News

Jennifer Lopez’s «Up All Night» world tour is nearing its end, with her penultimate concert held Aug. 10 at Central Stadium in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city. On the eve of the show, one of her musicians took time to connect with locals.

Kazakh-style meat for J.Lo’s bass guitarist

Brandon Brown, Lopez’s bass guitarist — also known as Pastor Funk — met a local teenager on the basketball court at the hotel where the tour team was staying.

The encounter led to a surprise visit to the boy’s family home, something that delighted the hosts. According to the family...

Kazakhstan’s net international reserves, which include gold and foreign exchange assets, rose in July for the first time in two months, increasing 1.45% from the previous month to $50.3 billion, according to data from the National Bank. Reserves are up 15.54% since the start of the year.

Gross international reserves reached $52.4 billion, up 1.22% month-on-month. Of that total, assets in freely convertible currencies stood at $19.6 billion, a 0.36% increase, while monetary gold rose 1.75% to $32.8 billion.

Since January, foreign currency assets have fallen 10.7%, or $1.7 billion, while gold reserves have jumped 37.66%, or...

The Chinese company Hunan Junxin Environmental Protection has registered a subsidiary in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which is likely to carry out a $600 million project to construct three waste-to-energy plants.

Junxin Environmental Protection (Kazakhstan) was registered in the AIFC on Aug. 7. Its owners are Hunan Junxin Environmental Protection and a Hong Kong company with a similar name. The company is managed by Dai Daoguo, chair of the parent company.

In early July, Hunan Junxin Environmental Protection announced plans to build three waste-to-energy plants in Kazakhstan. In addition to waste processing, the project also involves...

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a series of phone calls last week with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, as media reports circulated about upcoming high-level talks on resolving the war in Ukraine and following the signing of a peace declaration between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington.

Kazakhstan-Russia

On Aug. 7, Tokayev spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin said Putin initiated the call «in the spirit of the allied relationship and strategic partnership Russia and Kazakhstan maintain» to brief Tokayev on the progress of Russia’s dialogue with the U.S. over the Ukraine conflict. Putin also...

Over the first 10 months of the 2024-2025 marketing year — from September to June — Kazakhstan’s wheat exports in grain equivalent rose 44% year-on-year to 10 million tons, according to Eugeniy Karabanov, official representative of the Kazakh Grain Union.

Considering the high export pace and potential in the next two months, the union has raised its forecast for wheat, wheat flour and feed meal exports in grain equivalent from 11.45 million to 11.6 million tons. Reaching this figure would mark an all-time record.

According to Karabanov, the countries that increased their imports compared to the same period in...

The ceremony marking the start of construction of Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant (NPP), led by Russia’s Rosatom, took place in the village of Ulken in the Zhambyl district of the Almaty region.

Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants (KNPP) — a subsidiary of the state-owned Samruk-Kazyna holding — is the operator for all future nuclear power plants in the country, but has been placed under the trust management of the Agency for Atomic Energy (AAE).

Rosatom was selected as the leader of the international consortium for the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant. As part of the...

Kazakhstani farmers have significantly increased barley exports. From September 2024 to August 2025, the country exported 1.82 million tons — twice as much as in the same period last season, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Agriculture.

Main reasons for the increase include a high yield, favorable prices and strong demand from Iran and China.

In total, 3.84 million tons of barley were harvested in 2024. Almost two thirds of exports went to Iran, with nearly 1.1 million tons delivered — nearly 30 times more than last year. China received 414,400 tons, and Uzbekistan 125,200 tons.

The export surge has...

Kazakhstan has opened public access to AlemLLM, the largest AI model built for the Kazakh language, Minister of Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev announced on Instagram.

A large-language model (LLM) is a type of AI program trained to understand human language, respond to requests and generate coherent text, similar to how ChatGPT operates using GPT-4o and other versions.

AlemLLM is now available to startups, universities, companies and international platforms. It can be used to develop new products and integrate Kazakh-language AI capabilities into existing services.

«Our goal is to give the entire market a powerful...

The U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan has announced an online auction to sell used property, including computers, office equipment, shipping containers, an SUV and a utility vehicle, according to the embassy’s official website.

A total of 17 lots are up for bid, all sold in «as is» condition. The highest-priced item is a 2011 Mitsubishi L200 SUV with a starting bid of 2 million tenge (about $3,700). Organizers say the vehicle is in working condition.

Also on the list is a three-seat Polaris Ranger 6×6 UTV, starting at $370.

Other items include desktop computers, monitors, scanners and printers, with sets...

Starting Sept. 1, Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) will launch direct flights from Baku to two Iranian cities, Tehran and Tabriz, making travel to Iran more affordable and convenient for passengers from Kazakhstan.

AZAL will operate flights from Baku to Tehran four times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. One-way tickets will start at about $58, with a flight time of 1 hour and 25 minutes.

From Sept. 3, the carrier will begin twice-weekly flights from Baku to Tabriz, on Wednesdays and Sundays. One-way fares will start at $110, with a flight time of 1 hour and...

Construction is underway in Bishkek on what will be the largest sports facility in Central Asia — an international-class stadium built to FIFA standards. Designed to hold 51,000 spectators, the arena is expected to become the flagship of Kyrgyzstan’s sports infrastructure.

Bishkek Arena
Plans for the stadium were first announced in April 2024. The project is located in the village of Orok, on the outskirts of the capital. Its most distinctive element is a sweeping, circular design modeled after the traditional Kyrgyz yurt, a nomadic dwelling.

The eight-level structure will measure 280 meters in diameter and 70 meters in...

Almaty is set to host popular German musician Till Lindemann one more time — the frontman and lead singer of the cult band Rammstein, organizers announced.

The singer initially planned to give only one concert in Almaty on Jan. 7, 2026, but it sold out almost immediately. Due to high demand, organizers scheduled an additional performance the day before — on Jan. 6.

General sales will open on Aug. 8 at 12 p.m. Astana time on Ticketon.kz.

Till Lindemann is widely known as the charismatic frontman of Rammstein, one of the world’s most recognizable rock bands, renowned for...

Digital marking technology will be used in the allocation of funds for the repair of utility infrastructure in Kazakhstan. This measure is intended to improve oversight of how the funds are used.

At a briefing, Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev spoke about the implementation of a project to modernize the country’s energy and utilities sectors. This year, in a pilot mode, Kazakhstan is attracting 150 billion tenge (approximately $280.3 million) in investment, which are expected for the repair of 8,500 kilometers of networks and the replacement of more than 42,000 units of equipment. Next year, another 1 trillion tenge (around...

In 2025, Kazakhstan saw a significant expansion in sunflower planting areas — a crop now considered the most profitable among all major sectors of the country’s crop farming, as highlighted by the First Credit Bureau (FCB).

According to Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics, almost 1.8 million hectares were allocated for sunflower this season — up 38% from last year and the largest area planted since at least 1990.

The rate of increase in planting area is the highest since 2008, although the 2025 data remain preliminary.

The expansion of sunflower planting came as no surprise, the FCB noted. Agricultural...

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have started deploying the first-ever fiber-optic cable between the countries, Kazakhtelecom CEO Bagdat Mussin announced on his Telegram channel.

The cable will run along the seabed of the Caspian Sea, from the Kazakh city of Aktau to the Azerbaijani city of Sumgayit. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. The cable’s capacity is designed for many years to come and expected to be no less than 400 terabits per second.

«Today marks the start of the most interesting part of the project. A special vessel has...

Kazakhstan is turning to cutting-edge technology to tackle inflation, deploying a powerful supercomputer to analyze price data and monitor commodity flows across the country in real time.

Ablaikhan Ospanov, acting chairman of Kazakhtelecom, the national telecommunications operator, announced at a recent government meeting that the company’s supercomputer will be used to regulate trade and track the movement of goods. The system will be fed data from the Bureau of National Statistics, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Trade and Integration.

«We will be able to load the necessary data into the supercomputer...

KMG PetroChem, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG), has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Tecnimont S.p.A. of Italy and Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCIC) of Lebanon for the construction of a gas separation facility (GSF) at the Tengiz field, KMG announced.

According to the release, the EPC contract covers the design, procurement and turnkey construction of a gas separation complex with a processing capacity of up to 9.1 billion cubic meters of dry gas per year.

The GSF will supply raw materials for the future Sillenno LLP plant, which...

Car prices in China have dropped so low that President Xi Jinping is reportedly personally concerned, according to CarScoops. He has urged automakers to end the ongoing price wars, which he says are harming the country’s economy. If manufacturers fail to comply, the government may step in to regulate the situation.

Kursiv Auto spoke with industry experts to explore how this situation could impact Kazakhstan.

In mid-July, Xi emphasized in a speech the need to combat deflation, which has affected several key sectors, including the auto industry.

To attract consumers, Chinese automakers have increasingly turned to aggressive price cuts...

Kyrgyzstan’s Chüy Region, near the city of Tokmok, is set to host the country’s first theme park of international standard. The project is being implemented in partnership with U.S.-based IdeAttack Inc., renowned for developing iconic parks in the U.S., the United Arab Emirates, China and South Korea. This will be the company’s first project in Central Asia.

According to Kabar.kg, the Kyrgyz Tourism Development Support Fund and the Chüy District Administration have signed a cooperation agreement. A 50-hectare land plot that meets all international standards has already been allocated for construction. Negotiations and preparations for the project’s implementation have...

KMF, Kazakhstan’s largest microfinance organization (MFO), has reregistered as a bank and changed its name to KMF Bank, according to a statement published on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) website.

The company received a re-registration certificate on Aug. 1, 2025. From July 30 to Aug. 3, the MFO suspended all operations in preparation for its reorganization into a bank, for which it obtained permission in March 2025 from Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of Financial Markets (ARDFM).

However, KMF has not yet received a banking license from ARDFM.

«KMF is currently in the process...

The cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity that Kazakhstan purchased from Russia between January and May was 7.64 cents, according to customs data.

During the period, Kazakhstan imported 1.03 billion kWh of electricity from Russia worth $78.8 million (7.64 cents per kWh). Kazakhstan exported nearly the same volume — 1 billion kWh — to Russia but earned only $19 million (1.89 cents per kWh).

The large price imbalance may be due to Kazakhstan’s traditional deficit of electricity during evening peak hours, when prices are highest, while surplus electricity is exported during low-price periods.

In addition, between January and May, Kazakhstan...

Kazakh investors can now buy shares in major American companies such as Amazon and Google for as little as $1, thanks to a new feature rolled out in the Tabys app by the Astana International Exchange (AIX), according to the Kazakhstan Association of Minority Shareholders (QAMS).

The Tabys app, in its Pro mode, has launched fractional trading of U.S. stocks listed on the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This means users can purchase a portion of a share based on the amount they invest. For example, if a stock is priced at $200, an investor can...

ForteBank has postponed its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders from Aug. 14 to Oct. 29. The key issue to discuss will be the bank’s reorganization in the form of Home Credit Bank’s (HCB) accession to ForteBank.

The meeting’s agenda remains unchanged. Shareholders are to approve amendments to the methodology for determining the value of shares and global depositary receipts (GDRs) when acquired by ForteBank and make a decision on the absorption of HCB.

The list of shareholders entitled to participate in the meeting will be compiled on Oct. 3. If a quorum is not present, another meeting will take place...

Central banks around the world purchased 22 tons of gold in June, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council (WGC). The majority of those purchases, more than 70%, were made by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Uzbekistan added 9 tons to its gold reserves, marking a sharp shift after four consecutive months of net sales. The National Bank of Kazakhstan also made a significant addition, increasing its holdings by 7 tons.

Other central banks made more modest acquisitions: China, the Czech Republic and Turkey each purchased 2 tons, while Qatar, Ghana, the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan each bought...