May 2024, the U.S. added the Baimskaya mining company to its sanctions list.

According to the Russian Business Register, 99% of Baimskaya Holding, which controls GDK Baimskaya (the Baimskaya mining complex), belongs to Northern Aurora. The remaining 1% is controlled by the Baimskaya Managing Company, established by Northern Aurora. The managing company of the mutual fund itself is RusCapital.

Trianon Limited acquired Baimskaya from KAZ Minerals...

As many as 470,000 freight containers will go through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) connecting China and Europe or 800,000 containers if all Central Asia is taken into account, the press service of Mazhilis, the lower chamber of Kazakhstan’s parliament reported, citing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

For comparison: In 2023, only 20,500 containers went through the TITR, which was a 39% decline over 2022. However, over the first four months of 2024, about 10,400 containers were shipped via the route, a 70.4% increase compared to the same period last year.

TITR container freight volume is...

According to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) forecast, the volume of oil going through the pipeline will decrease due to a 7% decline in expected output at 70 million tons of oil at the Tengiz field.

«As the updated forecast shows, oil output is going to decline by 7% this year compared to figures we have budgeted based on preliminary applications from freight forwarders. We are expecting a decline of 7.9 million tons from Tengiz and an increase of 3.3 million tons from Kashagan. The overall deviation from planned volumes is negative 4.8 million tons,» the...

All the money the government of Kazakhstan gained from Lesha Bank, an investment bank from Qatar that acquired Bereke Bank, will be sent to the state budget, according to Baiterek Holding. At the same time, the law on state property says that the funds should be sent to the National Fund.

«If the deal is successfully closed, all the money will be sent to the state budget,» Baiterek said in a response to Kursiv’s inquiry.

On May 20, 2024, Lesha Bank announced that the deal with the acquisition of Bereke Bank was closed. This announcement...

According to Deputy Chairman of the Board of Baiterek Holding Zhandos Shaikhy, preliminary data shows that the holding earned roughly $272.7 million in the first quarter of 2024, which is a 9% increase over the previous year.

In Q1, Baiterek financed 14 export transactions and eight investment projects in the amount of $347.3 million.

Furthermore, the financial institution has allocated about $402.7 million for the support of 3,400 businesses from the agricultural industry, while around $476.7 million was given to 36 exporting companies.

Otbasy Bank, a subsidiary of Baiterek, issued $562.5 million in loans to retail customers over the first...