News

Russian Ministry of Transport has suggested to charge alternative fuel motorists a tax for any kilometer they drive, the Izvestiya newspaper reports.

According to the ministry, alternative fuel vehicles have the same impact on road infrastructure as traditional transport does. The maintenance of all these roads is supported with money from so-called road funds.

Also, the agency wants the government to impose excise duty on natural gas-based fuel, power for electric cars and hydrogen. Moreover, the transport system officials suggest charging cargo truck drivers for using any roads except municipal roads. This would allow the ministry to raise more money...

Two former prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan Djoomart Otorbayev and Temir Sariyev, who are the key figures of the cause celebre linked to the Kumtor gold mine, have written their pledge to not leave the country, according to the 24.kg website. 

Among other charged offenders who have been released out of jail recently are Torobai Zulpukarov and Iskhak Pirmatov, former deputies of the Kyrgyz parliament; former prime minister Omurbek Babanov, deputies Talant Uzakbaev and Almazbek Baatyrbekov. All of them have written a pledge to not leave the country and have received their new pre-trial restrictions.

However, several former top officials are...

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the government is ready to tighten sanctions against Belarus including closing border crossings to halt transit of cargo through the neighboring country, according to the Interfax news agency.

While speaking at the press conference in Tallinn, Estonia, Morawiecki said that the Belarusian side uses migrants from the Middle East as a human shield and is trying to create an energy crisis.

«This is a hybrid war; the pressure on the eastern border of the EU is rising,» he said.

The Polish government does not hide its anxiety about the behavior of...

Kazakhstani Mazhilis has approved a draft law on ratification of the agreement between the governments of the U.S. and Kazakhstan on air travel, the Interfax Kazakhstan news agency reported.

According to Beibut Atamkulov, minister of industry and infrastructural development of Kazakhstan, the agreement is aimed at the creation of a legal basis for direct air travel between Kazakhstan and the U.S.

«In accordance with recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization on liberalization of air travel and suggestions from the American side, the agreement will allow any airlines to set any number of direct flights to any cities in...

Shareholders of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) are going to increase its capacity up to 80 million tons of crude oil per year. The project was announced by the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who took part in the official event commemorating the company’s 25th anniversary.

As Tokayev noted, CPC is an impressive example of how smoothly and effectively all shareholders can work with each other.

«Since 2011 more than 750 million tons of Kazakhstani crude oil have been exported through CPC to the global market. The pipeline’s capacity has grown 2.5-fold to 67 million tons. Now, we are...

Kazakhstan Football Federation is going to skip the state or quasi-state organizations’ money as an option of its funding starting from 2022, according to Azamat Aitkhozhin, secretary-general of the federation.

Starting next year, the Kazakhstan Football Federation is going to cover all its needs with money from UEFA and sponsors only.

The decision was made after the total defeat during the 2022 World Championship qualification match against France with an 8:0 score. The federation was immediately criticized for the poor management of the team.

«First of all, I want to say sorry to all our fans because we’ve lost...

Prominent professional boxer from Kazakhstan Gennadiy Golovkin has announced his next world champion title fight.

The next opponent of Golovkin, the current middleweight IBF, IBO world champion (41-1-1, 36 КО) is Ryota Murata, a WBA (Super) champion from Japan (16-2, 13 КО).

«Big drama in Japan. See you on December 29,» wrote GGG on his Instagram account. 

The title fight is going to be on December 29 at Saitama Super Arena in the Japanese city of Saitama. The facility is designed to house about 37,000 spectators. However, the only way to attend the event for viewers is to prove that...

The Kazakhstan Association of Blockchain Technology discussed issues of electricity supply for persons engaged in digital mining activities. The meeting was held in the Ministry of Energy, and it was also attended by representatives of the Blockchain Association and the data-centers and technology industry, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and KEGOC JSC.

Participants of the meeting have received a proposal from the Ministry of Energy to identify “grey” miners who are not registered in the national register to confirm the legal status of their business activity. In addition, it has been discussed...

The Kazakhstan Association of Blockchain Technology discussed issues of electricity supply for persons engaged in digital mining activities. The meeting was held in the Ministry of Energy, and it was also attended by representatives of the Blockchain Association and the data-centers and technology industry, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and «KEGOC» JSC

«We have built a constructive dialogue with the Ministry of Energy. Herewith we have got all the answers to our questions that were troubling. Of course, as citizens of our country, we are also interested in...

2021 COAS Pakistan Open Tae Kwon Do Championships have ended in Islamabad. According to the Tae Kwon Do Federation of Kazakhstan, sportswomen from Kazakhstan impressed both competitors and spectators.

Kazakhstani athletes won six gold and one silver medal in the G-1 class competitions, including Aidana Edilbaeva in the weight category up to 46 kg, Nurai Bauyrzhanova (up to 49 kg), Zhadyr Khairullina (up to 62 kg), Nurai Khusainova (up to 67 kg), Jansel Deniz (up to 73 kg) and Aigul Elubai (over 73 kg).

Diana Absenova, representing Kazakhstan in the weight category up to 62 kg, became the silver medalist...

Over nine months of this year, the number of people who traveled by air increased by 81% up to 6.9 million, according to the country’s Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development.

The number of those passengers who received airport services has also increased by 70% to 12.6 million people (7.4 million over the same period of 2020 and 12.3 million in 2019).

All flight destinations inside the country have been restored at the moment (57 routes with 744 flights per week). Also, the country’s airlines have restored flights to 23 international destinations (63 routes with 247 flights per week) such as...

Due to a shortage of electricity during peak-hours, Kazakhstan is going to import that lacking power from Russia starting from November. The country may purchase about 300-400 Megawatts at private rates. Given that it is unlikely Kazakhstan would be able to solve the problem soon, the imports of energy from the north may last three or even five years.

This winter Kazakhstan has come across with quite a big deficit of electricity. 

«During peak activity hours the power consumption in the country exceeds the same rate last year by 1000-1500 Megawatts,» said KEGOC, a company that runs a national...

Kazatomprom, the national nuclear company in Kazakhstan has lowered its outlook for uranium production this year from 22,500 tons to 21,700 tons, according to the company.

Lower expectations in production results in 2021 have been caused by delays in mine preparation work due to the pandemic. COVID-19’s impact on the entire supply chain was tremendous. Now the company has no or limited access to some materials and equipment (chemicals, some pipes and pumps, etc.). That’s why the company has adjusted the schedule.

«The output is expected about 21,700 – 22,000 tons (previously it was 22,500 – 22,800 tons),» the...

Transtelecom, a communication company from Kazakhstan has announced its plans to launch five Starlink base stations in the country. The company reported that the facilities are going to be stationed in the following regions: Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Aktau, Uralsk and Kyzylorda.

The project has been shown to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during Digital Bridge, an international forum that is occurring in the capital of Kazakhstan – Nur-Sultan. 

«Starlink experts have reviewed the technical potential of our optical fiber system and data centers and their verdict was positive. Currently, we are working on bringing Starlink equipment to Kazakhstan,» the company said.

The government has decided to sell Ust-Kamenogorsk and Shulba hydro-electric power stations to a consortium of investors from Kazakhstan and Abu Dhabi. The deal is a part of a $6 billion investment contract. Investors have agreed to make both stations private and to build new energy facilities in the country.

The acquisition of the largest hydropower stations in the East Kazakhstan region was supposed to take place in May. However, the signing of a contract is scheduled for December 1, according to the website of the Committee on State Property and Privatization.

«Both stations are going through an assessment...

Starting from December 3 Air Astana, a Kazakhstani airline will support direct flights to Sri Lanka twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, according to the company’s press service.

All flights will be served by the Airbus A321 LR airplane. The departure time of flight КС 167 from Almaty is 05:30 a.m.; the plane would arrive in Colombo at 11.30 a.m. Return fight КС168 will depart from Colombo at 12:30 p.m. and arrives at Almaty airport at 07:40 p.m.

The duration of a flight from Almaty to Colombo is 6 hours and 30 minutes, and 6 hours 40 minutes while...

JSC Kaspi.kz is going to acquire 100% of shares of the BTA Bank owned by KenesRakishev, a businessman from Kazakhstan. According to Kaspi, the Ukrainian bank has no branch offices or loan portfolio, and its operations are limited. The only reason for the deal is a banking license the Ukrainian bank owns. 

According to Kaspi’s financial report for the third quarter of 2021, the company is going to repeat its Kazakhstani story of success in Ukraine and wants to offer people there its mobile payment tools and fintech solutions.

«The acquisition won’t affect the financial status of Kaspi.kz. We...

As the city’s mayor’s office reported, all the businesses in the city were warned about the rule.

In order to guarantee that businesses clearly understand what the akimat (local administration) wants and why it requires businesses to obey this rule, Erzhan Baltayev, head of the department for investments and entrepreneurship development of the city of Nur-Sultan met with local small and middle-sized businesses. They’ve discussed a wide range of issues concerning socially significant products.

According to Kazakhstan’s legislation on trade, the retail margin on socially significant goods can’t be higher than 15% and must be written in contracts between market...

According to the Association of Kazakhstan Automobile Business (AKAB) over the first nine months of this year, Kazakhstan has produced 63,559 vehicles of various types. This is a 25.5% increase over the same period last year when 50,660 vehicles were produced.

The Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan reported $1.1 billion of the combined value of all vehicles produced this year in the country. This is 32.6% more than the first half of last year ($883.6 million).

«The vast majority of these vehicles are passenger cars – 55,016 (+30.8%), heavy trucks – 6,971 (32.1%), buses (872), full trailers and...

Kazakhstan is going to support the idea of increasing oil prices further during the upcoming meeting of OPEC+, according to the Interfax news agency citing Magzum Mirzagaliyev, an energy minister in Kazakhstan.

The minister noted that many other oil producers hold the same opinion as Kazakhstan does.

«Given the soaring oil prices as well as the fact that supply and demand are now quite balanced, oil production must be increased. Kazakhstan holds this opinion as many other producers,» said Mirzagaliyev.

In September 2021, OPEC+ member states cut their oil production by 115% while the initial plan of the...

Because of hackers’ attacks, Kazakhstan’s companies have lost serious money, according to Kaspersky Lab.

This year big companies from Kazakhstan and Russia have lost about $900,000 as a result of cyber-incidents. Once perpetrators choose a target, they do some reconnaissance and attack that company with a tool they prepared for this specific target.

The most expensive cyber-attacks for large companies in Kazakhstan and Russia involve incidents with data leakage (possible harm is more than one $1 million), targeted attacks (about $900,000) and attacks on supply chains (more than $700,000). At the same time for middle-sized and small businesses, the highest...

Russian Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Internal Affairs approved amendments to the driving regulations. They are aimed at e-scooters and hoverboards, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

Russia is going to amend its legislation to add a new category of transport called «personal mobility vehicle» (PMV). By this definition, any transport with one or two wheels powered by an engine to ride just one person is a PMV. 

Once the amendment is approved, owners of such transport will be obliged to keep 25 kilometers per hour maximum speed limit. They will also be able to...

JSC O’zbekiston Temir Yo’llari (Railroads of Uzbekistan) is going to expand its ties with different sea and land ports, according to the company’s press service. To make some networking, the company is also going to participate in the international conference called Caspian Sea Ports and Shipping 2021, which is scheduled for October 19-21 in the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan. 

As the company reported, it is interested in partnering with seaports spread across the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Baltic Sea, and South and South-East Asia.

In August 2021 the company signed a memo on cooperation with Aktau and Kuryk ports...

Russia is going to naturalize children from mixed marriages, according to Sergey Lavrov, a ministry of foreign affairs of the country. He took part in the congress of Russian fellow nationals.

«We [Russian authorities] believe that any mixed family has a right to give its child Russian citizenship no matter where they live in Russia or abroad. This is a constitutional right of any Russian citizen,» he said.

According to Konstantin Kosachev, a deputy head of the Federation Council of Russia, once the initiative is approved, any child can get Russian citizenship if a Russian parent is ready...