News

Kazakhstan will participate in the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Program to obtain the special status necessary for direct air travel between Kazakhstan and the U.S.

«A preliminary assessment under the IASA is crucial for obtaining a Category 1 status from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which would allow Kazakhstani airlines with necessary aircraft to launch direct air flights between Kazakhstan and the U.S.,» the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (AAK) said in a statement.

The two agencies have already reached an arrangement on the assessment, as the FAA wants to see whether Kazakhstan follows...

According to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, international terrorism is on the rise. This is why the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should take systemic and decisive countermeasures. He made this statement during a meeting of security council secretaries from SCO member states.

«In 2023, regional and local conflicts grew by 30%, amounting to 183. This is the highest number over the past 30 years. Some experts believe that the global cycle of conflicts and violence is rolling out, which makes the threat of international terrorism more dangerous,» Tokayev stated.

He also highlighted that recent tragic events in...

According to a draft regulation by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM), commercial banks must conduct biometric authentication if there is any sign of fraud. The document is available on the legalacts.egov.kz website.

All documents related to issuing a banking loan must be kept in the bank within the next five years to ensure no fraud. As the draft regulation says, repeating biometric authentication may help avoid fraud when perpetrators use static pictures or videos to fake necessary data.

If a bank has information about the illegal proliferation of a client’s data, it should implement...

According to Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Almasadam Satkaliyev, there is no evidence of any spillage near the Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea so far. He also noted that satellite images of a spot on the sea surface might reflect a natural phenomenon.

«Over the years of the Kashagan maritime complex operation, there has not been a single oil spill. This is why we are examining this information. Specialists have reviewed the satellite image. It is a mixed picture. I mean, it might be a natural phenomenon. We are taking water samples from the...

According to Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev, as of January 1, 2024, Karachaganak (one of Kazakhstan’s three biggest oil and gas fields) had 253 million tons of recoverable oil and condensate reserves.

«As of January 1, 2024, there were 253.2 million tons of oil and condensate and 791.7 billion cubic meters of gas,» he said during a cabinet meeting.

He also said several investment projects are expected to be implemented by 2028. Once this work is done, Karachaganak’s annual output will increase to 11 million tons.

In 2023, Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. (KPO) reported an output...

Since April 1, 2024, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) has published three new indexes tracking the government security market: KZGB_CPm1m, KZGB_DPm1m, and KZGB_Ym1m. According to the exchange, the indexes will also calculate the index’s duration (change) in years and the modified duration (change in bond price with a one-basis-point change in interest rates).

KZGB_CPm1m (more than one month) is the net price index tracking unindexed securities with a maturity of 31 days or more issued by the Ministry of Finance, excluding the price of accumulated and unpaid coupon payments. The index’s starting rate was set at 1,000 tenge.

KZGB_DPm1m is...

S&P Global Ratings has canceled its ratings for ForteBank, as the financial entity decided to «suspend its participation in the rating process by the agency.» ForteBank will rely only on ratings from Moody’s and Fitch, the bank said in a statement.

According to Bekzhan Pirmatov, the bank’s board chair, ratings from the two agencies are enough for ForteBank to confirm its solvency and sustainability for clients, shareholders and investors.

«Ratings from Moody’s and Fitch, the two prominent international rating agencies, fully reflect the bank’s high performance, business model and market prospects. Our team is consistent regarding...

According to Galina Chernova, head of the Globus non-profit organization, her colleagues involved in space monitoring noticed oil spillage near the Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea on March 30.

«The group responsible for space monitoring noticed a picture from Sentinel-1A, a European satellite, of an oil spill near the Kashagan oil field,» she wrote on Facebook.

The specialist says that there might be several reasons for such a spill:

–       Accidental or emergency leak of oil during the production process;

–       Oily wastewater discharge instead of proper treatment onshore and 

–       An emergency...

Inkai, a joint venture by Kazatomprom (60%) and Canadian Cameco (40%), has announced its plan to build an affinage facility with a capacity of 4,000 tons of uranium per year.

«This project is going to boost the output at the Inkai uranium mine by 4,000 tons of triuranium octoxide. Under the project, the construction of a new affinage facility, a power substation with a diesel generator and the reconstruction of the existing pregnant solution processing plant are expected. The project starts this year and will be over in 2025,» the joint venture said in a statement...

Kazakhstani authorities will fine Kazakhtelecom and Air Astana for not doing enough to keep the personal data of Kazakhstanis safe. The two companies will be obliged to pay $825 in fines and correct the violations within the year.

The context. In February, unidentified hackers published data from iSoon (or Anxun), a Chinese contractor for the Ministry of Public Security of China. According to that information, a group of Chinese hackers for two years had maintained access to critical infrastructure of Kazakhstani mobile operators and likely to personal data of Kazakhstanis.

Over the period from 2019 to 2020, beeline.kz lost...

A group of foreign investors will build an international cargo-passenger airport at the territory of the Khorgos – Eastern Gate special economic zone in the Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan, according to the press service of the regional administration. The project is expected to be implemented by SKYMAX TECHNOLOGIES and The Hansa Consortium, a German company that will invest $557 million in this project.

The new airport will have a capacity of 500 passengers per hour and 50,000 tons of cargo. The project is expected to be implemented in three stages and create 700 new jobs.

The special economic zone includes...

Sany Group Co. Ltd, a Chinese industrial and construction company, is considering constructing a new facility in Kazakhstan to assemble its towers, blades and nacelles for wind turbines. This statement was made after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with Xiang Wenbo, a rotating chairman of Sany Group Co. Ltd. The Chinese company is already constructing a one-gigawatt wind power station in Kazakhstan.

The two sides have discussed a wide range of issues related to joint implementation of green energy projects. For instance, Kazakhstan wants to launch the manufacturing of special machinery and wind turbine components in conjunction with the Chinese investor.

According to the Ministry of Labor of Kyrgyzstan, the extremists are looking for recruits for their activities among Kyrgyzstanis living in Russia. The agency called for people to remain unprovoked.

As Kyrgyz authorities reported, many Kyrgyzstanis in Russia have started to receive «job offers» via social media and messengers as extremists are trying to involve them in terrorist activities in Russia. The Ministry of Labor called for people to stay calm, ignore job offers through social networks, avoid participating in any campaigns and keep an eye on their children.

«We are urging people to remember that...

According to President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the global economy needs a new paradigm for future development amidst trade issues and slowed growth of the global GDP. He also noted that Asia’s share in the global GDP will increase this year to 60%. So far, the region accounts for 53% of the world’s GDP. As he highlighted during his speech in China at the Boao Forum for Asia, all these and other factors suggest that the Asian Renaissance is coming.

Tokayev blamed trade disputes and protectionism policies across the world for global supply chain disruption, a slowdown of global growth...

Wabtec, an American industrial company, may open an engineering center in Kazakhstan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. The agency made this statement after Wabtec executives met with Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu in Washington, D.C.

«During the meeting, the two sides discussed perspectives of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of transport and industry, such as opening an engineering center in Kazakhstan and providing students of the Bolashak program with the opportunity to be interns at the company,» the foreign ministry said.

In December 2023, Wabtec acquired a 50% stake in Lokomotiv Kyrastyru...

Kazakhstani stock exchanges are eager to join Tabadul, a platform designed for electronic information exchange. This might help Kazakhstani businesses attract capital from investors from the UAE and other Persian Gulf nations, according to the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

Tabadul is a digital platform for trading between member exchanges, established by the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

Its members are the Bahrain Bourse and the Muskat Stock Exchange (Oman). Retail investors can trade through licensed brokers in both markets.

In the UAE, the delegations of the National Bank and the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) met...

Pratt & Whitney, an American aircraft engine manufacturer, has promised to reimburse Air Astana expenditures related to acquiring aircraft engines as the two companies signed a long-term agreement.

«A set of agreements with Pratt & Whitney that includes long-term contracts on technical maintenance are going to solve the problem of our costs,» Air Astana said in a statement. The company hasn’t revealed any financial details, though.

The context. In late January, analysts of Halyk Finance said that Air Astana could pull 17 out of 49 aircraft out of operation due to flaws in aircraft engines...

Uzum, a so-called “Uzbek Amazon” that engages in online retail trade, fintech and food delivery, has become the first unicorn (a company with a market value of more than $1 billion) in Uzbekistan as it raised $114 million in investments. After the company raised new investments, its market value rose to $1.16 billion according to Techcrunch.

In 2020, there were around 1,200 startups in Uzbekistan. About 85% of them were at the initial stage of fundraising. The Asian Development Bank believes that the vast majority of startups on the market were fintech services (with a market share of 30%) and...

Orbis Kazakhstan is going to launch a new car manufacturing facility in Almaty to produce vehicles of the Chinese brand KAIYI, the company’s press service said in a statement. President of Orbis Kazakhstan Suhrab Makhmudov and General Manager of Yibin Kaiyi Auto Gao Lei signed the corresponding agreement on March 26.

The construction of the automotive factory is expected to start in the second quarter of 2024 in the industrial zone of Almaty. The facility has a capacity of 80,000 cars per year and will create more than 1,500 new jobs.

According to the contract, the Chinese automaker will provide...

SDU University near Almaty has conducted a groundbreaking ceremony to construct a new campus that will be built with the support of Freedom Holding Corp. The company will allocate more than $3.9 million for the project.

«High-quality education is one of the pillars of a progressive society. By joining this initiative, we are proving that we are ready to support and facilitate the comprehensive growth and development of the current and future generations of the people of Kazakhstan. In our holding, we fully understand how big the role of the business is in the social life...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed a law designed to counter the transfer pricing and strengthen state control over related-party transactions. The document also introduces changes and amendments to several other legal acts, the president’s office said on Telegram.

Transfer pricing is a practice of transferring a company’s revenue to jurisdictions with many tax benefits through transactions with entities that are part of the same larger enterprise. These transactions are also called related-party transactions. Even though these transactions aren’t necessarily illegal, businesses usually use them to artificially boost the revenue of an offshore company and increase the costs of a parent...

According to Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Aidarbek Saparov, Kazakhstan is going to cut the total area of wheat agriculture and switch to oil and forage crops.

This year, the country plans to sow various crops at 23.8 million hectares, which is 209,600 hectares less than in 2023. The area of wheat crops will decrease by 429,200 hectares to 13.3 million hectares compared to last year. The ministry intends to switch focus to the cultivation of other socially important and highly profitable crops.

According to data from regional authorities, the area under oil crops will be increased by 385,700 hectares...

KazMunayGas (KMG) has no plans for privatization of any of its three refinery plans in Atyrau, Pavlodar and Shymkent, according to Dmitry Makeev, deputy head of the company.

«We’ve noticed today that some media outlets and social networks have spread information about the alleged privatization of the Atyrau and Pavlodar refineries. Let us be clear, this information has nothing to do with reality. There were no negotiations of this kind. Both refineries are operating as usual,» the company said in a statement.

Several Kazakhstani media outlets reported that the government was going to sell KMG’s...

The government of Uzbekistan is going to sell at least three state-owned banks, according to Frank Media, citing the March survey by Fitch Ratings. Once the deal is completed, the share of private banks in Uzbekistan will increase from 32% (as of late 2023) to 60%.

The strategic decision to sell shares in six Uzbekistani state-owned banks – Ipoteka-Bank, Uzpromstroybank (O’zsanoatqurilishbank), Asaka, AK Alokabank, Kishlok Qurilish Bank, and Turon Bank – was made in May 2020. After that, the Hungarian OTP Bank became the major stakeholder in Ipoteka-Bank, the fifth biggest bank in Uzbekistan.

The survey by Fitch says that...