News

An earthquake caught President of Moldova Maia Sandu off-guard during a live broadcast on the Moldova 1 TV channel on Sep. 16. The video with the president’s reaction quickly went viral online.

As Sandu was answering the interviewer’s question, the furniture in the studio began to shake. For a brief moment, confusion appeared in the president’s eyes.

«An earthquake live. I hope this is a kind of fortunate omen,» the Ultima Ora anchor said to defuse the tension. 

The 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck neighboring Romania on the evening of Sep. 16, and the tremors were felt...

Kazakhstan and Germany have agreed to jointly build an international airport in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Khorgos-Eastern Gates, the President’s Office reported.

On Sep. 16, 2024, Kazakhstani and German officials signed 23 documents, including an agreement on the construction of the international airport in the Jetisu region, during the Kazakhstan-Germany Business Forum in Astana, chaired by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 

The agreement was signed by Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev and Managing Partner of Skyhansa Jürgen Grötzbach. Under the arrangements, more than $500 million in investments will be allocated for the project, which...

Kyrgyz citizens working in Russia are encouraged to return home to support the local workforce. President Sadyr Japarov’s administration has assured returning workers that they will receive salaries comparable to those they earned abroad, according to a report by the local media outlet Kaktus.

«Brothers and sisters who work in Russia’s garment and construction industries, I invite you to return home to work here. Kyrgyzstan is currently facing a labor shortage in these sectors,» the outlet reported, citing Askat Alagozov, the president’s spokesperson.

In May, following reports of mass entry denials to Kyrgyz citizens, the...

In the first six months of 2024, the volume of electronic money transactions in Kazakhstan reached $770 million, a 30.6% year-on-year (YoY) increase, according to the National Bank.

E-money, a digital currency used for cashless payments and transfers, is growing in popularity. Several e-money services are available in Kazakhstan, including Wooppay (issued by Eurasian Bank and Halyk Bank), Qiwi Wallet (Halyk Bank), Lichnaya Kassa (Jusan Bank), ONE (Forte Bank) and AllPay (AsiaCredit Bank), among others. E-money in Kazakhstan can be issued by the National Bank, commercial banks and Kazpost.

As of the end of the second quarter of...

Ken-Ai-Oil Kyzylorda, owned by Kenelbek Igenbayev and Sabyr Seitkhanov, is set to export oil extracted in the Syrdariya district of the Kyzylorda region to China. 

«What we are planning to do is to develop the Taykazan oil field… The export route to China may be established via the Kumkol-Atasu-Alashankou pipeline with the oil receiving and processing point at the Kumkol oil field,» the company said in a statement, commenting on planned activities at the Taykazan oil field. 

The oil field lies 55 kilometers southwest of Kumkol. The enterprise has proposed three ways to develop the...

A deputy head of the People’s Government of Shandong has proposed that Kazakhstani QazTrade open its trade mission in the province to represent Kazakhstan’s interests in the region more effectively. The official suggested a meeting with the Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan, Arman Shakkaliyev, the trade agency reported.

The representative from the People’s Government of Shandong also suggested establishing a working mechanism to boost trade, improve trade policy and expand economic cooperation. In response, Shakkaliyev stated that he is ready to consider the proposal, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Shandong.

He noted that Kazakhstan can...

Kazakhstan’s government plans to enhance its oversight of motor and rail freight. To strengthen this control, the country’s cabinet has designated the Institute of Space Equipment and Technologies as the national operator for that monitoring starting from November 23, according to a cabinet decree.

As the press service of the Digital Ministry informed Kursiv.media, authorities plan to use tracking tags to monitor shipments. The new monitoring system has been developed to combat illicit trafficking and increase the transparency of commodity turnover in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), comprised of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. The agency has not clarified...

The National Bank plans to introduce a single QR code in the first half of 2025, according to Binur Zhalenov, CEO of the National Payment Corporation of Kazakhstan.

«We are going to introduce the option for interbank transfers by phone number (or in large banks) this year, while the single QR code will be available next year. The work is in full swing!» he wrote on Instagram.

In February 2024, Timur Suleimenov, Chair of the National Bank, stated that the single QR code would be implemented in Kazakhstan by the end of 2024. Customers will...

Timur Turlov is investing in Uni-Q Group, a new media project that will bring together Unico Play, an online movie theater; Unico Studio, a production center for movies and TV series primarily in the Kazakh language; and Unico Rights, a distribution company, according to a press release from Uni-Q Group.

«The group will create Kazakh-language content for the online cinema Unico Play, promote Kazakhstani movies globally and develop a professional system for distributing and commercializing entertainment content,» the company stated.

Uni-Q Group aims to reach one million active users of Unico Play per month by...

Freedom Holding plans to enter the capital market of Hong Kong to raise funds needed for financing telecommunication projects by Freedom Telecom, as reported by the South China Morning Post.

In an interview with the Chinese media outlet, Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding, explained that Freedom has partnered with China International Capital Corp. to issue dim sum bonds, a financial instrument denominated in offshore yuan. Furthermore, the corporation may consider an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong.

«What brought us to Hong Kong is the need to raise financing for our telecommunications strategy...

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Finance plans to introduce a special information system based on artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize the state budget and identify unnecessary budget items. According to Vice Finance Minister Yerzhan Birzhanov, the system is expected to identify ineffective projects and risks associated with corruption.

«A new information system will be implemented — IT solutions with AI elements — which will reveal where we have excessive expenses or inflated cost estimates. For instance, we will be able to determine how many people reside in a specific area to justify the construction of a facility there...

Kazakhstan’s government has allocated more than $1 million to the Committee of Water Resources and Su Metrologiya (Kazakhstan’s water metrology agency) to survey flood risks. Authorities hope that these efforts will help them better predict and model potential floods.

The government has already allocated $1.2 million for the procurement of necessary equipment and machinery, as well as for the bathymetric measurements themselves. Two state agencies responsible for water management — Su Metrologiya and Kazvodkhoz — will carry out the measurements in regions with the highest flood risk, including the northern, western and central parts of the country.

The government also...

The construction of a new polyethylene plant has begun in the Atyrau region, according to the press service of KazMunayGas (KMG). This project, aimed at boosting the development of Kazakhstan’s chemical industry, is being implemented by KMG in partnership with Russia’s Sibur and China’s Sinopec. The project is expected to be completed by 2029.

The official groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Governor of the Atyrau region Serik Shapkenov, CEO of KMG Askhat Khassenov, Sibur representative Sergey Komyshan and Sinopec representative Zhao Tiezhu.

The construction of the plant in Atyrau is part of Kazakhstan’s strategy to develop its petrochemical industry and...

Biometric, a Kazakhstani biometric provider for the National Bank of Kazakhstan, is expanding its reach into the international market. The startup has signed a contract with Infocom, a state-owned IT solutions developer under the Ministry of Finance of Kyrgyzstan, to provide biometric identification services to the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan, according to an Astana Hub press release.

Under the contract, Biometric will offer a comprehensive set of technologies, including document recognition, user identification, liveness detection and facial recognition.

Alibek Narimbay, CEO and founder of Biometric, highlighted that the contract with the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan underscores the international credibility of...

Qatar-based UCC Holding’s investments in constructing gas processing plants (GPPs) at Kashagan are expected to lead to higher commodity gas prices in Kazakhstan by the time construction is completed, according to Nurlan Baibazarov, deputy prime minister and minister of national economy of Kazakhstan.

This issue was raised during a session of the Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament while considering a draft law to ratify the agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan and Qatar on establishing a long-term strategic partnership in priority sectors. Member of Parliament (MP) Mukash Iskandirov asked Baibazarov how ready consumers would be for the gas...

Tajik citizens are advised not to travel to Russia without reason, at least temporarily, due to stricter border controls in that country, the Embassy of Tajikistan to Russia reported.

«Given the ongoing strict control over foreign citizens entering Russia through land border crossings and airports, the Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Russian Federation recommends that Tajik citizens temporarily refrain from traveling to Russia unless there is an urgent necessity,» the embassy said in a statement.

In early September, the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan also recommended that its citizens refrain from traveling to...

The exchange of sanctions between the West and Russia following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has created numerous obstacles to Kazakhstan’s uranium supplies to the West, according to Meirzhan Yussupov, CEO of Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer and a subsidiary of Samruk-Kazyna. Yussupov made these remarks in an interview with the Financial Times.

Meirzhan Yussupov, the head of Kazakhstan’s state-owned mining company, said sanctions resulting from the war have made it difficult to supply Western utilities. Kazakhstan produces 43% of the world’s uranium, a share comparable to OPEC’s dominance over the global oil market, FT wrote.

The Turkic countries have resolved to adopt a 34-letter unified Latin-based alphabet for Turkic languages at the third session of the commission established by the Organization of Turkic States held in Baku.

According to TRT Haber, a Turkish media outlet, representatives of the Turkish Academy explained the meeting objectives were to complete work on the unified alphabet project that had been initiated as far back as 1991. After two years of commission work, experts could present a polished edition of the alphabet reflecting unique features of every Turkic language. 

«The commission had discussed the issue in...

The Mazhilis, Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament, has ratified the agreement originally signed by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries in May 2022 to collaborate in combating the spread of infectious animal diseases. The agreement includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Belarus.

«Ratifying this agreement will allow the parties to pool resources, enhancing laboratory diagnostics for highly dangerous animal diseases and expanding national collections of microorganisms (strains),» stated the Mazhilis press service.

Through joint research, the participating countries aim to develop medicines, diagnostics and treatments for animal diseases. Additionally, the collaboration is expected to...

Prosecutors have been reviewing real estate data from #DubaiUnlocked, a global investigation conducted by journalists from various countries, including Kazakhstan. This investigation revealed that Kazakhstani public servants allegedly purchased properties in the UAE using illegally obtained assets, according to Nurdaulet Suindikov, head of the Asset Recovery Committee. He emphasized that publications like this provide additional sources of information for law enforcement agencies.

«We have a specialized law that allows us to use such investigations in our work, and we are proceeding with this information as well. Once monitoring and analysis of specific individuals are completed, we...

Kazatomprom, which is controlled by Samruk-Kazyna, has obtained the uranium exploration rights for a new section of the Budenovskoye deposit in southern Kazakhstan, the company reported.

«National Atomic Company Kazatomprom JSC announces that it has obtained the subsoil use license for uranium exploration at block 5 of Budenovskoye deposit, located in the Suzak district of Turkestan region, for a period of 6 years,» the company said in a statement.

The Budenovskoye deposit is part of the Mynkuduk ore district within the Kentse-Budennovskoye metallogenic zone and is connected to the southern side of the Inkai deposit...

The National Bank’s monthly survey indicates 36% of its respondents expect their financial status to improve next year. Around 40% believe their welfare won’t change, while 13.4% reported pessimistic sentiment on the issue. The survey reached 1,500 respondents throughout the country.

Half of the respondents reported a price increase last month, 26% said prices surged and 16% observed no changes. Among those who reported a price increase, 66.2% pointed to food products as the most rapidly growing category in terms of price.

In September, the percentage of respondents expecting a sharp price increase decreased from 19.7% to 14.7%, compared to...

Kazakhstan’s net foreign exchange reserves reached $40.5 billion at the end of August, demonstrating stable growth for three months in a row. According to the National Bank, the foreign exchange assets held by the National Fund reached the $62.6 billion bar, while its net foreign exchange reserves stood at $103.1 billion compared to $100.8 billion in July and $99.3 billion in June. According to Galymzhan Aitkazin, an independent economist and author of the Tengenomika Telegram channel, this is a 10-year high. He also highlighted that Kazakhstan’s external buffers are the most stable they have been in many years. 

Kazakhstani net...

Kazakhstan’s crude oil production in August decreased to 1.45 million barrels per day (b/d) from 1.565 million b/d in July, a 115,000 b/d decline, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil market report for September.

In July, production saw a minimal decline and in June, the country produced 1.579 million b/d.

In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, Kazakhstan’s oil production was 1.606 million b/d. For Q1 2024, it was 1.614 million b/d and in Q2 2024, it was 1.555 million b/d. The average output in 2023 was 1.597 million b/d, compared to 1.489 million b/d...