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According to Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov, over the period from January to June 2023, the growth rate of Kazakhstan’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 5%.

«According to the results of the first six months of the year, the growth rate of Kazakhstan’s economy was 5%, including a 4.8% growth of the real sector and a 4.9% increase in the service sector,» the minister said at a cabinet meeting.

Given that from January to May the country’s economic growth rate was at 4.5%, the GDP growth acceleration rate later was 0.5 percentage points.

As...

Tariffs for heat, water and electricity will increase by 10% to 30% on average in Kazakhstan this year. According to Minister of Energy Almasadam Satkaliyev, even though this decision is unpopular, people in Kazakhstan will see its benefits in the future.

What purpose will the additional funds be allocated for? The energy minister highlighted that the tariff increase is necessary for launching an overhaul of critical energy facilities. The government has already allocated $824.7 million, including $195.6 million for maintenance of the heating infrastructure and $634.7 million for an overhaul of the water supply and sewing infrastructure. In addition, the...

According to the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Kazakhstan has eliminated the last barrier that prevented suppliers from the Eurasian Economic Union from participating in the public procurement of certain goods in Kazakhstan. Previously, only those companies registered in the country were allowed to take part in public procurement.

As the EEC reported on its website, Kazakhstani companies used to be the only businesses eligible for taking part in public procurement because they were able to obtain an industrial certificate from Atameken, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs. The chamber issued this certificate only to local companies. In addition, suppliers of electronics...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed the law on online platforms and online advertising that will oblige Kazakhstani bloggers and influencers to pay taxes.

What novelties does the new law introduce? The document introduces the notion of «influencer» and puts legal responsibility on them for the information they spread online. All bloggers with a large audience will be required to label sponsored posts to inform their followers if a post is paid. They also will be obliged to pay taxes for such paid content. Disinformation and fakes will be punished with fines.

What is the penalty for fake news? The spread...

According to the press service of the Ministry for Emergency Situations, Deputy Minister Marat Kuldikov wrote a report on his dismissal from his post at his own request. This was reported to “Kursiv” in the press service of the department.

«The procedure of his official resignation is underway,» the agency said.

What happened? Last month, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited the Abay region when there was a massive wildfire. He was angry with the actions of responsible officials and even stopped short a report by Kuldikov by calling it «irrelevant.»

«The minister...

Polymetal International plc, the biggest producer of silver and one of the biggest producers of gold in Russia announced its intention to leave the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The company also said that it has gotten a 75% stake in the copper and gold Baksy project in North Kazakhstan.

«Polymetal International plc is announcing its intention to stop listing on the LSE if shareholders have no objections,» the company said in a statement.

Polymetal’s board of directors believes that the delisting from LSE serves the company’s and its shareholders’ interests. With that in mind, the...

The Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan has revealed the preliminary results of the presidential elections in the country. According to this data, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the current president of Uzbekistan, won 87.05% of the vote. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan was the first to congratulate his colleague on the victory.

As the CEC reported, Robakhon Makhmudova, the first deputy chairman of the Supreme Court, won 4.43% of the vote, Ulugbek Inoyatov, the leader of the People’s Democratic Party, won 4.02% of the vote, and Abdushukur Khamzaev, the head of the Ecological Party, won 3.74% of the votes.

China will assist Kazakhstan with launching the manufacturing of gondolas, towers and wings for renewable sources of energy (RSE). A new plant, which is going to be located on Kazakhstan’s soil, will possibly rely on local raw materials. This information was announced during the official visit of Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Marat Karabayev to China.

The minister visited the Nankou Industrial Park of SANY Renewable Energy where wind turbines are produced. China has promised to assist Kazakhstan in the construction of similar sites.

«The company is planning to launch similar manufacturing in Kazakhstan with...

The amount of oil production and oil refining has declined for the second day in a row in Kazakhstan. Both industries have suffered a sharp decline in output by 20.8% and 45.8% respectively, according to the Information and Analytical Center for Oil and Gas (IACOG) under the Ministry of Energy.

On July 4, Kazakhstan produced 200,100 tons of oil and 142 million cubic meters of gas, while oil refineries processed 20,200 tons of oil. The price of Brent crude oil that day was $76.11 per barrel, the IACOG reported.

On July 3, oil and gas condensate production amounted to...

German HMS Bergbau AG is planning to put $700 million in lithium production in Kazakhstan once it obtains full control over a local company that runs two lithium fields, according to Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Marat Karabayev.

«German public company Bergbau has bought 51% of shares of a Kazakhstani business. The German company is now its major stakeholder… They run lithium fields in the eastern part of the country. The exploration work is already done and now we are talking about production,» he told journalists.

As the official noted, a Kazakhstani company will...

KazTransOil, a subsidiary of the national oil company KazMunayGas, reported that in the second quarter this year, it exported 347,100 tons of oil through the Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan pipeline, which stretches across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, compared to 19,200 tons in the first quarter.

«In Q2 2023, KazTransOil exported 347,100 tons of oil from the Tengiz oil field through the seaport of Aktau and further the Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan pipeline. In Q1 2023, KazTransOil exported just 19,200 tons of the Tengiz oil via the same route,» the company said in a statement...

The suspension of oil production in several oil fields in Western Kazakhstan is due to problems with the power supply, KazMunayGaz said in a statement on its website.

The four companies Ozenmunaygasl, Mangistaumunaygas, Karazhanbasmunai and Embamunaigas have suspended oil production on a range of oil fields across the Mangystau and Atyrau regions.

Oil companies say that they will restart oil production as soon as the power supply is restored. However, it is still unclear exactly when the blackout will be over.

On July 3, the Mangystau Nuclear Power Plant (MAEK) reported a power failure after a 130-megawatt reactor suddenly stopped...

According to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, one of the crucial tasks the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has been assigned is to prevent a geopolitical rift between the East and West.

«At this point in history, the key task of our countries should be the prevention of geopolitical rift between the East and West. The SCO can and must offer the world its vision of sustainable peace across the world,» he said at a meeting of the council of heads of state members of the SCO.

As the president noted, once Kazakhstan presides in the organization, it...

According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Ilyas Ospanov, European companies should come to Kazakhstan, grab a shovel and start digging for those critical materials they need for the production of dual-use products.

«All that has happened recently made one country more attractive for the EU. We can feel that. We can see some real actions now, and I am very glad that we have finally gotten down to business. I always say that Kazakhstan is no longer at the stage of analysis and deep smart solutions. We are at a stage when all...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated President Joe Biden of the United States on the occasion of Independence Day, which America celebrates on July 4th. In an official telegram, Tokayev also expressed his appreciation of the U.S. leader for his support.

«In his telegram, President Tokayev thanked his American counterpart for support in strengthening security and interconnectivity in Central Asia,» the press service of President Tokayev reported.

Tokayev also praised the rapid development of the Kazakh-American strategic partnership in the spheres of security, energy and investments, among others.

At the end of February 2023, U.S. Secretary of...

Timur Turlov, who controls Freedom Holding registered in the U.S., announced on Instagram that he is going to set up a new 5G mobile operator in Kazakhstan.

The founder of Freedom Holding Corp. said that he is very interested in the communications market and it is quite possible that «telecom will become the new core of the company’s ecosystem, the standing point that will let us flip the viewpoint on the effectiveness of decisions, speed of the decision-making process, minimization of mistakes, product availability and quality of life».

The businessman highlighted that he is going to launch a completely...

According to Igor Babushkin, the governor of the Astrakhan region in Russia, a new multimodal transport corridor with the participation of Russia will be available for Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan while bypassing the territory of Kazakhstan.

The «Southern Transport Corridor» is going to stretch from Kyrgyzstan via Uzbekistan and the Caspian Sea port of Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan to the port of Astrakhan in Russia. This is going to be the shortest route bypassing obstacles on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

As Babushkin noted, the new route will boost the trade and economic relations between the countries and will contribute to...

The Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan (AFK) believes that the slowdown of both annual and monthly inflation is likely to lead to the lowering of the base rate in July.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, inflation was 0.5% in June compared to 0.6% in May, which was the lowest rate over the past 18 months. Inflation dropped from 15.9% in May to 14.6% in June year on year.

«As a result, the effective rate (inflation excluded) in the economy was expanded to 2.15%, which makes it highly possible to cut the base rate at...

In an effort to restructure its business, the Qiwi payment system has separated its international business from its business in Russia. The company did so to deliver on its promise to separate its international business from assets in Russia to keep its listing on Nasdaq.

As a result of the restructuring, the group’s enterprises within Russia are now controlled by Qiwi JSC registered in Moscow. On the other hand, Qiwi plc registered in Cyprus will supervise the company’s business in Kazakhstan.

Even though Qiwi plc still has some indirect control over its Russian assets through Qiwi JSC, it is going...

Kazakhstan wants renewable energy sources’ share to grow from the current 4.5% to 15% by 2030, according to Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, who took part in the 12th EU-Kazakhstan High-Level Business Platform.

«The environmental agenda is one of the key elements in Kazakhstan’s strategy for sustainable development. We are planning to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the country’s matrix of energy from 4.5% to 15% by 2030. Given that European countries have already achieved some progress in this field, we are interested in close cooperation with them to implement new joint projects,» Smailov...

Members of the Senate, the upper house of the country’s parliament, have approved amendments to a law on professional qualification issues, public decorations, social protection and education. The updated law takes away the honorary title of the chairman of the Supreme Board of Trustees of the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Nazarbayev University and Nazarbayev Foundation from Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose name was given to all these educational entities.

«The president of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the only one who can be the chairman of the Supreme Board of Trustees. He also can appoint someone else to...

According to Deputy Prosecutor General Ulan Bayzhanov, Kazakhstan is going to carefully review requests from Russia and the U.S. which both want the country to extradite Nikita Kislitsyn, head of the network security department in F.A.C.C.T. (formerly Group-IB).

On June 28, 2023, several Russian media outlets reported that Kislitsyn was detained in Kazakhstan, citing the F.A.C.C.T.’s press service. Later, Kazakhstani authorities confirmed that the IT specialist was detained on June 22 due to some accusations related to his previous job as a journalist and independent researcher ten years ago. Currently, Kislitsyn is in custody while law enforcement officials «have been...

Members of Kazakhstan’s cabinet and heads of public agencies do not prepare well before coming to the parliamentary meetings and aren’t doing enough in terms of initiating new legislation, according to Yerlan Koshanov, chairman of the Mazhilis, the lower chamber of the country’s parliament.

«The cabinet is not doing enough in terms of initiating new legislation. As you know, there are loads of urgent issues that must be solved as soon as possible for the sake of our society. First of all, we have to solve these problems at the legislative level. Unfortunately, the cabinet doesn’t...

Bereke Bank (a former subsidiary of the Russian Sberbank) has resumed payments, currency transfers and conversion operations in dollars both within Kazakhstan and to foreign financial entities, the bank said in a statement.

«The resumption of operations with the US dollar was a logical step for Bereke Bank, which is striving to restore all its business operations after being removed from the sanctions list. The bank has opened correspondent accounts in dollars both in Kazakhstani banks and in foreign correspondent banks,» the bank reported.

Bereke Bank also supports transactions with the tenge, Russian ruble and...