News

Kazakhtelecom stocks (KZTK) have risen by 2.13% to $69.24, according to Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).

On April 12, Skyline Investment Company S.A. and Alatau Capital Investment, both companies controlled by Kairat Satybaldy, nephew of Nursultan Nazarbayev, ex-president of Kazakhstan, handed over 28.8% share of Kazakhtelecom stock to the government. Both deals have been done free of charge.

In turn, the cabinet has officially agreed to sign a gift agreement with Skyline Investment Company S.A. and accept 2,671,481 common stocks or 24.95% of the company’s capital equity. At the same time, Alatau Capital Investment has donated 413,412 common stocks of Kazakhtelecom...

Sberbank subsidiary in Kazakhstan continues to work as usual after the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the U.S. Department of the Treasury postponed the deadline for completing transactions with Sberbank for an additional three months from April 13 to July 12, 2022, according to the joint statement of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market and Sberbank Kazakhstan.

So, for now, clients of Sberbank in Kazakhstan will be able to make unlimited transactions with payments and transfers both in Kazakhstan’s national currency tenge and Russian rubles.

«The Agency of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of...

As the Halyk Bank’s call center told the Kursiv.media, it has bought Sber’s car loans portfolio and is now working on debt assumption. However, Sberbank refused to confirm this.

«Clients should make payments as usual. When their debt is sold to Halyk or any other bank, nothing will change for them,» a Sber’s representative said.

Some of the clients of Sber have already been informed about the assignment of rights. «Sberbank notifies you about the upcoming assignment of rights with no changes in loans conditions. Your data will be processed due to the upcoming assignment of rights. Once the procedure...

Alfa Bank Kazakhstan is negotiating with investors about the sale, the bank reported.

According to Andrei Timchenko, executive director of the bank, the financial organization is doing everything needed to stabilize and improve the situation Alfa Bank Kazakhstan has found itself in. Now the bank is negotiating its sale. More than ten investors are examining the entity’s books; they are going to take a decision very soon.

«No doubt, we can reach a deal and change shareholders in a couple of weeks or even sooner,» he said.

In addition, Alfa Bank wants to sell its loan portfolio to other Kazakhstani...

As S&P Global Ratings reported, Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt as the county tried to pay for its debt with rubles, not dollars, according to CNN.

Russia attempted to pay in rubles for two dollar-denominated bonds that matured on April 4, S&P said in a note on Friday.

The agency said this amounted to a “selective default” because investors are unlikely to be able to convert the rubles into “dollars equivalent to the originally due amounts.”

According to S&P, a selective default is declared when an entity has defaulted on a specific obligation but not its entire debt.

Over the period from January to March, Kazakhstan produced 714,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is 12.9 percentage points less than the same period last year. According to Bolat Akchulakov, minister of energy in Kazakhstan, the current situation is the result of the war in Ukraine; Kazakhstan no longer has the opportunity to export LPG into Ukraine.

At the same time, Kazakhstan itself has consumed about 6.7 billion cubic meters of conditioned gas. 

«Because of the growing amount of natural gas consumed domestically, the volume of exported gas has reduced. Over the first quarter this year, we exported...

According to the press service of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, he has appointed a new akim (governor) of the Zhambyl region.

Nurzhan Nurzhigitov has superseded Berdibek Saparbayev as the akim of the Zhambyl region.

Nurzhigitov was born in 1967. He graduated from Leningrad Agricultural Institute as a mechanic-engineer and Zhambyl Humanitarian-Technical University as an economist.

Over years of his career in the public sector, he worked as a specialist in the economic department of Zhualyn district of the Zhambyl region, senior inspector of the office of akim of Zhambyl region and head of the public service department under the Anti-Corruption Agency...

The chess player from Kazakhstan Bibisara Asaubayev has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest female champion in blitz chess.

According to Kazakhstan’s Committee of Sports and Physical Culture, the 18-year-old female from Taraz hit a record during a tournament in Warsaw on December 30. Back then, she was 17-years-and-307-days-old.

In Warsaw, she was also ranked second in rapid chess. Bibisara outplayed Georgian chess player Nana Dzagnidze and compatriot Assel Serikbay but tied with Aleksandra Kostenyuk, a chess grandmaster from Russia.

Bibisara Asaubayeva is the only Kazakhstani adult world champion in chess. In 2019 she obtained...

Yesterday, on April 6, 2022, the U.S. imposed sanctions against subsidiaries of Sber and Alfa Bank in Kazakhstan. As a result, all assets of these banks should be frozen in the U.S. and no American company or individuals can do business with these entities, according to the official website of the White House.

The U.S. government has also imposed fully blocking sanctions against parent companies of Sberbank and Alfa Bank. The White House noted that Sber counts for one-third of all assets of the Russian banking sector while Alfa Bank is the biggest private financial organization in Russia and fourth...

Kazakhstan pharmaceutical companies forecast that drugs prices are going to soar.

Usually, medicine prices in Kazakhstan are increased every six months. However, this time the increase in drug prices may happen much earlier. The main driver of this change is soaring prices for medicine and medical raw materials.

«The pharmaceutical industry struggles with disruption of supply chains and increasing prices for logistical services. Also, it’s not an easy task to transport pharmaceutical products as they require a special approach while being transported or in storage. That’s why the cost of drugs has soared. Now businesses become less interested in producing...

Over the past 30 years, the population of the North Kazakhstan region has dropped twofold. As of February 2022, there were half a million residents while in 1991 the region accounted for one million people.  The decline in population is driven by a natural decline in the population and a negative balance of migration.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the population in the North Kazakhstan region has been declining since 1992 by 0.8-0.9% a year on average. Last year this rate was even faster – 1.8%.

As of March 1, 2022, the region is the least populated in...

According to Alibek Kuantyrov, minister of the national economy, the government plans to adjust the state budget due to the changing situation in the global economy. The estimated oil price for the current year is going to be about $90 per barrel. At the same time, the government has decreased its forecast for GDP growth in 2022 from 3.9% to 2.1%.

«A year-average oil price is set at the level of $90 per barrel. Based on this we have decreased the forecast for the GDP growth from 3.9% to 2.1%,» he said.

The formal volume of the country’s GDP is...

According to Mukhtar Tleuberdi, foreign minister of Kazakhstan, the country does not recognize the independence of the so-called People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.

At the same time, the official noted that Kazakhstan has no intention to join the set of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States against Russia.

«There are two key points for us. First, we want these sanctions to not affect the development of our national economy. Second, we want our territory to not be used as a tool to bypass these sanctions,» he said.

Tleuberdi has also confirmed that the position of...

As the official website of Kazakhstan’s president reported, Darkhan Dilmanov has been discharged from the office of the deputy head of the National Security Committee/Head of the Border Guard Service.

«The president has discharged Darkhan Dilmanov from the office of the deputy head of the National Security Committee, head of the Border Guard Service,» the official statement said.

Darkhan Dilmanov was born in 1969 in Kyzylorda. He graduated from the Moscow Border Guard Highest Command School under Soviet KGB, Kyzylorda State University and Moscow Border Institute under Russian FSB.

Over the period from 1986 to 1998, he served in...

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture Erbol Karashukeev has come up with an idea to establish a new veterinary medicine distributor. This company may work exactly like SK Pharmacy, a national distributor of medicines in Kazakhstan, the official noted.

«We plan to establish a single distributor of veterinary medicine and diagnostic products that would be operated similar to SK Pharmacy. When I say “single distributor» I mean a company that fully belongs to the government and operates under the strict domestic and international standards of quality control. This company must be responsible for direct purchases of veterinary medicine from leading local and...

As the Ministry of Defense reported all units of the Kazakhstan army have been put on training alert. A significant part of military personnel should move to training grounds by trucks, heavily armored vehicles, and railways where they have to conduct training exercises.

These exercises include tactical maneuvers and shootings during daylight and at night. The ministry is going to estimate the ability of military units to take joint action in order to implement tactical tasks within specific time frames. The military officials also want to make sure that officers have a clear understanding of what they have to do...

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov has warned the people of his country that due to the current geopolitical tensions the economic situation in the country may worsen, the Interfax Kazakhstan newswire reported.

The situation in the country is quite difficult, stated the president

«Prices have soared and everything is going to be much more expensive. Unemployment is also still in place. We know about the shortage of main products. That’s why I ask people to reconsider their spending; they have to forget for a while about expensive purchases, refrain from big banquets and stop wasting money. The top priority now...

IT Visa has been available in Uzbekistan since April 1, 2022. This new tool allows foreign specialists to enter Uzbekistan and get a residence permit with no hassle.

Among those who are eligible for IT Visa are foreign investors, founders of IT Park resident companies and IT professionals. Members of their families can obtain a visitor visa. Residents of the Uzbek IT Park can take advantage of a bunch of benefits including exemption of taxes and customs duties. However, they still have to pay income tax (7.5%) and dividends tax (5%).

To support newcomers the IT Park is ready to...

According to the press service of the Karaganda region, the election of a mayor of the town of Abai is set for April 10.

There are four candidates for the position, including Medeu Akhmetov, the current mayor of Abai, who has stayed in office since May 15, 2018, Akniet Abzhatov and Amangeldy Nurmukhanov, both workers in the local administration and Gulnara Kosaeva, a coach in a local sports club. The first and the last candidates are nominees of the Amanat and NPK (Kazakhstan Peoples Party) political parties respectively, while the other two are independent candidates.

Abai is a town of...

The agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Korea regarding the mutual abolition of visas is going to resume for Kazakhstani people starting from April 1, according to the press service of the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This visa-free regime had been suspended by the Korean government because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now citizens of Kazakhstan will be able to enter the Republic of Korea and stay there visa-free for 30 days. However, for those who are going to work, study or live in South Korea, visas are still required.

Foreigners, who enter Korea should register...

According to Bagdat Musin, minister of digital development, innovations and aerospace industry of Kazakhstan, residents in 200 settlements have no access to the internet even though mobile operators claimed that they have. This statement was made during a meeting of the counting committee which has audited the activities of the ministry.

As he noted, the quality and presence of internet access is an urgent problem.

«In 2019 we did 50 examinations of the quality of the communications. Last year we did 560 such examinations. In 2019 mobile operators paid just $32,200 in fines; in 2020 the total number of penalties...

The Royal Dutch airline KLM may return to Kazakhstan. At least, this question became a significant part of talks between Askar Zhumagaliev, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the Netherlands and KLM top officials: Frank Prilevitz, vice president for international affairs and corporate law and Seth van Straten, KLM network director.

As Askar Zhumagaliyev noted, there are no direct flights to Kazakhstan from the Netherlands. As a result, Dutch entrepreneurs have to make transfers while traveling to Kazakhstan, and of course, resuming direct air travel can boost cooperation between the two countries.

“There is a great opportunity for KLM to restore direct flights...

Once the new railway from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan is done, the transit of cargo toward the south will be much faster, said Kairbek Uskenbayev, minister of industry and infrastructural development of Kazakhstan.

The new railway is going to connect Darbaza and Maktaaral. The railway station Darbaza, Kazakhstan is located between Arys and Saryagash (both of which are in the Turkestan region of Kazakhstan). Kazakhstan exporters are used to sending their goods such as wheat and flour via Saryagash, the railway station right on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and near the Uzbek capital city of Tashkent. However, exporters have...

Kazakhstan is a member state of the Eurasian Economic Union where the balance of migration is most negative, as tens of thousands of people leave the county forever.

According to the Eurasian Economic Commission’s data, all EEU member states except Russia reported a negative migration balance last year. Kyrgyzstan has shown the lowest migration rate (-769 people).

Kazakhstan demonstrates the biggest rate of negative migration balance. About 32,200 people left the country last year, while only 10,900 people came to Kazakhstan to live here. In 2021 the number of people leaving Kazakhstan increased by 20% compared to 2020.

However, the...