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The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan is going to intensify its fight against human trafficking, according to Interior Minister Marat Akhmetzhanov. During his speech at the Astana Legal Forum 2022, he said that the problem was neglected for years.

The minister has acknowledged that the official statistics do not fully reflect facts on the ground. «For years there was no agency or person who was focused on this problem solely,» he noted.

According to international and nongovernmental organizations, the number of sexual and labor exploitation victims is much higher than the number of opened criminal cases in Kazakhstan.

Akhmetzhanov...

According to the overall development plan for the region, which has been developed by the authorities of the Ulytau region and the Ministry of National Economy, over 2022-2026 the government is going to build a new oil refinery with a capacity of one million tons in the town of Jezkazgan. It is expected that the project will cost about $1 billion and will provide jobs for 300 people.

The plan has already been approved by the country’s cabinet.

The region’s governor Berik Abdygaliyev said that the overall plan includes the implementation of a set of projects.

«The implementation of the...

Kazakhstan has frozen a joint Kazakhstani-Russian project by Transtelecom and Russian company BI.ZONE. The two sides signed a contract in 2019 with an expectation of six years of cooperation, the Russian business edition Kommersant reported.

According to the website of BI.ZONE, the company intended to assist Transtelecom in the deployment of SOC and MSSP services as well as expert models to detect various types of cyberattacks.

Russian experts believe that the decision on the Kazakhstani side is linked to the geopolitical situation, namely to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

BI.ZONE is a partner of Sber, the largest Russian commercial bank...

Last year, 1,136 scientists and researchers, including 717 associates and full professors, quit different organizations like universities, research institutes and private tech companies where they were involved in research and development. One of the most important factors of that exodus was a low level of income in the research field.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, there were 21,600 research workers in Kazakhstan last year. This figure is 5% lower than in 2020. As the agency noted, this is the biggest plunge over the past five years.

The data shows that unlike technical staff and others, researchers showed the...

The State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the Defense Industry has denied the information that the country is assisting Iran in assembling combat drones for the war against Ukraine.

The state agency said that Uzbekistan has never cooperated with Iran in the production of military equipment.

«The State Committee for the Defense Industry believes that any publication of unverified media reports can misinform the public and harm Uzbekistan’s relations with other countries,» the committee highlighted.

Earlier this week, former top executive of the Russian oil company Yukos Leonid Nevzlin said in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon

According to National Economy Minister Alibek Kuantyrov, the number of small and medium-sized companies in Kazakhstan increased by 75% over the period from 2012 to 2021, reaching 1.4 million entities.

He also said that the sector gives jobs to 3.5 million people. This is a 45% increase compared to the same rate in 2012.

«Over the period from 2012 to 2021 small and medium-sized businesses showed positive dynamic in growth. The sector now accounts for 33.5% of the national GDP,» he said.

The official pointed out that over the past nine years the country beefed up its production output fivefold...

Freedom Holding Corp. plans to allocate $4.5 million to support financially the construction of a pump station and water pipelines from the desalination plant to the central water supply facility in the city of Aktau. Construction is expected to start this year and will be finished in 2023. The company and the administration of the Mangystau region have already signed a memorandum on cooperation.

According to Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. this aid project is going to be a kind of message for the entire business community in the country. He believes that businesses must cooperate with the...

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are intended to combine the infrastructure of the Kazakhstani Astana Hub and Uzbekistani IT PARK for the two countries’ residents, according to Bagdat Musin, minister of digital development, innovations and aerospace industry.

The Kazakhstani minister has already suggested partnering with his counterpart Sherzod Shermatov, minister for development of IT and communications in Uzbekistan, during the ICT WEEK 2022 in Samarkand.

«In general, we share the same idea: to represent Central Asia as a single region for IT outsourcing and startups,» Musin said.

In fact, Shermatov made the same statement when giving a welcome speech at the opening...

According to Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng, the crypto exchange is going to test the digital tenge, a new type of money that the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) is going to issue. As he noted, the NKB recently launched a CBDC (digital tenge) pilot in a controlled environment and with real consumers and merchants.

«Looking forward to NBK preparing CBDC use cases to see how they could be integrated into BNB Chain to bridge the gap between traditional banking and the crypto ecosystem,» Changpeng wrote on Twitter.

However, the National Bank didn’t respond to the request by the Kursiv edition...

LG, the tech giant from the Republic of Korea, has denied reports that it plans to relocate its manufacturing business from Russia to Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan, according to the South Korean newspaper Business Post.

«LG Electronics doesn’t plan to move its Russian factory to Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan,» the company told the edition over the phone.

On October 21, the Russian business edition Kommersant reported that LG is going to relocate its factory from the Moscow region to Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, where it had allegedly negotiated with local producer Artel.

According to Aset Turysov, deputy minister of digital development and aerospace industry, more than 200,000 foreigners have received Individual Identification Numbers (IIN) in Kazakhstan since September 21. However, he said that he doesn’t possess more detailed information about where these people came from.

«Every foreigner who wants to live in Kazakhstan or open a banking account must obtain an IIN,» he said.

On September 21, President Vladimir Putin of Russia declared a partial mobilization. The Russian authorities said at the time that they would conscript those who have special military skills and military experience.

After this declaration, hundreds of thousands...

As the Bank CenterCredit (BCC) press service reported, Galim Khusainov is no longer the top executive in the bank.

«His contribution to the bank’s development was vital. The board of directors of Bank CenterCredit appreciates Galim Khusainov for his dedication and wishes him all the success in future projects,» the bank said.

Ruslan Vladimirov has been appointed as the new head of the bank. He previously held the same position at ECO Center Bank.

«Bank CenterCredit finishes its planned rotation of the board members due to the completion of the integration between the bank and ECO Center Bank,» the BCC...

Today, on October 26, the National Bank of Kazakhstan increased the base rate from 14.5% to 16% with a percentage corridor of +/- 1.0 p.p. The new standing lending facility rate is 17%, while the standing facility rate for liquidity withdrawal is 15%, according to the regulator’s press service.

According to the National Bank, the move is a result of growing inflationary pressure on Kazakhstan’s economy. The regulator also pointed out that even though it has corrected the rate’s trajectory, its overall direction and tempo remain the same.

In September, the inflation rate was higher than projected

The...

Right before the launch of a new strategy designed to transform Kazakhstan’s economy to its low-carbon version by 2060, the government is considering the idea of constructing a new coal-fired power station in Ekibastuz.

The project of Ekibastuz Regional Power Station (GRES) No.3 was announced by Almasadam Satkaliyev, head of the National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna during the cabinet session on the development of the electric power industry. The fund is the only shareholder of Samruk-Energy, the largest electric power company in Kazakhstan and producer of 35% of all electricity in the country.

Samruk-Energy already runs two big coal-fired power stations...

Halyk Bank stocks at the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) dropped 8.62% to $0.25, which is slightly better than the 9% plunge earlier.

The reason the bank’s stocks have been caught under pressure is the shareholder meeting today. The financial entity hasn’t yet announced the results of the meeting.

As of 12:25 Astana time, there were 349 transactions with 744,100 shares of Halyk Bank ($232,000), according to KASE.

The only message the bank made so far was the announcement of a shareholder meeting scheduled for today October 21. The key topic on the meeting’s agenda is dividend payouts: should the bank...

LG, a home appliance giant from South Korea is about to close its manufacturing site in the Moscow region. The company is thinking about moving its business to Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan, according to the Russian business newspaper Kommersant.

The Korean company has already negotiated with Artel, an Uzbek company that closely cooperates with another South Korean tech giant Samsung. LG used to run its plant in Kazakhstan but closed it several years ago.

As Artel told the Kommersant edition, there are no joint projects between Artel and LG. The company has also refused to comment on possible negotiations with Koreans...

Brussels fully supports Uzbekistan in its endeavor to implement massive economic reforms, according to Terhi Hakala, special representative for Central Asia. She made this statement during the meeting with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.               

«As the special representative highlighted, the E.U. values and supports the continuation of irreversible reforms in the New Uzbekistan, which are aimed at further democratization and social and economic transformation of the country,» the press service of the Uzbek president reported.

Over the first nine months of the year, the turnover between Uzbekistan and the E.U. increased by 15%. At the same time, Uzbekistan has increased its exports...

This week, ten commercial banks in Kyrgyzstan have stopped giving service to Russia’s Mir payment cards, according to Interfax news agency.

Among those banks alleging technical reasons for the move are Aiyl Bank and Kyrgyz-Swiss Bank. On the other hand, Bank Kyrgyzstan and Halyk Bank Kyrgyzstan (a subsidiary of the Halyk Bank Kazakhstan) have justified their move with geopolitical tensions.

DemirBank, Eurasian Savings Bank, Kompanion Bank, Bakai Bank, DosCredoBank and Bank of Asia also don’t accept Mir cards, the agency said.

According to the Russian news agency RBC, Finka Bank also stopped working with the Russian payment system Mir. However...

Galymzhan Pirmatov, head of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, believes that as long as the country’s citizens continue to expect price surge the pressure on the inflation rate in Kazakhstan will continue.

The official made this statement on October 19 during a Q&A session with members of the parliament. He also said that the government is forecasting 7.5-9.5% inflation next year, 4-5% in 2024 and 3-4% in 2025-2027. In September 2022, the inflation rate reached 17.7%, according to the Bureau of National Statistics.

«Concerning inflationary pressure. High inflationary expectations are going to affect the inflation rate. The National Bank will...

Kazakhstan is going to increase the influx of foreign direct investments from $23.7 (2021) to $25 billion this year, according to Almas Aydarov, deputy head of the foreign minister. He also noted that the country is doing quite well in terms of getting new foreign investments despite the current geopolitical situation. «Over the first six months of the year, we attracted 14.2 billion, which is 28% growth over the same period last year,» he said.

Among key foreign investors to Kazakhstan are European countries, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia. These countries account for 90% of all foreign direct investments...

Tariffs for natural gas, electricity and logistic services must be increased to fair market levels in the next 3-5 years, according to Ernat Berdikulov, executing director of the National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna and the person responsible for developing strategy and asset management. He made his statement on October 17 during a meeting of the fund’s public council, where he presented a new strategy for 2023-2032.

According to Berdikulov, Samruk-Kazyna is interested in increasing the value of its assets. In order to achieve this goal, it is going to improve its financial performance and update the fund from a technological point...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Kazakhstan not to extradite four Karakalpak activists to Uzbekistan where they’ll likely face politically motivated prosecution and even torture, according to the human rights watchdog.

«After the brutal crackdown on protests in Karakalpakstan in July, the authorities in Uzbekistan continue to persecute activists representing the Karakalpak ethnic minority,» said Mihra Rittmann, Central Asia researcher for HRW.

If Kazakhstan decides to do so, it would mean the county is violating international law, she pointed out.

«That’s why Kazakhstan authorities must drop the idea of extradition and set those activists free,» Rittmann highlighted.

Over the...

The International Monetary Fund has changed its forecast for Uzbekistan’s GDP growth this year, according to the World Economic Outlook published in October 2022.  

This year the country’s economy is expected to increase by 5.2%, not 3.4% as projected by the fund in April. However, the IMF is not so optimistic when it comes to next year. The fund believes that Uzbekistan’s GDP will grow just by 4.7% while the earlier outlook was 5%. 

The IMF has also changed its forecast for inflation. In 2022, the price surge is expected at 11.2% instead of 11.8% while in 2023 the rate...

As the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Kazakhstan reported, there are 12 candidates who are going to take part in the snap presidential elections in November.

October 11 was the last day for those who wanted to register as a candidate for the country’s president. This stage lasted 19 days from September 23 to October 11.

According to Erman Mukhtar, the secretary of the CEC, there are 12 candidates including Meiram Kazhyken from the Union of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, Zhiguli Dayrabayev (Auyl Party), Nurlan Auesbaev (Nationwide Social Democratic Party), Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a candidate from several civil associations, Nurzhan Altayev