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Kazakhstan’s proposed tax reform introduces a differentiated value-added tax (VAT) system, according to Serik Zhumangarin, minister of national economy. The standard VAT rate will be 16%, with a reduced rate of 10% under consideration for the healthcare sector. Agricultural producers will be exempt from VAT.

«We are proposing a reduced rate for the healthcare sector, but further discussions are needed to determine whether it will apply to other industries. We will gather proposals, conduct calculations and make a final decision in collaboration with experts and businesses,» Zhumangarin stated at a government briefing.

He also explained...

This year, fiscal reform should be a top priority for Kazakhstan’s government. The cabinet has proposed raising certain tax rates to boost budget revenues and reduce reliance on transfers from the National Fund. These challenging reforms are necessary because Kazakhstan has long pursued a procyclical fiscal policy, increasing government spending even during periods of high oil prices and strong economic growth. Over time, this approach has led to imbalances in public finances. Kursiv Research has analyzed how Kazakhstan established and then circumvented its budget rules, explaining why the current reforms are unlikely to fully resolve these issues.

Why exporting countries...

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Kazakhstan exported 4.8 million tons of new-crop grain by railway from September to January, a 47% year-on-year increase. In total, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the national railway company, shipped 6.1 million tons of grain over the past five months, including 1.3 million tons for domestic consumption.

The largest export destination was Uzbekistan, which received 1.8 million tons, a 40% increase year-on-year, followed by Tajikistan with 724,000 tons (+50%), China with 659,000 tons (N/A) and Afghanistan with 217,000 tons (+38%). The most significant growth was seen in shipments to Iran, which surged 29-fold to...

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Moscow for the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War. The last time the Chinese leader attended such a parade in the Russian capital was in 2015.

According to Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov, Xi has accepted an invitation to take part in the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. He shared this information in an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel.

«In turn, Xi Jinping has invited Vladimir Putin to visit China for celebrations planned for early September,» Morgulov said.

The Kremlin has confirmed that...

Mikhail Lomtadze, a majority shareholder in Kaspi.kz (owning 21.53% of the company’s shares), has been appointed chairman of the board at Hepsiburada, one of Turkey’s largest marketplaces, the company said in a statement.

The decision to nominate Lomtadze was made on Feb. 1, a day after Kaspi.kz acquired a 65.41% stake in Hepsiburada.

As part of the deal with Hanzade Doğan, the marketplace’s founder and former controlling shareholder, Kaspi.kz purchased 40 million Class A shares and 173.2 million Class B shares in D-Market Electronic Services & Trading, the legal entity operating the Hepsiburada brand.

The $ 1.127-billion deal was approved...

The Oil and Gas Council of Kazakhstan has announced its latest nomination, appointing Nurlan Muratov as deputy managing director of ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. and Tengiz asset manager.

«Nurlan is the first Kazakhstani citizen to hold this position in Tengiz asset management within ExxonMobil,» the statement read.

In 1997, Muratov graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied geology. He also earned a master’s degree in energy and mineral resources from the same university.

From 2002 to 2012, Muratov worked at ExxonMobil as a senior geologist, technical team lead and geoscience adviser...

Between 2018 and 2020, Kazakhstan’s Autonomous Cluster Fund «Park of Innovative Technologies» (PIT) financed 95 startups, allocating approximately $2 million in budget funds. However, 32 of these entities were later liquidated. According to a recent report from the country’s Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC) on the effectiveness of the digital development policy, another 21 projects have not paid taxes, indicating they are inactive. In total, 53 out of 95 startups or about 55.8% failed to demonstrate investment success or effectiveness.

Additionally, from 2016 to 2017, PIT received nearly $9 million in budget funds to establish five technology development centers and one...

Kazakhstani photographer Anel Bazylova emerged as the winner of the prestigious 2025 National and Regional Awards at the Sony World Photography Awards. Her project, which depicts women with rare genetic diseases and those diagnosed with cancer, was selected from 400,000 photos submitted by participants from 56 countries.

A piece of visual art by 35-year-old Bazylova, created within the photo project called «Bud’»(Live), was selected as the best from Kazakhstan. She began the project in 2024, pursuing the goal of supporting women with rare diseases.

«My goal is to motivate women who have found themselves in a...

In late 2024, Alexander and Igor Deriglazov, the founders and owners of the Meloman holding, sold about 50% of their assets to Aqniet Group, whose majority stakeholder is Kairat Itemgenov, according to Forbes Kazakhstan.

Reports about the potential sale of Meloman first emerged about a year ago. However, the Deriglazov brothers and Aqniet Group entered into serious negotiations only in late spring and began preparing for the deal in the fall. As a result, Aqniet Group has acquired three businesses in Moscow and four in Kazakhstan from the Deriglazovs.

«The deal covers our stores but...

A woman from Kostanay was awarded around $200 from a tarot fortune-teller after the prophecy was not fulfilled, Alau.kz reported. The court supported the plaintiff’s point that there was a kind of agreement that had been breached.

The woman, whose name has not been disclosed, contacted the tarot card reader online after discovering her husband’s infidelity. She paid approximately $200 for the session.

In turn, the fortune-teller predicted that the couple’s relationship would improve. But in fact, they decided to divorce. Feeling ripped off, the woman demanded a refund from the tarot reader filing a lawsuit.

The judge ruled in...

Freedom Telecom is set to establish the East-West fiber-optic hyperhighway, as well as a data processing center (Tier III or higher) to transit and store international traffic, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan reported. The corresponding agreement was signed on Feb. 6, 2024.

«The national East-West fiber-optic hyperhighway will boost the volume of data transferred through Kazakhstan and solidify its role in international internet traffic transit. This project aims to reduce delays in data transfer, increase connection speed and create an alternate route for traffic transit between Europe and Asia,» the...

More than 90,000 foreigners have obtained Kazakhstani citizenship over the past four years. The process involves both state authorities and private companies that help applicants submit their documents more efficiently. Demand for these services has risen significantly since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Who has obtained Kazakhstani citizenship since the war began?

According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, 93,306 people became citizens of Kazakhstan between 2021 and 2024:

How to...

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport has proposed urgent amendments to the legislation to enhance the investment appeal of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the national railway company, in anticipation of the initial public offering (IPO), as reported by the Association of Kazakhstan Freight Rail Carriers. The organization strongly opposes the move, calling it premature. Additionally, Kazakhstan’s Supreme Audit Chamber warned of financial risks affecting KTZ.

The association claimed that the proposal includes granting KTZ an exclusive right to transshipment across Kazakhstan, lifting the cap of no more than 10% minus one share for stock market placement and the deconsolidation of the company’s...

Switzerland is set to transfer approximately $182 million of confiscated assets previously owned by Gulnara Karimova, the convicted elder daughter of the late President Islam Karimov, back to the people of Uzbekistan.

The corresponding agreement was signed between Uzbekistan’s Justice Minister Akbar Tashkulov and Swiss Ambassador to Uzbekistan Konstantine Obolenskiy, as reported by the Ministry of Justice’s press service.

«Under this agreement, Uzbekistan will recover about $182 million. The statement read that these funds were illegally obtained by certain citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan and confiscated in 2012 as part of the criminal case initiated...

Kyrgyz citizens can now change their last names by removing Russian suffixes, following the approval of new name-spelling options by the country’s parliament, according to the 24.kg news agency.

«The regulation is designed to give citizens the choice to use last names without Russian endings. However, the current spelling of last names and patronymics, including the suffixes -ov, -ev, -vich and –vna, will remain unchanged unless citizens opt to modify them,» said MP Mirlan Samyikojo, one of the authors of the new law.

Under the new regulation, women’s last names can now include the suffix...

Kazakhstani airline Air Astana reported completing the first stage of its buyback program. The company has repurchased 4.63 million securities out of the 4.78 million planned. The air carrier intends to continue the process, according to Qazaq Association of Minority Shareholders (QAMS).

The company announced the buyback as early as late April 2024. The decision was made 2.5 months after the long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) to reward employees for their «hard work.» Overall, 1.3% of the total capital placed has been bought back.

According to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), Air Astana was repurchasing its shares from early May...

Serik Zhumangarin, Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister and minister of national economy, has expressed interest in optimizing the national budget by following the example of Elon Musk and the newly established U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He suggested that budget-cutting strategies used by President Donald Trump’s administration could serve as a model for reducing government spending, particularly in social services.

Zhumangarin noted that the Ministry of National Economy is currently reviewing social programs, which account for 37.5% of Kazakhstan’s state budget.

«Recently, someone approached me with the idea of implementing the same cost-cutting measures Elon Musk...

Companies in Central Asia (CA) and the Caucasus are considering fewer areas for IT investment compared to the global average. One of the key areas for investments in 2025 is XaaS, which is any service rendered via cloud computing, according to a tech report by KPMG, a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. The data for the report has been collected through a survey of more than 70 managers responsible for implementing the tech agenda in companies based in CA and the Caucasus.

According to the report, 93% of enterprises in these regions plan to...

The World Bank (WB) has issued a report on Kazakhstan’s economy, citing the budget deficit, an increase in public debt and a decline in investment inflows as key challenges for the country.

According to the bank, Kazakhstan’s economy is expected to grow rapidly this year due to increased oil output, as Tengizchevroil reported the first oil from its Future Growth Project (FGP). Authorities estimate that the launch of the FGP will boost oil production at Tengiz by 12 million tons per year.

However, after 2025, Kazakhstan’s economic growth is expected to slow down to 3% to 3.5% due to low...

Kazakhstani court orders KPO to pay hefty penalty / Photo: KazMunayGas

The economic court of Uralsk, the administrative center of the West Kazakhstan region, has partially upheld a lawsuit filed by the country’s Ministry of Energy against the Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. consortium (KPO), ordering the company to pay 543.19 million tenge (approximately $960,000) in damages, according to the Bes.media news portal.

The lawsuit was brought by Kapitalneftegaz, a company controlled by the Ministry of Energy, after an inventory check revealed the loss of 44 state-owned assets that had been provided to KPO for free use. The damage assessment was...

By October 2025, Uzbekistan will supply 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water to Kazakhstan, an increase of 1 bcm year-on-year, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.

Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, Kazakhstan’s minister of water resources and irrigation, and Shavkat Khamrayev, Uzbekistan’s minister of water resources, held the 12th meeting of the joint task force on water resource cooperation. They agreed that by Oct. 1, Uzbekistan will increase its annual water supply to Kazakhstan to 16 bcm.

During the previous irrigation season (October 2023-October 2024), Uzbekistan provided Kazakhstan with 15 bcm of water. The neighboring country has also committed...

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation) has commented on the preliminary report of the investigation into Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Embraer 190 crash near Aktau, which was released by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport. Russian officials stressed that, unlike Kazakhstan’s investigators, the Russian side hasn’t had a chance to examine external objects found in the aircraft.

Russia’s agency also highlighted that Kazakhstan’s report is preliminary in nature and does not contain a summary of the causes of the accident.   

«The preliminary report confirms that the aircraft sustained damage caused by external interference. At the same time...

Nurlan Smagulov, the founder of Astana Group and a prominent Kazakhstani businessman, is going to invest $3.5 million in Automotive Ventures, an American venture capital fund founded by Steve Greenfield. The fund specializes in supporting promising automotive and digital projects in the U.S., Canada and Australia, as reported by Forbes.kz.

General Partner of Automotive Ventures Greenfield evaluates up to 60 startups related to the automobile industry each month. He met Smagulov last fall when the Kazakhstani businessman traveled to the U.S. Later, Greenfield visited Kazakhstan to participate in a corporate automotive forum organized by Astana Group.

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development has proposed mandatory artificial intelligence (AI) training for all civil servants, with a pilot program set to launch in March 2025. Over the next five years, the initiative aims to equip 1 million people with AI skills.

On Feb. 5-7, 2025, Kazakhstan will host a workshop as part of the International Telecommunication Union’s «AI Skills Accelerator for Girls» program. The initiative is designed to expand access to emerging technology trends for girls and women, according to the press office of the Ministry of Digital Development.

«Our goal is to integrate AI...