News

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...

Armenia and the European Union have officially initiated a dialogue on visa liberalization, the Armenian government reported.

«Today, in Yerevan, the European Commission and the Republic of Armenia announced the start of a visa liberalization dialogue. This process aims to support Armenia in achieving a visa-free regime for short stays with the EU, provided that the relevant conditions for well-managed mobility and security are put in place,» the statement read.

The visa dialogue is part of the broader EU-Armenia relationship, which has made significant progress since the signing of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership...

A new Kia vehicle plant will be launched in the Kostanay region in October 2025, the President’s Office said in a statement, citing Kia Qazaqstan Managing Director Kim Dae-Ki’s report to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. 

The first test vehicle is scheduled for production in July 2025. The first model chosen for serial production at the plant is the Kia Sorento followed by the updated version of Sportage in January 2026. The plant will have an annual capacity of 70,000 vehicles.

Construction of the facility began in October 2023. It will be equipped with 70 robotic systems across the welding, coating and...

Solidcore Resources, a Kazakhstani gold mining company formerly known as Polymetal, needs $1 billion in investments to stop being dependent on Russia, according to Interfax Kazakhstan, citing Chief Financial Officer at Solidcore Resources Maxim Nazimok. 

«We need to invest $1 billion to achieve total operational independence from Russia. Primarily, it refers to the construction of the Irtysh GMK (a mining and metallurgic company) in Kazakhstan. This project requires around $800 million in investments over the next five years, including some in-house projects at the existing deposits,» said Nazimok at the Astana Finance Days conference. 

Even...

Moody’s has improved Kazakhstan’s long-term rating from Baa2 to Baa1 and the outlook has been changed to «stable.» This is the highest rating in the country’s history, according to the Ministry of National Economy. The upgrade of Kazakhstan’s credit rating strengthens economic stability, enhances its international reputation and facilitates foreign direct investment.

The agency raised Kazakhstan’s credit rating due to ongoing improvements in the country’s institutional and policy framework, along with sustained progress in economic diversification.

Moody’s reports that Kazakhstan is increasing the share of the non-oil sector in its economy, thereby reducing its dependence on fluctuations in oil prices...

Kazakhstan’s mortgage market is showing signs of recovery. In the first seven months of 2024, the volume of new mortgage loans increased by 16% to $2 billion. This recovery is largely driven by the expansion of commercial bank programs, which saw a 62% increase due to process automation and partnerships with developers. Meanwhile, new housing prices fell by 1.2% and secondary housing prices rose by 3.5%, according to the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan (AFK).

The share of market-based programs in the total volume of new mortgage loans rose to 35%, the highest level in seven years. Leading the growth...

The Astana International Exchange (AIX) has announced that Qiwi, a payment service provider based in Cyprus, can now trade its American depositary shares (ADSs) at the exchange, which operates as part of the Astana Financial Centre’s (AIFC). 

The company’s securities are traded in U.S. dollars under the QIWI ticker, although the group is in the process of changing its name to NanduQ.

At the same time, the Nasdaq Stock Market has resolved to delist Qiwi’s ADSs. This decision will take effect at the start of the trading session on Sept. 16, the company reported. 

Nasdaq initially notified Qiwi of its...

Authorities are pushing to introduce mandatory home insurance for emergencies. A draft law has already been submitted to the Mazhilis for consideration. If approved, large retail outlets will be required to have insurance (the first stage of the initiative), while the general Kazakhstani population will face similar requirements within the next several years.

«There is currently no mechanism to cover fire loss damages for third-party individuals, including those affected or even deceased. Introducing a civil liability system for large retail outlet owners would provide a comprehensive solution to the issue. First, it would help reduce social...