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All the money the government of Kazakhstan gained from Lesha Bank, an investment bank from Qatar that acquired Bereke Bank, will be sent to the state budget, according to Baiterek Holding. At the same time, the law on state property says that the funds should be sent to the National Fund.

«If the deal is successfully closed, all the money will be sent to the state budget,» Baiterek said in a response to Kursiv’s inquiry.

On May 20, 2024, Lesha Bank announced that the deal with the acquisition of Bereke Bank was closed. This announcement was published...

According to Deputy Chairman of the Board of Baiterek Holding Zhandos Shaikhy, preliminary data shows that the holding earned roughly $272.7 million in the first quarter of 2024, which is a 9% increase over the previous year.

In Q1, Baiterek financed 14 export transactions and eight investment projects in the amount of $347.3 million.

Furthermore, the financial institution has allocated about $402.7 million for the support of 3,400 businesses from the agricultural industry, while around $476.7 million was given to 36 exporting companies.

Otbasy Bank, a subsidiary of Baiterek, issued $562.5 million in loans to retail customers over the first...

KazMunayGas (KMG) representatives traveled to the U.S. to meet potential investors to promote new geological-prospecting projects in Kazakhstan, according to Dastan Abdulgafarov, the deputy CEO of KMG.

«KMG has completed a set of big geological-prospecting examinations of absolutely new fields and reassessed subsoil reserves of the Caspian Sea region over the past few years. I can say that we have discovered very promising fields and already conducted our road show for potential investors in the U.S. recently,» he said at the Astana Energy Forum, organized by S&P Global.

The national oil company has already been negotiating with...

The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan is once again reviewing small modular reactors of U.S. and Japanese design as options for the future Kazakhstani nuclear power plant, according to Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev. In 2022, the ministry removed them from the official list of nuclear technology vendors, citing a lack of international practice of using these reactors. As the minister noted, the government will be ready to start the bidding process for its nuclear power plant once all potential vendors file their applications.

«So far, Korea, Russia, China and France have been qualified. However, this is not a...

According to a survey prepared by RIA Novosti, consumers in Kazakhstan have the privilege of enjoying the lowest natural gas prices ($0.07 per cubic meter) in the world. It won’t last for long, though, as the country’s Ministry of Energy is going to raise wholesale prices for gas by 20%. 

The news agency found out that one average monthly salary in Kazakhstan is enough to buy more than 10,000 cubic meters of gas compared to 9,000 and 5,000 in Russia and Belarus, respectively. Portugal (991.9 cubic meters), Lithuania (805.4) and Moldova (604.8) have shown the worst result in the rating. The highest price...

Pipeline operators in Poland and Russia have settled the issue that threatened to stop the transit of Kazakhstani oil to Germany via the Druzhba oil pipeline, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters.

In April, Russian Transneft warned Kazakhstan that its oil export to Germany might be stopped due to problems with servicing oil flowmeters in Poland.

The problem emerged when Russian Transneft and Polish pipeline operator PERN couldn’t extend their servicing contract that expires on June 5. PERN was reluctant to sign any new arrangements with Russia that might put it at risk of breaching anti-Russian...

According to Deputy Head of Baiterek Nurbolat Aidapkelov, the sale of Bereke Bank to Lesha Bank for $146.2 million was good for both the holding and Kazakhstan as a whole.

«Given that we have acquired the bank, let’s say, for one tenge, what we managed to earn from the deal [65 billion tenge or $146.2 million] is very good. I mean, we have bought the bank almost for nothing,» he said.

As the official noted, not a single penny from the state budget was spent on acquiring the former subsidiary of Russian Sberbank in September 2022 as...

The government of Kazakhstan wants to preserve the Caspian seal by establishing a special natural reserve in the Mangystau and Atyrau regions.

The Ministry of Agriculture has already presented a draft regulation on «the creation of the state natural reserve to preserve the Caspian seal. It will be available for public consideration on http://legalacts.egov.kz until June 5.

“To create the state natural reserve under the Fishing Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture to preserve the population of the Caspian seal in the Caspian Sea, at the territory of the Mangystau and Atyrau regions,» the document says.

The...

According to Vice Minister of Finance Dauren Temirbekov, Kazakhstani and Chinese statistics on goods turnover don’t match each other because the two countries use different methodologies. This is why the difference in statistics is unavoidable, he explained to the Senate, the upper house of Kazakhstan’s parliament.

«There is a positive trend in terms of mirror statistics with China. For example, in 2018, the difference rate was 52.5%; in 2023, the rate was just 32%. This is about $7.9 million in terms of money. We are seeing a downward trend,» Temirbekov underlined.

As the official noted, the main...

An oil refinery in Bulgaria run by Russian oil company Lukoil has boosted imports of Kazakhstani oil after the country was banned from purchasing oil from Russia, according to Vedomosti, a Russian business media outlet.

In May 2024, Kazakhstan became the biggest oil supplier in Bulgaria as Lukoil Neftohim Burgas was purchasing about 80,400 barrels of Kazakhstani high-sulfur oil Kebco and a lighter CPC Blend per day, which was an eightfold increase compared to January.

Overall, in May, the facility acquired 130,000 barrels per day, the highest rate since the beginning of the year. However, the refinery’s capacity is much...

SOVICO Group, an investment company from Vietnam, is going to acquire Qazaq Air, according to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. He made this statement while speaking at the closing ceremony of the Kazakhstan-Singapore Business Forum in Singapore.

«I am hailing the privatization of our Qazaq Air by the Vietnamese SOVICO Group as it will be a real booster for air travel between Kazakhstan and the ASEAN countries,» Tokayev stated. 

The current owner of the airline Samruk Kazyna had tried to sell Qazaq Air for a while. In August 2023, the holding announced its first bidding in an attempt to...

According to Gulbanu Maigarina, head of the Central Asian Association of Franchising, investors from Central Asia are interested in purchasing franchises from Kazakhstani companies to build their businesses based on successful business models.

«A relatively large quantity of Kazakhstani companies have franchises in Central Asian states. For instance, Lanzhou has franchises in five countries, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan and Russia account for the vast majority of Kazakhstani franchises,» the expert said.

On May 22, an international summit of franchise associations from Turkic states was held in Astana. Guests from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan came...

Freedom Bank plans to combine about 30 apps from its services in one closed financial ecosystem called Freedom Bridge. Once the move is done, all subsidiaries of Freedom Holding Corp. will become neobanks, according to Aidos Zhumagulov, adviser to the chair of the board of directors in Freedom Bank.

«As a bank, we are developing a bridge project called Bank-as-a-Service. Once it is done, we will be able to expand our financial services in every company based on Open API. We want to enrich the holding’s ecosystem with our financial products. The group has both financial and non-finance...

Lesha Bank, an investment bank from Qatar has closed the deal related to the acquisition of Bereke Bank, according to a statement published on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) website. Even though as of April 1, the Kazakhstani bank had $367.2 million in its capital, the deal value was equal to just 39.8% of that sum.

Neither side officially reported the deal, although it was closed on March 31. Two weeks before that date, Madina Abylkassymova, chair of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan (ARDFM) revealed that negotiations between Lesha Bank...

CEO of Halyk Bank Umut Shayakhmetova believes that only reducing the base rate can supply the demand for long money the country needs for modernization and development. She made this statement while speaking at the conference «Financial Sector of Kazakhstan: 25 Years of Strategic Challenges.»

«It’s not an easy task to find borrowers if the base rate is high. Even though there is a big demand for long money for economic modernization and development, we are seeing fewer projects now and are mainly lending money to the trade for no longer than twelve months. We are the bank...

According to President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should be constantly focusing on the fight against the «three forces of evil» – terrorism, separatism and extremism. He made this statement during a meeting with foreign ministers from the SCO member states.

«Kazakhstan is fully committed to expanding our cooperation in this sphere. The cooperation program on the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism is a practical step in this direction,» the president highlighted.

He also noted that the SCO Anti-Drug Strategy will promote mutual actions aimed at countering drugs and financial sources for...

Bekzhan Pirmatov, CEO of Forte Bank, and Umut Shayakhmetova, CEO of Halyk Bank, do not think that the arrival of foreign banks is a magic pill for Kazakhstan’s banking sector. Newcomers are probably bound to lend money to businesses and consumers at higher rates than their local competitors. Here are some quotations from the executives’ speeches at the conference «Financial Sector of Kazakhstan: 25 Years of Strategic Challenges.»

The issue was discussed against the backdrop of reports about the acquisition of Bereke Bank by Lesha Bank from Qatar. Even though the deal was closed on March 31, the Qatar Stock...

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov addressed the nation over unrest that triggered the mass exodus of Pakistani students out of the country.

According to the president, all the disorder was provoked by some politicians who are serving their sentences in jail. He warned that next time law enforcement officers will receive an order to apply force to counter rioters.

As Japarov mentioned, on May 13, police detained several people involved in a violent but limited incident. However, on May 18, «some forces interested in getting the situation more acute» disseminated «fake news about the incident» adding fuel to the conflict.

The Kazakhstani transportation business will obtain an additional number of permits for transporting freight to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The Ministry of Transport expects this move to boost the commodity turnover between Kazakhstan and the Baltic states. 

«Currently, Kazakhstani carriers need more permits for cargo transportation from European countries. We have already distributed among Kazakhstani transport companies more than 70% of permits we had obtained from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia earlier this year,» said Transport Minister of Kazakhstan Marat Karabayev. 

To solve the problem, Kazakhstan approached the three Baltic states with a request for additional permits. As a result...

The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) wants insurance companies to ensure that the confidential data of their customers is safe. The corresponding draft regulation will be available on legalacts.egov.kz for public consideration until May 28.

If the new regulation is adopted, the agency will oblige insurance companies to follow banks and microfinance organizations and embrace the same security measures.

For instance, any registration in a mobile or web application should be conducted with the help of biometric authentication. The same procedure must be applied during the password change, while two-stage authentication is expected to be...

According to Senator Ali Bektayev, high recycling fees that farmers have to pay while purchasing new agricultural machinery have made them reluctant to upgrade their machinery. They prefer using their outdated and worn-out tractors and combines. On the other hand, farmers can’t afford Kazakhstani-made machinery as local producers heavily rely on expensive foreign details. 

«As of 2024, a recycling fee for a tractor varies from $835 to $16,680 and from $3,606 to $18,708 for a combine. These are significant sums for farmers. As a result, many farms stopped buying new machinery and switched to dismantling old vehicles for spare parts...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has appointed Aset Irgaliyev, the former assistant to the president for economic affairs, as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the WTO and International Economic Organizations.

By the president’s same edict, Zhanar Aitzhan, who held this position before, was dismissed. 

Irgaliyev had worked in the president’s administration since September last year. Over his career, he also worked in Samruk Kazyna’s board of directors, the state economic commission under the president of Kazakhstan, the board of directors of the Baiterek holding and the Supreme Council for Reforms under the president. Since December 2023, he’s served as deputy head...

Over the period from January to April 2024, the volume of maritime shipment via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR or the Middle Corridor) grew by 15%. The transit of container cargo from China to Europe has risen by 3.4 times, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Furthermore, the agency also reported an increase in motor freight transportation via the port of Kuryk and containers via the Aktau Port. This year the Ministry of Transport plans to deepen the bottom of the port of Kuryk to make it suitable for massive ships. The main work on the project is expected...

There are three refineries in Kazakhstan (in Atyrau, Pavlodar and Shymkent). According to some media outlets, Russian Lukoil is interested in acquiring the Atyrau refinery, while another Russian giant Gazprom is thinking about purchasing the oil processing plant in Pavlodar. In an interview with Inbusiness.kz, Chair of the Antimonopoly Agency of Kazakhstan Marat Omarov commented on the issue.

«We analyzed how our refineries work and have come to the conclusion that private investors can play a crucial role in the refinery’s business when they have a stake in it. I am not talking about the control stake, of...