News

Four female Kazakhstani nationals were on a boat that capsized near Phi Phi island in Thailand. Three of the tourists were injured, and two of them have been admitted to a hospital, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.

Their condition is stable and there is no threat to their health.

«The Thai owner of the boat has taken on all medical expenses. The Kazakhstani consul is in touch with injured compatriots and local authorities,» the foreign ministry said in a statement.

On Wednesday, May 17, a boat full of tourists hit a signal tower near Phi Phi...

The Commission on Monitoring Foreign Investments under the government of Russia has approved a €125 million deal between Avilon, a car dealer in Russia, and Volkswagen, which was looking for a buyer of its assets in Russia, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Avilon Group has obtained permission to acquire Volkswagen’s subsidiaries in Russia such as Volkswagen Group Rus, Volkswagen Parts and Services, Scania Leasing, Scania Finance and Scania Insurance. According to an undisclosed person familiar with the matter, the permission was issued back on April 17.

Avilon has been considered the main buyer...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has arrived in the People’s Republic of China for a three-day visit, the president’s press service reported. Today, on May 17th, he’s turned 70 and the Chinese side welcomed him with open arms.

Tokayev is expected to meet President Xi Jinping today. Tomorrow he will meet with heads of leading Chinese companies and attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Kazakhstan’s logistical center in the dry port of Xi’an. On May 19, President Tokayev will take part in the Central Asia – China summit and the opening ceremony of Kazakhstan’s Consulate General in Xi’an.

Earlier this week the president’s...

President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso called on business to follow the bank’s example and invest in Uzbekistan’s economy. She made this statement during the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the EBRD in Samarkand.

According to Renaud-Basso, Uzbekistan is going through a deep transformation process and many useful reforms are underway in the country. All this makes Uzbekistan a good place for foreign investments.

EBRD invested more than $3 billion in Uzbekistan over the past six years and this country has been the biggest recipient of the bank’s funds in...

The mobile operator Kcell, which operates under the two brands Kcell and Active, has closed a deal with the government to acquire 5G frequencies in a range from 3,700 to 3,800 MHz.

Kcell signed an agreement with the country authorities on February 17, obliging the mobile operator to build 3,527 basic stations.

The company also reported that the decision on the deal was made on December 19, 2022, days before the consortium of Kcell and Mobile Telecom Service (Tele2 and Altel brands) won a bid for these frequencies.

On December 22-23, 2022, the consortium of the two companies, both controlled...

One-third of people in Central Asia believe that women can’t make more money than their men in order to keep harmony in their families, according to the results of a survey by the World Bank.

About 30% and more than 50% of people follow this belief in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, respectively, the Global Director for the World Bank Group’s Poverty and Equity Global Practice Luis Felipe López-Calva said.

The survey López-Calva has conducted also shows that about 45% of the population in Kazakhstan believes that «men are better fit to executive positions than women.» In Kyrgyzstan, this opinion is common...

The combined cost of the three biggest oil and gas projects is estimated at $13.4 billion, according to the draft development plan for the oil and gas industry for 2023-2027.

For instance, Silleno LLP, the joint venture by KazMunayGas (KMG) and Russian Sibur, has invested $7.6 billion in a polyethylene plant in the National Industrial Petrochemical Technopark. The plant is expected to produce 1.25 million tons of the product starting in 2028.

KazMunayGas is also going to build an $800 million butadiene plant in conjunction with Russian Tatneft. The new facility should start its operation in 2025.

In Shymkent, KMG...

The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan has never ruled out that it may seek amicable dispute resolution with North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) and Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO), operators of the Kashagan and Karachaganak oil fields, according to Almasadam Satkaliyev, the country’s energy minister.

«I think it’s possible if all sides of the argument are ready to reach a settlement,» the minister said. He also noted that currently all sides are negotiating with their consultants and choosing arbitrators.

In April 2023, PSA, a company that represents the interests of the government of Kazakhstan, filed international arbitrage with a $16.5 billion...

Kazakhstan’s boxing team won four gold medals and one silver medal at the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championship in Tashkent. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sent his congratulations to the new world boxing champions.

«I was watching the final fights of the World Boxing Championship with great interest,» the president wrote on Twitter.

Tokayev sent his congratulations and best wishes to Sanzhar Tashkenbay, Makhmud Sabyrkhan, Aslanbek Shymbergenov and Nurbek Oralbay, who have each shown world-class boxing skills, according to the president.

In turn, Askhat Oralov, minister of culture and sport, said that the Kazakhstani boxers have achieved...

Kazakhstan is going to adjust its national security legislation. Members of the parliament have approved a draft law that allows the Ministry of Defense to use the territory of the country’s national reserves.

According to MP Aygul Kospan, two codes and eleven laws are expected to be amended. The move is necessary to improve the national security legislation, the official said.

The key idea behind the lawmakers’ initiative is the intention to get rid of corruption in the military-industrial sector with the help of digitalization of procurement of goods and services for the defense ministry. Moreover, the draft law implies...

Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency has prevented 500 gram of marijuana from getting into the hands of perpetrators in the capital city of Astana.

According to investigators, the drugs were mailed by unidentified people from the U.S. to Almaty. The toy box was supposed to be sent to Astana, but law enforcement officials deemed it suspicious and decided to examine it more closely. They opened the box and discovered a dark green herbal substance with a strong, specific smell. The sticker on the box said that the receiver is a person in Astana, the agency reported.

During the sting operation, the...

Kazakhstan has reclaimed assets valued at $1.7 billion, according to Prosecutor General Berik Asylov. He made this statement at a meeting of the Interagency Commission Against Illegal Concentration of Economic Resources.

«Thanks to consolidated efforts, we have managed to recover Kazakhstan assets worth $1.7 billion. We’ve done this even without a specially designed law. All members of the commission and authorized state agencies have contributed to this achievement,» Asylov said.

As a spokesperson from the Office of the Prosecutor General highlighted, $575 million worth of assets was reclaimed from foreign jurisdictions. According to Asylov, Kazakhstan...

The Committee for Children’s Rights Protection is going to conduct exercises across all schools in Kazakhstan. The key goal of the exercises is to raise the level of preparedness for a potential terrorist attack. The move followed the attack on pupils in the town of Petropavlovsk, the agency said.

School personnel, security guards and pupils are expected to be trained in how to respond in the case of an emergency.

«We are going to check security equipment such as buttons, turnstiles and security cameras. We are also going to examine how fast private security contractors can...

The capital city of Kazakhstan has been ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world since early May. According to IQAir from Switzerland, Astana is currently ranked as the 13th most polluted city in the world. The concentration of fine silt in the air changes daily and Kazgidromet, the national meteorological agency in Kazakhstan, also confirms that the air in Astana is highly polluted. One of the most likely reasons for the situation might be wildfires in neighboring Russia as people in the Northern and Central parts of Kazakhstan report smoke.

The number of polluted cities...

Forbes Kazakhstan has published its annual rating of the 50 richest businessmen in Kazakhstan. Even though all participants of the ranking except for Vladimir Kim and Bulat Utemuratov reported an increase in wealth, their combined fortune dropped by $1.4 billion.

The total wealth of Kazakhstani businessmen decreased from $25.3 billion to $23.9 billion due to Forbes’s decision to count Mikhail Lomtadze as a Georgian businessman (Lomtadze possesses Georgian nationality), even though he’s made his $3.8 billion fortune in Kazakhstan.

The average age for Kazakhstani billionaires is 53. The youngest mogul is Timur Turlov, who is 35. The oldest is Yakov...

On May 9, 2023, Victory Day in many post-Soviet countries, the U.S. Consul General Caroline Savage together with Marines from the U.S. Consulate laid flowers to the eternal light in Almaty in honor of Kazakhstan’s veterans and those who had fallen during WWII, according to the press service of the consulate.

American diplomats expressed their deepest respect to those who made Victory Day possible.

«May this day serve as a reminder of our aspiration for a sustainable world,» the consulate said in a statement.

Caroline Savage has been working in the U.S. State Department since...

The government of Kazakhstan has handed over shares of a company managing the special economic zone called the Khorgos International Center for Border Cooperation to the administration of the Jetisu region.

«In accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 100% of shares of the company managing the Khorgos for International Center for Border Cooperation controlled by the cabinet must be handed over to the administration of the Jetisu region,» the cabinet said in a statement.

Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov has ordered the Committee of State Property and Privatization under the Ministry of Finance...

As the DW broadcaster reported, the new package of European sanctions may hit Kazakhstan. This follows from a statement made by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen while on an official visit to Kyiv.

According to von der Leyen, the new 11th package of sanctions is going to include three core elements.

The first part of the sanctions is going to expand the list of goods prohibited from exporting to Russia through third-party states. The EU also wants to create new tools to prevent third-party states from breaching these sanctions.

“If we see...

AIFC Green Finance Center is going to expand trade with carbon units on its platform.

«The development of the Kazakhstani carbon market and creation of a platform for trade with carbon units is going to be a new direction for GFC. This is a very important project because the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will enter into force in 2026. According to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, Kazakhstan is going to lose $352 million each year if the price of carbon per ton reaches $88,» the center said in a statement.

Officials in...

The European Union is discussing a new mechanism of sanctions against Central Asian states that Russia may use to surpass international sanctions, according to Bloomberg.

Some unidentified sources say that the E.U. wants to crack down on all those trading channels the Kremlin relies on. If this doesn’t work, Brussels will unleash its second option and target key products.

«This mechanism is also aimed at expanding the scope of some export control measures and banning many goods from transit through Russia,» the outlet’s sources reported.

This eleventh package of sanctions the E.U. is working on...

Kazakhstan Railway is going to ban oil exports to the Russian port of Taman on the Black Sea starting from May 8, according to Reuters, citing the company and oil traders.

The railway company hasn’t revealed a reason behind this decision. So far the sea terminal continues to process oil products and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

On May 3, 2023, Russian Railways also restricted oil exports toward Taman. The move followed an official notification by the Russian authorities about a fire at a fuel deposit near the Crimean Bridge. That night, two drones attacked the oil base in the Temruksky...

The Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan considers all the country’s neighbors as friends, according to Sultan Kamaletdinov, deputy head of the ministry.

When journalists in Astana asked if Kazakhstan’s army can defend the country against external threats and if there is any risk of invasion, Kamaletdinov responded that Kazakhstan conducts multi-vector foreign policy and has good relations with all countries of the world, including its neighbors.

«We have no border issues with our neighbors. We consider each of them as a friend and a good neighbor,» he highlighted.

Journalists also asked him to evaluate how...

Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov met with Serkan Kaptan, CEO of TAV Airports Holding, to discuss the new terminal at the Almaty International Airport.

«Almaty International Airport is one of the most important projects for us. It is located in the heart of Central Asia and plays an important role for both the city and the entire country. This is why we are going to proceed with its development. We hope that the new terminal will start operating next year,» Kaptan said during the meeting with Smailov.

In turn, the prime minister underlined that the new...

According to the Ministry of Trade and Integration, Kazakhstan’s government has raised its requirements for football fields covered with either natural grass or artificial turf to make them meet FIFA standards.

«All requirements to football fields covered with natural grass and artificial turf in Kazakhstan must be equal to standards by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), which is the biggest international governing body in the world of football,» the ministry said in a statement.

According to new national standards for soccer fields with a natural or artificial surface, any football field covered with...