News

Uzbekistan has banned wearing burqas in public and promoting polygamy. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed the document into law.

Why has the country imposed the new law? The country’s president has signed a law that prohibits wearing burqas in public. According to the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan, the move is aimed at maintaining public order. For example, this is necessary for the correct work of a new information security system called Safe City.

From now on any person wearing clothes that conceal his or her face and prevent the person’s identity from being disclosed will be charged with...

S&P Global Ratings has affirmed the long-term credit rating of Freedom Holding at B-, as well as the long-term and short-term credit ratings of its subsidiaries: Freedom Finance, Freedom Finance Europe, Freedom Finance Global and Freedom Bank at B/B. Freedom Bank’s national ratings are affirmed at kzBB+. In addition, the holding and its core subsidiaries are no longer in CreditWatch Negative, where they had been since the end of August 2023.

“Our ratings on Freedom Holding Corp. and its core subsidiaries balance the group’s strengths as a growing, increasingly diversified, and profitable financial services entity with...

According to Timur Suleymenov, head of the National Bank, the regulator is going to invest assets of the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF), which is under the control of the National Bank, in long-term bonds issued by commercial banks.

As the official noted, Kazakhstani banks need stable sources of funding in order to provide financial resources for long-running projects. UAPF funds might be one of these sources.

However, in order to obtain pension money a credit organization must meet certain requirements of financial stability. No details were provided though. It’s also unclear whether the regulator will require an additional buffer...

According to the Amsterdam Exchange, the stock value of ArcelorMittal fell more than 5% at the opening trading session on Monday following news about the transfer of the company’s assets in Kazakhstan to the country’s government.

Last Friday, ArcelorMittal shares were trading at €21.07 per item. On Monday at 2:00 p.m. Astana time, they were traded at €20.17 but then dropped to €19.98, marking a 52-week low.

The government of Kazakhstan announced that it wanted ArcelorMittal to sell its mining business in Kazakhstan this summer after an accident with five casualties at the Kazakhstanskaya mine, a facility controlled by ArcelorMittal...

During a general meeting, the shareholders of Kazakhtelecom agreed to make dividend payouts for 2022, the company said in a press release. Last spring, they refrained from doing so.

The company is going to pay about $70.9 million in total or $6.46 per share. Those who hold common shares will receive $69 million, while the remaining money will be allocated for privileged shares. The company’s charter and legislation require Kazakhtelecom to make dividend payouts to those who hold privileged shares not less than 30% of their nominal cost.

Before making their final decision, the shareholders reviewed the financial and economic...

According to the National Bank, the amount of money transferred to Kazakhstan through international money transfer systems in September was 2.9 times lower than in August.

The regulator reviewed money transfers by services such as Zolotaya Korona, Western Union, Contact, Faster and MoneyGram, among others. Almost all banks in Kazakhstan provide such services, along with Kazpost which has a banking license. Sending and receiving money doesn’t require opening an account in either Kazakhstan or a foreign country.

Typically, residents of Kazakhstan use money transfer services for cross-border transactions. In September, these transactions accounted for 93.1% of the total number of...

Over the period from January to September 2023, Polymetal International plc produced 1.272 million ounces of gold equivalent, a 6% increase over the same period last year.

«Over the first nine months of 2023 our production increased by 6% to 1.272 million ounces of gold equivalent (340,000 ounces in Kazakhstan and 932,000 ounces in Russia) compared to the same period last year,» the company said in a statement.

The company’s output in Russia has risen by 14% to 932,000 ounces and by 10% to 340,000 ounces in Kazakhstan.

«After a seasonal...

The government of Kazakhstan is going to allocate $25 million to implement a comprehensive plan for the development of the rare earth elements (REEs) and rare metals (RMs) industry in 2024-2028.

«The estimated amount of money needed for project implementation is about $25 million in public funds. We are going to send budget requests to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan for proper consideration by the Republican Budget Commission,» the cabinet said in an explanatory note to the draft document that is currently available for public consideration.

Both RMs and REEs are...

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, rescuers have found the bodies of 42 miners after an accident at the Kostenko mine controlled by the company ArcelorMittal Temirtau (AMT).

What is the status of the rescue operation at the mine? According to the ministry, rescuers have found the bodies of 42 people. The search for the remaining four miners is still underway.

Why is the rescue operation so complex? As rescuers reported the search is hampered by debris of destroyed mining equipment and falling ground.

The ministry previously stated that the rescue operation has been...

iPhones will not be charged with luxury tax because it is going to be imposed on things more expensive than $200,000, Zakon.kz reported, citing Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov.

What happened? The minister was asked whether the government is going to impose a luxury tax on things bought on credit like iPhones.

«No. It’s not about iPhones. That’s for sure. We are talking about really expensive things like cars that cost more than, let’s say, $200,000. An owner of such a car would pay a luxury tax even if it’s bought with a loan. Concerning...

According to Kenzhebek Ibrashev, director general of the KazEnergy association, all taxes related to oil production and exports must be based on actual oil prices, not on data from foreign price assessment agencies.

«Taxes for oil production and exports must be calculated based on actual selling price with transfer pricing taken into account,» he said during a discussion on tax issues with the Senate, the upper house of the parliament.

As Ibrashev noted, oil exporters have been seriously affected by fluctuations in oil prices as the taxes are calculated based on information from price assessment...

According to the Kazakhstan Railways website, the three railway operators from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan have established a new joint entity that will be in charge of the development of the Transcaspian International Transport Route (TITR) and multi-modal service along the way.

The new company Middle Corridor Multimodal Ltd. is going to operate within the Astana International Financial Center.

«Within these joint efforts, the company will provide services as a single-window system, ensure delivery time and conduct the same policy on the development of the multi-modal service all the way through from China to Europe and...

Kazakhstan may introduce a secret examination procedure to ensure that police officers, representatives of prosecutor offices, departments for economic investigations and the anti-corruption service abide by the rules. The initiative was proposed by the Anti-Corruption Agency to reduce corruption.

What happened? The Anti-Corruption Service has published a draft document on a test for acting ethically on the legalacts.egov.kz website.

What does the document propose? The Anti-Corruption Agency is unhappy to see law enforcement agencies among the most corrupt public services as they lack effective anti-corruption mechanisms. That is why the agency has proposed a test for police officers and employees...

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has prepared a draft regulation that will prevent commercial banks from issuing banking cards to those foreigners who possess neither temporary residence permits nor regular residence permits. The draft regulation is available for public consideration on the legalact.egov.kz website.

According to the initiative, those foreigners and people with no citizenship who temporarily or permanently live in Kazakhstan have to possess a residence permit or temporary residence permit in order to obtain a banking card. The document also says that the issuing of a card is possible only if an applicant visits a bank in person...

According to the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan, a delegation from KazMunayGas is going to come to Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, and Rijeka, one of the country’s biggest ports, in order to look into possibilities of boosting Kazakhstan’s oil exports.

«In this regard, Jadranski Naftovod (JANAF, the oil pipeline company in Croatia) has shown interest in expanding Kazakhstani oil exports to customers in the Balkan region and Eastern Europe through its Adria oil pipeline in Croatia. The two sides have already agreed to get down to talks on how this route can be used to...

The national company Samruk Kazyna doesn’t plan to sell its stake (51%) in Air Astana entirely within the company’s IPO scheduled for 2024. According to Dastan Adikhodzhaev, head of the privatization and asset restructuring department in Samruk Kazyna, the holding plans to sell about 5% to 10% of the shares it controls. Once the move is done, the holding will cease to be the controlling shareholder.

“We won’t sell the entire stake (51%). That’s for sure. The fund will remain a major shareholder, just not controlling. We want to reduce control. We will offer the market...

A Kazakhstani citizen suspected of attempted fraud was extradited from Sweden to Kazakhstan. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, he faces up to ten years in jail.

What is the man accused of? According to the agency, in August 2019, several individuals impersonated themselves as national security agents trying to steal $30,000 from a businessman in Almaty.

Even though the Committee for National Security successfully prevented the crime from happening, the suspect had managed to disappear. He was added to the international wanted list.

Where was the suspect detained? According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, law enforcement agencies of the...

The international holding Freedom Holding Corp. has explained why its founder and key stakeholder Timur Turlov quit Kcell’s board of directors. (The mobile operator operates under the Kcell brand.)

According to the holding, Turlov’s decision was voluntary and motivated by the desire to avoid a conflict of interest as he wanted to focus on his business in mobile communications. The businessman became a member of the company’s board of directors as a representative of Freedom Finance, which owns a stake in Kcell, in 2019.

Freedom Finance bought 9.08% of Kcell’s shares two years earlier. Since then, the company increased its...

According to the Ministry of Energy, over the period from January to September 2023, the renewable energy sector produced 4.91 billion kilowatt-hours, a 25% increase over the same period last year.

Wind and solar stations accounted for the vast part of this energy: 2.575 billion and 1.572 billion kilowatt hours, respectively. Small hydropower stations produced 760.9 million kilowatt-hours and biopower stations produced 2.25 million kilowatt hours. In other words, the share of renewable sources of energy in the general energy production in Kazakhstan reached 5.97%.

The total capacity of the renewable sources of energy within the country is 2.7 gigawatts...

The Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan has confirmed that Ex-Minister of Justice Marat Beketaev has been detained.

«We are confirming that the detained individual is Ex-Minister of Justice Beketaev. The arrest of the suspect was authorized by the court. No more details can be revealed due to the ongoing investigation,» the press service of the agency told the Kursiv edition.

The context. On October 21, the Anti-Corruption Agency detained the former minister of justice, who is accused of lobbying interests of an affiliated business and causing serious damage to the state.

The agency...

A big traffic jam has emerged at the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (GKNB) commented on the situation.

Which border crossings reported traffic jams? According to GKNB, on October 23, more than 297 trucks entered Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan through the Ak Tilek border crossing point. (Passenger vehicles and trucks with cement from the Kant Cement Plant aren’t included.)

«Even though all necessary measures to increase the capacity of border crossing points have been applied, the Ak Tilek border crossing point reported a big jam of trucks,» the agency...

How will the visa-free regime work? Kazakhstan and China will cancel visa requirements for citizens of the two countries who travel in either direction if their purpose of the visit is medical treatment, business or private trips, transit or tourism. They will be allowed to stay in the other country for no longer than 90 days within a 180-day period.

The context. In April 2023, some media outlets reported that Kazakhstan was going to sign a 30-day visa-free regime agreement with China.

The signing of the document was held on May 18, during the official visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

According to the press service of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, during his visit to Xinjiang, he met with Ma Xingrui, a high-ranking official in the region, and discussed a range of issues, including tourism.

What did Tokayev say? As President Tokayev noted, bilateral cooperation in the sphere of tourism has huge potential. Kazakhstan has even created the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to promote this industry.

«We hope that the flow of tourists from China to Kazakhstan will grow. Next year is going to be a year of Kazakhstan’s tourism in China. We are going to facilitate...

QazaqGas, the national gas company in Kazakhstan, and Chinese Geo-Jade Petroleum Corporation are going to work together to develop the Pridorozhnoe gas field in Kazakhstan, according to the press service of QazaqGaz.

«On October 17, Sanzhar Zharkeshov, chair of the management board of QazaqGas and Xiaoping Dai, president of Geo-Jade Petroleum Corporation, signed heads of agreement. The document was signed during the Belt and Road Initiative summit where Kazakhstan’s delegation led by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part,» the company said in a statement.

The agreement is going to be the basis for joint efforts in...