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President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has refused to pardon Karim Massimov, former chair of the National Security Committee (KNB), Informburo.kz reported.

«After reviewing whether it was possible to apply the act of grace to Massimov, the pardon commission sent its recommendation to the president and he has agreed with that,» the media outlet reported.

In late June, the Commission on Pardon Issues Under the President of Kazakhstan recommended that the president reject Massimov’s petition for a pardon. At the time, MP Marat Bashimov, a member of the commission, noted that it was just a recommendation...

The founders of ten startups from Central Asia have gotten the opportunity to study in Silicon Valley under the AlchemistX Accelerator program. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry, seven startups are from Kazakhstan.

Among the winning teams from Kazakhstan are the following:

Cybernet.ai is a scientific and research company engaged in AI and big language models. It creates B2B SaaS contact centers based on AI, where bots can’t be distinguished from humans; Parqour cuts capital and operational costs for parking fivefold worldwide with its AI solution that reads license plates, processes mobile payments and provides...

Astana Qazaqstan Team may become Chinese by 2025 now that the cycling team has signed an agreement with XDS Carbon-Tech, a prominent bicycle producer in China. According to some media outlets, the Astana Qazaqstan Team will probably be registered as a Chinese team in WorldTour.

As Cyclingnews pointed out, the Astana Qazaqstan Team finished the 111th edition of Tour de France with quite ambivalent results. On the one hand, the team was last in the team classification. On the other hand, it signed an engagement agreement with XDS Carbon-Tech, which may lead to the inflow of investments necessary to...

According to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), the Ministry of Finance obtained control over 12% of Kazatomprom shares as a result of an off-exchange deal between the National Bank and the state-owned Samruk-Kazyna fund, aiming at purchasing Kazatomprom shares using assets from the National Fund. (The National Bank is a managing entity for the National Fund.)

After the deal, the share controlled by Samruk-Kazyna dropped from 75% to 62.9%, while the sold 12% stake (31.1 million common shares and GDRs) was transferred to the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan.

As authorities explained, the purpose of the deal was to replenish...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest $122.2 million in strengthening the power grid in southern Kazakhstan under an agreement with the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC).

The project’s contractors have already begun developing a feasibility study. Once all the documents are approved, they will build two 500-kilowatt overhead power transmission lines that will stretch for 475 kilometers. Additionally, the Shu, Jambyl and Shymkent electrical substations are expected to be upgraded to boost the capacity of the power grid by 75%. This upgrade should eliminate overloading, reduce losses during energy transmission and increase the overall reliability of the...

Kazakhstanis will be able to buy and sell digital assets with the help of payment cards from KazPost. The company has been added to the list of entities allowed to offer these services alongside commercial banks, according to a press release from the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC).

«Using financial products and infrastructural solutions of KazPost, customers will be able to deposit fiat currency [money] into an account and withdraw it to work with digital assets. This year, we’re going to launch the first cooperation program that will let holders of KazPost cards use fiat money...

Member states of the Group of Seven (G7) are ready to invest up to $200 billion in infrastructural projects in Central Asia. According to Helaina Matza, acting special coordinator for the Partnership on Global Infrastructure Investment (PGI), a program of the U.S. Department of State, Kazakhstan is one of the key priorities for projects like these. She made this statement during a meeting with Kazakhstani diplomats.

The core goal of the program is to diversify supply chains to ensure food and energy security in the world.

Under the program, G7 member states (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and...

The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) has updated its data on the financial conditions of Kazakhstani banking conglomerates. In the initial version published on July 17, the agency reported that over the first quarter of the year, Kaspi.kz’s assets declined by 50.2% from $14 billion to $7 billion. In the updated version of the report, Kaspi.kz’s assets were estimated at $14.3 billion as of April 1.

The agency also corrected its data on Bank CenterCredit (BCC). In the first version of the report, BCC was the second-largest banking conglomerate with $13.9 billion, outperforming Kaspi.kz in...

The global outage in Microsoft systems hasn’t affected the services of the Ministry of Digital Development of Kazakhstan. The agency made this statement amid news of technical failures at airports, airlines, banks and even the London Stock Exchange due to the Microsoft outage.

«Due to the global outage of the Microsoft operating system, which affected the operations of airports and IT services in several countries, we can reassure you that not a single outage in the operation of critical infrastructure and public IT services has been reported so far,» the ministry said.

The agency highlighted...

KazMunayGas (KMG, a subsidiary of Samruk-Kazyna) is ready to deploy production of Jet A-1 jet fuel at one of its three oil refineries in Atyrau, Pavlodar and Shymkent within two weeks, the company told Kursiv.media.

«All three large refineries are ready to produce Jet A-1. By the middle of 2024, Almaty airport is expected to be ready to use Jet A-1. All three oil refineries can start production of Jet A-1 within two weeks when necessary. Jet A-1 will be produced according to the production plan,» the company reported.

All three oil refineries operate under...

According to the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan, the National Fund grew by $54.2 million (0.09%) over the first six months of 2024. During this period, the fund received $5.8 billion, including $4.8 billion in tax revenue from the oil industry and $977 million in investment income.

At the same time, the government withdrew $5.7 billion from the National Fund, including $3.8 billion in the form of guaranteed transfers and $1.8 billion in special purpose transfers.

According to the law on the state budget for 2024-2026, guaranteed transfers from the National Fund this year shouldn’t exceed $4.2 billion, which means...

The European Council has approved a proposal by the European Commission to start negotiations with Armenia on the issue of liberalization of the visa regime. The matter will be discussed by the council next week, according to Arman Yeghoyan, chair of the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly of Armenia.

«Issues of starting visa liberation dialogue with Armenia, as well as providing support to Armenia through the European Peace Instrument have been included in the agenda of the July 22 session of the Council of Foreign Relations of the European Union (Council of...

Beijing Capital Agro, a Chinese food product producer, is going to invest more than $600 million in beef farming in Kazakhstan. This statement followed a meeting between Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov and executives of Chinese companies CITIC Construction and Beijing Capital Agro.

«Under this project, we are going to create dry feed lots and partner with more than 600 farms and existing dry feed lots as anchor partners. More than 3,500 jobs are expected to be created,» the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.

As Saparov explained, in February 2024, the Chinese...

Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) has revealed its stance regarding the threat of U.S. secondary sanctions toward businesses cooperating with VTB Kazakhstan, a subsidiary of the Russian VTB, sanctioned by the U.S. The agency stated it won’t take any active actions.

On July 3, 2024, the Office for Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury published a list of sanctioned individuals and entities, warning that cooperation with them bears risk of secondary sanctions. VTB Kazakhstan, the only subsidiary of the sanctioned Russian bank in Kazakhstan, was also on the list.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has kept this year’s forecast for the economic growth of Kazakhstan unchanged at 3.8% (as in April), while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has improved its forecast by 0.4 percentage points to 3.5%. In 2023, the country’s economy grew by 5.1%. Both institutions reported this in their surveys.

The ADB’s forecast for 2025 has also remained unchanged at 5.3%. According to the Asian Development Outlook for July 2024, Kazakhstan’s economy grew 3.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, driven by the booming construction sector, processing industry and services.

This year, economic growth...

Euronews will start operating in Kazakhstan. This development was reported by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Culture, citing a memorandum of cooperation signed by Minister of Culture of Kazakhstan Aida Balayeva and Chair of the Board of Directors of Euronews Pedro Vargas David.

«The opening of the regional office of Euronews is a significant opportunity for enhancing comprehensive media coverage and raising awareness about Kazakhstan’s economic, political, social and cultural development among the international audience of the channel,» said the minister.

There is no timeline yet for the office’s opening. However, the two sides have already discussed...

In 2023, KazMunayGas (KMG) paid $1.6 billion in taxes and other fees in Romania and $1.4 billion in Kazakhstan, the company said in a statement.

All in all, the oil producer has paid $3.4 billion to various governments. In Kazakhstan, these payments include the mineral extraction tax, subscription bonuses and other fees.

KMG’s payments to Kazakhstan’s government ($1.4 billion) include $402 million paid to the National Fund of Kazakhstan, $276 million to the state budget and $766 million to local budgets. Among KMG subsidiaries that made the largest payments were the Atyrau refinery ($319.7 million), the Pavlodar refinery...

The government of Kazakhstan and representatives of Anatol and Gabriel Stati, moguls from Moldova, have agreed to leave behind all legal disputes in international courts over oil and gas assets in Kazakhstan, which had lasted for years. The two sides have signed an agreement, the conditions of which are confidential.

A 14-year legal dispute over oil and gas assets in Kazakhstan was resolved with the support and consent of leading creditors of Tristan Oil Limited, an offshore company run by Stati. The government of Kazakhstan, the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Stati representatives have reached a peaceful and mutually...

By 2029, Kazakhstan aims to create five domestic unicorns, boost its IT exports to $5 billion and implement at least 25 AI products in various economic sectors per year. These goals are part of the Concept for AI Development recently presented by Digital Minister Zhaslan Madiyev at a cabinet meeting.

The term «unicorn» is typically applied to a company valued at over $1 billion. So far, there is not a single unicorn in Kazakhstan, although, according to Yersultan Yermanov, head of the IT Sector Development Department of the Digital Ministry, «it wouldn’t take long» for such a company to arise.

Stock market capitalization of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) has grown by 20.8% over the past three months, according to a report from the platform.

The aggregate value of the stocks increased by $11.7 billion, reaching $67.9 billion. From January to June 2024, the KASE index rose by 23%, reaching 5,151.81 points.

Meanwhile, the volume of traded corporate debt increased by 4.3% to $29.6 billion. Since the beginning of the year, stocks from fifteen new issuers have been listed on KASE: one in the stock sector, one in the KASE Global sector and thirteen in the corporate bonds sector.

As...

The Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan will require teachers to take preventive measures to counter religious extremism in their schools. The agency has also proposed amending qualification requirements for teachers. The draft regulation has been published on legalacts.egov.kz.

If the document is approved, teachers in Kazakhstan will be responsible for the following tasks:

Preventing religious extremism in schools; Teaching students, teachers and employees to adopt moral and spiritual values.

All these changes aim to implement the first article of the Roadmap for Preventing Extremism and Terrorism Among Minors for 2024-2026. The new criteria will be part of the qualification requirements...

According to the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan, 1,729 schools have been provided with internet access through satellite technology from Elon Musk’s Starlink.

«Currently, 1,729 schools in rural areas have been connected to Starlink, a satellite internet constellation. After successful negotiations with the National Security Committee, we plan to expand the pilot project (about 70 user terminals) to cover the needs of the Ministry for Emergency Situations during emergency recovery,» the ministry said in a statement

In June, Yerzhan Meiramov, the chair of the Telecommunications Committee under the Digital Ministry...

According to Alina Aldambergen, chair of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), the fact that one of its shareholders – the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) – has been hit by U.S. sanctions poses sanction risks for KASE as well.

«Given that one of our shareholders is a sanctioned entity, we’re at risk of being cut off from necessary services and transactions, which is unacceptable as we are the central element of Kazakhstan’s foreign exchange market. In this regard, a decision was made to stop MOEX from having a share in the capital of KASE,» Aldambergen noted.

She...

The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) has launched a new program aimed at supporting investment projects in the agricultural complex and food industry for 2024-2029. The total amount of financing is about $1 billion. Under the program, applicants will be able to obtain loans starting from $6.3 million for periods ranging from 5 to 20 years. The program does not specify any upper limits for funding.

According to a statement by the development institution, the program aims to promote «agricultural product processing, replace imports and expand exports.» The bank has already approved two projects related to the development of a...