News

On Aug. 4, KazMunayGas (KMG, a subsidiary of Samruk-Kazyna) exported its first batch of oil to Hungary via Croatia, according to the company’s press release. The shipment, totaling 85,000 tons of Kazakh oil, was part of a strategic expansion of cooperation between KMG and Hungary’s MOL Group.

Kazakh oil is transported via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to the Port of Novorossiysk in Russia. From there, maritime delivery to Croatia’s Port of Omišalj was handled by national carrier Kazmortransflot — a KMG subsidiary — aboard its tanker Alatau. The oil is scheduled to continue via the Adria oil pipeline...

An administrative court in Astana has overturned a $4.2 billion environmental fine imposed on the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the operator of the Kashagan oil field, citing procedural violations by the regional environmental authority.

The court emphasized that its decision to nullify the order issued by the Atyrau Regional Department of Ecology (ARDE) does not mean environmental violations did not occur. Instead, the court found that the order was issued in violation of Kazakhstan’s Administrative Procedure and Process-Related Code.

«The cancellation of the order due to non-compliance with proper procedure does not imply...

Kazakh schoolchildren are competing in the World Chess Championship, currently underway in the U.S.

The tournament runs from Aug. 3 to 6 on the campus of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. This year’s World Schools Team Championship features 286 young players across 55 teams representing 48 countries. Among them are six teams of Kazakhstani students from the Republican School of Physics and Mathematics, the SEED Educational Complex in Astana, Zholdasbekov IT Lyceum No. 9 in Shymkent and Konayev Gymnasium School in Aktobe.

The opening ceremony was attended by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, International School Chess Federation (ISCF) President...

Murat Alikhanov, co-founder of the fitness startup 1Fit — which offers services through a single-membership model across various fitness centers — has stepped down as the company’s CEO, he announced on Instagram.

«After seven years, I’m leaving my role as CEO of 1Fit. I remain a shareholder,» Alikhanov wrote in his Instagram Stories.

The businessman stated that he would take a break to rest and recover before embarking on major new projects.

In recent years, 1Fit has faced multiple setbacks in international markets. In late April, the startup announced it was shutting down...

A corporate conflict is intensifying in Kazakhstan over control of the Eurasian Financial Company (EFCO), which owns Eurasian Bank and Eurasia Insurance Company. Mounissa Chodieva, daughter of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) co-owner and EFCO shareholder Patokh Chodiev, has joined a growing legal battle involving top figures connected to the firm.

In late July, EFCO filed a counterclaim against two members of its board of directors — Shukhrat Ibragimov, son of the late tycoon Alijan Ibragimov and CEO of ERG, and Andrei Kopov — according to case files published on the Supreme Court’s Office.sud.kz portal.

Banana gross yield in Kazakhstan’s greenhouses from April to June amounted to 70 tons on 52,500 square meters, the Bureau of National Statistics reported. The entire harvest came from the Turkestan region.

The country also reported harvesting 208 tons of strawberries on 87,000 square meters: 158 tons in the Almaty region and 50 tons in the Turkestan region.

From April to June 2025, the gross yield of tomatoes grown under cover in Kazakhstan totaled 50,400 tons. Most of the tomatoes were harvested in greenhouses of the Turkestan region — 36,800 tons. Over the three-month period, 5,700 tons were harvested...

Eight OPEC+ countries — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — have agreed on a quota increase of 547,000 barrels per day (bpd) for September, according to a statement on the organization’s website following the Aug. 3 meeting. In particular, Kazakhstan’s quota will rise to 1.55 million bpd in September, up from 1.532 million bpd in August and 1.514 million bpd in July.

Quotas for other members will be as follows:

Leading Turkish e-commerce platform D-MARKET Electronic Services & Trading (Hepsiburada) has reported a net loss of 1.1 billion Turkish lira (approximately $27 million) over the first six months, up 1.5 times from the same period in 2024 ($17.5 million), according to its financial results.

At the same time, Hepsiburada’s revenue increased by 5.9% year-on-year (YoY), reaching 32 billion Turkish lira ($787 million) compared to 30.2 billion Turkish lira ($742.5 million) in the first six months of 2024.

The number of orders rose by 0.1% to 37.1 million. However, the average order value remained unchanged, with the number of active...

Jennifer Lopez’s first-ever concert in Kazakhstan has ignited a heated debate — not about her performance, but her wardrobe.

Astana city maslikhat (local council) member Saule Samidin criticized the pop star’s revealing stage outfits, suggesting they were not culturally appropriate for a Kazakh audience. The concert, held Aug. 1 at Astana Arena, featured Lopez performing her iconic hits in a high-energy show packed with dancing and special effects.

Samidin commented on social media that her 16-year-old daughter had compared Lopez’s wardrobe choices in Astana to her concerts in the United Arab Emirates, where the singer had opted for more...

Oil majors developing the Kashagan field — Kazakhstan’s largest oil and gas field on the Caspian shelf — have won a $4.2 billion environmental dispute in an Astana appeals court, according to Bloomberg.

Sulfur dispute

The case stemmed from a 2022 fine imposed by Kazakh authorities over excessive sulfur storage at the field. Kashagan’s high-sulfur crude requires safe processing and removal, and Kazakh regulators claimed that open-air sulfur storage violated environmental laws. The penalty against the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the consortium operating the field, was initially 2.3 trillion tenge — about $5.1 billion at 2022 exchange...

On Aug. 3, 2025, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who arrived in Almaty on a working visit.

Tokayev thanked Guterres for his visit and emphasized its significance ahead of the upcoming 80th session of the UN General Assembly.

Regional SDG hub

The two leaders took part in a signing ceremony of the host country agreement between the government of Kazakhstan and the United Nations, establishing the UN Regional Centre for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Central Asia and Afghanistan.

In March, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to establish the...

Kazakh agricultural company Altyn Dan, with the participation of international corporation PepsiCo, has started cultivating a potato variety for producing Lay’s chips in the Raiymbek district of the Almaty region, as reported by the regional governor’s office.  

Altyn Dan was established as a service center in 2023. The company is currently cultivating potatoes on 150 hectares using a drip irrigation system. In addition, 1,500 hectares are seeded with cereals this season.

«The company has signed a partnership agreement with the international company PepsiCo and is conducting tests on imported seeds specifically intended for the production...

As global temperatures continue to break records, Central Asia has emerged as one of the fastest-warming regions in the world, according to recent reports from the World Meteorological Organization. In response to life-threatening heatwaves, residents are turning to increasingly inventive, and sometimes unconventional, ways to stay cool.

With traditional methods like fans and air conditioning proving inadequate or inaccessible for many, people across the region are embracing a variety of creative cooling strategies.

A video circulating on social media shows a shop assistant in Shymkent, a city in southern Kazakhstan, climbing into a beverage refrigerator to cool off...

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev believes the country has strong potential to become the leading air hub in the region. To achieve this, he emphasized the need to boost both passenger and cargo transportation.

Speaking at an event dedicated to Transport Workers’ Day, the president highlighted that the most critical task in this sector is the development of air traffic. He noted that in the past year, airports in Almaty, Shymkent and Kyzylorda have significantly expanded their capacity through the launch of new terminals. For example, the Almaty airport increased its capacity from 2.5 million to 14 million passengers per...

Forbes Kazakhstan has updated its ranking of the country’s richest people following a series of bold transactions in the banking sector. ForteBank owner Bulat Utemuratov rose from sixth to third place. The assets of Vyacheslav Kim and Timur Turlov also showed significant increases.

Kim, co-owner of Kazakh fintech giant Kasp.kz, remains first on the list. His net worth has risen from $7.1 to $7.33 billion. The company’s shares gained value after acquiring a controlling interest in the Turkish marketplace Hepsiburada for $1.127 billion. As of July 29, the closing price stood at $85.96. Furthermore, the businessman finalized

Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar has dismissed claims that the recent sharp depreciation of the tenge was caused by comments made by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov regarding the projected exchange rate of the national currency.

On July 15, during a press conference, Bektenov stated that under the cabinet’s baseline forecast for 2026, the exchange rate was projected at 540 tenge per U.S. dollar.

Following his remarks, the dollar began rising in value against the tenge, prompting the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan to suggest the statement may have influenced market expectations.

«The prime...

The Freedom Holding Corp. Kazakhstan Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) ticked up to 49.9 in July from 49.7 in June, but remained just below the 50.0 no-change mark for the second month in a row.

The main positive from the latest survey was continued growth in new orders, which increased for the eighteenth consecutive month in July. That said, there were signs of demand softening, as the pace of expansion in new business eased for the second month running, to the weakest level in a year.

With new order growth slowing and inventory holdings sufficient to satisfy client demand, manufacturers...

Sora Rakhmonova, the three-time hand-to-hand fighting champion and a sibling of prominent UFC fighter Shavkat Rakhmonov, commented on a car accident involving her brother’s close family members. She expressed condolences to the families of the deceased.   

«May the Creator be pleased with those who call and are concerned about the situation in my brother’s family! May no one end up in this situation. Only the Creator knows what will happen tomorrow… May the Creator guard my sister-in-law! She lost two close people at once and was injured herself,» Rakhmonova posted on Instagram Stories.

Nearly every bank now offers its own mobile banking app. To compare which ones are the most convenient according to users, Kursiv.media has compiled a ranking of banking apps based on user feedback. Among the leaders are the apps of Kaspi Bank, Bank RBK, Freedom Bank and Bereke Bank.

The assessment of the convenience and popularity of mobile apps from the largest Kazakhstani banks is based on user ratings in the two most popular app stores. On Google Play, only the Bank RBK app has the highest rating — 4.9 out of 5. In the App Store, several banks share...

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Kazakhstan, part of a broader trade move affecting more than 70 countries. The order, titled «Further Modifying the Reciprocal Tariff Rates,» was published July 31, 2025, on the White House website.

Previously, imports from Kazakhstan had been subject to a 10% tariff.

At the time, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration stated that the new 25% tariff will not impact 95% of the country’s exports to the U.S. Most exported products — including key raw materials and strategic commodities such as oil...

Qymyz Bar, a new spot dedicated to kumys (or kymyz) — the traditional Central Asian drink made from fermented mare’s milk — opened in Almaty on Aug. 1. The bar offers 20 different varieties of kumys from 11 regions across Kazakhstan, each with a distinct level of fermentation, ranging from light to bold and well-aged.

In addition to the wide selection of kumys, visitors can explore flavors with the help of a professionally trained sommelier, who offers tasting guidance and insights into the drink’s history and production.

The food menu features a mix of traditional dishes from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan...

Kazakhstan served as a filming location for the South Korean travel show «Hit and Miss Tour 4.» Its cast has visited the country’s largest city and surrounding areas.

Filming took place from July 24 to 27. The episodes are scheduled to air on Channel S, with a later global release on Netflix. The cast features South Korean comedians Kim Dae-hee, Kim Jun-ho, Jang Dong-min, Yoo Se-yoon and Hong In-kyu.

The reality show follows the cast as they travel through a new country, taking on unexpected challenges. The losers pay for accommodation, transportation and entertainment.

A new season will feature the...

Kazakhstan’s most influential business figures have come together to form the Kazakhstan Investors Union (KIU), a new organization dedicated to promoting economic development and enhancing the investment climate.

The companies of prominent tycoons Timur Kulibayev, Vladimir Kim and Oleg Novachuk were among the latest to join the recently established group.

Journalist Oleg Chervinsky highlighted the development on his Telegram channel focused on Kazakhstan’s oil and gas sector.

The following companies were admitted to the union during an absentee meeting:

China will construct the third nuclear power plant (NPP) in Kazakhstan, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar.

«The third nuclear power plant will be built by China. Currently, our colleagues from the Agency for Atomic Energy and Nuclear Power Plants LLP are evaluating potential sites. A continuous water supply near the power plant is essential,» Sklyar stated.

He also said that the government plans to announce the chosen sites for the next two nuclear plants later this year.

The first nuclear power plant is planned to be built in the village of Ulken...