News

S&P, an international rating agency, has upgraded the rating for Freedom Insurance (a subsidiary of Freedom Holding controlled by Kazakhstani businessman Timur Turlov) from B+ to BB with «stable» outlook. According to the national Kazakhstani scale, the rating has been improved from kzBBB+ to kzA-. The rating upgrade followed improvements in the company’s operational and financial results.

The rating agency highlighted the company’s strong insurance underwriter performance (risk assessment), which aligns with the market average and is on par with higher-ranked companies. Analysts support this assessment with key figures: in 2023, the company’s return on equity (ROE) reached 38%, while...

Wanderlust, a prominent British travel magazine, has ranked Kazakhstan among the five most desirable emerging destinations, whereas Air Astana has made it into the top 10 favorite airlines, according to the magazine’s readers. 

The results of the 23rd Annual Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards were announced on Nov. 6. In the Most Desirable Emerging Destination nomination, Kazakhstan claimed the 5th spot, after Uzbekistan (first place), Albania, Qatar and Azerbaijan. 

Furthermore, the magazine highlighted Air Astana, which secured the ninth position in the Favourite Airline nomination. Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines were also among the selected airlines.

The magazine’s...

According to the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan, Terminals Astana Airport Management, a company controlled by investors from the UAE, will remain responsible for managing the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport until Jan. 7, 2025. The company received the right to manage the airport a year ago, on Nov. 7, 2023.

«The confidential management agreement is still valid, as the period of its validity has been extended to Jan. 7, 2025,» the Committee of State Property and Privatization under the Finance Ministry told Kursiv.media in response to its inquiry.

The committee also noted that all information...

C29 Metals, an Australian mining exploration company, has obtained a Category 2 environmental permit, which allows it to start drilling at the Ulytau field in the Zhambyl region.

«C29 Metals Limited is pleased to announce the signing of an MOU with Volkovgeology, a 100% owned subsidiary of Kazatomprom, the national and only uranium producer in Kazakhstan,» the company said in a statement to the media.

With the final design of the initial drilling program at an advanced stage, it is now planned to extend the initial diamond drill holes to a depth of approximately...

Akmaral Alnazarova, Kazakhstan’s minister of healthcare, has presented a complete list of diseases that will be transferred from the statutory free-of-charge medical assistance (SFMA) to the Mandatory Social Health Insurance (MSHI) package. According to her, around 15% of Kazakhstanis do not have any medical insurance. 

«Our recent analysis of almost all diseases has shown that, on average, 85% to 87% of Kazakhstanis have medical insurance. For some diseases, the rate is nearly 100%. The remaining population must also obtain insured status in the MSHI. Once they do, they’ll receive access to medical care as well,» Alnazarova...

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia is willing to be part of an international consortium to construct the first nuclear power plant (NPP) in Kazakhstan. The official made this statement during a press briefing streamed on the MFA’s YouTube channel. 

«Russia isn’t just ready to assist the nuclear power plant construction but has already presented its proposals. We monitored the referendum conducted by President Tokayev and saw him obtaining support for his plans to develop the nuclear energy sector. Rosatom is ready to share its expertise in order to discuss this matter with our...

At Kashagan, the largest offshore oil-and-gas field in the Caspian Sea, the forebay will be renovated, as reported by North Caspian Operation Company (NCOC).

«The project aims at completely isolating the forebay from the sea and utilizing the reservoir as a closed water supply system storage. The forebay is designed for taking and storing the seawater reserve for auxiliary needs, fire extinguishing, a desalination plant and a technical water heater block,» the operator explained in response to Kursiv.media’s inquiry.

NCOC noted that the reservoir is filled with process rainwater from the uncontaminated modules 9 and...

A first testing payment in the amount of $10,000 was made between Kazakhstani Zaman Bank and Afghani Ghazanfar Bank, Kazakhstan’s Vice Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin wrote on X.

«A testing payment of $10,000 was made within a day between Kazakhstani Zaman Bank and Afghani Ghazanfar Bank. The next stage is to test transactions with bigger sums and in different currencies, including the euro and yuan. We can boost the trade turnover to $3 billion any time soon,» the official wrote.

Last month, Zhumangarin revealed that Ghazanfar, one of the biggest commercial banks in Afghanistan, opened...

According to Blandine Ferrier, regional officer of environmental protection at ICAO, about $3.2 billion is needed for all the airlines in the world to reach a 55% usage of environmentally clean jet fuel.

As the official noted, personnel play a key role in this process, and the 55% mark in bioethanol production is going to be reached with their help. Of course, this would require huge support and a lot of investment. The ICAO estimates that $3.2 billion is needed to scale up production and personnel training.

In this regard, the ICAO requires international financial organizations to examine different mechanisms...

Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev has proposed establishing an international thermonuclear fusion lab in the country, the ministry reported.

«We are ready to establish an international lab for thermonuclear fusion based on the Kazakhstan Material Testing Tokamak (KTM),» the agency said in a statement, citing Satkaliyev’s speech during the Inaugural Ministerial Meeting of the IAEA World Fusion Energy Group in Rome, Italy.

According to the minister, Kazakhstan fully supports research and development in thermonuclear fusion and has made a significant contribution to the development of scientific infrastructure. In particular, Kazakhstan has managed to build a...

The Almaty International Airport will be brought to a perfect condition within three to four years, promised Goker Kose, the airport’s president, on the sidelines of the Regional Seminar on Green Airports. He said that to achieve this target, $300 million in investments is required.

«I’d say it will take time. But if we spend another $300 million, we hope we will reach the highest standards at the airport within three to four years,» Kose said.

He also highlighted that the new international terminal was completed and delivered ahead of schedule. For this reason, there...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has spoken about the threat of secondary sanctions against Kazakhstan. According to Lavrov, Kazakhstan is forced to exercise caution «in light of the blackmail and intimidation from Washington and Brussels.»

«We observe the active efforts by Western emissaries to engage with Astana regarding compliance with restrictions imposed on Russia. We are aware of the threats of secondary sanctions against Kazakhstani companies and banks and the potential blacklisting of economic operators by American and European entities,» Lavrov said in an interview with the Rossiya Segodnya media outlet.

He highlighted that Kazakhstan...

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and French President Emmanuel Macron have signed a mutual declaration. Delegations from both countries have also entered into agreements totaling $2.2 billion.

«During President Tokayev’s official visit to Paris, representatives from both countries signed 36 documents, including one agreement between the two cabinets, 21 agreements between executive agencies and 14 commercial agreements valued at $2.2 billion,» as reported by the president’s press services.

Here is the list of documents signed:

Kazakhstan and Switzerland have agreed to collaborate in the sphere of criminal investigation and assets reclaiming, as reported by the General Prosecutor’s Office. The two countries have signed a memorandum aimed at accelerating and simplifying procedures designed for evidence and data exchange.

The document was signed on Nov. 5, during a meeting between Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General Berik Assylov, Swiss Attorney General Stefan Blättler and Vice Director of the Federal Office of Justice of Switzerland Laurence Fontana Jungo in Bern.  

«The two sides have discussed a wide range of issues related to international and legal cooperation...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and French President Emmanuel Macron took a walk around the garden at the Élysée Palace accompanied by Tazy dogs nicknamed Jules and Jeanne.

Tokayev presented Macron with the puppies when the French president visited Astana last time. The dogs of the traditional Kazakh breed were named Jules and Jeanne. 

In the garden, the two leaders had an informal conversation.

Various sources reported that Macron liked Tazy dogs during his visit to Kazakhstan. At the Ethnoaul trade fair, Tokayev promised to gift the dogs to his French counterpart.

Jules and Jeanes have already made friends with Neo, a...

Kazakhstan may lose its status as a crediting country and become a borrowing country, according to analysts from BCC Invest, who broke down a draft law on adjusting budget parameters published recently by the Ministry of Finance.

The document says that the Ministry of Finance re-calculated its estimates and downgraded its forecast for tax revenue expected to be collected by the end of the year by $6.1 billion to $25.6 billion. To cover that gap the country’s government has already raised the bar for money transfers from the National Fund by $4 billion to $11.4 billion. As a result, the...

Airbus, a European aerospace corporation, has proposed to test the Zephyr high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) in Kazakhstan. This suggestion came after a meeting between Zhaslan Madiyev, the minister of digital development, innovations and aerospace industry and representatives of French companies.  

Kazakhstan plans to use Airbus solutions designed for monitoring natural resources, environmental management and digitalization of the aviation industry. The Zephyr HAPS is also referred to as a pseudo-satellite, a vessel that resembles a small airplane or stratosphere balloon capable of flying for months at a height of up to 25 kilometers. Technically, this is something between a satellite...

Alstom, a French rolling stock manufacturer, will ship 117 freight electric locomotives to Kazakhstan Railway (Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, KTZ) before 2028 and establish service centers, the KTZ’s press service reported. The agreement has been signed in Paris at the Kazakhstan-France Business Council.

In order to acquire the engines, KTZ will contract a low-interest loan at the French bank, Société Générale. The transaction guarantor will be BPI France, the export credit agency of the French Ministry of Finance. The transaction amount hasn’t been disclosed, though.

The ordered freight locomotives will replace obsolete and worn-out engines produced in the 1980s and will...

American Eleview International Inc. is accused of transferring technologies worth millions of dollars to Russia via Kazakhstan. Given that the businessmen have done so despite the ban, they might be sent to jail for up to 20 years.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the company and its executives — 54-year-old Oleg Nayandin and 39-year-old Vitaliy Borisenko — allegedly exported sensitive technologies to Russia in return for millions of dollars, violating the sanctions against Russia. Both businessmen living in the state of Virginia came before the court on Nov. 4 after being accused of conspiracy to breach export control...

Texol, a Kazakhstani industrial equipment manufacturer and service provider, is set to export machines to the Indonesian PT Ahli Teknik Nusantara, the Interfax Kazakhstan news agency reported.

The Indonesian enterprise will acquire robots designed by Texol for cleaning oil storage tanks and processing oil sludge. The agreement between the two parties was signed at the Indonesian embassy in Kazakhstan.

«Introducing automated oil storage tank cleaning systems by Texol in Indonesian enterprises will enable more competitive prices in the market and raise its overall efficacy,» said Nova Sumolang, CEO of PT Ahli Teknik Nusantara.

Texol produces...

The number of parcels shipped from China to Kazakhstan has been growing monthly, prompting Chinese marketplaces to strengthen their partnerships with delivery services in Kazakhstan. To handle the influx of low-cost goods from China, local logistics providers are quickly ramping up their capacities.

The boom in Chinese e-commerce

According to QazPost, Kazakhstan’s national postal operator, in the first 10 months of 2024, the inbound parcel volume from China has increased by 67% year-on-year, rising from 2.7 million to 4.5 million parcels.

One key driver of this rapid growth is Temu, a Chinese marketplace that first went live in the U.S...

The Freedom Holding Corp. and S&P Global Kazakhstan Manufacturing PMI® (Purchasing Managers’ Index™) was at 51.7 in October, showing a slight decline compared to 52.3 in September. Business activity in Kazakhstan’s service sector also fell, with the index reading at 49.0 in October, down from 51.1 in September. An index reading above 50 indicates an increase in activity, while a reading below 50 signals a decrease, Freedom Holding Corp reported in a statement.

According to Yerlan Abdikarimov, director of the Financial Analysis Department at Freedom Finance Global PLC (a 100% subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp.), Kazakhstan’s manufacturing industry is stable...

Following a referendum in Kazakhstan where people supported the idea of constructing a nuclear power plant, the Central Asian country may support the French nuclear industry, as reported by Le Figaro, citing President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

The leader of Kazakhstan, who has come to France on a state visit, recently wrote an article titled “Kazakhstan Is a Strategic and Reliable Partner for France” where he highlighted Kazakhstan’s intention to continue collaborating with the European country.

At the forefront of the article, the French outlet added a comment:

«Deciding on the construction of its first nuclear power...

The incumbent President of Moldova Maia Sandu has won the second round of the presidential election. According to preliminary data from the country’s Central Elections Commission, the president obtained 55.09% of the votes.

The Central Election Commission revealed preliminary data after processing 99.14% of results from voting stations. The agency announced that Sandy received 55.09% of the votes, while Alexandr Stoianoglo, the second candidate running for the office, secured 44.01% of the votes.

Sandu has already thanked fellow citizens for their support.

«Moldova, today you are victorious. Together, we’ve shown the strength of our unity, democracy...