News

On the night of Nov. 11, protesters in Abkhazia, a breakaway region from Georgia, gathered in the capital city of Sukhumi in opposition to an investment agreement with Russia, demanding the release of detained activists who voiced dissent.

Crowds assembled outside the State Security Service (SSS) building and blocked a city bridge. According to local Telegram channels, including NewsGeorgia, demonstrators broke through the SSS building gates, while another channel, Respubliсa, reported that the protest had shifted to Freedom Square by midnight.

Respublica added that people from across Abkhazia continued to join the protests and, several hours in, there...

Kazakhstan Railway (Kazakhstan Temir Zholy) will participate in the construction of a new multimodal cargo terminal at the Port of Alat in Azerbaijan, according to a statement from the company’s press service.

The agreement was signed at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku. There are several companies which are going to participate in the project: the joint Kazakhstan-Azerbaijani SK-AIH Investment Fund Ltd. (owned by the Kazakhstani Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund and Azerbaijan Investment Holding), Kazakhstan Railway, the Port of Baku (Azerbaijan) and Xi’an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation...

Qatari Trust for Trading Co. will assist Kazakhstan in developing its camel milk production. The deputy governor of the Turkestan region, Nuralkhan Kusherov, and the CEO of Qatari enterprise, Saleh Jaber Al-Marri, have discussed the issues of camel delivery and breeding.

The company plans to import camels from Qatar and breed them in the Turkestan region for further sale to local farmers. They will supply camel milk to the Golden Camel plant, which was established in 2018 by Chinese investors.

The production capacity is 100,000 tons of camel and mare milk per day. The plant is looking to acquire more...

ADCB Islamic Bank, the first Islamic bank in Kazakhstan, formerly known as Al Hilal Islamic Bank, is considering entering the markets in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, according to the bank’s CEO Gordon Haskins, as reported by the Interfax Kazakhstan news agency.

“We aim to expand our business throughout the entire region, including the Caucasus and Central Asia. This is why we are already exploring opportunities in several other countries in the area,” Haskins said.

The ADCB CEO clarified that the bank will most likely enter the markets of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan first before considering other markets...

Tarutinskoye, a Kazakhstani company controlled by the Mikheevskiy GOK (part of the Russian Copper Company), plans to produce up to 500,000 tons of copper and gold ore per year at the East Tarutin field in the Karabalyk district of the Kostanay region.

According to the company’s statement, the East Tarutin gold and copper field has a confirmed annual capacity of 500,000 tons of ore, depending on actual reserves. Production is expected to start at three pits — Northern-1, Northern-2 and Southern — with a total area of 24.2 hectares, by the open-cut mining method. Preparation work will start in...

Over the last 12 years, Nurlan Smagulov, the owner of Astana Group, has increased his fortune fourfold from $240 million to $980 million. During these years — from 2012 to 2024 — he has been building and leasing shopping centers; and producing and selling cars.

Who is Smagulov and how did he make it onto the Forbes list?

Nurlan Smagulov was born in Almaty on June 2, 1965. In 1990, he graduated from the Kazakh State University (now called the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University), where he studied biology and chemistry. Two years after graduation he established Astana Motors. In...

Kazakhstani juniors have earned one bronze and two silver medals at the FIDE World Youth Chess Championships 2024 in Brazil. The U14-U18 tournament took place in Florianopolis from Oct. 29 through Nov. 9, according to the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KazChess). 

In the category for boys under 14 years, Edgar Mamedov took second place and Amina Kairbekova won in the category for women under 18. Aldiyar Ansat won a silver medal, playing in the category for men under 18, and Sauat Nurgaliyev won bronze among boys under 14.

The youth championships united more than 500 young chess players from more than...

On Nov. 6, 2024, a testing payment was made between Kazakhstani Zaman Bank and Afghani Ghazanfar Bank, marking the first transaction since Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations. This initial $10,000 transfer processed by Zaman Bank is expected to catalyze increased trade between the two nations.

In late 2023, Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its terrorist list, noting the importance of fostering trade and economic ties with Afghanistan’s current government and acknowledging it as a long-term geopolitical factor.

Kazakhstan’s Vice Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin shared news of this «historic» transaction on his social media page on...

Ramzan Kadyrov, president of the small republic of Chechnya within the Russian Federation, has denied accusations of Chechens being involved in an assassination attempt on Komil Allamjonov, a former spokesperson for the president of Uzbekistan. Kadyrov promised to find out who was behind the «provocative fake news.»

«Some pro-Western and oppositional media outlets in the country decided not to wait for the result of the official investigations and speculated that Chechens and even myself were somehow linked to that attack,» Kadyrov wrote on Telegram.

He also described the news as a tool third-party individuals...

S&P, an international rating agency, has upgraded the rating for Freedom Insurance (a subsidiary of Freedom Holding controlled by Kazakhstani businessman Timur Turlov) from B+ to BB with «stable» outlook. According to the national Kazakhstani scale, the rating has been improved from kzBBB+ to kzA-. The rating upgrade followed improvements in the company’s operational and financial results.

The rating agency highlighted the company’s strong insurance underwriter performance (risk assessment), which aligns with the market average and is on par with higher-ranked companies. Analysts support this assessment with key figures: in 2023, the company’s return on equity (ROE) reached 38%, while...

Wanderlust, a prominent British travel magazine, has ranked Kazakhstan among the five most desirable emerging destinations, whereas Air Astana has made it into the top 10 favorite airlines, according to the magazine’s readers. 

The results of the 23rd Annual Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards were announced on Nov. 6. In the Most Desirable Emerging Destination nomination, Kazakhstan claimed the 5th spot, after Uzbekistan (first place), Albania, Qatar and Azerbaijan. 

Furthermore, the magazine highlighted Air Astana, which secured the ninth position in the Favourite Airline nomination. Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines were also among the selected airlines.

The magazine’s...

According to the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan, Terminals Astana Airport Management, a company controlled by investors from the UAE, will remain responsible for managing the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport until Jan. 7, 2025. The company received the right to manage the airport a year ago, on Nov. 7, 2023.

«The confidential management agreement is still valid, as the period of its validity has been extended to Jan. 7, 2025,» the Committee of State Property and Privatization under the Finance Ministry told Kursiv.media in response to its inquiry.

The committee also noted that all information...

C29 Metals, an Australian mining exploration company, has obtained a Category 2 environmental permit, which allows it to start drilling at the Ulytau field in the Zhambyl region.

«C29 Metals Limited is pleased to announce the signing of an MOU with Volkovgeology, a 100% owned subsidiary of Kazatomprom, the national and only uranium producer in Kazakhstan,» the company said in a statement to the media.

With the final design of the initial drilling program at an advanced stage, it is now planned to extend the initial diamond drill holes to a depth of approximately...

Akmaral Alnazarova, Kazakhstan’s minister of healthcare, has presented a complete list of diseases that will be transferred from the statutory free-of-charge medical assistance (SFMA) to the Mandatory Social Health Insurance (MSHI) package. According to her, around 15% of Kazakhstanis do not have any medical insurance. 

«Our recent analysis of almost all diseases has shown that, on average, 85% to 87% of Kazakhstanis have medical insurance. For some diseases, the rate is nearly 100%. The remaining population must also obtain insured status in the MSHI. Once they do, they’ll receive access to medical care as well,» Alnazarova...

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia is willing to be part of an international consortium to construct the first nuclear power plant (NPP) in Kazakhstan. The official made this statement during a press briefing streamed on the MFA’s YouTube channel. 

«Russia isn’t just ready to assist the nuclear power plant construction but has already presented its proposals. We monitored the referendum conducted by President Tokayev and saw him obtaining support for his plans to develop the nuclear energy sector. Rosatom is ready to share its expertise in order to discuss this matter with our...

At Kashagan, the largest offshore oil-and-gas field in the Caspian Sea, the forebay will be renovated, as reported by North Caspian Operation Company (NCOC).

«The project aims at completely isolating the forebay from the sea and utilizing the reservoir as a closed water supply system storage. The forebay is designed for taking and storing the seawater reserve for auxiliary needs, fire extinguishing, a desalination plant and a technical water heater block,» the operator explained in response to Kursiv.media’s inquiry.

NCOC noted that the reservoir is filled with process rainwater from the uncontaminated modules 9 and...

A first testing payment in the amount of $10,000 was made between Kazakhstani Zaman Bank and Afghani Ghazanfar Bank, Kazakhstan’s Vice Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin wrote on X.

«A testing payment of $10,000 was made within a day between Kazakhstani Zaman Bank and Afghani Ghazanfar Bank. The next stage is to test transactions with bigger sums and in different currencies, including the euro and yuan. We can boost the trade turnover to $3 billion any time soon,» the official wrote.

Last month, Zhumangarin revealed that Ghazanfar, one of the biggest commercial banks in Afghanistan, opened...

According to Blandine Ferrier, regional officer of environmental protection at ICAO, about $3.2 billion is needed for all the airlines in the world to reach a 55% usage of environmentally clean jet fuel.

As the official noted, personnel play a key role in this process, and the 55% mark in bioethanol production is going to be reached with their help. Of course, this would require huge support and a lot of investment. The ICAO estimates that $3.2 billion is needed to scale up production and personnel training.

In this regard, the ICAO requires international financial organizations to examine different mechanisms...

Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev has proposed establishing an international thermonuclear fusion lab in the country, the ministry reported.

«We are ready to establish an international lab for thermonuclear fusion based on the Kazakhstan Material Testing Tokamak (KTM),» the agency said in a statement, citing Satkaliyev’s speech during the Inaugural Ministerial Meeting of the IAEA World Fusion Energy Group in Rome, Italy.

According to the minister, Kazakhstan fully supports research and development in thermonuclear fusion and has made a significant contribution to the development of scientific infrastructure. In particular, Kazakhstan has managed to build a...

The Almaty International Airport will be brought to a perfect condition within three to four years, promised Goker Kose, the airport’s president, on the sidelines of the Regional Seminar on Green Airports. He said that to achieve this target, $300 million in investments is required.

«I’d say it will take time. But if we spend another $300 million, we hope we will reach the highest standards at the airport within three to four years,» Kose said.

He also highlighted that the new international terminal was completed and delivered ahead of schedule. For this reason, there...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has spoken about the threat of secondary sanctions against Kazakhstan. According to Lavrov, Kazakhstan is forced to exercise caution «in light of the blackmail and intimidation from Washington and Brussels.»

«We observe the active efforts by Western emissaries to engage with Astana regarding compliance with restrictions imposed on Russia. We are aware of the threats of secondary sanctions against Kazakhstani companies and banks and the potential blacklisting of economic operators by American and European entities,» Lavrov said in an interview with the Rossiya Segodnya media outlet.

He highlighted that Kazakhstan...

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and French President Emmanuel Macron have signed a mutual declaration. Delegations from both countries have also entered into agreements totaling $2.2 billion.

«During President Tokayev’s official visit to Paris, representatives from both countries signed 36 documents, including one agreement between the two cabinets, 21 agreements between executive agencies and 14 commercial agreements valued at $2.2 billion,» as reported by the president’s press services.

Here is the list of documents signed:

Kazakhstan and Switzerland have agreed to collaborate in the sphere of criminal investigation and assets reclaiming, as reported by the General Prosecutor’s Office. The two countries have signed a memorandum aimed at accelerating and simplifying procedures designed for evidence and data exchange.

The document was signed on Nov. 5, during a meeting between Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General Berik Assylov, Swiss Attorney General Stefan Blättler and Vice Director of the Federal Office of Justice of Switzerland Laurence Fontana Jungo in Bern.  

«The two sides have discussed a wide range of issues related to international and legal cooperation...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and French President Emmanuel Macron took a walk around the garden at the Élysée Palace accompanied by Tazy dogs nicknamed Jules and Jeanne.

Tokayev presented Macron with the puppies when the French president visited Astana last time. The dogs of the traditional Kazakh breed were named Jules and Jeanne. 

In the garden, the two leaders had an informal conversation.

Various sources reported that Macron liked Tazy dogs during his visit to Kazakhstan. At the Ethnoaul trade fair, Tokayev promised to gift the dogs to his French counterpart.

Jules and Jeanes have already made friends with Neo, a...