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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...

Arkady Volozh, an entrepreneur and co-founder of Russian IT giant Yandex no longer mentions Russia in his biography and highlights that he was born in Kazakhstan. He left the company in 2022 when the West targeted him with its anti-Russian sanctions.

What happened? The official website of Arkady Volozh no longer mentions Russia, a country where his core business was located. According to the biography of the co-founder of Yandex, he is an Israeli tech entrepreneur who was born in Kazakhstan.

«Arkady Volozh is a Kazakhstan-born, Israeli tech entrepreneur, computer scientist, investor, and philanthropist. Since...

Over the first six months of 2023, Tengizchevroil increased oil output by 4.2%, from 14.3 million tons of oil to 14.9 million tons, according to the company’s records.

This result is just slightly lower than the record-high output Tengizchevroil reported in 2019 (15 million tons). Currently, the oil company runs two large oil fields, Tengiz Field and Korolev Field, with combined explored reserves of 3.3. billion tons of oil (the total recoverable reserves are 1.4 billion tons).

The company managed to boost its oil output despite temporary problems with oil production at Tengiz in February of this year. At that...

The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) conducted a nuclear safety training course in Kazakhstan, the U.S. Embassy to Kazakhstan reported.

What happened? DTRA’s Global Nuclear Security (GNS) Program partnered with Kazakhstan’s National Guard to conduct a Nuclear Security Guard Force Qualifications training course from July 17-25, 2023 at the Anti-Crisis Training Center (ACTC) in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan.

«The training course included the development and delivery of repeatable exercises and drills to assess unit-level nuclear security guard force competencies and marks an important step in the Kazakhstan National Guard’s intent to create additional nuclear security specialization...

The armed forces of Ukraine attempted to attack a Russian naval base in Novorossiysk, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. This place is not very far from the offshore mooring run by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).

According to the defense ministry, two unmanned surface vehicles were used as tools for the attack. Both were destroyed by the combat ships guarding the base in the sea, Russian officials said.

For instance, Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the Krasnodar Kray, said that no damages or casualties were reported. However, some locals reported huge explosions in the area of Novorossiysk and the Myskhako...

As the State Assets Management Agency (SAMA) reported, it has chosen companies that can be responsible for organizing People’s IPO.

All underwriters for the upcoming People’s IPO in Uzbekistan have been chosen after a rigorous selection process. Among the winners are Freedom Finance and five consortiums. The first one consists of Dalal Standard, Winvestment Consult and KRESTON. The second consortium includes Kapital-Depozit, Satori IB Group and Satori Capital. The third includes companies such as Alkes Research, Bluestone Financial Group Inc and Kapitalbank. The fourth consortium consists of Abrau Capital and Premier Capital Sweden, and the last one includes Portfolio Investments...

The Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan has offered Afghanistan to open its trade promotion office in Kazakhstan and more actively use the potential of the Kazakhstani trade house in Herat, according to the Central Communication Service.

What happened? Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin and Minister of Commerce and Industry of Afghanistan Haji Nooruddin Azizi discussed what the two countries can do to expand their cooperation.

What are the two countries going to do to expand trade?

– Utilizing an alternative transportation route via Turkmenistan. Currently, Kazakhstani grain and flour go to...

Kazakhstan has agreed to extradite Russian citizen Nikita Kislitsyn, head of the network security business in the international company F.A.C.C.T., back to Russia. A similar request by the U.S. was rejected by the country’s authorities, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

What countries wanted Kislitsyn? According to Artem Oganov, the senior council of the Russian Consulate General in Almaty, Kislitsyn was detained by Kazakhstani officials after a Russian court issued a request for his extradition.

The diplomat noted that Kazakhstan decided to extradite Kislitsyn to Russia rather than to the U.S.

The context. As the two countries wanted the Kazakhstani...

According to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, in the second quarter of 2023, the current account deficit of Kazakhstan (a rate that represents negative net sales abroad) reached $2.7 billion.

Analysts from Halyk Finance say that the current gap between cash inflow and outflow is the largest since 2020. The rate has been growing since the fourth quarter of last year. National Bank experts believe that the gap has been driven by the increase in imports of goods and services. This rate reached 22% in Q2, while the country’s exports declined by 7%.

Among key factors that have contributed to...

The government of Kazakhstan is going to establish a new company to manage recovered public assets under the law on illegally withdrawn assets.

What happened? The Ministry of Finance has published a draft resolution on the establishment of a Limited Liability Partnership, which will be tasked with managing returned assets. The document will be available for public consideration until August 14, 2023.

What name is the government going to give to the new company? Authorities are planning to call the new company the Recovered Asset Managing Company, LLP. The government will have a 100% stake in the entity. For instance...

The Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan wants to introduce a ban on vaping (e-cigarettes). If this initiative is approved, the buying and selling of e-cigarettes will be illegal in Kazakhstan.

What happened? On the sidelines of the government, journalists asked Minister of Finance Yerulan Zhamaubaev what he thinks about the proposal to ban e-cigarettes.

«I think this is the right decision. The Ministry of Health does not have all the information about the potential risks of vaping, and we just don’t know what kind of consequences we are going to face in the future. Even children...

Chris Murphy, the junior U.S. senator for Connecticut and member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has proposed that the U.S. government remove any barriers for trade with Kazakhstan.

What happened? Senator Chris Murphy is speaking in support of granting Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan the status of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR). He made this proposal in an article he published in The Diplomat. Murphy believes that Russia and China have exerted enormous influence on Central Asian states, while the U.S. has stayed on the sidelines for too long because of the Jackson-Vanik amendment adopted in 1974. This...

According to the Defense Turk media outlet, the Kazakhstani Zenith plant has signed an agreement with Turkish companies ASFAT and YDA Group as it wants to build warships for the country’s navy on its own. Previously, Kazakhstan bought ships from Russia, the United States, South Korea and Germany.

What happened? During the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF-2023) in Istanbul, the state-owned company Uralsk Plant Zenith JSC signed an agreement with ASFAT and YDA Group, subsidiaries of the Ministry of National Defense of Turkey to build ships for the navy of Kazakhstan. Under the terms of the agreement, the Turkish companies...

Members of vulnerable communities are the most likely to find themselves in modern slavery. Every year, Kazakhstani authorities open roughly 100 criminal cases to investigate cases of human trafficking.

Why do people fall into slavery in Kazakhstan? According to Samat Kusetov, head of the department on human trafficking and protection of participants in criminal proceedings, many found themselves in labor or sexual slavery with no clue about such risks.

«Among key reasons why people get enslaved are lack of awareness, legal illiteracy, cheap labor, breaching immigration laws, influence of internet and pursuit of easy money,» the...

Mamarizo Nurmuratov, chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, shared his thoughts about digital currency.

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan is studying the international experience to introduce a national digital currency, according to Mamarizo Nurmuratov, head of the bank.

As the official noted, representatives of the Central Bank have already been to China, where they discussed this issue. The regulator is now reviewing the pros of such a currency, Nurmuranov highlighted.

During a press conference, he told reporters that he took part in a financial summit organized by the Central Bank of Russia and devoted to a set of issues...

Amanat Insurance has raised 100 million tenge ($224,859) by offering investors an additional set of shares, according to the website of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).

Amanat has placed 100,000 of its shares with a nominal value of $2.25 each. Given that there had been 1.9 million shares on the exchange before the additional emission, this was just 4.9% of the company’s shares.

All these shares have been acquired by the investment company Fincraft, the sole shareholder of the insurance company. Until recently, the company was co-owned by mogul Kenes Rakishev.

Rakishev controlled 50% shares of Fincraft, then he sold...

On July 26, 2023, the Russian Ozon marketplace started building its biggest logistical center in Kazakhstan near the city of Almaty.

In the first stage, the warehouse will have a floor space of 42,000 square meters. The construction is expected to be complemented by the end of the year by Focus Logistics, a new subsidiary (established in March 2023) of the Kazakhstani BAZIS-A construction holding.

According to a previous announcement by OZON, the new logistical center is going to cost $33.7 million. Once the center opens, it will work as a full-scale fulfillment center that processes and ships goods to...

The National Security Committee of Kazakhstan has helped its Kyrgyz counterparts to crack down on the illegal laboratory that produced synthetic drugs and sold them in former Soviet countries.

What happened? Kazakhstani officials learned about the big drug laboratory in Kyrgyzstan and immediately gave this information to their counterparts in the neighboring country. As a result, the Kyrgyzstani law enforcement agency managed to detain the group’s leader near Bishkek.

«The National Security Committee of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan conducted a joint operation and liquidated the big laboratory that produced drugs with...

On July 26, 2023, Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin instructed the Agrarian Credit Corporation and Kazagrofinance to support farmers suffering from drought by restructuring their loans.

«Depending on what kind of consequences we’ll see after drought in some areas, farmers can apply for credit deferment. The National Managing Holding Baiterek, Agrarian Credit Corporation (ACC, controlled by Baiterek) and Kazagrofinance (a subsidiary of the ACC) should facilitate those farmers who have suffered from drought to obtain credit deferment,» Zhumangarin said.

According to the agency, 6.1% of fields with cereals, 8.7% of fields...