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As of December 2022, Kazakhstan’s international reserves increased by 1% to $90.8 billion, including $35 billion of gross international reserves and $55.7 billion of National Fund assets, according to the country’s National Bank.

At the same time, the regulator noted that the country’s gold and foreign currency reserves have dropped by 4.8% to $20.5 billion, while assets in freely convertible currency increased by 16.7% to $14.6 billion.

Gold and foreign currency reserves are meant to be used to support the tenge exchange rate or to finance the deficit of the balance of payments. The National Bank forms these reserves at...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan is negotiating with its Japanese counterpart about the possible restart of regular direct flights between Astana and Tokyo, according to Aibek Smadiyarov, the ministry’s official spokesperson.

«We are interested in restarting these popular flights. I can’t provide any detail. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns have changed plans for many countries, so we need to negotiate either from scratch or from where our previous negotiations stopped,» he said during a media briefing.

The official noted that the ministry and its embassies are also negotiating about opening air travel to...

Alikhan Smailov, prime minister of Kazakhstan, took a poke at governors of regions that haven’t succeeded in attracting investments.

«Some governors say they reached the rate of investment attractiveness of 1% to 2%. They wanted us to think this was a big achievement, but it’s not. This is the indicator of a lack of systematic work.»

Alikhan Smailov

He also said that the Ulytau region virtually failed to implement five big projects for $58.7 million.

«The region still needs more than $108.4 million of investments into fixed capital. The regional authorities...

Kazakhstan authorities are planning to catch about 2,000 saiga antelopes for research and domestication, according to Andrey Kim, deputy head of the Forestry and Wildlife Committee.

The official said that scientists from the West Kazakhstan Agrarian and Technical University named after Zhangir khan, are establishing special breeding grounds to accumulate enough antelopes for research purposes. For example, scientists plan to domesticate the antelope and make it useful for national agriculture. The Institute of Zoology in Almaty is planning to do the same work.

“In this regard, we have given official permission to seize 1,815 calves from...

Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) has initiated an audit for the 2017 deal between KazMunayGas Service (a subsidiary of the KazMunayGas oil company, KMG) and Compass Group International B.V. Back then, the Kazakhstani company sold its 40% stake in KazMunayGas Service Compass to its foreign partner, according to Zhanat Elimanov, chairman of the agency.

“The Economic Investigation Department of Astana has requested the National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna and Astana Department of Internal State Audit to perform an audit and see if the deal’s price was reasonable. The agency is ready to immediately launch a pre-trial investigation if the audit by...

Uzbekistan has been going through a massive privatization campaign as the country’s government offers investors almost everything to small and big companies and banks. However, not every potential investor is happy about the privatization, citing the lack of transparency.

Communication in business

The potential privatization of Uzagroexportbank was among the hottest news for Uzbekistan’s business community last year. In October, some local media reported that the government wanted to sell the bank directly to Support Level, a company controlled by Olimjon Shadiyev. There were so many rumors in the market that billionaire Patokh Chodiyev even tried to distance himself...

Maulen Ashimbayev, a member of the Senate, the upper house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, has been re-elected as the chamber’s speaker.

The candidacy of Ashimbayev was proposed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who took part in the first Senate meeting after the house elections in the middle of January.

Ashimbayev did exceptionally well as the speaker, according to the president.

«As you all know, I have appointed Maulen Ashimbayev as the Senate deputy. Now, in accordance with item 1, article 58 of the constitution, I am proposing the candidacy of Maulen Ashimbayev for the position of speaker of the Senate,» Tokayev said...

More than one billion U.S. dollars of pension money will be invested this year by the National Bank of Kazakhstan into bonds issued by the Baiterek holding, according to an official statement on the regulator’s website.

It is expected that Baiterek will use this money to issue loans to big projects in machinery manufacturing, metallurgy, food and textile industries, construction and infrastructural projects. However, each of these projects must be approved by the government first.

As of January 1, 2023, the National Bank controlled $31.6 billion of pension money. About a half of these funds ($15.5 billion or 49.7%) has...

The authorities in Kazakhstan will create a list of people who will be obliged to reveal the origin of their assets, according to Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

«We are planning to create a limited list of individuals who have to file an income declaration. If an owner of certain assets can’t explain how he obtained them, the government will consider these assets illegally obtained and recover them,» he stated.

All such recovered assets are expected to be allocated for public projects in Kazakhstan.

Last year, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered the cabinet to bring all illegally...

Decathlon, a French sports retailer, has decided to sell its Russian assets and is looking for potential buyers, according to the RBC news agency, citing unidentified sources.

The news agency reported that the company wants to sell its Russian business entirely. However, Decathlon hasn’t ruled out that it would just sell its commercial property in Russia.

Decathlon owns at least 135,000 square meters of commercial property in Russia. The company’s hypermarkets account for two-thirds of this property. The retailer also owns various offices, warehouses and empty land parcels, RBC reported.

The total amount of Decathlon’s assets in Russia is estimated...

The Ministry of National Economy came up with the idea of providing better lending terms for businesses involved in the reprocessing industry, agricultural processing and services. The draft document is available at the legalact.egov.kz website for public consideration.

Currently, the government provides subsidies only for those loans with a repayment period of five years and loans for working capital financing for three years. Now, the ministry suggests extending the period when the government can subsidize loans to seven years for any business representing one of the 15 priority sectors.

The proposal suggests subsidizing 14.25% per annum of a loan for...

General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan has initiated the withdrawal of a settlement between the former banker Orifdjon Shadiyev and the National Bank. The settlement was aimed at the restructuring of a $32.4 million debt.

«After the intervention of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Court has ordered Shadiyev to give the National Bank back its $32.4 million, which the businessman borrowed,» the regulatory agency said.

In 2017, the National Bank issued an easy loan of $57.3 million to Capital Bank Kazakhstan (controlled by Shadiyev) under Shadiyev’s guarantee. The loan was supposed to help the bank cope with...

On January 23, several restaurants that used to work under the McDonald’s brand reopened under the unusual sign “We are open,” according to Dmitry Avteikin, director of Kazakhstan’s fast food chain.

“Yes. We have reopened our restaurants in Almaty. We will announce what brand it will be, but it’s not McDonald’s,” he said.

Erlan Sakenov, a blogger from Astana, was the first to write about the reopening of former McDonald’s restaurants. He believes the “We are open” sign in Kazakh and Russian languages looks and sounds like a brand. The blogger recalled a similar situation in Belarus. When McDonald’s left...

According to Aidos Ukibay, the press secretary of the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev has gone through surgery by prominent cardiac surgeon Yuriy Pya.

«The operation was good… Currently, he is under medical observation. The surgery was executed in the National Research Cardiac Surgery Center under the supervision of the prominent surgeon Yuriy Pya,» Ukibay wrote on Twitter.

The ex-president is safe now, the official highlighted.

Later, Pya said that it was planned surgery and Nazarbayev’s condition is stable.

This operation was planned last year. As he has a busy schedule, we decided to arrange the surgery at a...

According to the Primeminister.kz website, Umit Nuri Yildiz, head of the Turkish company Alarko Holding, met with Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov. The two sides have discussed their cooperation in the spheres of energy, railway and motor transportation, clean water and waste recycling among others.

The Turkish company said that it has qualified workers and equipment to implement a wide range of projects in Kazakhstan. In turn, Smailov noted that the country is ready to discuss any details of potential cooperation.

Kazakhstan’s pool of investment projects currently includes about 850 promising projects in various fields. Alarko Holding plans to...

Members of Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, have stepped down. The move followed President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s edict on dismissing the lower house and organizing early elections for the parliament. The edict was published and entered into force today January 19, 2023.

«In accordance with item 2 of article 44 and item 1 of article 63 of the Constitutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan and article 85 of the constitutional law on elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan, I hereby order to dissolve the Mazhilis of the parliament of the seventh convocation,» the official edict said.

The president noted...

According to Yernur Rysmagambetov, deputy CEO of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) Authority, there are eight crypto exchanges registered at the center. He made this statement during the plenary session of the Senate, the upper house of Kazakhstan’s parliament.

Rysmagambetov also added that 19 more cryptocurrencies are going to be registered in the AIFC.

«According to some estimates, 100,000 to 1,000,000 citizens may be active users of crypto assets in Kazakhstan. The total amount of such assets may be about several billion to several tens of billions, although there is no precise data,» the official said.

All unsecured assets...

On January 26, 2023, the country is going to adopt a set of new rules for entering and staying in Kazakhstan, including a new rule for citizens of member states of the EEU. They will be able to stay in Kazakhstan for 90 days over the calendar period of 180 days.

All other foreigners, who come to Kazakhstan can legally stay in the country for 30 days in a row and 90 days total over the calendar period of 180 days.

Also, Kazakhstan is going to remove a rule regarding visa runs. This is a practice when a foreigner leaves...

According to Marat Karabayev, the minister of industry and infrastructural development of Kazakhstan, government-imposed restrictions on commodity exports have proved their efficacy.

«The measures we’ve taken to restrict commodity exports let us manage the problem of commodity good shortages in the domestic market. We shipped more commodities to local producers, increased the degree of goods processing and replace many imported things with domestic products,» he said during the meeting with Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

The official also noted that this work continued throughout last year. As a result, the ministry orchestrated the signing of seven agreements concerning the supply of...

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...