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The turnover between Kazakhstan and the U.K. has been growing. In the first half of the year, the amount of import and export operations between the two countries rose from $547 million to $912 million, or 67% compared to the same period last year. This sharp increase in mutual trade has a reason: the U.K. has once again added Kazakhstan to the list of oil exporters. Over the first six months of the year, Kazakhstan sent about 520,000 tons of oil products to British customers.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the structure of the turnover between Kazakhstan and...

According to Assel Zhanasova, vice minister of trade and integration, all commercial banks in Kazakhstan are going to switch to the integrated QR system. It is expected that the system will be rolled out by the end of the current year.

The ministry initiated the standardization of QR codes for point-of-sale (POS) terminals last year.

«Last year, we did massive work to get rid of any difference in payments while people use POS terminals with QR. No matter which bank issued your card you must have an opportunity to pay with help of a single QR system. Businesses will no...

Kazakhstan is going to introduce a luxury tax, which will affect citizens who purchase really expensive items like luxury property or fancy cars. The new tax won’t affect the middle class and no double taxation will happen, according to Elnar Kazbekov, chief expert of the Department of Tax and Customs Policy under the Ministry of National Economy in Kazakhstan.

As the official noted, many countries all over the world have already done the same. Some countries rely on higher taxes, some states charge their citizens a separate luxury tax, while others have introduced both practices. In Kazakhstan, this idea was...

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade has figured out how to stop sugar prices from further increasing. According to Serik Zhumangarin, the trade minister, the government is going to provide domestic sugar plants with a three-month stockpile of sugar cane from Brazil. The plants have promised that they won’t raise the sugar price.

The minister said that there are four sugar plants in Kazakhstan with a combined capacity of 700,000 tons of sugar per year. Given that Kazakhstan needs just 520,000 tons, the remaining sugar might be exported abroad, the ministry believes, even though this would be hard due to high global...

Kazakhstan introduces new rules to strengthen the position of members of the Constitutional Court. According to new rules, the court’s judges can’t be detained or punished as long as they are in office. Moreover, no judge can be prosecuted until the parliament gives its consent. The only exception is the situation of a judge would being caught red-handed. These and other rules are part of the new law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, adopted by the Mazhilis today, on September 7.

According to Kanat Musin, minister of justice, who presented the draft law, the document has...

Over the first six months of this year, the exported goods price index rose to 142% in Kazakhstan compared to the same period in 2021. This is a three-year record high. At the same time, research that the Kursiv media has done shows that Kazakhstani goods exported to different markets demonstrated different price dynamics. For example, over the first half of the year, the price for Kazakhstani exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member-states surged by 26.5%, while prices for exports to non-CIS countries rose by 46.1%.

This method of splitting price indexes into two parts, one for...

While meeting with the delegation from Germany, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that Kazakhstan is strongly interested in the experience Germany has accumulated in the sphere of professional training for engineers.

Kazakhstan is exploring opportunities to open representative offices of German technical institutes, laboratories, scientific and research centers and competence centers in order to increase the level of professional qualification of Kazakhstani specialists.

«Germany is one of Kazakhstan’s key partners in the European Union. We have more than 600 businesses established here in Kazakhstan with the help of the German capital. The potential for growth in trade and investments is significant...

S&P Global Ratings has downgraded its outlook on the sovereign credit rating of Kazakhstan from «Stable» to «Negative.» At the same time, S&P has reaffirmed its “BBB-/A-3” long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Kazakhstan. 

The transfer and convertibility assessment also remains “BBB.”

«The negative outlook reflects risks to Kazakhstan’s oil exports through the CPC pipeline, the pipeline that the country uses for about 80% of its oil exports, as well as rising debt financing costs,» S&P said.

According to the agency’s analysts, any potential disruption in the operation of the CPC could negatively affect the...

On September 5, 2022, the National Bank of Kazakhstan decided to keep the base rate at 14.5% with a percentage corridor of +/– 1.0 p.p The standing lending facility rate is now 15.5%, while the standing facility rate for liquidity withdrawal is 13.5%. The regulator stated that the decision is based on the current economic situation.

The National Bank says that the external pressure is still in place due to price increases in the logistic industry, high inflation in countries that are trading partners for Kazakhstan, and the weakening of the Kazakhstani tenge against the Russian ruble.

«Although global food...

The combined wealth of the ten richest businessmen from the Forbes list of billionaires is estimated at $27.2 billion. This figure almost matches $28.9 billion, the amount of money accumulated by the United Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF) as of August 1, 2022. On the other hand, the National Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan has managed to accumulate $59.3 billion. This means that the fund is twice as wealthy as the richest businessmen combined.

The lion’s share of cash inflows to the National Fund comes from the oil industry. The pension fund has been receiving mandatory and voluntary pension...

Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan will not be able to run for president during nationwide elections this fall, according to Alma Mukanova, vice-minister of justice of the country.

As the official noted, this is impossible due to updated national legislation.

«According to the amendments to the Constitution adopted at the national referendum, the exception that had allowed Nazarbayev to run for president an unlimited number of times is now gone. No one can be elected as president more than two times in a row,» she said.

Nazarbayev has no legal ground to run in the...

According to Alma Mukanova, vice-minister of justice, if Kassym-Jomart Tokayev won the upcoming presidential elections, he will be able to stay in office until 2029. However, this would be possible under specific conditions only. As the official said, another change in the Constitution might be needed to achieve that goal.

Under the current legislation, President Tokayev is serving a five-year term with the next presidential elections in 2024.

In order to stay in office until 2029, Tokayev has to win the upcoming elections, which is quite obvious. Also, the parliament must issue and approve the proper legislation before the elections.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan has declared a one-time amnesty for participants of the January events. He made this statement during his national address.

«I have decided to declare a one-time amnesty for participants of the January events. Of course, the amnesty won’t be applied to main figures of the events, those who were behind the riots or those who have been convicted of treason and attempt to seize power in the state,» said Tokayev.

Also, the amnesty isn’t going to cover actions considered as extremism and terrorism. Those police officers who have been involved in torture will not be...

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has suggested holding snap presidential elections this fall. He made this statement today during his address to the people of Kazakhstan.

«I suggest conducting early presidential elections this fall,» he said.

As the president noted, the new mandate of trust is necessary to bring the pivotal and comprehensive reforms in Kazakhstan to a successful result.

«Interests of our state are my top priorities. Therefore, I am ready to cut my term of office short and call for the early presidential elections,» he said.

Tokayev has also revealed his plan to revise the length of a...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the maternal mortality rate rose threefold in Kazakhstan. However, mortality factors associated with obstetric services account for just 18% of lethal cases, according to the Ministry of Health. The vast majority of these deaths were caused by diseases unrelated to pregnancy.

According to data from the Bureau of National Statistics, the number of women who died while giving birth reached 200 in absolute terms last year. This is the highest rate in a decade. For comparison, the same rate was 55 cases in 2019.

When comparing countries and regions with different population rates, international statistics use...

On August 29, when the world celebrates the International Day against Nuclear Tests, Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi and Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Robert Floyd made a joint statement, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two officials have reaffirmed their commitments to realizing a world free of nuclear testing and enforcing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

The closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site on August 29, 1991, is a symbolic date for both Kazakhstan and the international community.

The CTBT has been signed by 186 countries and 170 of them have...

According to a document published on the KASE website, members of the board of directors and management of Baiterek, a national management holding in Kazakhstan received $1.4 million as a reward last year.

Additionally, members of the holding’s management have been paid $617,139 this year.

«This is a total sum of 2021 salaries, rewards and bonuses before taxes,» the document says.

There are two control bodies in Baiterek: the board of directors and the management board. The board of directors exercises control over the system of corporate governance and risk management. The board of directors defines tasks and approves documents...

As the Anti-Corruption Agency’s press services reported, the pre-trial investigation against Kairat Satybaldy and his accompanies is over. The case was opened to investigate embezzlement in Kazakhtelecom and the Center for Transport Services.

There are five suspects in the case. One of them is in custody and two are under house arrest.

In the course of the investigation, the government has returned more than $506.5 million worth of assets and cash that were earned illegally.

Moreover, Satybaldy is also accused of tax and customs fee avoidance and laundering of illegal income.

The authorities are continuing the search for other illegal...

Over the first six months of the current year, Kazakhstan cut its exports of cooled and frozen meat by 15%. However, thanks to high prices the total value of that export has risen by 35%. Another driver of this revenue growth is changing export destinations as Kazakhstani farmers are seeking new buyers. For example, they have started to supply much more meant and poultry to Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates, while exports to Russia dropped fourfold.

Kazakhstan was forced to cut its meat exports to Russia because the Russian authorized agency Roscelkhoznadzor banned Kazakhstani meat from entering the country...

Over the past six months, Kazakhstan sent to Russia $184 million worth of shipments of different high-tech products, even though the country doesn’t produce these goods. Neither the European Union nor the U.S. have officially restricted the re-export of home appliances or computers from Europe to Russia via third-party countries. However, the U.S. is keeping an eye on this issue and already has put Kazakhstan on the list of transit countries that are used by Russia to get exports from abroad.

Over the past six months, Kazakhstan’s export to Russia increased just slightly from $3.37 billion to $3.38 billion...

The hub school in rural areas project is one of 11 other ongoing projects and programs by the Qazaqstan Halqyna Fund. The total budget of the program is $8.9 million. Let’s take a look at how these funds are spent.

Each project or program by the Qazaqstan Halqyna Fund is implemented in conjunction with a specific partner. For example, under the project on the development of hub schools in rural areas the fund is partnering with the Foundation for Sustainable Development of Education (FSDE), which has been working on improving education in rural schools since 2019.

The project of hub...

Sanctions imposed against Russia by Western countries and countersanctions by Russia have made it almost impossible for publicly traded companies to work with Western money in Russia. These companies are now trying to sell their assets in Russian and looking for other options to develop their businesses. Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC), which is traded on NASDAQ and runs businesses in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and many other countries, has also found itself trapped in the situation. However, the holding is currently going through a massive restructuring. Evgeniy Ler, CFO of the holding shared some details of that process with the Kursiv...

In July 2022, Kazakhstanis bought 190 apartments in Turkey or 1,607 apartments throughout the year in total, according to the Turkish Land Registry and Cadastre Information System (TAKBIS).

In January, Kazakhstanis bought 132 apartments, 197 apartments in February, 241 in March, 311 in April, 218 in May and 318 in June. The interest of consumers from Kazakhstan has been growing for the last few past years. For example, over the first seven months of this year, they bought 953 apartments in Turkey. This is a 69% increase over the same period last year.

Now, Kazakhstanis are ranked among the most...

Portraits of Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev must be removed from public offices all over the country, according to Marat Bashimov, a law professor and head of the Expert Institute of European Law.

While speaking at a briefing devoted to the New Kazakhstan concept, he suggested the Office of the Prosecutor General promote new provisions of the Constitution and monitor public events.

«The Constitution is the highest mandatory legal document in the country. The term Elbasy (Leader of Nation) is no longer in the Constitution. The Office of the Prosecutor General must explain new provisions of the Constitution. There is no longer...