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On December 14, 2020, The Foundation for Financial Journalism (FFJ) website published an article written by Roderick Boyd called «Freedom Holding: After ‘Borat,’ the Silliest Kazakh Import of the Century.»

The article did not appear in the professional media and circulated only in anonymous Telegram channels and websites.

Freedom Holding Corp. refused to respond to the Kursiv edition’s request because as a public company it doesn’t think it is a good idea to comment on any opinions published by dubious sources.

As Kursiv found out, FFJ is not a serious media like Bloomberg, it’s just a community of authors who...

The government of Kazakhstan and shareholders of Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO) signed an agreement that settled the dispute, the Ministry of Energy’s press service reported. 

Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of the Karachaganak project have paid Kazakhstan $1.305 billion as compensation. 

Both sides agreed on the final terms of production sharing. Therefore, until 2037 Kazakhstan can get up to $600 million if the oil price will meet $40-50 per barrel.

Also, the Kazakhstani government and KPO agreed to start the new Karachaganak Expansion Project’s (KEP) first development stage to support the oil production plateau at the Karachaganak oil...

The amount of print newspapers that readers used to subscribe for has been downsizing from year to year. Currently, it’s about 118 million pieces while five years ago it was more than 185 million newspapers and magazines.
 
According to the Bureau of National Statistics’ data for the 2015-2019 period, the downward trend has been there all along. However, in 2016 the downsizing of the subscription amount was just 3%, while in recent years it increased from 8 to 17%. Moreover, if you compare those figures for 2019 and 2015, you’ll see a difference of 36%. In absolute terms, five...

The amount of new electronic devices that are produced in Kazakhstan has shown steady progress. Since 2015, the annual increase in production is about 34% thanks to the communication equipment sector.

As the Bureau of National Statistics reported, the volume of production in information and communication technologies reached last year’s mark of 30.2 billion tenge or $71.6 million. This is 30% more than in 2018. The vast majority of produced goods were communication devices (routers, modems, network cables, etc.). In 2019 their share doubled to 12.9 billion tenge ($30.6 million) against 5.8 billion tenge ($13.7 million) in 2018. Kazakhstani companies...

As OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama stated at the 27th Ministerial Council (an event organized by Tirana online), Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Sweden and Denmark Kairat Abdrakhmanov will be appointed as OSCE commissioner on national minorities.

«We are going to appoint new OSCE managers: Helga Schmid as secretary-general, Matteo Mecacci as head of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Teresa Ribeiro as OSCE representative on Freedom of the Media and Kairat Abdrakhmanov as commissioner on national minorities,» Edi Rama said.

German diplomat Helga Schmid, who will replace Thomas Greminger as OSCE secretary-general, will...

Kazakhstan’s government has started the ratification of the U.S.–Kazakhstan Air Transport (Open Skies) Agreement. Kursiv gave a try to found out when nonstop air flights between the two countries may appear.

On October 15, the document was published by the Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation Committee (CAC) and it’s now under consideration by several state agencies. As expected, the law will be passed to parliament next year, where it should be approved by both chambers: Senat and Mazhilis. Then, after the signing by President Tokayev, the agreement will be set into effect. This process may last from six to nine months according...

According to Sport-Express (Russian sports edition), which ranked the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) players by income, Darren Dietz from Barys is in the top-10.

The captain of the hockey team from Nur-Sultan, Darren Dietz, has the highest salary among Barys players. The annual salary of the club defenseman, who also plays in the Kazakhstan national hockey team, is $993,000. In terms of income, Dietz and the other seven KHL players share ninth place in the rating.

The highest-paid player of the Kontinental Hockey League is Dmitry Yashkin from the Czech Republic, who plays for Moscow Dynamo and earns 95 million...

Among new restrictive measures that Georgia has put in place are a curfew and the closing of shops, swimming pools and gyms. The work of the transportation system will also be limited and all big sport or entertainment events should be canceled.

According to Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, these new measures will go into effect on November 28 and will last until January 31, 2021, the Reuters news agency reported. However, Georgian authorities have promised that from December 24 to January 3 and January 6-7 people will have an opportunity to celebrate Orthodox Christmas and New Year.

As the official...

The former Belarus presidential candidate Viktor Babariko, who was also the CEO of Belgazprombank, is now officially accused of corruption and money laundering. This information was released by the Belorussian Committee of State Security or KGB (the country preserved the Soviet name of the agency).

According to the KGB, Viktor Babariko was a leader of a criminal organization and is accused of large-scale bribery as well as money laundering that he received by criminal means.

Moreover, deputies of Babariko Sergey Shaban, Alexander Ilyasyuk, Dmitry Kuzmich, Aleksey Zhadoyko and Sergey Dobrolet were also charged of bribery, the KGB said.

The KGB...

On November 23, the High Court of Justice in England overturned the arbitral award in the suit of the Canadian company World Wide Minerals and Paul A. Carroll, the company’s president and CEO against the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstani Ministry of Justice reported.

On October 29 last year, the arbitration tribunal decided Kazakhstan should pay the plaintiffs $1.9 billion as compensation for their damages. This is less than 1% of the total amount of the claim by WWM and Mr. Carroll. However, the following month Kazakhstan applied to the High Court of England to appeal the decision.

On Monday...

They say that there are no opportunities in the region, that there is nothing to do. However, the heroes of this article would disagree with that statement. In the frame of Real Kazakhstan – a special project Kursiv and Chevron have launched together – we selected some interesting stories that we have been told by several Kyzylorda entrepreneurs.

The town of Kyzylorda was the first capital of the former Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (after Orenburg). Many prominent personalities, poets, politicians and diplomats were born here. Batyrkhan Shukenov (a famous Kazakh singer) was also born on this soil. His hometown keeps...

According to the company’s press service, the incident is under investigation by a special committee aimed at finding those who are responsible for this. To take control of the situation at the Atyrau refinery, the Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the KMG Daniyar Tiesov has arrived at the plant.

The KMG press service said there was no increased concentration of oil products in the wastewater. However, the company developed a plan for special measures to protect the local environment. The plan is based on all data KMG specialists have been able to...

In the frame of the Real Kazakhstan project launched by Kursiv and Chevron, the Karaganda businessman talked about his own small business and advised what you should be aware of before starting a business and how the state can assist. (spoiler: it doesn’t) 

What are the first associations you think of after hearing the word Karaganda? Probably, these are the coal, mines and Karlag (prominent prison in the Soviet era).
Although it’s true – there are many coal mines here that still operate – the spirit of the town has changed now.

My name is Alexander Ermakov, I am 39 years...

The major stakeholders of the company, Vladimir Kim and Oleg Novachuk, are going to increase their own shares in KAZ Minerals and buy minority shares through Nova Resources B.V.

Investment company Nova Resources B.V. offers £6.4 ($8.3 or 3.579 tenge) per share. This price represents a 12% premium to the price of trades closing on October 27. The market value of the company is estimated at £3 billion ($3.9 billion or 1.67 trillion tenge).

According to Interfax, Nova is attracting a loan from VTB to finance the buyout.

The acquisition will be carried out by an arrangement scheme that...

Despite the coronavirus crisis, Uzbekistan remains one of the most promising regions for investment. As proof, wide-scale international projects on the republic’s territory continue to attract capital from the largest global companies even in a pandemic. Local and foreign businesses demonstrate growing interest in investing in Uzbekistan. According to experts, the republic is one of the countries where projects are highly profitable while many industries have weak competition.

Caught unprepared

Large-scale reforms that are associated with Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s rise to power have affected almost all areas of modern Uzbekistan. Changes in the republic’s business climate are particularly noteworthy. Once closed...

The Presidential Professional Sports Club Astana received money from the Samruk-Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund for the professional football and basketball teams of the same name, the Barys Hockey Club and the Astana Pro Team for cycling. The PPSC is being shut down to save money on administrative costs. According to Kursiv’s findings, it will help save about 270 million tenge.

Under one umbrella

The PPSC Astana was created on Nursultan Nazarbayev’s suggestion in 2012 and was officially presented in summer 2013. According to the organization’s mission, it would unite and lead the best Kazakhstani sports projects under a single competitive...

Geographically Uzbekistan is located at the intersection of the main trade routes in Central Asia. That is why the country has been a key transport hub for centuries. Modern Uzbekistan is also seeking to unlock this potential. For example, the country’s government establishes an open sky regime, participates in huge railways projects, and updates its tariff rules.

Even though Uzbekistan still faces a lot of challenges in transport and logistic infrastructure, a huge amount of work was already done. 

New promises

According to Uzbekistani State Committee on Statistics, in 2019 the country had transported 1.3 billion tons of cargo...

The international network of supermarkets and trade centers Ramstore owned by Turkish MigrosTicaret A.Ş. is downsizing its business in Kazakhstan. Two shops were already closed last week and two more will be closed on October 7.

On September 24, 2020, MigrosTicaret A.Ş. announced that after reassessing the retail operations of its Kazakhstani subsidiary, the company has started to look for a buyer for one of its stores and is going to lease the other six shops fully equipped with all goods and shop fittings. This announcement was made due to the public disclosure requirement by the Istanbul Stock Exchange. However...

As the NEXTE telegram channel reported, last Sunday was marked by peaceful street protests with tens of thousands of participants. The march was called the People’s Inauguration of the Real President.

According to Tut.by, protests have occurred in Brest, Gomel, Mogilev, Grodno, Vitebsk, Zhodino, Bobruisk, Baranovichi, Lid and Zhabinka. In these cities protests were much smaller in scale; many were beaten and arrested by police.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs estimated about 200 detainees. However, human rights watchdogs reported about 260 detainees. 
In Grodno, as well as Gomel and Mogilev regions, police used a range of non-lethal weapons against protesters...

According to the Ministry of Energy, Kazakhstan is planning to optimize its requirements for oilfield service companies.

As the ministry noted, this step needs some changes to the minister’s decree to be made. After that, it may eventually decrease the burden on business amid the pandemic.  

First of all, if this idea would be accepted, the state will no longer require oilfield service companies to have their own pipelines. The existence of key engineering works and units will be enough.

Secondly, the requirement to have at least two logging devices during field research or geophysical exploration will also be...

TAV Airports Holding plans to create a multimodal cargo hub on the territory of Almaty International Airport JSC. This was reported by the press office of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan.

«We are interested in this project and are involving our subsidiary company which specializes in the creation of such hubs in airports of various world countries,» stated Fatih Ömür, general director for business development at TAV Airports Holding.

The issue of construction of a cargo hub was touched upon during the meeting of Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Sultanov with...

Former head of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov has been appointed head of the Strategic Planning and Reforms Agency of Kazakhstan. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed the corresponding decree, the president’s press office (Akorda) reports.

«Karat Kelimbetov, Governor of Astana International Financial Centre, is appointed chairman of the Strategic Planning and Reforms Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan,» the head of the state’s decree read.

Kairat Kelimbetov was born on January 28, 1969. In 1993 he graduated from Moscow State University, and in 1996 from the Institute of Market at the Kazakh State Academy...

Suma Chakrabarti has been appointed consultant to the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the president’s official website Akorda reports.

«By the order of the head of the state, Sir Suma Chakrabarti is appointed as a freelance consultant of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on issues of economic development,» the message read.

Suma Chakrabarti was born in 1959 in India. He graduated from the University of Oxford (BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) and the University of Sussex (MA in Development Economics).

Over the years, he had worked in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank...

According to Spot website, on September 9 the Kazakhstani department store chain Magnum Cash & Carry has opened a vacancy for an HR specialist in Tashkent.

The key requirements for hiring are knowledge of Uzbekistan’s labor legislation and fluency in the Uzbek language. Earlier, the company was looking for a market researcher in Uzbekistan.

The Magnum Cash & Carry (established in 2007) is the largest department store chain in Kazakhstan. Throughout its13 years of operation, the company has opened 75 different stores in nine cities. Among them are separately standing hypermarkets, supermarkets located in other shopping centers and compact supermarkets.