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In July the index of business activity in Kazakhstan decreased to 48. In June it was a bit higher at 48.9. Also, the rate of perception of the current business conditions by companies dropped to 6.3 while in June the rate was at 4.0. The National Bank of Kazakhstan believes that this negative balance of responses is a result of a bigger number of respondents who have taken part in the survey.

Nevertheless, when talking about the index of business activity, Kazakhstani businesses point out fewer orders in several industries and the longer time needed to get raw materials from...

After another win, the Kazakhstani female team is now ranked third in the overall ranking at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India.

Previously, the female chess players from Kazakhstan held the sixth position in the world tournament’s rating. In the game against Bulgaria, Kazakhstanis Xeniya Balabayeva and Bibisara Assaubayeva played a draw, while another pair Zhansaya Abdumalik and Guliskhan Nakhbayeva won 3:1. As a result, the Kazakhstani team now is ranked third in the Women’s Olympiad.

On the other hand, the men’s team is losing its positions. Kazakhstani chess players dropped from 12th position to 25th as they lost...

According to a document published on the KASE website, Eco Center Bank, earlier known as Alfa-Bank, will be merged with Bank CenterCredit (BCC).

This decision was approved by the shareholder’s general meeting on August 3, 2022.

On May 5, 2022, BCC bought Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan, a subsidiary of the Russian Alfa Group and renamed the bank Eco Center Bank. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine Alfa-Bank became a subject of U.S. sanctions that pushed the bank to search for a deal with potential investors in order to exempt the bank from sanctions. On April 20, Alfa-Bank announced that BCC would buy...

The Qazaqstan Halqyna Fund continues its online meetings with Kazakhstani non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Experts from different fields such as health, social sphere, education, culture and sport have suggested a wide range of projects that might be supported by the fund. So far, the fund has held 27 meetings with 628 experts. Health experts have been the most active participants to take part in such discussions.

Treating children with retinoblastoma

While discussing health issues with the Qazaqstan Halqyna Fund some health experts brought up the question of treating children with rare diseases. The More Life social foundation, which is...

As of early August 2022, there were 9,700 automatic teller machines (ATM) in Uzbekistan. The local central bank is ranked fifth among the biggest owners of ATMs in the country. The Kursiv edition has found out why the regulator is doing so. 

The biggest operator of an ATM network in Uzbekistan is Agrobank. It runs 1,614 machines all over the country. Xalq Banki with 1,418 ATMs holds the second position. Both banks are controlled by the Uzbek government which wants to develop those market niches businesses aren’t interested in so far. For example, in April’s national address President Shavkat Mirziyoyev...

According to Zhandos Nurmagambetov, deputy minister of energy in Kazakhstan, the country may start the construction of its second nuclear power plant (NPP) right after the start of construction of the first one.

The official noted that the agency and experts are actively discussing how many NPP Kazakhstan should have. Given the country’s intention to reach carbon neutrality, there are no other options except NPP.

«The second nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan will likely be built in the vicinity of the town of Kurchatov on the bank of the Irtysh River,» the Interfax news agency cited the official.

Nurmagambetov believes...

On August 2, Special Forces from five member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) took part in the military drill Cobalt-2022, according to the organization’s press service.

The special tactical training exercises at the Edelweiss training site in the town of Balykchi are going to end on August 5.

During the drills, the CSTO members will simulate the work of a joint control headquarters that must coordinate different Special Forces from the member states in order to improve their ability to act as a joint unit.

The CSTO military personnel are going...

As different regions of the country report new COVID-19 cases, the Interagency Commission has approved quarantine restrictions that might be applied if the situation worsens.

According to new rules, health officials in those regions in the green and yellow zones should make everything needed to prevent the infection from spreading. For example, the commission has recommended wearing face masks and keeping social distancing in such regions. No restrictions for businesses are Implied though.

«If a region falls into the red zone, we will put a group of restrictive measures. At the first stage, if we have 25-50 COVID-19 patients out...

According to the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development of Kazakhstan, the agency launched criminal cases against people responsible for the repair of roads. The inspection of repaired roads across the country showed the poor quality of repair works in many regions. Almost 2,800 samples out of 9,000 turned out to be lower than the standard.

Among regions with the worst roads are the city of Shymkent (71%), the region of Mangystau (61%), the city of Almaty (56%), the East-Kazakhstan region (49%), the West-Kazakhstan region (43%) and the city of Turkestan (40%).

«Despite having a punch list of items those...

The market of commercial property in Nur-Sultan and Almaty is about to stall as developers prefer warehouses and retail property in regions, according to analysts of Property Management Grоup.

The biggest segment of commercial property in the country – class B, which accounts for 70% of all commercial real estate, is losing clients. Those tenants who have suffered from the war in Ukraine have cut their activity and are moving to C-class offices, while other, more successful companies are moving to A-class offices. Owners of B-class property are decreasing rental charges in a push to make their offices more attractive...

In July 2022, food prices in Kazakhstan grew by 19.7% on a year-to-year basis. Non-food prices and paid services have risen by 14.2% and 9.2% respectively. The inflation rate has reached 15% in Kazakhstan, according to the Bureau of National Statistics.

As the agency reported, prices for private goods have risen by 26.3% this year in Kazakhstan; washing and cleaning products by 23.5%, home appliances by 22.6%, construction materials by 20.5%, furniture and home goods by 19.1%, cars by 15.2%, kitchenware by 14.8%, textiles by 11.5% and pharmaceutical products by 9.7%.

The price increase has also hit the leisure industry...

According to Zhasurbek Choriev, deputy minister of transportation in Uzbekistan, the railway from Termez in Uzbekistan to Peshawar in Pakistan through the Afghani cities of Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul will be finished in five years. The official made this statement during the international conference on Afghanistan in Tashkent, the Fergana news agency reported.

As Choriev noted, a feasibility report for the project will be prepared by September. The railway is going to be about 760 kilometers in length. Also, the project will require the construction of 136 bridges.

The railway from Termez to Mazar-i-Sharif has been working since 2011. This railway...

SPAR, a retailer from the Netherlands, has entered Kazakhstan’s market. The company is going to work in conjunction with Skif Trade, which owns a local chain of supermarkets called Small.

According to the information published on its website, SPAR gave a license to the Kazakhstani partner on January 1, 2022. Now the Dutch company is working on its retail and distribution network in the country.

«We are expecting that the first SPAR supermarkets will be opened in Kazakhstan this year,» the company said.

On the other hand, the Kazakhstani side has kept silent. Demid Samoshkin, head of sales in Small...

According to Frank Media, the Freedom Finance investing company is going to relocate its PR department from Russia to Kazakhstan. Also, some top executives of the Russian company shall move to Freedom Finance Global in Kazakhstan.

It is expected that all these employees will continue to work with their Russian clients, more specifically to provide them with consultation services. Some, however, are going to stay in Russia.

The company is going to offer its Russian clients the ability to open new accounts in Freedom Finance Global. Some of them have already received such notifications. Frank Media was told by a...

Kazakhstan believes that the local market might be considered a gateway to the region of Central Asia, according to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan who met with Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili.

During the meeting, both sides discussed a wide range of issues concerning cooperation in trade, economy, investment and humanitarian areas. In particular, the talks were devoted to interaction in the field of transportation and logistics.

«The two countries are close partners in terms of the Trans-Caspian International Transportation Route that plays a key role in strengthening connections between countries of the region. Kazakhstan invites its partners to...

According to Ms. Ayzhan Esmagambetova, vice minister of health, Kazakhstan is a country with a low risk of a monkeypox epidemic.

Last week the World Health Organization (WHO) called the outbreak of monkeypox a global emergency. As the WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, the decision is based on the sharp growth in reported cases of the disease all over the world. So far, there were 16,000 cases reported in 47 countries. The Ministry of Health has revealed its forecast for Kazakhstan.

«As the WHO’s executive said, every country has its own risk of the infection spreading. European countries are...

In an interview with the Kazinform news agency chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Galymzhan Pirmatov explained why the regulator has increased the base rate.

«We are trying to set the base rate at a specific level in order to push inflation downwards by monetary means,» he said.

As the official noted, the inflation rate in Kazakhstan reached 14% in May and 14.5% in June, which is higher than the National Bank’s forecast.

«When external conditions are changed the demand doesn’t adjust to them immediately. The economy doesn’t work this way. Therefore, inflation doesn’t follow the changing base rate...

According to Erbol Karashukeev, the minister of agriculture in Kazakhstan, imports of sugar from Russia and Belarus used to take about ten days. Now the import of sugar from other countries takes about 90 days.

As the official noted, Kazakhstan imports sugar from Brazil and India. With a production capacity of 800 million tons of the product, these two countries account for 60% of the global sugar-cane production.

«We have imported sugar from Brazil through Georgian ports on the Black Sea. Their capacity is limited, therefore local transport infrastructure doesn’t work well and it leads to a transport collapse,» he...

So far, the Qazaqstan Halqyna Fund has accumulated $269.7 million. The fund is going to spend this money on charity in the area of health, education, social support and sports. In order to achieve this goal with maximum efficacy, the fund has initiated an open discussion of a new concept of the fund’s development with NGOs.

Social alternatives

Some NGOs believe that the Qazaqstan Halqyna Fund must be an active part of broad efforts in the field of social support for people. For example, the fund may support centers for social services where disabled and poor people can...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan has proposed creating an integrated commodity distribution system for Central Asian countries. He made this statement during the IV Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States.

As the president noted, it is necessary to establish close interaction between the countries to get rid of any structural and infrastructural obstacles.

«It would be helpful to take effective measures to establish a network of border trading hubs. They should be pillars for the integrated commodity distribution system of the Central Asian countries and this system must be expandable,» Tokayev said.

According to the president, Kazakhstan...

During the IV Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that Kazakhstan wants to increase the turnover with Central Asian states to $15 billion a year.

The president noted that the country’s turnover with its Central Asian neighbors is constantly growing. Over the past five years, the rate rose by 42% and reached $6.3 billion.

«Our key goal still is improving the economic base for multilateral interaction. We have reached some tangible results over the past few years,» the president highlighted.

Over the period from January to May 2022, the turnover of the Republic...

Kazakhstan has negotiated with 43 foreign companies that have left Russia this year, about opening new production sites or moving their headquarters to Kazakhstan, according to Almas Aydarov, deputy foreign minister in Kazakhstan. He made this statement at the opening ceremony of a new production site of Honeywell in Almaty. 

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 500 foreign companies left Russia or suspended their activity in that country. Kazakhstan’s MFO in conjunction with Kazakh Invest has negotiated with half of them, as the country wants them to relocate their production sites or headquarters to Kazakhstan.

«We have specified...

In June 2022, citizens of Kazakhstan acquired 318 real estate properties in the Turkish Republic, according to local authorities. Over the first half of the year, Kazakhstanis bought 80% more property than the same period last year or the same periods of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined.

So far, people from Kazakhstan have bought 1,417 property units this year. In terms of interest in Turkish real estate, Kazakhstanis rank fourth after Russians (5,849), Iranians (4,884) and Iraqis (4,025). Last year the country was ranked sixth, while Russia was third.

Polymetal Group, an Anglo-Russian precious mining company, is weighing the idea of selling its assets in Russia. The company wants to focus on projects in Kazakhstan, according to the company’s press release on the official website.

The company has officially confirmed that it «has been considering a potential modification of its asset holding structure which would ensure distinct ownership in the various jurisdictions in which the company operates. The company announced that it is evaluating the potential disposal of the company’s assets located in the Russian Federation.»

«If completed, the potential transaction would result in the company focusing primarily on...