News

Sharapatkan Mazhitova, an MP of the Kyrgyzstani parliament, has suggested banning the burqa and niqab in public places, Vesti.kg reported.

What happened? During a meeting of the parliament, Mazhitova pointed out the rapid increase in radical religious movements in the country.

The MP cited the example of Uzbekistan, which has banned wearing the burqa and niqab, the garments that cover faces and prevent people from being identified quickly.

«In neighboring Uzbekistan, for example, people adhere to religion even more strongly, but their constitution states that Uzbekistan is a secular state. Therefore it is forbidden to wear...

Nurmukhamed Baygaraev has resigned from his position as the official spokesperson for President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for health reasons. He was in office for five days.

What happened? Baygaraev wrote about the dismissal on his Facebook page. He said that his health had deteriorated, and an examination showed a disease that required long-term treatment. He was also banned from flying on an airplane.

The latter requirement interfered with his work since he was supposed to be able to travel along with the president.

As Baygaraev noted, it was a surprise even for himself as he planned to make the work of...

According to Darmen Sadvakasov, first vice president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) and vice president of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF), the Kazakhstani female chess players have reached the final of the World Women’s Team Championship for the first time.

What happened? Sadvakasov wrote on his Facebook page that the Kazakhstani famous chess players have reached the final of the FIDE Women’s Team Championship. As he noted, the Kazakhstani women’s team has done this for the first time in the country’s history.

«Hooray!!! We are in the finals of the Women’s Team Championship!!! Victory over...

According to the press service of Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) is considering the possibility of participating in promising projects in Kazakhstan. The service revealed this information after the prime minister’s meeting with President Yu Baocai of Sinopec.

«Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov and President Yu Baoсai discussed issues related to the implementation of new oil and gas projects. Sinopec has also underlined that it is considering the possibility of participating in other promising projects in Kazakhstan,» the press service said in a statement.

Sinopec has already participated in a...

According to Madina Abylkassymova, head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM), the example of Qatar is one of the possible scenarios for the future merger of two exchanges operating in Kazakhstan: the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) and the Astana International Exchange (AIX).

«Concerning AIX, we can rely on the experience of the Qatar Financial Center as they established their exchange on the basis of the Qatar Stock Exchange. We are going to study this case and decide what mechanism is the most effective in terms of attractiveness for foreign investors...

Starting from 2024, China will increase its receipt of grain and iron ore raw materials (pellets and concentrates) coming from Kazakhstan, according to Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ).

«Starting from January 2024, China will double the receipt of grain cargo in grain carriers, covered cars and containers at the Alashankou railway station. In addition, at the request of Kazakhstan, the PRC will for the first time begin receiving grain in grain carriers and covered cars at the Khorgos railway station. Moreover, due to high demand from Kazakhstani exporters, Chinese authorities will let more products such as vegetable oils...

Kashagan, a massive oil field at the Caspian Sea shelf, is capable of increasing oil output to 75 million tons a year, a significant increase over 12.7 million tons produced in 2022, according to the press service of Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

«North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the operator of the North Caspian Project, has a task of further increasing output at the expense of full-scale exploration of the field. According to experts, Kashagan has a production potential of 1.6 million barrels a day, which is roughly 75 million tons a year,» the press service said...

Russian Sberbank has canceled the option of transferring money to any cards issued by Kazakhstani banks with the help of its mobile app, Frank Media reported.

According to the media outlet, the bank is returning money to customers if their transactions aren’t completed. Several customers who failed to make a transfer and haven’t yet received their money back were told by the bank’s support service that all funds and fees would be returned within five days.

On September 5, Sberbank introduced a new feature in its mobile app allowing customers to send money to any card issued by banks in...

According to the Ministry of Healthcare of Kazakhstan, unvaccinated children account for about 70% of cases of measles in the country.

What happened? As of September 1, 2023, Kazakhstan reported 4,306 cases of measles with children under 14 accounting for 3,581 cases or 83%.

Who gets measles more often? According to epidemiologists, those children who have never gotten a vaccine account for 3,006 cases (70%). In 1,714 cases, parents of those kids refused to get a shot, in 572 there were vaccine exemptions, in 648 cases children were too young and in 72 cases there were other reasons. People with...

According to a new report on monetary policy by the National Bank, GDP growth is expected at 4.2% to 5.2% this year and by 4% to 5% over the period from 2024 to 2025.

The regulator underlined that it has revised its previous forecast upward. In May 2023, the National Bank of Kazakhstan presented two scenarios for its forecast of GDP growth. The first one was pessimistic. It said that the country’s economy would grow by 3.2% to 4.2% in 2023 and 3% to 4% in 2024. The optimistic scenario said that the growth would be at 4.7% to...

Mineral production tax (MPT), corporate income tax (CIT) and value-added tax (VAT) won’t be reduced for the purpose of a new tax code, according to Finance Minister Yerulan Zhamaubayev.

«I think, what we can reduce are different types of fees. There are a few core taxes like CIT, VAT and MPT. Of course, they won’t be changed, while some small advertising fees, for example, or other duties, might be reduced,» he told journalists.

He noted that the draft law is currently being considered by the cabinet and will be published later.

Zhamaubayev also mentioned that...

During its secondary public offering (SPO) KEGOC, a subsidiary of the Samruk Kazyna holding, is planning to offer 5% of its shares. The SPO is going to happen by the end of this year, according to the press service of the prime minister.

«We are going to continue moving entities from the quasi-state sector into a competitional environment or reorganize them. By the end of this year, we are expecting the SPO of 5% shares of KEGOC, followed by IPOs of Air Astana in 2024, QazaqGaz, Kazakhstan Railways and Samruk Energy in 2025,» the prime minister’s...

The lower house of Uzbekistan’s parliament has approved a new law on the prohibition of propaganda of polygamy and wearing clothes that cover the face while in public.

What is the draft law suggesting? The document suggests amending the criminal and administrative codes with penalties for:

– propaganda of having two or more wives;

– open denial of equal rights of men and women; and

– wearing clothes that make impossible the identification of a person in public places.

However, the country’s authorities won’t go after those who cover their faces under medical or professional circumstances.

The new legislation also...

While President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was delivering his address to the nation, he said that it is necessary to spur corporate lending and justly noted that banks aren’t active enough in contributing to the economic growth of Kazakhstan. Сorporate loans to the GDP ratio has been declining since 2014. As a result, we have already fallen behind our big neighbors in terms of this rate.

Banks have gone through a set of actions aimed at making their balances look perfect. They have written off loads of bad loans they issued to domestic businesses and learned many painful lessons. At the time...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has removed Galymzhan Pirmatov from the position of chairman of the National Bank, according to the president’s press service.

«Galymzhan Pirmatov has been dismissed from the position of the chairman of the National Bank by the president’s edict,» the press service said in a statement.

What do we know about Pirmatov? The ex-chairman of the National Bank was born in 1972 in the Shymkent region of Kazakhstan. In 1993, he graduated from Novosibirsk State University where he studied mathematics. In 1995, he graduated from the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Forecasting...

Timur Suleymenov, who was appointed as the new chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan on September 4, shared his thoughts on the possibility of the base rate decreasing, the Ulysmedia website reported.

«Inflation is the most dangerous process for our economy. We have to decide on this first. We will decrease the rate if the necessary conditions emerge,» Suleymenov said.

He also promised to answer questions from the media and explain his monetary policy stance a little bit later.

At the end of August, the National Bank, headed at the time by Galymzhan Pirmatov...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has appointed the ministers of internal affairs, trade and integration, culture and information, labor and social protection, as well as the heads of two agencies that have been established just recently: the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Tourism. The corresponding edicts have been published on the president’s website akorda.kz.

What happened? The president issued an edict about the appointment of the six new ministers:

Yerzhan Sadenov as the minister of internal affairs;

Arman Shakkaliyev as the minister of trade and integration;

Aida Balayeva as the minister of culture and information;

Marat Karabayev as the minister...

Kanat Sharlapayev, ex-chairman of the national holding Baiterek, has been appointed as the new minister of industry and construction.

Members of the lower house of the parliament have approved the candidacy of Kanat Sharlapayev as the new minister of industry and construction. The decision was made during a meeting of the Committee on Economic Reform and Regional Development.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has already signed an edict on the appointment.

«To appoint Kanat Sharlapayev as the minister of industry and construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan,» the edict says.

The context. On September 1, President Tokayev...

As the press service of the Astana International Exchange (AIX) reported, the number of individual accounts opened by Kazakhstanis has reached one million. Over the past three years, this rate has grown sixfold.

According to AIX, retail investors have thrived over the past several years thanks to technological progress in the sphere of investments. For example, they can use different online apps to trade on the stock exchange. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the industry and driven the number of individual accounts sky-high.

«All those restrictions related to the COVID...

The website of the Bureau of Industry and Security under the U.S. Department of Commerce has been blocked in Kazakhstan because it was identified as a phishing resource, according to the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan. At the same time, the agency underlined that the blocking of the website has nothing to do with any publication about “Kazakhstan’s assistance to Russia in breaching sanctions.”

Why has the website been blocked? The Ministry of Culture says that it constantly monitors the media landscape within the country to ensure compliance with Kazakhstan’s legislation. On April 26, 2023, the agency designated...

According to the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Atameken, the country’s cabinet has approved the zero rate of customs fee for goods that cost less than €200.

What happened? As Atameken reported, this year businesses were forced to pay about $43.50 for every delivery document they applied with the government within the customs declaration process.

«As a result, the amount of import and export transactions with small shipments transported by courier companies significantly declined and hit online shops across the country,» the chamber said in a statement on Telegram.

What was the problem? The key problem...

According to Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, the inflation rate is going to be twice as low by the end of the year compared to last year.

«Inflation is gradually declining. It is going be twice as low as last year,» Smailov stated.

Even though the prime minister didn’t provide any details, last year, the rate was 20.3%. On August 25, 2023, Galymzhan Pirmatov, head of the National Bank said that the inflation rate would be at 10% to 12% by the end of the year; 7.5% to 9.5% in 2024 and 5.5% to 7.5% in...

In his address to the nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that Kazakhstanis will get the right to elect mayors of towns and heads of districts (akims).

What did Tokayev say about elected positions? The president said that citizens should play an important role in making decisions at the level of local executive power.

«It’s important to be consistent in expanding the role of citizens in the decision-making process at the regional level. It’s been more than two years since Kazakhstanis started to take part in elections of heads of villages, settlements and rural districts. And now...

During his national address in front of members of both houses of parliament, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev suggested that the two current stock exchanges – Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) and Astana International Exchange (AIX) – be combined into one entity.

«There are two stock exchanges in Kazakhstan, which often duplicate and even compete with each other. It’s too much for our financial system. To increase the capacity and attractiveness of our market, the cabinet should prepare a plan on how to combine the potential of the two stock exchanges under unified governance,» the president said.

KASE...