News

The U.S. has imposed sanctions against three companies from Kazakhstan, Russia and Slovakia, which cooperated with North Korea, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control reported.

What happened? The U.S. has imposed sanctions against the Kazakhstani company Defense Engineering, Russian Verus and Slovakian Versor S.R.O.

Why has the U.S. put these companies on the sanction list? The U.S. government is accusing these companies of illegal attempts to supply weaponry from North Korea to Russia.

What do we know about the top managers of these companies? Ashot Mkrtychev, owner or CEO of these companies, is a Slovakian national. He has been...

The new terminal in the Almaty International Airport is expected to start operating in the summer of 2024. It will serve international flights, while the old terminal will be focused on domestic air travel, the press service of the Almaty city administration reported. 

What happened? Almaty Mayor Yerbolat Dosayev and President of TAV Airports Holding Serkan Kaptan discussed the construction of the passenger terminal in the Almaty International Airport.

«As of today, the main work in the airport is 65% done. The tempo of the construction is speeding up. We are expecting the opening of the...

KEGOC, the national operator of the power grid in Kazakhstan, is expecting an increase in energy consumption in the country. This increase is going to reflect the overall development of the national economy, according to a presentation KEGOC made at the company’s Issuer Day.

KEGOC believes that energy consumption will reach 121 billion kilowatts per hour this year, which is a 7% increase over 113 billion kilowatts per hour in 2022. In 2024, the consumption is expected to reach 125 billion kilowatts per hour. By 2028, this rate is going to reach 142 billion kilowatts per hour. In other words...

According to the ecology department of the Atyrau region, Tengizchevroil received a $6 million fine for pollution.

What happened? The Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of the Atyrau region reported that Tengizchevroil was exceeding emission standards, which caused pollution of the environment.

What measures have authorities undertaken? The ecology department filed a report on administrative violations of Kazakhstan’s Code on Administrative Offences, articles 328 and 337. As a result, the Zhylyoi district court ordered Tengizchevroil to pay a $6 million fine.​

In the Q4 of 2022, Chevron Corp. reported $6.353 billion of net profit, which is a 25.7% increase over the...

Kazakhstan is going to change its calculating method for the size of the export duties on oil. Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin has already approved the new methodology by his order.

So far, the size of duty on oil is calculated based on the average oil price in the global markets over the previous month. If the price is below $25 per barrel, the duty is not collected. For prices in the range of $25 to $30, a duty is $10 per ton. If the price is about $30 to $35, the...

According to the Ministry of Culture and Sport, this year Kazakhstan’s tourism generated more than $858 million in tax revenue, a record high for Kazakhstan.

How much money did the country’s budget receive from tourism this year? The country’s hotel industry earned $403.6 million, while the entire tourism sector hit the record and generated about $855 million in tax revenue.

How many foreign tourists have visited Kazakhstan? Last year, about one million foreign tourists visited the country.

What benefits do foreign tourists bring to Kazakhstan? Each foreign tourist creates at least two jobs in Kazakhstan. According to the National Bank...

Yesterday, on August 15, a company with Kazakh roots was attacked by the “bears” for the first time: Hindenburg Research published material on Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holding Corp., the core of which is Kazakhstani assets – Freedom Finance, brokerage company and Freedom Finance Kazakhstan Bank.

Hindenburg Research doesn’t hide that it belongs to the “bears” that obtain profit when market value of an object of their attack goes down. This structure has experience, with varying degrees of success, of attacking other Nasdaq members such as Singularity Future Technology, HF Foods, the company of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and even Elon Musk...

Over the period from January to July 2023, the total amount of communications services provided in Kazakhstan grew by 8.5% compared to the same period last year and reached $1.5 billion, according to the Bureau of the National Statistics.

The amount of internet communication services grew by 17.6% on a year-on-year basis to $693 million, network services grew by 9.9% to $68,199, cable and satellite TV by 11.2% to $63,549, while other telecommunication services grew by 8.6% to $314,425. There are 2.9 million wired internet subscribers In Kazakhstan, a 4.9% increase over the period from January to July 2022.

However...

According to the Ministry of Energy, the country’s government is about to change the forecast of oil production downward due to problems with electricity supply in the Mangistau region.

«We are seeing that the oil output in the Mangistau region is declining due to problems with energy supply. As a result, this is going to affect the annual forecast of oil output in the country. It might be adjusted,» the ministry said.

The energy ministry has already decreased its annual forecast to 99.4% of the plan (90.5 million tons of oil). According to Shyngys Ilyasov...

During an urgent meeting, the Bank of Russia decided to raise the base rate by 3.5 percentage points to 12%, according to the regulator’s website.

«This decision was made in order to lower risks for price stability,» the regulator said in a statement.

The Bank of Russia reports high inflationary pressure. For instance, in August the price surge was 4.4% while the target level was 4%. The inflation has accelerated to 7.6% on an annual basis with an adjustment for seasonality.

«The sharp increase of domestic demand is increasing the inflationary...

Kazakhstan’s Agency for Civil Service has recommended law enforcement, military and civil officials not to go to casinos unless it’s necessary for the service.

What happened? If new legislation is adopted, Kazakhstani military officers, public servants and law enforcement officials will be obliged not to go to casinos. The draft document is available for public consideration on the legalacts.egov.kz website.

«Every time a representative of the government visits a casino, it draws justified criticism from the society and involves reputational risks for the state authority. Citizens impose high demands on officials and they should restrain from...

According to Dmitry Birichevsky, head of the Department for Economic Cooperations under the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the so-called gas alliance between Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan raises interest among some other countries because of their intention to develop their gas export to China. This statement has caused questions in Turkmenistan, which is a big exporter of gas to China, said Myrat Archayev, deputy head of the State Concern Turkmengas.

What did the representative of Russia say?

On August 11, Dmitry Birichevsky said in an interview with the RIA NOVOSTI news agency that the gas alliance might be expanded as...

A complex of greenhouses with banana trees was built in the Turkestan region. Its total floor size is going to be more than 10 hectares. According to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, a variety of bananas in the greenhouse was intentionally created for Kazakhstan’s climate.

The greenhouse has a capacity of 1,000 tons of bananas per year. The first harvest is expected in six to eight months (in February or April 2024). The first stage of the project cost $4 million.

The complex of greenhouses was built by Turkish GenGroup Qazaqstan with the help of extra-strong materials. So far, the...

The exchange rate of dollars has broken the ceiling of 100 rubles on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX), a very important mark from a psychological point of view, according to analysts and investors.

At the moment of this text publication, the U.S. dollar was traded for 100.87 rubles which is 1.44 rubles or 1.4% higher than the previous trading session on August 11.

As of August 11, the weighted average rate between the ruble and the tenge on the Kazakhstan Exchange (KASE) was 4.55, a 0.02 tenge (0.5%) decrease compared to the close on August 10.

The ruble’s exchange rate has...

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin has commented on the opening of Microsoft’s multi-regional hub in Kazakhstan. According to the Russian official, the hub has been opened to serve the interests of the U.S. In particular, the hub is necessary to make the country «dependent on the IT industry full of tools that facilitate U.S. intelligence services,» the Russian TASS news agency reported.

What did Galuzin say in the interview with TASS?

«We have no doubt that the initiative of the multi-regional hub covering post-Soviet countries is, first of all, going to serve the interests of...

According to the Kazakh Invest national company, Alarko, one of the largest holdings in Turkey, is going to invest about $650 million in the agro-industrial complex of Kazakhstan over the next five years.

Alarko has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan. Under this arrangement, the company will build greenhouses on a territory of 500 hectares. The start of construction is scheduled for the end of this year, while the first facilities will enter into operation next year.

Representatives of Alarko are expected to visit the southern regions of Kazakhstan in order to choose...

According to Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of the Samruk Kazyna Fund, a gas turbine power plant (GTPP) for the needs of the Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ) will be built at the expense of private investments.

«We are starting to build a power plant to ensure the energy independence of the Atyrau refinery. If we attract private investment, it will be faster,» Zhakupov wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The first news about the construction of a power plant for the Atyrau refinery appeared in June. The refinery’s head Murat Dosmuratov was the first to speak about the...

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov said that he regards the letter of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez as an attempt to put pressure on Kyrgyzstan and win over the country’s support. However, Kyrgyzstan will continue to remain neutral in the war between Russia and Ukraine, the president said in an interview with the Kabar news agency.

What did President Japarov say?

«As for the senator’s letter, I receive letters from many prominent politicians. I regard this letter as a common excuse to put pressure on Kyrgyzstan and win us over to their side. But we will not...

The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) has prepared and published a new draft regulation on easing requirements for foreign banks working in the financial market of Kazakhstan.

The main goal of the draft document is to change the 2012 decision of the National Bank, when all foreign majority stakeholders of Kazakhstani banks, as well as foreign banking holdings operating in Kazakhstan and foreign banks with subsidiaries and branch offices in Kazakhstan, were obliged to have long-term credit rating not lower than BBB according to S&P grading scale or its peers.

The ARDFM doesn’t apply this...

According to the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development of Kazakhstan, the government has approved a road map for the development of electric car infrastructure.

Under the roadmap, authorities are going to create the infrastructure necessary for electric cars in all big cities throughout the country by 2029. The document will provide local authorities with standards and technical specifications for the design and construction of the infrastructure. It will also determine the amount and location of future charger stations. In addition, the road map will promote local production of EV charger stations.

«We are going to...

The British High Court approved the decision by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to seize property belonging to Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Islam Karimov, the first president of Uzbekistan.

What happened? The U.K. SFO has seized three luxury properties owned by Gulnara Karimova.

«We unpicked a complex financial trail, involving multiple offshore accounts and companies, to take control of these properties today,» said SFO Director Lisa Osofsky.

What was confiscated? The authorities seized two apartments in Belgravia and a mansion in Surrey, which were valued at $25 million.

What has the SFO found? According to...

In an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI) U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that he urged banks in the U.S. not to be afraid of the Russian grain and sanctions as the U.S. government fully supports the export of Russian grain.

French journalist Mikaël Ponge recalled that Blinken had recently accused Russia of blackmailing the Black Sea Grain Initiative as the country demanded several conditions for its further participation. For instance, Russia wanted the West to lift its sanctions on the export of agricultural machinery and spare parts, make the Russian Agricultural Bank part of SWIFT once...

According to Kauppalehti, a newspaper from Finland, the export of trucks to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from Finland has sharply grown over the past year.

What happened? The media outlet discovered that the export of trucks to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan has significantly grown over the past year. The vast majority of these trucks were used semi-trailers, the outlet reported.

Finland exported just seven hauler trucks to Kazakhstan between 2002 and 2022, and 67 trucks over the current year alone. Kyrgyzstan imported 33 hauler trucks from Finland this year, compared to just three trucks over the past 20 years. It’s still unclear...

Simatech Shipping & Forwarding LLC from the United Arab Emirates is going to facilitate deliveries of agricultural products from Kazakhstan to the Gulf nations, the Middle East, Pakistan, India and West Africa. According to the Ministry of Trade of Kazakhstan, exporters will be able to deliver their goods from Kazakhstan to the aforementioned regions in just two to three days via ports in Iran.

The government of Kazakhstan and Abu Dhabi Ports, the parenting company for Simatech Shipping and Forwarding, intends to establish a joint venture to facilitate the delivery of Kazakhstan goods through seaports in Iran. The Kazakhstani ministry...