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The public debt of Kazakhstan is at a safe level. The government is going to ensure that the debt won’t exceed 25% of the GDP within the next five years, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov said during a joint meeting of the higher and lower houses of the parliament.

During the meeting, MP Anas Bakkozhaev asked the prime minister about exactly what the cabinet is doing to decrease public debt.

In response to the inquiry, Smailov stated that the issue of reducing public debt is one of the primary concerns of the cabinet, which is following the best practices in this...

On June 22, 2023, people, vehicles as well as the flow of cargo and goods will not be allowed to use the crossing point at the Kazakhstani-Chinese border, according to the Border Guard Service under the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan.

As the Border Service noted, the border crossing points will be closed because of the Dragon Boat Festival celebration in the People’s Republic of China and in accordance with bilateral agreements between China and Kazakhstan.

On the other hand, the railway checkpoints will operate as usual.

Kazakhstan and China have signed an agreement that allows people to travel from...

The 20th round of the Astana Process talks on Syria was officially pronounced as the last one, according to Kanat Tumysh, deputy foreign minister of Kazakhstan.

On the sidelines of the 20th international meeting devoted to the crisis in Syria commonly known as the Astana Process, Tumysh responded to journalists’ questions about whether new rounds of negotiations on Syria are necessary.

«The gradual exit of Syria from regional isolation is a sign that the Astana Process has reached its goal. Given that Syria is now back to the family of Arab states, we propose to officially...

The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) of Kazakhstan is planning to amend the national legislation to facilitate new banks to enter the country’s market. The regulator is going to soften requirements for the attraction of deposits. As a result, three new banks may emerge in the country.

According to the draft of this new regulation, the regulator is going to amend several laws associated with the development of the financial market and the protection of the rights of those who consume financial services. As the regulator noted, not a single bank has emerged since...

Kazakhstan is going to export 100,000 tons of oil to Germany per month, although it is exploring the possibility to boost this export, Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev said.

«We’ve started our export to Germany from a small amount of oil, about 20,000 per month. Now, after a new agreement has been signed, we are going to increase the oil export to 100,000 tons per month via the Druzhba oil pipeline,» he told journalists in the corridors outside the meeting between President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

According to Satkaliyev, Kazakhstan is...

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany has shared his opinion on the issue of easing visa requirements for citizens of Kazakhstan by saying that this is a very important issue.

Steinmeier said that visa issues are the prerogative of the EU, although Germany “supports EU efforts on this issue.”

In March 2023, Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko said that Kazakhstan was expecting European countries to introduce a visa-free regime for its citizens. At the time, the official noted that Kazakhstan has been supporting a visa-free regime for the EU member states since 2017. This regime was suspended in...

The Almaty city authorities want to build a bottom ash processing plant near the city’s thermal power plant No.2. Once the $21 million project is done, it will be able to reprocess 300,000 tons of bottom ash from the TTP. The project is going to be implemented by the Kazakhstani company Arka Development in conjunction with local authorities and RID Capital from Russia.

Almaty Electric Power Stations (ALES) came up with ash processing at the Almaty TPP No.2 back in 2015. Since then, authorities had been looking for a company that could implement a scientific and technical project on the...

The Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan is planning to start subsidizing the cost of electricity and gas for greenhouses in order to help farmers stay afloat, Agriculture Minister Yerbol Karashukeev said while speaking in front of Majilis, the lower house of the country’s parliament.

According to the minister, while the area of industrial greenhouses has grown by 31.7 hectares over the past three years, the area of small greenhouses run by farmers has decreased by 62 hectares due to surging prices for planting material, fertilizers and utilities. Given that small greenhouses traditionally aren’t that profitable, high utility costs are definitely...

In 2022, foreign direct investments in the economy of the city of Almaty reached $7.6 billion, a 10.9% increase over 2021, according to Dastan Umirbayev, head of the city’s economic department.

The influx of foreign investments was a stimulating factor for the local labor market. In 2022, roughly 40,000 new jobs were created in the city, the official reported.

According to the Almaty city administration, the total investment in fixed capital of the city’s enterprises increased by 12% in 2022 and reached $3.1 billion. Local businesses also supported this growth at the expense of their own funds ($2.2 billion, +21.1%).

Aisultan Seitov, a prominent clip maker from Kazakhstan, won the Best Director prize at the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival. The award was given for his debut movie Qash (Escape). The young director wrote about the news on his Instagram page.

What this award is and to whom it is awarded: The award is called the Golden Goblet Awards Asian New Talent. Any director with a debut film can be nominated for it.

What other awards the film claimed: the movie was also nominated for Best Film and Best Screenwriter.

What the movie Qash is about and when it was...

The Big Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD) project has been officially kicked off. After the opening ceremony, ten cargo tracks, ten buses and dozens of light vehicles marked with the BAKAD logo went along the new road toward Kaskelen, a small town west of Almaty.

«The new road is bound to be the key element of the Western China-Western Europe transport corridor, which is going to boost the economic development of the entire region. In addition, the ring road is an effective tool to reduce the burden on the road system of Almaty and its suburbs,» Governor...

The Stolen Assets Recovery (StAR) Initiative by the World Bank and the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) is going to assist Kazakhstan in its endeavor to reclaim illegally withdrawn assets, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Kazakhstan said.

Why the StAR initiative will assist Kazakhstan in the recovery of assets

On June 12-16, 2023, a Kazakhstani delegation headed by Deputy General Prosecutor of Kazakhstan Ulan Baizhanov, took part in the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption in Vienna (Austria). During the meeting, Kazakhstani officials enlisted the help of the StAR initiative in returning illegally...

As Dmitry Makeev, deputy head of KazMunayGas (KMG), told Kursiv, diesel fuel consumption is going to grow from the current 5.5 million tons per year to 8 million tons by 2035.

«We’ve conducted a marketing study and now we have a certain understanding of how the demand for oil products will grow in Kazakhstan. I can’t disclose all the details of the study for confidentiality reasons, but it’s safe to say that we know that diesel fuel consumption is going to grow to 8 million tons by 2035, while the current level of consumption is about...

The National Bank of Kazakhstan may start gradually decreasing the base rate in the second half of 2023, according to Galymzhan Pirmatov, head of the agency, who spoke in the Senate, the upper house of the country’s parliament.

«In the second half of this year, the National Bank is going to consider the practicability of a smooth and prudent reduction of the base rate. Whether we’ll do this or not will depend on the correlation between real price surge and forecasted figures, the tempo of base inflation cooling (while fuel and utility prices grow), the dynamics...

The government is going to seek public support for the nuclear plant project through public hearings. A referendum on the issue isn’t on the agenda, according to Zhandos Nurmagambetov, deputy minister of energy.

«We aren’t going to discuss the practicability of the project itself. First of all, we are going to discuss the technology, financial and economic model of the project as well as a possible location of a nuclear plant. There will be public hearings,» the official told Kursiv.

Journalists also asked him whether foreign partners would push the government to choose one specific technology.

«None of those countries...

According to Aybek Smadiyarov, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, the unilateral decision of Costa Rica to introduce a visa regime with Kazakhstan was probably driven by an intention to stop a huge inflow of illegal migrants from Kazakhstan.

On May 29, 2023, many in Kazakhstan learned that Costa Rica introduced a visa regime for Kazakhstanis on a unilateral basis. Given that this Latin American country didn’t inform Kazakhstan in advance, those who planned to go to that country learned about the new requirements shortly before the departure.

As the MFA’s official spokesperson noted, it’s...

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the national railway company in Kazakhstan has banned the supply of jet fuel from Russia to Kazakhstan. The ban entered into force today June 14 and will last until July 14, according to the RBC news agency, citing CIS Railway Council (CRC).

«In accordance with the appeal of KTZ filed on June 8, 2023, the CRC’s management office has introduced a conventional ban for the transportation of kerosene and jet fuel from all stations of Russian railways to all stations of Kazakhstan. The ban entered into force today on June 14 and...

After two readings in the parliament, Kazakhstani MPs have adopted a new law on returning assets illegally withdrawn from the country.

The key goal of the law is to settle a range of issues associated with disclosure of illegally obtained and withdrawn assets. The document will also regulate a range of issues associated with reclaiming the money by the government and its management.

The interesting point of the law is that it prohibits publishing a list of the rich Kazakhstanis who illegally withdrew assets from the country. The law requires Prosecutor General’s Office to establish a special task force responsible...

Kazakhstani authorities have regained control over Jusan Group, according to the country’s Ministry of Justice.

«As a result of the measures taken by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan in conjunction with other state agencies the Jusan Group is now under Kazakhstani jurisdiction once again. All necessary documents have been signed,» the ministry said in an official statement.

The group is now going to work following Kazakhstani legislation, the agency noted. In turn, the group confirmed that it will continue financing educational organizations such as Nazarbayev University and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools. As...

The Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan has revealed who is going to pay the so-called luxury tax. According to Vice Minister Azamat Amrin, owners of cars worth more than $111,560 and those who own more than a dozen apartments will pay an increased tax.

Currently, the ministry is working on a new tax code, which is expected to introduce an increased tax for those who own luxury goods. As the official noted, the ministry is going to revise the current taxes rather than introduce a completely new tax.

For example, it is proposed to introduce a progressive scale of...

In 2023, the Eurasian Stars International Piano Competition made a triumphant return to its place of origin in Astana, Kazakhstan, as it celebrated its fifth edition. From April 25th to April 28th, talented pianists from around the globe gathered to showcase their skills in this prestigious event. Not only did they have the opportunity to compete for a substantial prize fund of €15,000, but they also vied for a chance to participate in the exclusive Classic Piano International Competition in Dubai in 2024.

The competition was held at the Kazakh National University...

Under the edict of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, today, June 12, is a day of national mourning in Kazakhstan.

The main flag on a 50-meter-high flagpole on the square of national symbols in the capital city of Astana has been lowered. It is going to remain this way until June 13.

Tokayev declared national mourning for firefighters who died near the town of Semey while he was meeting with their families on June 11. The president has ordered the cabinet to ensure that the families of the fallen heroes receive all the necessary assistance, including material aid. He also promised that...

Kazakhstani chess player Alisher Suleimenov (FIDE rating 2463) won the bronze medal at the Asian Continental Chess Championship, which was held in Almaty.

The final, ninth round of the championship was held on June 11 at the Sports Palace named after Baluan Sholak. The title of the chess champion of Asia went to Uzbek Grandmaster Shamsiddin Vokhidov (FIDE rating 2583), who scored the highest number of points – seven. The silver medal went to Iranian Grandmaster Bardiya Daneshvar (FIDE rating 2555) with 6.5 points, and the bronze medal went to Kazakhstani chess player Alisher Suleimenov (FIDE rating 2463), who also...

In May, the international reserves of Kazakhstan decreased by 1.7% to $94.7 billion after a two-month growth, according to National Bank data. The decrease in the indicator is associated with a decline in gross international reserves.

As of the end of May, gross international reserves decreased by 5.7% to $35.5 billion. The assets of the National Fund, on the other hand, continued to grow, increasing by 0.9% to $59.2 billion month-on-month. Since the beginning of the year, the indicator has risen by 6 .2%. The use of funds from the National Fund is often criticized within the government since President