News

The European Union is discussing a new mechanism of sanctions against Central Asian states that Russia may use to surpass international sanctions, according to Bloomberg.

Some unidentified sources say that the E.U. wants to crack down on all those trading channels the Kremlin relies on. If this doesn’t work, Brussels will unleash its second option and target key products.

«This mechanism is also aimed at expanding the scope of some export control measures and banning many goods from transit through Russia,» the outlet’s sources reported.

This eleventh package of sanctions the E.U. is working on...

Kazakhstan Railway is going to ban oil exports to the Russian port of Taman on the Black Sea starting from May 8, according to Reuters, citing the company and oil traders.

The railway company hasn’t revealed a reason behind this decision. So far the sea terminal continues to process oil products and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

On May 3, 2023, Russian Railways also restricted oil exports toward Taman. The move followed an official notification by the Russian authorities about a fire at a fuel deposit near the Crimean Bridge. That night, two drones attacked the oil base in the Temruksky...

The Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan considers all the country’s neighbors as friends, according to Sultan Kamaletdinov, deputy head of the ministry.

When journalists in Astana asked if Kazakhstan’s army can defend the country against external threats and if there is any risk of invasion, Kamaletdinov responded that Kazakhstan conducts multi-vector foreign policy and has good relations with all countries of the world, including its neighbors.

«We have no border issues with our neighbors. We consider each of them as a friend and a good neighbor,» he highlighted.

Journalists also asked him to evaluate how...

Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov met with Serkan Kaptan, CEO of TAV Airports Holding, to discuss the new terminal at the Almaty International Airport.

«Almaty International Airport is one of the most important projects for us. It is located in the heart of Central Asia and plays an important role for both the city and the entire country. This is why we are going to proceed with its development. We hope that the new terminal will start operating next year,» Kaptan said during the meeting with Smailov.

In turn, the prime minister underlined that the new...

According to the Ministry of Trade and Integration, Kazakhstan’s government has raised its requirements for football fields covered with either natural grass or artificial turf to make them meet FIFA standards.

«All requirements to football fields covered with natural grass and artificial turf in Kazakhstan must be equal to standards by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), which is the biggest international governing body in the world of football,» the ministry said in a statement.

According to new national standards for soccer fields with a natural or artificial surface, any football field covered with...

The National Security Committee (KNB) has prevented a terror attack in the country’s regions. This statement was made by Yermek Sagimbayev, head of the agency during his meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

According to Sagimbayev, KNB officers have prevented several terrorist acts including a terror attack with an improvised explosive device in a crowded place, although he hasn’t revealed where the attack would have occurred. The official reported that 19 people have been detained over these cases.

In several cases, the agency stopped the activity of foreign intelligence services, he reported to the president. Pre-trial investigation of these cases is...

Wanlin Group Limited, a Chinese food company, is planning to invest $30 million to build a vegetable dehydration plant in the Jambyl region. On the other hand, Turkish company Arbel has already built a bean processing factory in the Kostanay region. It is going to start operation in May. According to the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, at the first stage, the company invested $8.5 million in the project.

Wanlin Group Limited is a well-known company in the sphere of production and distribution of dehydrated vegetables, which are popular ingredients in a wide range of food products and drinks. According...

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Uzbekistan has announced the preliminary results of the referendum on amendments to the national constitution. The authorities said that 90.21% of those who took part in the referendum have said yes to amendments and 9.35% said no.

More than 16.6 million Uzbekistanis out of 19.7 million people eligible for the referendum have come to voting stations in absolute figures (84.54%), the CEC reported.

According to Bakhrom Kuchkarov, deputy head of the commission, although there might have been some areas for improvement, there were no significant violations that would have had an impact on the...

Almaty Mayor Yerbolat Dossayev has examined the process of implementation of an automated early earthquake warning system, which is going to be deployed this year.

The large-scale project is supposed to consist of 28 seismic stations. Eleven of them are already ready to enter into service, while 17 more are expected to be constructed in 2023.

«The early earthquake warning system is going to be synchronized this month with the Darmen mobile app designed to keep people informed about potential risks of quakes, storms, etc.,» the mayor’s office said in a statement.

In addition, Dossayev...

As of April 1, 2023, the combined assets of 21 commercial banks in Kazakhstan grew by 2.2% and reached $100.5 billion. According to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) in Kazakhstan, a 2.7% increase ($1.1 billion) in liquid assets is the key driver of this growth.

Since January 1, 2023, the banking sector’s assets have grown by 1% or $1.1 billion. As of April 1, these highly liquid assets accounted for a third of all assets ($29.7 billion). Thanks to these assets the banks can meet their liabilities. As of April 1, their liabilities grew...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan welcomed the top two contenders for the title of world chess champion, Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The president has highly appreciated the level of organization of the most prestigious tournament of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

«The tournament got attention from all over the world. Chess lovers monitored closely the course of the competition. I think that it was a successful tournament,» Tokayev said.

He congratulated Ding Liren on the victory and expressed his respect to Nepomniachtchi for the skills he demonstrated.

President Tokayev said that chess is going to have a bright future...

Two prominent chess grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia and Ding Liren from China have shown unprecedented will to win the title of World Chess Champion 2023 in Astana, Kazakhstan. They fought for three weeks in a set of games that ended in a tie. In their final tiebreak match, the grandmaster from China won. He is now the 17th world chess champion, the first champion of that kind from China.

There is one move from tragedy to satisfaction

Fourteen matches of classic chess and three matches in rapid games weren’t enough to reveal the winner, even though Nepomniachtchi and...

Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren has been pronounced the 17th world chess champion in Astana after a tiebreak, the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) reported. According to experts, the rapid chess match was very intense.

«The first three match games ended in a tie. In the fourth one, Ding showed that he was quite serious about his intention to win and fought back, although he didn’t start out so well. As a result, the match finished with a score of 9.5:8.5. Congratulations to the winner!» the KCF said in a statement.

Om April 27, the final 13th...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has initiated the development of a feasibility study to identify coal power stations and thermal power plants in Kazakhstan that might be switched off before their end-of-life. It also revealed a possible timeframe for such a study.

«The feasibility study for Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines was conducted during the period from February 2021 to December 2021. In Pakistan, a similar study started in October 2022 and is expected to be over in July this year. In Kazakhstan we are expecting to get the final results of the preliminary feasibility study...

A recently published report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested that Kazakhstan’s GDP may show a 4.9% increase in 2024. In January, IMF’s outlook for the next year was 4.4%.

Concerning the current year, IMF predicted the country’s GDP growth at the same rate of 4.3% in both January and April reports.

On the other hand, the April report forecasts an unemployment rate of 4.8% in 2023 and 2024. There was no such data in the January report by the IMF.

In 2022, the country’s government reported a 3.1% increase in GDP. In January 2023, Kazakhstan’s economy grew by...

The Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been investigating 17 criminal cases linked with Chia Tai Tianqing, a Ponzi scheme company established by a citizen of China. His two criminal associates are currently in custody, according to the agency.

«A Chinese national is allegedly a key figure behind this Ponzi scheme. He’s already left the country,» the FMA said in a statement.

A fake company collected money from people under the pretext of investments in a pharmaceutical factory, nutrition supplements and other health products production.

Even though Chia Tai Tianqing had...

Serik Kudebayev, the former head of the Police Department of the Almaty region has been sentenced to ten years in jail.

He was accused of leaving the building of the Police Department during the January unrest, although he was supposed to stay and lead the police personnel. At the time, Kudebayev left Taldykorgan and hid in a rural area in the Almaty region.

At the initial stage, the Office of the Prosecutor General accused Kudebayev of failure to use the authority that caused severe damage to many people. However, during the trial, prosecutors blamed him for abuse of power and...

South Korean automobile giant Hyundai is planning to sell its factory in Saint Petersburg to an undisclosed company from Kazakhstan, the Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing Korean TV channel MBC.

While covering the news, the TV channel showed a building with the Astana Motors logo on it. However, there was no direct indication of who is going to buy the asset, although MBC said that the two sides have reached the final stage of negotiations.

Astana Motors denied that it is planning to buy the factory. The company highlighted that it has been focusing on the development of its...

As Prosecutor General Berik Asylov told Kursiv, former police general Serik Kudebayev has been extradited from Turkey to Kazakhstan. He is currently in custody.

«Kudebayev is accused of abuse of power and torture of protesters in January 2022,» the agency said in a statement.

Earlier this month Kudebayev didn’t show up in court and instead left the country.

Over the period from 2020 to February 2022, he served as head of the Department of Police of the Almaty region. In April 2022, he was accused of abuse of power and discharged from the office. The pre-trial investigation against Kudebayev started...

Kazakhstani car makers produced 28,800 passenger cars in Q1 2023. This is a 47.2% increase over the same period last year, according to the Association of Automobile Business of Kazakhstan (AKAB). Among the most popular brands are Hyundai (11,400 cars), Chevrolet (7,400), Kia (5,800) and Jac (4,900).

Overall, in the first quarter, Kazakhstan produced 31,800 vehicles worth $808.6 million in total. This result is 43.3% higher than last year while the machinery industry’s share in the country’s economy reached 44.5%.

These figures include 18,300 vehicles produced by Saryarkaprom in Kostanay (a 4.7% increase), 11,400 passenger cars by Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan...

According to Elizabeth Rosenberg, the Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Matthew S. Axelrod, the Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce and David Reed, Director for Sanctions at the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the United States and the U.K. can impose secondary sanctions against Kazakhstan if they decide the country illegally assists Russia.

«Russia is trying to evade export controls and sanctions to obtain the goods and components that this country needs to modernize its military capabilities. One way to do this is to ship these goods through third...

Kazakhstan’s parliament has ratified the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) credit history sharing agreement. It is expected that the document will facilitate the exchange of citizens’ credit history within the organization.

The document is going to regulate the order of EEU member states to share customers’ credit history and will determine a pool of information that financial organizations can transfer through national borders. For instance, they will be able to send requests concerning credit reports or request the report itself and associated documents, according to Madina Abylkasymova, head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) in...

Freedom Holding is going to buy a 100% share in Aviata and Chokotravel, ticket services within Chokofamily Holding. The $32.3 million deal is expected to be closed by the end of 2023, Freedom Holding said in a statement.

According to Timur Turlov, CEO of the company, Freedom Holding’s goal is to create a full-scale ecosystem of digital services for clients. This is why «the acquiring of Aviata and Chokotravel is the next step in the development of the entire group.» More than one million of the most economically active Kazakhstanis can be considered constant users of the two online services...

The Specialized Interdistrict Criminal Court of Astana has completed the trial marked top secret against Ex-Chairman of the National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov and his deputies Anuar Sadykulov, Daulet Yergozhin and Marat Osipov. All of them have been determined guilty of treason, coup d’état and abuse of power.

The court sentenced Masimov to 18 years in jail with confiscation of his property and a life-long ban from serving in the public sector. His deputy Sadykulov has been sentenced to 16 years in prison with a life-long ban from working within the government authorities.

Yergozhin was found guilty...