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According to fDi Intelligence’s annual FDI Standouts Watchlist, Kazakhstan reached sixth in the global rating of foreign direct investments (FDI, when an investor controls at least 10% of voting stocks) and macroeconomic prospects as of the end of 2023. Both the IMF and fDi Intelligence believe that the country demonstrated sustainable growth after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Six countries from Asia have been included on the list with Cambodia as the leader, the Philippines second and Kenya third. The top ten countries in terms of FDI also include Namibia and Morocco. Serbia is the only European country to make the list.

As of year-end 2023, the business activity index (BAI) declined by 0.3 points to 48.7 due to the deteriorated performance of the mining industry and the service sector, according to the National Bank.

The BAI reflects the current conditions of the real economic sector and actual changes in the performance by businesses. The indicator also allows the regulator to examine the dynamic of current trends and critical pivots of the business cycle. Changes are positive when the BAI is higher than 50 and conversely is negative if the rate is lower than 50. The further the index rate from the...

According to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, Kazakhstani insurance businesses reported $17.7 million in losses in November 2023 compared to $16.6 million in losses in October. As the agency noted, the revaluation of currency assets was the key reason for the losses.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan also issues quarterly reports on the insurance sector. As the regulator reported, over the period from July to September, insurance companies earned $412.3 million or $340 million under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Life insurance and non-life insurance accounted for $163 million and $199 million, respectively under...

Timur Turlov, the founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., believes that Kazakhstan’s economy can grow by 6% to 8% per year if its level of monetization increases. The businessman suggests diverting money from commercial banks to the real economy.

According to Turlov, Kazakhstan needs investments in various economic sectors such as the energy industry, data centers, logistics, different types of communications, manufacturing and digitalization of everything.

«The National Bank has sterilized a few trillion tenge by taking money from banks under ±15.75% per annum. And everything is fine. Over the past year, banks and deposit...

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, inflation in Kazakhstan reached 9.8% in December 2023. In 2022, the agency reported a record-high increase in prices of 20.3%.

In December 2023, prices increased by 0.8% versus 1% in November month on month. All key components of the overall consumer price index reported slower price increases. For instance, the cost of food products increased by 8.5% (vs 9.2% in November 2023), non-food products by 9.1% (9.9%) and services by 12.4% (12%).

In terms of price increases for food products, rice has become the champion with an increase of 34.3%, followed by mineral...

Timur Kulibayev and his spouse Dinara Kulibayeva (daughter of Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev) once again lead the list of richest people in Kazakhstan.

According to Forbes, Kulibayev’s fortune is currently estimated at $4.7 billion (622nd place in the world rating). His spouse possesses a similar amount of money. This means that the entire Kulibayev family controls $9.4 billion worth of assets. In 2023, Kulibayev was ranked the second richest individual in Kazakhstan with a fortune of $4.3 billion ($8.6 billion for the family). The last time, the businessman was the first in the rating was in 2018, when his fortune of...

Ulba-TVS, a subsidiary of the national nuclear company Kazatomprom, has been certified for the production of nuclear fuel assemblies of the AFA 3GTM A design, Kazatomprom said in a statement.

«Kazatomprom announces that the joint Kazakhstani-Chinese company Ulba-TVS has completed the certification process for its production of nuclear fuel assemblies under AFA 3GTM A design. The company produces nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants in China. The document confirming that the plant’s products meet all the requirements, norms and quality standards has been issued by Framatome, a French company that owns the technology,» the company said. 

The Ministry of Tourism and Sport has awarded Timur Turlov, the president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation with the title of «Best President of Accredited Sports Federation» in 2023.

What happened? Turlov received the «Best President of Accredited Sports Federation» title during an official ceremony of the 2023 Uzdik Award by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport.

«This award is a result of hard work by the members of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and our chess players. This is nice that all the efforts by Kazakhstani chess players have been noticed and duly appreciated by the...

The government of Kazakhstan is going to exclude the Taliban from its list of prohibited organizations. The move is justified by the fact that the UN Security Council does not view this movement as a terrorist organization, according to the Kazinform news agency, citing Aibek Smadiyarov, the official spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan.

What happened? The country’s MFA said that Kazakhstan is excluding the Taliban movement from the national list of terrorist organizations prohibited in Kazakhstan. The decision is justified by the fact that the UN Security Council doesn’t consider the Taliban a terrorist organization.

How is Kazakhstan...

In 2023, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange index managed to rebound from last year’s losses and has grown by 27.9%. Last year, the index declined by 11.5%, according to the exchange’s website.

How did the index constituents behave

As of December 28, 2023, the Bank CenterCredit (BCC) share price was $2.15 versus $1.41 as of the end of 2022. This means that the bank’s share price has grown by 52.65% over the past twelve months. In May 2023, BCC acquired the controlling stake in Sinoasia B&R, an insurance company, and said that it would expand its presence in the insurance...

The final of the FIDE World Rapid Championship 2023 for men and women came to an end in Samarkand. After three days of intense games, Magnus Carlsen, a chess genius from Norway, has become the champion among males, while Anastasia Bondaruk from Russia is now a female champion.

It’s been the fifth title for the Norwegian in his career. He is also a five-time champion in classic chess and a six-time champion in blitz chess.

One of the journalists at the event was curious if Carlsen felt like a character in the Groundhog Day movie given that he won the...

Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) is excluding the Principality of Liechtenstein and the U.S. State of Delaware from its list of offshore zones.

The agency has created a list of offshore zones to facilitate banking and insurance activities, operations of professional stock market participants and other types of activities related to stock markets, investment funds and microfinance organizations.

According to a draft of the ARDFM resolution published for public consideration, the change is following the new U.S. Corporate Transparency Act that enters into force starting January 1, 2024. Under this legislation, all companies incorporated...

The microfinance organization Solva has disclosed the names of the beneficiaries of Neo Crystal Holdings Ltd, a company registered in the UAE that has recently bought a stake in the microfinance company. This is the Sawiris family from Egypt and partners of the ZCP fund.

The Sawiris family’s holding Orascom actively invests in various countries and industries. The founder of Orascom Group Onsi Sawiris established the entity as a developing company but later expanded its scope of interests and focused on long-term investments. The Sawiris family also owns HOF Capital, the fund whose interests lay in the sphere of fintech...

Kazakhstan’s Agency for Protection and Development of Competition has initiated an investigation against mobile operators accused of price fixing, as their prices surged within the range of 7.7% to 57.3%.

What happened? Specialists from the antimonopoly agency have analyzed tariff plans of mobile operators and their price dynamics, stating that prices for telecommunication services increased within the range of 7.7% to 57.3% this year.

«Over the period from May to July, mobile operators gradually increased the cost of services in more than 30 tariff plans with monthly fees,» the agency said in a statement.

Who...

Russia decided to open a general consulate in Aktau and has already obtained consent from the government of Kazakhstan, according to the Komsomoslkaya Pravda newspaper, citing Yevgeny Ivanov, deputy foreign minister of Russia. This is going to be the fourth Russian general consulate in Kazakhstan.

Why is Russia opening a new consulate? According to Ivanov, Russia is going to «significantly expand» its diplomatic presence abroad soon.

«All necessary decisions are made and negotiated with foreign governments. We are going to open embassies in Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea, general consulates in Kapane (Armenia), Aktau (Kazakhstan), Samarkand...

According to Sultan Kamaletdinov, deputy defense minister, Kazakhstan may send its military to the Golan Heights as part of a U.N. international mission. If the country’s parliament approves the move, the military will be sent in March 2024, the official said at a briefing for the media.

What happened? As Kamaletdinov noted, more than 1,500 military personnel from different countries are currently stationed at the Golan Heights. In March 2024, Kazakhstan can send 139 members of its military to the area.

«We started our preparations last spring. Over the period from April to October, we worked...

Freedom Finance SPC Ltd, a subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp., has placed five-year bonds with a yield of 11.5% to 12% per annum and raised $200 million. This was the first stage of a $1 billion issuance program, the holding said in a statement.

According to Timur Turlov, CEO and majority shareholder in Freedom Holding Corp., the bond offering has been the biggest public deal involving retail investors for the past several years on the AIX. He also emphasized that the offering was unique for the local market because of its size and 100% involvement of individuals.

Since early December 2023, various media outlets in Kazakhstan have been reporting multiple cases of organized cyber-attacks on their websites and accounts on social media. Among those who have suffered from the attacks are Kursiv.Media, ProTenge, Inbusiness.kz, KazTAG, Nege.kz, Lsm.kz and Shishkin_like, a channel on Telegram.

According to representatives of the media, cyber-attacks are a very dangerous abuse of the right to have access to information. This situation must be viewed in the socio-political context, journalists said. They held a roundtable discussion in Almaty where they discussed how to protect the media from cyber-attacks and improve the legal security of...

The Akorda (the official residence of the president of Kazakhstan) has denied the information published by The Wall Street Journal about behind-the-scenes negotiations between Russia and Kazakhstan. The edition wrote that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev refused to send Kazakhstan’s military to Russia in June 2023, when Eugene Prigozhin, the late head of the Wagner mercenary group, organized a mutiny in Russia.

The press service of Kazakhstan’s president has commented on the article by The Wall Street Journal that claims that Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council in Russia, asked President Tokayev to send troops to Russia in order to crack...

According to Timur Zhantikin, director general of the Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants company, the construction of the first NPP in the country could cost about $10 to $15 billion.

How much money can Kazakhstan allocate for the construction of an NPP?

«The cost of the first plant is around $10 to $15 billion. Currently, we are working on sources of funding. Mainly, they are international financial institutions. This project is considered commercial with no support from the government. Therefore, we have some nuances here,» Zhantikin said.

What is Zhantikin’s company responsible for?

According to the...

The government of Cyprus has decided to establish an embassy in Kazakhstan because it acknowledges the importance of the region of Central Asia, the TASS news agency reported, citing Konstantinos Letymbiotis, the official representative of the government of Cyprus.

Why has Cyprus decided to open its embassy in Kazakhstan? According to Letymbiotis, the government of Cyprus views Central Asia as a very important part of its foreign policy.

«Taking into consideration our desire to have a voice in and play a role in all those events in the region that directly or indirectly affect our interests...

According to Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev, the government is planning to pass control over the airports of Aktobe, Turkestan and Kyzylorda to large foreign managing companies with expertise in this field.

As the minister noted, the country’s government is trying to garner the attention of private investors with the necessary knowledge and skills to establish multi-modal centers in the country’s airports. Under this concept, airport runways, fuel stations as well as passenger and cargo terminals are being repaired. For instance, in the airport of Karaganda, an investor wants to upgrade a runway strip and purchase the necessary equipment...

According to the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), the amount of regional accumulated direct investments (FDI) in Central Asia reached $1.1 billion in the first half of 2023, which is 1.8 times higher than in 2016. Kazakhstan’s share has been gradually growing in the Eurasian region (which also includes Tajikistan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Russia) for the past couple of years. This year it reached 27.2% compared to 26.6% in 2021. The total amount of accumulated mutual FDI in the region reached $48.8 billion over the first six months of 2023.

Analysts from the EDB noted that the total...

Tengizchevroil and Karabatan Utility Solutions were fined for violation of the environmental legislation, according to the prosecutor’s office of the Atyrau region.

«After rigorous analysis, we have identified facts of exceedance of greenhouse gas quotas as well as unauthorized emissions, exceedance of allowed amount of emissions and polluting of land. As a result of these inspections, Karabatan Utility Solutions, LLP and Tengizchevroil, LLP have been brought to administrative liability for violating the rules,» the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Both companies were found guilty by the court and required to pay $23.4 million in...