News

How will the visa-free regime work? Kazakhstan and China will cancel visa requirements for citizens of the two countries who travel in either direction if their purpose of the visit is medical treatment, business or private trips, transit or tourism. They will be allowed to stay in the other country for no longer than 90 days within a 180-day period.

The context. In April 2023, some media outlets reported that Kazakhstan was going to sign a 30-day visa-free regime agreement with China.

The signing of the document was held on May 18, during the official visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

According to the press service of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, during his visit to Xinjiang, he met with Ma Xingrui, a high-ranking official in the region, and discussed a range of issues, including tourism.

What did Tokayev say? As President Tokayev noted, bilateral cooperation in the sphere of tourism has huge potential. Kazakhstan has even created the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to promote this industry.

«We hope that the flow of tourists from China to Kazakhstan will grow. Next year is going to be a year of Kazakhstan’s tourism in China. We are going to facilitate...

QazaqGas, the national gas company in Kazakhstan, and Chinese Geo-Jade Petroleum Corporation are going to work together to develop the Pridorozhnoe gas field in Kazakhstan, according to the press service of QazaqGaz.

«On October 17, Sanzhar Zharkeshov, chair of the management board of QazaqGas and Xiaoping Dai, president of Geo-Jade Petroleum Corporation, signed heads of agreement. The document was signed during the Belt and Road Initiative summit where Kazakhstan’s delegation led by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part,» the company said in a statement.

The agreement is going to be the basis for joint efforts in...

Kazakhstan is handing over the Astana airport to the operational management of Terminal Holdings. The two sides have already signed a relevant agreement.

What happened? According to the press service of the prime minister, the government and the foreign investor have agreed to cooperate on the development of the Astana airport and turn it into a multi-modal hub. The relevant agreement was signed in the Turkestan region.

What is the investor going to do? Terminals Holding will conduct an assessment of the airport’s activities and assume the task of airport management.

«The top priority task for...

According to KazMunayGas (KMG), the national oil company in Kazakhstan, it is interested in the construction of a gas turbine power plant (GTPP) at the Atyrau Oil Refinery (ANPZ) as well as the Chinese CNCEC.

«During his visit to Beijing, Chairman of the Board of KMG Magzum Mirzagaliyev met with Zhiyuan Lu, the regional director in CNCEC. The two sides have discussed current and potential joint projects, including the construction of a GTPP at the Atyrau refinery (ANPZ), a project in which both parties are interested,» the company said in a statement.

As Mirzagaliyev noted...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan has improved his assessment of the volume of land transit from China to Europe through the country’s territory by 5%. Four months ago, in June, he estimated the volume of cargo passing through Kazakhstan at 80%. Now, he has raised his estimate to 85%.

On October 18, at the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Initiative summit in Beijing, President Tokayev said that «currently Kazakhstan accounts for 85% of all land transit traffic from China to Europe.»

In June, Tokayev met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany. During discussions on cooperation within the...

Yesterday, October 16, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan signed an agreement on establishing the Turkic Investment Fund with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, according to the source of legal data Paragraph. The law on the agreement hasn’t yet entered into force.

Member states of the Organization of Turkic States (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey) made a decision on establishing the Turkic Investment Fund on March 16, 2023. The fund’s charter capital is expected at $500 million or $100 million per country. The Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, ratified the agreement at the end of September, while the...

According to the press service of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, he and President Xi Jinping of China held an official meeting in Beijing.

What happened? President Tokayev has come to China to take part in the third Belt and Road summit. During the meeting with Xi Jinping President Tokayev pointed out that Kazakhstani-Chinese relations have been demonstrating a positive dynamic.

«The trade between our states has been developing successfully. The growth is impressive. We are continuing to implement 52 joint projects worth $21 billion. Next year, we are going to celebrate the Year of Kazakhstan’s Tourism in...

According to Deputy Prime Minister Tamara Duysenova, Kazakhstanis who are suffering from domestic violence or bullying can call 111 and get the necessary help. The new emergency service has been introduced today, October 16, and will be available around the clock.

Who is eligible for the service? According to the press service of the prime minister, the new 111 service is available for every Kazakhstani who is suffering from family violence or bullying.

Who will provide the assistance? In order to help people facing challenging circumstances in life, the government has hired qualified psychologists and legal lawyers. They will provide...

Bereke Bank has restored transactions with cards connected to the international payment system Visa. The banks did the same with cards by Mastercard in August.

Thus, the bank is currently rendering services for holders of cards by the two leading international payment systems. The bank’s clients are now offered a set of routine transactions with banking cards like paying in shops or online, withdrawing cash from ATMs and making money transactions in the tenge and foreign currency in Kazakhstan and worldwide.

By bringing back transactions with Visa cards, the bank has reached its goal of restoring its capabilities and can...

The Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan isn’t interested in an out-of-court settlement of the issue related to a $5.1 billion fine with participants of the Kashagan project (NCOC), according to Yerlan Nyssanbayev, the head of the ministry.

«Today neither the government nor the ministry can influence the court’s decision. Anyway, we are going to wait for the court’s decision at the national and international level (if the NCOC participants decide to appeal to the international arbitrary – Kursiv). This is a dogma,» Nyssanbayev said.

As he noted, all legal lawsuits and...

According to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), Kaspi Bank has obtained a license for custodial services from the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM).

Once a bank has a license for custodial services, it can keep securities like a depository does. However, unlike a depository that provides standard services, a custodian can offer a more individual approach to its clients and can broaden the scope of its activities at the expense of new services.

The ARDFM issued its indefinite license for Kaspi on October 11. No other details were provided and at the moment of publication...

Alisher Suleymenov, a chess grandmaster from Pavlodar won the match against Magnus Carlsen, a five-time world chess champion, during the Qatar Open, according to the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (Kazchess).

How was the match going? According to Kazchess, the Norwegian champion, who is ranked more than 300 notches ahead of the grandmaster from Kazakhstan, was looking down at him as he didn’t consider Suleymenov a strong opponent.

«Carlsen made a set of perfunctory moves in the middle of the game and was immediately punished. On the 31st move Carlsen stopped the clock due to imminent losses,» the...

Space X of Elon Musk is negotiating with the government of Kazakhstan as it wants to expand its presence in the country. So far, the company can’t do that due to obstacles in the national legislation of Kazakhstan, according to Bagdat Musin, the minister of digital development, innovations and aerospace industry. The minister commented on talks with Starlink on the sidelines of Digital Bridge 2023 in Astana.

What does Starling need to enter Kazakhstan’s market? As Musin noted, Starlink already covers the territory of Kazakhstan, although in order to let the company enter the local market, the government’s support and...

According to the Economic Research Institute (ERI), the lowering of the share of the working population is still a trend in Kazakhstan. This is going to affect the labor market and the country’s economy.

What is the statistical data showing? As the ERI reported, even though the working population has still been gradually increasing each year in absolute figures, this process is much slower than the increase in other age groups.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the number of people aged from 15 to 64 has risen this year by 9.7% (1.1 million) compared to 2010 and reached...

Over the first nine months of this year, KazTransOil has boosted the export of oil from the port of Aktau by 53% over the same period last year, according to the company’s website. This route is used for exports toward Baku (Azerbaijan) and Makhachkala (Russia).

Over the period from January to September, the port of Aktau exported 2.5 million tons of oil, including 990,200 tons to Baku (an 8.2-time increase by 870,000) and 1.5 million tons to Makhachkala (a 0.4% decline by 5,900 tons). 

The export toward Baku is even more impressive if the period from January to August is...

During the trading session on the Moscow Exchange on October 9, the exchange rate of the ruble broke a multi-month record by decreasing to 102.34 per U.S. dollar, according to the platform’s data.

At the time of publication, one U.S. dollar cost 102.08 rubles, which is 1.68 rubles or 1.6% higher than during the session on October 6. The last time the Russian ruble’s value dropped significantly was August 14, when the ruble exchange rate declined to 101.57 rubles per USD. The current exchange rate of the ruble is the lowest figure since March 2022, when Western countries imposed an...

The Russian bank VTB has transmitted a $1.8 billion debt in terms of two loans issued to KAZ Minerals to companies Finnaccord and City Invest 6, according to Kommersant, a Russian media outlet. It also noted that Finnaccord is owned by Oleg Novachuk, a co-owner of KAZ Minerals.

The transmission of the debt is directly related to the fact that VTB has been targeted with U.S. sanctions. KAZ Minerals is registered in the U.K. and can’t make any payments in the interest of the bank even if it is a payment on the loan. In this situation, there was a...

According to the press service of the Ministry for Emergency Situations, Kazakhstan has sent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan after it was hit by an earthquake. The cargo of medicine is expected to reach people in the devastated area today.

What did the ministry report? According to the agency, the country’s government decided to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan which has been suffering from a recent earthquake.

«The government has donated food, tents, clothes and bedclothes,» the ministry said in a statement.

In total, the humanitarian aid includes 1,659 tons of 13 types of different goods.

The Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan is contemplating issuing Eurobonds in the summer of 2024. As Finance Minister Yerulan Zhamaubayev told the Interfax news agency, the cabinet was going to do so this summer but later changed its mind.

«Concerning Eurobonds, we do not plan to issue them this year. Most likely, it will happen next year. The most suitable period for that is the end of summer,» he said on the sidelines of the cabinet.

During the Astana International Forum in June, Zhamaubayev said that Kazakhstan was contemplating issuing Eurobonds in the fall of...

The Kyrgyz parliament has ratified the agreement on establishing a joint regional system (JRS) of air defense with Russia, according to the press service of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan.

What happened? Members of the Supreme Council approved the agreement on the establishment of a joint air defense system with Russia.

«In order to meet obligations under the agreement Kyrgyzstan will allocate a land parcel of five hectares near the Russian base in the town of Kant. It will be available as long the agreement is valid,» the agreement says.

The context. Russia controls several...

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov hasn’t agreed with the report to the cabinet by Berik Sholpankulov, deputy head of the National Bank. He emphasized that the reduction in inflation was a result of coordinated anti-inflation work by the cabinet, not the National Bank as Sholpankulov said.

What did Sholpankulov report about? During the cabinet meeting, Sholpankulov talked about the results of the social and economic development of the country over the period from January to September 2023. While delivering his speech, he noted that the National Bank has lowered the base rate and tightened the monetary policy.

The growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Kazakhstan slowed down to 4.7% over the period from January to September compared to 4.9% from January to August, according to Alibek Kuantyrov, minister of the national economy of Kazakhstan.

«Over the period from January to September of this year, Kazakhstan’s GDP grew by 4.7% including growth in the real sector by 3.7% and 5.1% in the service sector,» he said during a cabinet meeting.

The construction, trade, information and communication sectors reported the highest rates of growth. Over the first nine months of this year...

The Russian chain of affordable shops Fix Price Group plans to redomicile from Cyprus to Kazakhstan. The company’s shareholders are going to discuss the issue on November 9, according to the company’s website.

«The company is going to change its location from the Republic of Cyprus to the Republic of Kazakhstan by registering as a legal entity at the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC). The company will be excluded from the Cyprus register of business,» Fix Price Group said.

Once the company is redomiciled, it will adopt its new charter and board of directors, appoint...