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On September 15, 2022, KazMunayGas (KMG), the national oil and gas company in Kazakhstan spent $3.8 billion on Samruk Kazyna’s share in KMG Kashagan B.V., according to the KMG website.

In fact, the company has used its call option for repurchasing the shares under the agreement signed in 2015.

«This is the biggest deal for KazMunayGas over the past several years. The increase of the KMG’s share in the Kashagan project will allow the company to improve its performance in terms of consolidated production, EBITDA, net revenue and assets. At the same time, the company’s debt is also going to...

Samsung, a tech giant from South Korea, is weighing the idea of relocating its logistical hub in the CIS region to Kazakhstan, according to Bashtay Omerbek, head of the export promotion department under the Ministry of Trade and Integration.

Before the war in Ukraine, the company used to rely on Russia in the distribution of its smartphones and other devices across CIS counties. However, when Russia started its invasion of Ukraine, many well-known tech companies stopped supplying their products to Russia. The government of Russia responded by legalizing gray imports in the country.

«Now we are negotiating with Samsung about...

On September 6-8, 2022, Azerbaijan hosted the international defense exhibition ADEX-22 in Baku. Kazakhstan was one of many invited countries that had something to show, including a flying target and a combat drone called Shagala M. Both unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been developed by Kazakhstan Engineering for military purposes. Another device is a non-military drone called Leyla that has been developed by Barys E&T. All three aerial vehicles were developed with no public funds.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development, the approximate price of Leyla is $210,000 (the price of military drones is unavailable).

«Military UAVs...

Today, on September 16, members of Mazhilis, the lower house of the national parliament, have voted for a new law that amends Kazakhstan’s constitution in terms of the duration of the presidential term. Once the president signs this document it will enter into force as law and all future presidents will serve one seven-year term.

According to Kanat Musin, minister of justice in Kazakhstan, the process of reviewing the draft law by the parliament was faster than usual on purpose. It was important to amend the constitution before the snap presidential election.

«Some deputies had fears that a presidential candidate...

On September 16, the joint meeting of the upper and lower houses of Kazakhstan’s parliament approved the draft law with a set of new amendments to the national constitution. Now it must be signed by the president to enter into force.

According to Minister of Justice Kanat Musin, who presented the draft law, the document has been developed by the ministry in order to meet the political initiatives of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as well as suggestions from members of the parliament.

The draft law is aimed at amending five articles of the constitution and adding the new one. One of...

Kazakhstan doesn’t plan on discussing the potential participation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said Mukhtar Tleuberdi, foreign minister of Kazakhstan.

«No, this issue is not on our agenda. Yesterday, during an unscheduled meeting of the CSTO, the Armenian prime minister reported to heads of other member states about the situation on the border with Azerbaijan. We have taken this information into account but more objective data is needed because we are receiving different and even contradictory information from the region. That is why member state leaders decided that the CSTO secretary...

Hotel businesses reported big profits during the last tourist season in Kazakhstan. Over the past six months, they earned $143.3 million which is a 52% increase over the same period of 2021. This became possible because of a big flow of tourists this summer.

The segment of hotels, restaurants and cafe (HoReCa) earned about half of this sum in Almaty and Nur-Sultan ($73.2 million). The Shchuchinsk-Burabay resort area of the Akmola region is ranked third and accounts for $13.3 million.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, this year hotels have raised the price of accommodation by 13% on average...

Mankind needs a new global peace movement, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan during a speech at the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Nur-Sultan. He also noted that the role of global leaders in this issue is crucial.

As Tokayev said, the main goal of the congress is to help mankind find «the way out of the current atmosphere of confrontation» in the world.

«This dialog is incredibly huge in its scale. It must help faith leaders to articulate their peace initiatives. This is necessary for stopping conflicts around the world. Faith leaders are widely...

According to Kanat Sharlapayev, CEO of the National Holding Baiterek, Bereke Bank might be sold to a foreign investor. The process of selling this bank, a former Sber Kazakhstan, may last up to 18 months.

The main task for the holding is to bring the bank back to normal work by lifting foreign sanctions. Then the bank will be sold, said Sharlapayev.

«I would personally prefer a foreign investor. This is necessary to strengthen competitiveness between actors in the financial market. Although, of course, I won’t be the only decision maker,» he said.

However, in order to achieve this goal...

Kazakhstan’s capital is going to be renamed once again. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has supported the renaming initiative, according to his official spokesperson Ruslan Zheldibay.

As the official noted, the president is aware of the initiative by several members of Parliament. In turn, MPs said that the initiative has been a result of their meetings with regular residents of the capital city.

At the same time, the spokesperson said that the president recognizes the historical role of Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev in «the strengthening of the modern state of Kazakhstan and its capital city.»

«That is why all other objects that have...

Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan, is preparing itself for visiting participants of the World Religious Leaders Summit. As the result, the police of the capital city of Nur-Sultan have switched to heavy security.

According to the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, since September 13, the police have switched to heavy security in order to guarantee public order and road traffic safety as well as to prevent any attempts at breaking the law during the 7th Congress of World and Traditional Religion.

It is expected that hundreds of international guests will visit Kazakhstan during the event. City authorities are going...

According to the press service of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Chinese leader has accepted the invitation by his Kazakhstani counterpart and is going to visit the country this September.

«The two presidents will discuss perspectives of mutual strategic cooperation. It is expected that they will sign several documents,» the press service said in a statement.

On February 5, President Tokayev traveled to Beijing where he negotiated with Xi Jinping with the main focus on the intensification of trade and economic cooperation.

During that meeting, President Xi accepted Tokayev’s official invitation to visit Kazakhstan this September. The visit is expected to...

Gennady Golovkin from Kazakhstan has come to Las Vegas where he is going to have his third fight against Mexican Saul Alvarez also known as Canelo.

«We are in Vegas. Ready to fight this week,» Golovkin wrote on Instagram.

The two boxers had their first fight in 2017. After 12 rounds judges decided that the fight was a stand-off. The next fight was in 2018 when Alvarez prevailed. In these two fights, both boxers were considered middle-weight boxers. Golovkin has since gained some weight and is going to fight for IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA in super middleweight, the grey...

Jusan Bank has received offers from several investors, including Welfare Fund Samruk Kazyna, which have shown interest in purchasing shares of Kcell, the Kazakhstani mobile operator, said Nurdaulet Aidosov, CEO of Jusan Bank.

«Our sympathies are on the side of Samruk-Kazyna. We like their system of corporate management, internal policies and what they do to transform the holding,» he said.

However, Nurdaulet Aidasov added that no final decision concerning the sale of Kcell shares has been made.

«We cannot reveal the format of the deal because this is a commercial secret. These shares are traded on the KASE stock exchange...

The turnover between Kazakhstan and the U.K. has been growing. In the first half of the year, the amount of import and export operations between the two countries rose from $547 million to $912 million, or 67% compared to the same period last year. This sharp increase in mutual trade has a reason: the U.K. has once again added Kazakhstan to the list of oil exporters. Over the first six months of the year, Kazakhstan sent about 520,000 tons of oil products to British customers.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the structure of the turnover between Kazakhstan and...

According to Assel Zhanasova, vice minister of trade and integration, all commercial banks in Kazakhstan are going to switch to the integrated QR system. It is expected that the system will be rolled out by the end of the current year.

The ministry initiated the standardization of QR codes for point-of-sale (POS) terminals last year.

«Last year, we did massive work to get rid of any difference in payments while people use POS terminals with QR. No matter which bank issued your card you must have an opportunity to pay with help of a single QR system. Businesses will no...

Kazakhstan is going to introduce a luxury tax, which will affect citizens who purchase really expensive items like luxury property or fancy cars. The new tax won’t affect the middle class and no double taxation will happen, according to Elnar Kazbekov, chief expert of the Department of Tax and Customs Policy under the Ministry of National Economy in Kazakhstan.

As the official noted, many countries all over the world have already done the same. Some countries rely on higher taxes, some states charge their citizens a separate luxury tax, while others have introduced both practices. In Kazakhstan, this idea was...

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade has figured out how to stop sugar prices from further increasing. According to Serik Zhumangarin, the trade minister, the government is going to provide domestic sugar plants with a three-month stockpile of sugar cane from Brazil. The plants have promised that they won’t raise the sugar price.

The minister said that there are four sugar plants in Kazakhstan with a combined capacity of 700,000 tons of sugar per year. Given that Kazakhstan needs just 520,000 tons, the remaining sugar might be exported abroad, the ministry believes, even though this would be hard due to high global...

Kazakhstan introduces new rules to strengthen the position of members of the Constitutional Court. According to new rules, the court’s judges can’t be detained or punished as long as they are in office. Moreover, no judge can be prosecuted until the parliament gives its consent. The only exception is the situation of a judge would being caught red-handed. These and other rules are part of the new law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, adopted by the Mazhilis today, on September 7.

According to Kanat Musin, minister of justice, who presented the draft law, the document has...

Over the first six months of this year, the exported goods price index rose to 142% in Kazakhstan compared to the same period in 2021. This is a three-year record high. At the same time, research that the Kursiv media has done shows that Kazakhstani goods exported to different markets demonstrated different price dynamics. For example, over the first half of the year, the price for Kazakhstani exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member-states surged by 26.5%, while prices for exports to non-CIS countries rose by 46.1%.

This method of splitting price indexes into two parts, one for...

While meeting with the delegation from Germany, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that Kazakhstan is strongly interested in the experience Germany has accumulated in the sphere of professional training for engineers.

Kazakhstan is exploring opportunities to open representative offices of German technical institutes, laboratories, scientific and research centers and competence centers in order to increase the level of professional qualification of Kazakhstani specialists.

«Germany is one of Kazakhstan’s key partners in the European Union. We have more than 600 businesses established here in Kazakhstan with the help of the German capital. The potential for growth in trade and investments is significant...

S&P Global Ratings has downgraded its outlook on the sovereign credit rating of Kazakhstan from «Stable» to «Negative.» At the same time, S&P has reaffirmed its “BBB-/A-3” long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Kazakhstan. 

The transfer and convertibility assessment also remains “BBB.”

«The negative outlook reflects risks to Kazakhstan’s oil exports through the CPC pipeline, the pipeline that the country uses for about 80% of its oil exports, as well as rising debt financing costs,» S&P said.

According to the agency’s analysts, any potential disruption in the operation of the CPC could negatively affect the...

On September 5, 2022, the National Bank of Kazakhstan decided to keep the base rate at 14.5% with a percentage corridor of +/– 1.0 p.p The standing lending facility rate is now 15.5%, while the standing facility rate for liquidity withdrawal is 13.5%. The regulator stated that the decision is based on the current economic situation.

The National Bank says that the external pressure is still in place due to price increases in the logistic industry, high inflation in countries that are trading partners for Kazakhstan, and the weakening of the Kazakhstani tenge against the Russian ruble.

«Although global food...

The combined wealth of the ten richest businessmen from the Forbes list of billionaires is estimated at $27.2 billion. This figure almost matches $28.9 billion, the amount of money accumulated by the United Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF) as of August 1, 2022. On the other hand, the National Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan has managed to accumulate $59.3 billion. This means that the fund is twice as wealthy as the richest businessmen combined.

The lion’s share of cash inflows to the National Fund comes from the oil industry. The pension fund has been receiving mandatory and voluntary pension...