News

Venture investment funds from the U.S. are reluctant to invest their money into IT startups from Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe because of their proximity to Afghanistan, Russia, Iran and China, according to Anatoly Motkin, president of StrategEast, an organizer of The StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum.

Motkin believes that the weakness of the IT export and brain drain are some of the most acute problems for Central Asia, including Kazakhstan. He is calling for countries in the region to pay more attention to countries of the Persian Gulf as they are less conservative than the U.S...

The government of Kazakhstan plans to double the size of the national economy to $450 billion by 2029. This goal was disclosed by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov during a meeting of the Foreign Investors Council (FIC).

What did the prime minister say? According to the press service of the prime minister, the government is going to attract at least $150 billion in foreign investments by 2029.

«We are inviting our foreign partners to invest in projects in Kazakhstan,» Smailov said.

As the press service reported, the meeting included representatives of companies such as Ernst & Young, TotalEnergies...

According to La Tribune, France wants to sell Rafale fighter aircraft to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.  A source the newspaper talked to said that the two countries are interested in the deal. However, the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan denied this information.

Why does France want to sell its fighter aircraft? According to several people familiar with the matter La Tribune has cited, France wants to sell Rafale fighter aircraft by Dassault Aviation to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in order to deepen bilateral relations with these two countries.

«This was the main purpose of Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Kazakhstan and...

TipTopPay, a payment company from Singapore, announced that it has acquired a 100% stake in CloudPayments Kazakhstan, a Kazakhstani online payment service for businesses. No details about the financial terms of the deal have been provided.

Tiang Wong, a managing partner of TipTopPay, has commented on the deal.

«We are happy to enter the market of Kazakhstan, the leading economy in Central Asia with a high level of digitalization and fast-growing e-commerce. All of this provides good opportunities for an online payment business. I am convinced that the advanced payment system by CloudPayments has a promising future,» a...

According to KazMunayGas, a national oil company in Kazakhstan, over the first nine months of this year, the company’s revenue declined to $13.4 billion or by 10.2% compared to the same period last year.

The net profit of KMG has decreased to $2.095 billion over the period from January to September compared to $2.532 billion over the same period last year (-18.3%). EBITDA dropped by 15.8% to $3.7 billion and cash flow declined by 53.4% to $1 billion, while capital expenditures of the company, in contrast, have risen by 72.1% to $1.1 billion. KMG’s overall debt declined by 3.2% to...

KazMunayGas has announced that it closed a deal with TotalEnergies EP Danmark A/S, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, and acquired 100% in Total E&P Dunga GmbH which owns a 60% stake in the Dunga oil field.

«KazMunayGas (KMG) announces that a deal to acquire 100% shares in the charter capital of Total E&P Dunga GmbH and ownership rights in the Dunga project from TotalEnergies EP Danmark A/S (a subsidiary of TotalEnergies) is closed. The deal was executed under the agreement on sale and purchasing signed by KMG and TotalEnergies EP Danmark A/S earlier this year,» the oil company said...

Kyrgyzstan’s authorities want to impose a $56 fine on citizens for abstaining from presidential and parliamentary elections, the 24.kg website reported.

What happened? Tazabek Ikramov, a member of the Kyrgyz parliament, proposed to make participation in presidential and parliamentary elections compulsory for voters in Kyrgyzstan. The only exception would be for those who have reasonable excuses.

«If every citizen fulfills his obligations and participates in elections, it will be impossible to buy the votes of the entire population and elections would be fair,» Azattyk reported, citing Ikramov.

How did the country’s central election committee react? One member...

According to the press service of Kazakhstan’s cabinet, the government has summarized the annual results of work within the national program aimed at reclaiming assets illegally obtained or withdrawn from the country.

How much money has the government returned? As the country’s cabinet reported, it managed to reclaim about $2.1 billion in assets. These efforts have been undertaken in order to meet election promises President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made during the presidential campaign last year.

What figures did the government announce previously? On November 7, the Anti-Corruption Agency said that over the first ten months of this year, authorities reclaimed...

According to a national energy report by the Kazenergy association, Kazakhstan is going to struggle to keep its share in the global oil market because the total costs of exploration and production on standard projects have reached $70 per barrel.

«The comparative analysis of exploration and production costs for standard projects that are going to be set into operation within the next few years in different oil-producing countries by S&P Global shows that Kazakhstan (and other oil producers in Eurasia) may find it very difficult to keep up with competitors, let alone increase its share in the global...

VietJet Air, a low-cost carrier from Vietnam, is weighing the possible acquisition of Qazaq Air, a Kazakhstani airline, and the airport of Aktobe, according to Transport Minister of Kazakhstan Marat Karabayev.

«We are talking about selling Qazaq Air and attracting an international investor. This issue is quite complex. This morning we met with representatives of a foreign airline that said it would buy an additional 50 aircraft for Qazaq Air if it acquires the company,» the minister said during a briefing for the media.

The official also highlighted that Vietnamese SOVICO Group (VietJet Air) has 200 ordered...

According to Nicolas Blancher, deputy head of the International Monetary Fund department on the Middle East and Central Asia and head of the IMF mission to Kazakhstan, the country’s GDP will grow by 4.8% this year.

«In terms of economic activity, we see that economic growth has been quite steady this year and we are now forecasting that it is going to be at 4.8% this year. This growth is driven by all economic sectors including oil and non-oil industries,» he said during a briefing on preliminary results of the annual review of the country’s economy.

Halyk Finance has advised the National Bank of Kazakhstan to take a pause in the cycle of decreasing the base rate. The latest survey published on the company’s website, says that the broker has revised its attitude toward the key indicator of the country’s monetary policy.

According to the company’s analysts, in early November they thought that it would be a good idea to reduce the base rate to 15% by the end of this year due to the assumption that the inflation rate would reach 10% year-on-year in December. In addition, the experts didn’t rule out that the price...

According to Health Minister of Kazakhstan Ms. Azhar Giniyat, Pfizer will open a new regional center in Kazakhstan that will also cover Caucasus, Mongolia and other Central Asian countries.

What happened? Giniyat met with representatives of the Pfizer pharmaceutical company to discuss cooperation on contract manufacturing of the Prevnar 20 vaccine. The two sides also discussed the opening of the company’s office in Kazakhstan.

«We know that Pfizer will open a new regional office in our country to cover Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia. We are welcoming the move and we hope that in addition to the new...

The international rating agency Fitch has affirmed Kazakhstan’s sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB’ with a stable outlook.

«Fitch Ratings has affirmed Kazakhstan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BBB’ with a Stable Outlook,» the agency said in a statement.

The rating reflects strong fiscal and external balance sheets that have proven resilient to external shocks, and financing flexibility underpinned by accumulated oil revenue savings. Set against these strengths are its very high dependence on commodities, high inflation that partly reflects a less developed macroeconomic policy framework relative to ‘BBB’ peers, and weak governance indicators, Fitch...

Alina Aldambergen, head of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), has talked about what the platform can do if the Moscow Exchange (MOEX), which controls a big stake in KASE, is added to the international sanctions list.

«KASE is very serious when it comes to compliance with sanctions. We would stop doing business with any person on the sanctions list immediately after we came to learn about such a fact. So far, MOEX isn’t on the sanctions list. However, we are examining international requirements and consulting on the issue, so we are going to be ready if this happens...

Kazakhstan is ready to place the ports of Aktau and Kuryk on the Caspian Sea under the management of private companies that will be able to ensure full utilization of their capacities, according to Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev.

«We have two key ports. We are ready to place them under the management of any private company. We even thought about selling these ports under the provision of ship-or-pay. We are ready to place our ports under private management if they ensure full utilization of their capacities,» he said during the Kazakhstan Global Investment Roundtable (Kgir2023).

The...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated Kazakhstanis on the occasion that the country’s population has reached 20 million, according to the press service of the president.

What happened? Kazakhstan’s population has reached 20 million.

«Congratulations to my fellow citizens for this milestone event! Happy family is the foundation of the nation’s prosperity and sustainable growth of the entire country. The government will continue its work on promoting family values, protecting maternity and childhood,» Tokayev wrote on his account on X (formerly known as Twitter).

In September 2023, the country’s population was expected at 19.9 million people. Since the beginning...

Timur Turlov, the founder and key shareholder of Freedom Holding, shared his vision on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the financial system can affect the employment rate. During the XI Congress of Financiers of Kazakhstan, he said that humankind shouldn’t be afraid of new technologies because the more technologies are introduced, the more employees would be required. The quality of labor is also expected to increase.

«The more technologies we embrace, the more employees we have. This is a kind of funny situation because we see that our staff is growing while are trying to improve our operational...

Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, has announced the test launch of a stablecoin (a cryptocurrency pegged to a certain fiat currency) secured by the digital tenge which was launched by the National Bank of Kazakhstan yesterday, according to a press release issued by the platform.

The rate of the new stablecoin is pegged to the digital tenge with a ratio of 1:1. According to Binance, it has developed a verification mechanism that allows investors to ensure that the value of the stablecoin is always the same as the value of the digital tenge. In turn, this also...

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, 92 Kazakhstani citizens and members of their families have moved from Gaza to Egypt.

What happened? Today, on November 15, 92 Kazakhstani citizens and members of their families have crossed the Rafah border crossing and moved from Gaza to Egypt.

«After passing through necessary procedures, a column with our citizens hit the road toward the city of Cairo and will arrive there very soon,» the ministry said in a statement.

How long will Kazakhstanis stay in Egypt? The evacuation of Kazakhstanis from Gaza is divided into several stages...

According to the prosecutor’s office of Almaty, almost all branches of banks in the city have violated the rights of disabled people as their buildings haven’t been equipped with entrance ramps and special tellers.

What happened? During a meeting with Almaty prosecutors disabled people complained that almost all commercial banks in the city were out of reach for them due to lack of special amenities.

«Almost none of the commercial banks’ branches in the city meet the requirements for disabled people due to the absence of entrance ramps, mnemonic schemes and special tellers. At the same time, there...

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has announced the launch of the digital tenge (DT). Binur Zhalenov, head of the Kazakhstan Interbank Settlement Center (KISC) told Kursiv how the digital currency is going to work.

«When we were working on the DT we tried to forget about certain technologies and just think about what basic criteria and principles the new payment facility should meet in the context of the digital economy. We believe that payments must be instant. Of course, reliability, accessibility and soundness of funds belonging to regular people and businesses are also key requirements. Digital payments must...

Law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan have opened two new criminal cases against Karim Massimov, ex-chair of the National Security Committee (KNB), who is already in jail for treason. He is currently accused of money laundering and bribe-taking, according to KNB.

What kind of criminal cases were opened? According to MIA Kazinform, there are two new criminal cases against Masimov.

One case relates to the legalization and laundering of money and other possessions obtained illegally (article 218 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan) and huge bribe-taking (article 366).

KNB has already conducted “investigative actions” with Massimov after getting consent from the...

Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov has ordered the cabinet to accelerate the preparation process for the construction of a one-gigawatt wind station, a joint project with Saudi Arabia that is expected to start in 2025.

«We have already negotiated the construction of a big wind power station with a capacity of one gigawatt in the Jetisu region. The preparation process is currently underway. Once the final agreement is signed, construction will start. It is expected to happen in 2025. The prime minister has ordered the cabinet to accelerate administrative procedures and negotiate all necessary issues with authorized agencies,» the...