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Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament has approved the interstate agreement between France and Kazakhstan on criminal matters. However, the document won’t help Kazakhstani authorities make Mukhtar Ablyazov, a former Kazakhstani banker and opposition activist, come back to the country, according to Prosecutor General Aset Chindaliyev.

The agreement requires Kazakhstan and France to follow the rules of mutual legal assistance in anything linked to criminal matters. It is expected that by sticking to this practice the two sides will act more effectively in crime prevention.

«This agreement covers legal assistance only. These are legal actions like interrogations and police...

According to the Eurasian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Russia’s stake in the bank has decreased from 65.98% to 44.79%, which means that the country no longer possesses a controlling stake in the EBRD.

The bank is going to distribute this 21.2% stake Russia used to own (321,151 shares) between other members of the bank. As a result, these shares will go to the following: Kazakhstan – 37.29%, Armenia – 4.23%, Kyrgyzstan – 4.23%, Belarus – 5.21% and Tajikistan – 4.25%.

This decision was made by the EBRD council on December 30, 2022, although this issue was discussed this...

The head of PPF Group, a financial company from the Czech Republic, is going to take full control over the Kazakhstani Home Credit, according to Kirill Bachvarov, board chairman of the bank.

«We are going to expand the bank’s shareholder structure over the following months. I think it is likely that Mr. Šmejc will control a 100% share of the bank by the end of this year,» he said. Even though there isn’t 100% faith that other stakeholders will agree to sell their stakes, the bank’s management anticipates this result,” Bachvarov added. 

Currently, Šmejc owns a 34.7% stake in Home...

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), Central Asia is going to face a higher rate of unemployment this year. Like Europe, this region is suffering from the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine.

However, the growth of unemployment is going to be moderate, the ILO reported. More than three million people are expected to lose their jobs in 2023 in addition to 208 million people who are already unemployed. This is about 5.8% of the global workforce.

Beyond the gap in employment, job quality remains a key concern. The projected slowdown is likely to force workers to accept...

On December 30, 2022, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan signed an edict that reorganized some ministries. As a result, some officials have been promoted while others got the prefix «ex» added to their previous titles.

During his address to the nation, Mirziyoyev stated that the first stage of the reform will cover ministries and the style of work of the cabinet. The number of executive bodies under the cabinet’s supervision is going to be decreased from 61 to 28. Similarly, the number of ministries is set to decrease from 25 to 21. The number of public sector employees is going...

The Russian fast food chain Vkusno i tochka is going to register its trademark in Kazakhstan. Sistema PBO, the company running the chain, has already filed the relevant application, the Interfax Kazakhstan news agency said, citing the intellectual property department of the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan.

«The application filed by Sistema PBO for registration of several trademarks with the words Vkusno i tochka are under consideration of the authorized agency,» the intellectual property department said.

Vkusnoi i tochka has been operating in Russia since the moment Russian businessman Alexander Govor acquired the franchise rights to McDonald’s in Russia.

Currently...

Members of Kazakhstan’s parliament have officially denounced the law on the first president Elbasy. They did this during the joint plenary session of the upper and lower houses of the parliament.

MP Erlan Sairov gave a speech before members of the two chambers. He reminded them that the move followed the referendum last summer when a set of amendments to the current constitution was supported by the people of Kazakhstan.

«The previous version of the constitution included clause 4 of article 46, which said that the status and authority of the first president Elbasy was decided by the special constitutional...

The long-awaited IPO of UzAuto Motors was rescheduled to February 2023 due to low interest in the company’s stocks. The Kursiv edition took a look at which factors prevented the IPO from happening and reviewed the key trends in the stock market in Uzbekistan in 2022.

When one percent is enough

It was expected that UzAuto’s IPO will open the door for many other public offerings in the country. In August the government of Uzbekistan even published a list of companies that were going to go private. In order to raise the attractiveness of UzAuto Motors, its stock has...

Mikhail Lomtadze, CEO and co-founder of Kaspi has bought two million shares of the company from another stockholder Vyacheslav Kim. As a result, Lomtadze is the second largest stockholder after Baring Vostok, according to the company’s data from January 1, 2023.

According to KASE, Lomtadze’s share in Kaspi increased from 23.42% to 24.55%, while Kim’s share declined from 24.26% to 23.35%.

These changes followed the deal between the two major Kaspi stockholders on December 22, 2022. At the time, Lomtadze bought 1.94 million GDR of the company from Kim. Given the average price of $69.10 per common share, the total...

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov has asked the Ministry of Justice to think what measures can be done to amend the Criminal Code and decrease the number of reasons for law enforcement to go after entrepreneurs.

«We have to revise the Criminal Code in order to lift all excessive and unjustified prescriptions that can be used as a reason for launching criminal cases against businesses. The Ministry of Justice has already received an order to strengthen work in this direction and execute a comprehensive approach to the issue,» Smailov said during the cabinet’s meeting devoted to the economic policy.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first president of Kazakhstan, has lost the title of «Honorary Senator,» according to Maulen Ashimbayev, the speaker of the Senate.

«Until recently only one person possessed the title of Honorary Senator in our country. Now nobody can acquire this title because it is no longer in our legislation. Let me clarify, we have changed the Senate’s regulations. We reviewed this rule and deleted it. In fact, we have never had a legal base for this practice,» Ashimbayev said after the plenary session of the chamber.

The official also highlighted that the people of Kazakhstan decided to renounce...

The leading independent provider of energy and commodity price benchmarks Argus is going to host the Argus Oil Products 2023. Caspian and Central Asia Markets International conference. The event will be held on March 16-17 in Dubai, UAE.

It is expected that the conference will bring together top managers from the largest international oil, trade and transport-logistic companies. The key goal of the event is to discuss the main development trends in oil and products markets in Caspian, central Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

Among the issues that will be discussed during the conference are the...

Kazakhtelecom has disbanded its subsidiary Khan Tengri Holding through which it owned Kazakhstani mobile operators Tele2 and Altel, according to KASE.

The company is no longer the owner of Khan Tengri Holding B.V. The decision to voluntarily liquidate the subsidiary was made in October 2022.

Khan Tengri Holding was established in 2016 in the Netherlands as a joint venture with Swedish Tele2 Group. Initially, Kazakhstelecom owned just 51% of the company’s shares. However, in May 2019 the operator acquired the remaining 49% of the stock from Tele2 Group.

After the deal, Kuanyshbek Yessekeev, CEO of Kazakhtelecom, described the consolidation of...

In 2022, the total amount of oil produced in Kazakhstan was 84.2 million tons which is slightly less than the previous year (85.7 million tons), according to Bolat Akchulako, minister of energy of Kazakhstan.

«Last year we produced 84.2 million tons of oil and condensate or 101.6% over the 2022 plan… In 2022, the oil export reached 64.3 million tons or 103% over the 2022 plan,» he said.

For example, oil producers extracted 29.2 million tons of oil or 100% over the 2022 plan at the Tengiz oil field; 11.3 million tons (103.8% over the plan) at the Karachaganak oil...

Kazakhstan and Russia are negotiating cooperation in the sphere of gas production, although the announced gas union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is just an idea, said Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

«So far, we haven’t received an official proposal concerning the tripartite gas union. We are going to consider such a proposal as long as we receive it. However, we have already started negotiations with Russia concerning gas supply,» he said to journalists.

The prime minister noted that Kazakhstan is preparing for the next round of talks with Gazprom. «These bilateral discussions are continuing. We are going to put these...

This year, the inflation rate in Kazakhstan should be reduced by half from 20.3% to 9.5%, according to Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

«We have a task. We need the inflation rate to decline by half this year. The rate should be about 9.5%. This is not an easy task, that’s why we have to coordinate and act smoothly,» he said.

According to the official, the key driver of the inflation rate is food prices. Thus, in December last year, food prices showed a 1.6% growth as compared to November 2022.

«This is a sign that authorized agencies and local administrations...

Vkusno I tochka, a Russian fast food chain, doesn’t plan to enter Kazakhstan’s market to fill the niche which was earlier occupied by McDonald’s, according to the TASS news agency, citing the company.

The chain’s representative said that «so far there are no any business arrangements between Vkusno I tochka and the company that used to run McDonald’s in Kazakhstan.»

In December, Director General of Vkusno I tochka Oleg Paroyev said that the company is considering the option of expansion to neighboring markets in Armenia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. All three countries have never cooperated with McDonald’s. Moreover, Alexander Govor, the...

According to Aset Mashanov, director general of Food Solutions KZ (McDonald’s Kazakhstan), the company is planning to develop its fast food business further. He also doesn’t rule out the option of launching a new brand in Kazakhstan.

Mashanov noted that nobody knows whether McDonald’s is going to return to Kazakhstan. It depends on the current geopolitical situation. If the war in Ukraine is over, the company may try to restore its previous supply chain and reboot the chain.

«We can’t rule out the possibility that the brand will come back to the country, but I am not sure because it...

On January 9, 2023, the Amsterdam District Court denied the request by Anatolie Stati, Gabriel Stati, Ascom Group S.A. and Terra Raf Trans Traiding Ltd. for exequatur of a $530 million arbitral award, according to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

On 24 December 2021, the Supreme Court quashed an earlier decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal granting the exequatur and referred the matter to the Amsterdam District Court. After an interim judgment from the Amsterdam District Court on 3 May 2022, Kazakhstan was given the opportunity to further substantiate its claim that the arbitral award...

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has published a draft decree about the renunciation of the agreement between the government of the Russian Federation and the Bank of Russia on the one side and the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the National Bank of Kazakhstan on the other side, on measures aimed at providing mutual convertibility and the stable exchange rate between the Kazakhstani tenge and Russian ruble.

The agreement, signed on January 20, 1995, in Moscow, required Kazakhstan and Russia to take all necessary steps toward making the tenge and ruble mutually convertible and stabilize their exchange rate...

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the secondary housing market in Kazakhstan went down in December 2022. This was the first time since March 2018 that prices on the secondary market have plunged.

«The price decrease was reported in Astana (by 5.1%), Shymkent (by 2.7%) and Aktau (by 1.6%),» the agency said in a statement.

At the same time, data showed a 1.6% decline in rental payments in December compared to November 2022.

However, prices in the primary housing market increased by 0.4%.

«Over the period from December 2021 to December 2022, real estate prices rose by 21.6% for...

According to Azamat Kurimbayev from the Committee of Administrative Police under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the authorities have increased charges for those who use strong language in a public place, the Almatyapat Telegram channel reported.

«Under the upgraded rules, those who use strong language in a public place will be charged with a $150 fine or up to 30 days in custody,» the official said.

In the updated version of the Administrative Offences Code, profane terms in a public place and offensive and annoying behavior toward individuals are going to be considered petty crimes.

The same rule of the...

On December 29, 2022, the government of Kazakhstan adopted a debt limit restriction at 53.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP). The document is set to enter into force ten days after it went public.

Also, the government has set the debt ceiling for the country’s quasi-state sector at 21.2% of the GDP. «The upper debt limit doesn’t include mutual liabilities of entities controlled by the government and liabilities of non-resident controlled entities,» the document said.

At the same time, the foreign debt of the government – including debt guaranteed by the government and external debt of the quasi-state sector...

In 2022, the Ukrainian GDP declined by 30.4% because of the Russian invasion. Despite all the hardships of the war, it is a more positive result that was expected in the early days of the war in February 2022, according to the country’s Ministry of Economy.

In 2021, the GDP of Ukraine rose by 3.4%. In the first quarter of 2022, the rate decreased by 15.1% over the same period in the previous year. In the second quarter, the GDP dropped by 37.2%, followed by 30.8% in the third quarter.

«Last year has been the worse year for Ukraine’s economy...