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Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov of Kazakhstan has revoked a draft law on ratification of the agreement between Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates on strategic partnership. 

Under the agreement, Kazakhstan was going to sell 74.99% of shares of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Shulba hydropower stations. The new rule has already been published even though no official comments from the cabinet have been given. Therefore, it’s not clear whether the deal is just postponed or has been rejected completely. 

According to information published on privatization.gosreestr.kz, the agreement on the sale of the two hydropower stations was scheduled for March 15, 2022.

As the...

The former head of Kazakhstan’s Committee of the National Security (KNB) Karim Masimov has been accused of a violent attempt of coup d’état, according to the KNB’s press service.

The KNB has been conducting a pre-trial investigation into state treason – the main accusation against the former head of the agency Karim Masimov. Moreover, as some media reported, Masimov is also accused of abuse of official authority and actions aimed at a violent seizure of power in the country.

Similar charges have also been brought against two deputies of ex-chairman of the KNB – Anuar Sadykulov, head of the Secret...

President and CEO of TAV Airports Sani Şener has told Bloomberg HT how unrest in Kazakhstan can impact investments and business of TAV Airports in the country.  

Şener said that cargo flights have been restored after the police and military have taken control of the Almaty International Airport. Many shops inside the airport have been looted but the crucial infrastructure is unharmed.

«Almaty is one of the key airports in our portfolio. It accounts for 20% of our total turnover. Unlike other airports, about 75% revenue of the Almaty airports comes from cargo flights, ground services and aviation...

The new cabinet has been approved in Kazakhstan, the president’s press service reported.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has appointed the following members of the cabinet: 

•        Roman Sklyar – first deputy prime minister;
•        EralyTugzhanov – deputy prime minister;
•        Mukhtar Tleuberdi – deputy prime minister – minister of foreign affairs;
•        Bakhyt Sultanov – deputy prime minister – minister of trade and integration;
•        Galymzhan Koyshybayev – head of the prime minister’s office;
•        Muran Bektanov – minister of defense;
...

The Ministry for Development of Informational Technologies and Communications has a meeting in the Uzbek IT Park to discuss the future development of the IT industry. 

As Minister Sherzod Shermatov noted over the period from 2022 to 2026, Uzbekistan is going to implement a series of investment projects in the area of information and communication technologies and is ready to allocate $1.5 billion.

The agency wants the number of available services on the Single Portal for Interactive Public Services to reach 610 by the end of 2026. 

It is expected that the government will expand the number of fiber-optic communication...

In 2021, oil production in the country is going to reach 85.7 million tons in total; 67.6 million tons of oil were exported abroad during the year; 17.1 million tons were reprocessed and 13.1 million tons of oil products were produced, according to Magzum Mirzagaliyev, head of the Ministry of Energy.

As the minister reported the volume of production at Tengiz is going to reach 26.5 million tons of oil and 14.5 billion cubic meters of gas.

«There is a $45.2 billion Tengiz oil field expansion project underway. Once the project is done, the oil production will rise by...

The international provider of the satellite communications OneWeb has confirmed its successful deployment of 36 satellites by Arianespace from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

This is the 12th by the company overall and 9th since December 2020. As a result, OneWeb now has in-orbit constellation of 394 satellites. This represents over 60% of the company’s planned 648 low Earth orbit satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity. As a result, OneWeb now has 394 satellites in low Earth orbit. The company is going to run a network of 648 satellites in total.

The lift-off of the latest launch occurred on...

Kazakhstan has provided Afghanistan with humanitarian aid of food and medicine worth $1.9 million, the Interfax news agency reported, citing the country’s Ministry of Trade and Integration.

The minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Sultanov has visited Kabul, Afghanistan, according to the press service of the ministry. During a meeting with the Afghan side, an official said that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan entrusted him to give Afghanistan over 5,000 tons of flour as humanitarian aid.

«We have brought 1,500 tons of medicines. In addition, the humanitarian convoy with 155 tons of humanitarian cargo of food and...

President of Russia Vladimir Putin has been named politician of the year as roughly 40% of Russian citizens who participated in a survey by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) have given their preferences to Putin, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Among other popular politicians in Russia are Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. 

«A politician of the year for regular Russians is still the president Vladimir Putin as 38% of respondents have chosen him. By a quite large margin, Putin is followed by Sergey Lavrov and Mikhail Mishustin (each of whom received...

New national holding QazBioPharm is going to support biological safety, sustainable development and improvement of biopharmaceutical market infrastructure in Kazakhstan, according to the government decree, which has been published on the website adilet.zan.kz.

In the decree the government has determined the scope of responsibilities of the new holding as promotion of biopharmaceutical science and industry; meeting the needs of the state and society of biopharmaceutical products.

The authorized capital of the holding must be formed by shares of the Scientific Center of Anti-Infective Drugs which belonged to the government of Kazakhstan.

Also, the government has ordered the Committee of State...

One of the biggest enterprises in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk titanium-magnesium plant has scared locals with bright pink smoke, which comes out of its chimney. Experts from the Department of the Environment for the East Kazakhstan region took air samples.

Neither the plant executives nor local officials confirmed the failure.

«Once our colleagues from the Department of Environment received complaints from local residents, they have conducted an unscheduled inspection at the plant. Once we have all the results of that examination, we will prepare a conclusion. So far, we can’t confirm any failure on the site,» said Rauan Turarov...

A reputable website BoxRec.com has removed Gennadiy Golovkin, IBF/IBO middleweight champion from its rating.

The reason BoxRec removed Golovkin from its rating is the long period when the champion from Kazakhstan didn’t fight. The last time he appeared on the ring was on December 18, 2020. He fought with Kamil Szeremeta and won ahead of schedule.

When a boxer does not fight for 12 months in a row, BoxRec.com assigns him the status «inactive» and removes him from its ratings and P4P.

The website has also updated the rating of the best boxers from Kazakhstan:

1. Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (middleweight)
...

President of Russia Vladimir Putin has signed a new law that determines public authority in the subjects of the Russian Federation. The document prohibits local governors from calling themselves presidents while allowing them to run for governor elections more than two times, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

The law prohibits using the word «president» in the official title of any head of the federation’s subject.

According to the new legislation, the president can remove from the office any governor either due to loss of confidence or by decision of the local legislative body. The law stipulates that the...

Freedom Holding Corp. has gotten two awards from International Finance Awards magazine – Most Innovative Securities Brokerage Company – Kazakhstan 2021 and Best Research House – Kazakhstan 2021. Also, Freedom Finance has received a bronze award Champions League Award 2021 from FEAS in the nomination The Market of Fixed Income.

According to Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. the company’s analytics have been preparing reports on markets and public companies for the clients on a daily basis. Speaking about the award, Turlov noted that the entire holding has adopted an innovative approach in its operations.

In Kazakhstan, the company offers...

The National Association of Blockchain and Data Centers Industry has shared its concerns over the situation with the cryptocurrency mining industry in Kazakhstan. Many digital mining companies tend to leave the country as the government has blamed them for the overconsumption of electricity. 

In August 2021, Kazakhstan ranked second in the global bitcoin hashrate as 18.1% of all transactions, with bitcoin being processed in Kazakhstan’s data centers. The economic effect of the industry may reach $1.5 billion in the next five years with taxes of more than $300 million, according to the association.

However, the massive migration of cryptocurrency miners...

Protection of women’s rights and gender equality are global tasks and Central Asian states are aimed at the same goals. Gender equality including equal rights for both men and women on the labor market can not only make women’s lives better but would also bring serious economic benefits for countries that pay attention to the gender issue.  

According to the book Unrealized Potential: The High Cost of Gender Inequality in Earnings written by Quentin Wodon and Bénédicte de la Brière and published by the World Bank, gender inequality is a cause of losses in national wealth of $23,620 per...

Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC, +30% this year) is going to acquire MKM Partners, a brokerage firm from the U.S. This is the second U.S. company Freedom is going to buy in the country. Under the terms of the agreement, Freedom will acquire all the member interest of MKM Partners for cash and Freedom common stock. Completion of the transaction is subject to certain conditions, including approval of FINRA.

As Timur Turlov, Freedom Holding Corp. CEO noted MKM Partners is a well-respected institutional equity trading, sales, and research firm. With one of the largest distribution forces in the U.S. and a...

Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, has called on his CIS counterparts to consider creating the Eurasian Space Agency, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. 

While speaking at the EAEU Space Integration Business Forum, Rogozin said that he would like to discuss this topic because the Eurasian Space Agency would be able to unite many countries.

Rogozin noted that industrial facilities across the former Soviet Union used to work in conjunction with each other.

He also said that Roscosmos will not cooperate with SpaceX directly because SpaceX has tried to push Russia out of the market...

According to the press service of the Financial Monitoring Agency, fraud with state subsidies for farmers was solved in the Turkestan region.

As a result of the law enforcement operation called Kazyna, the police have solved a fraud case. Two residents of the Turkestan region, who were representatives of the local company Sybaga, had applied to the state-owned Agrarian Credit Corporation for an $875,254 loan. They claimed they need this money to purchase breeding stock. They even approached the corporation’s officials with documents proving a money transfer to Russia where local company Merkit acted as a supplier. 

To cover part...

Every third vehicle produced in Kazakhstan will be exported abroad, according to BeibutAtamkulov, minister of industry and infrastructural development.

As the official stated during the government’s meeting today, the country is going to be a vital part of the global supply chain for KAMAZ and Hyundai once the industrial strategy is completed in 2025. 

«One in three automobiles produced in Kazakhstan is going to be headed abroad,» he said.

Thanks to the growing amount of auto parts that are produced inside the country (bumpers, wheels, rubber carpets, accumulators, etc.) the percentage of local content in goods is going...

The liquid gas production in Kazakhstan is going to be increased by 300,000 tons and reach 3.5 million tons by 2025 in total, according to Minister of Energy Magzum Mirzagaliyev’s report to the government.

As the official noted, the number of investments for this sector is going to reach $1.2 billion by 2025. In addition, the country is going to raise natural gas production by 1.5 billion cubic meters.

However, to achieve that goal and increase the liquid gas production, three additional projects must be implemented first, Mirzagaliyev said. 

«First of all, this is a small gas treatment plant...

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Kyrgyzstan has published preliminary results of the parliamentary elections held on Sunday, the Kabar news agency reported.

According to the CEC, it has received data from 2,247 automatic ballot paper counting machines (Kyrgyzstan has 2,494 such automated ballot boxes). 

«As preliminary data shows 1,182,291 voters out of 3,703,420 (31.92%) took part in the elections,» the CEC said.

So far, there are six political parties that are mentioned by CEC as winners of the elections: Ata Zhurt (16.44%), Ishenim (13.2%), Yntymak (10.65%), Alliance (8.07%), Butun Kyrgyzstan (6.58%) and Yiman Nuru (5.95%). All of...

Some people are preparing for a violent takeover in the country. After the parliamentary elections, the government will play hardball, according to the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency citing President SadyrJaparov.

The authorities have gathered proof and know for sure about the mounting coup, said Japarov.

«People who will take to the streets for no reason will be punished. We are going to work transparently and fairly. After the upcoming elections, there will be five years with no elections; we have to deal with the economic issues,» added Kyrgyz leader.

On Thursday the Kyrgyzstani government rolled out heavy security in...

North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), a consortium of six foreign companies and Kazakhstan’s national company KazMunayGaz, is going to start next year to develop a basic design of the second phase of the Kashagan project. It is expected that the production level will surge at least twofold.

The first stage of the project at a cost of $55 billion has been implemented since 2016 and will last until the end of 2024.

So far, Kashagan produces about 400,000 barrels of oil per day. Once the first stage of the expansion is completed, the peak of production might reach 450,000 barrels...