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Yesterday, on April 6, 2022, the U.S. imposed sanctions against subsidiaries of Sber and Alfa Bank in Kazakhstan. As a result, all assets of these banks should be frozen in the U.S. and no American company or individuals can do business with these entities, according to the official website of the White House.

The U.S. government has also imposed fully blocking sanctions against parent companies of Sberbank and Alfa Bank. The White House noted that Sber counts for one-third of all assets of the Russian banking sector while Alfa Bank is the biggest private financial organization in Russia and fourth...

Kazakhstan pharmaceutical companies forecast that drugs prices are going to soar.

Usually, medicine prices in Kazakhstan are increased every six months. However, this time the increase in drug prices may happen much earlier. The main driver of this change is soaring prices for medicine and medical raw materials.

«The pharmaceutical industry struggles with disruption of supply chains and increasing prices for logistical services. Also, it’s not an easy task to transport pharmaceutical products as they require a special approach while being transported or in storage. That’s why the cost of drugs has soared. Now businesses become less interested in producing...

Over the past 30 years, the population of the North Kazakhstan region has dropped twofold. As of February 2022, there were half a million residents while in 1991 the region accounted for one million people.  The decline in population is driven by a natural decline in the population and a negative balance of migration.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the population in the North Kazakhstan region has been declining since 1992 by 0.8-0.9% a year on average. Last year this rate was even faster – 1.8%.

As of March 1, 2022, the region is the least populated in...

According to Alibek Kuantyrov, minister of the national economy, the government plans to adjust the state budget due to the changing situation in the global economy. The estimated oil price for the current year is going to be about $90 per barrel. At the same time, the government has decreased its forecast for GDP growth in 2022 from 3.9% to 2.1%.

«A year-average oil price is set at the level of $90 per barrel. Based on this we have decreased the forecast for the GDP growth from 3.9% to 2.1%,» he said.

The formal volume of the country’s GDP is...

According to Mukhtar Tleuberdi, foreign minister of Kazakhstan, the country does not recognize the independence of the so-called People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.

At the same time, the official noted that Kazakhstan has no intention to join the set of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States against Russia.

«There are two key points for us. First, we want these sanctions to not affect the development of our national economy. Second, we want our territory to not be used as a tool to bypass these sanctions,» he said.

Tleuberdi has also confirmed that the position of...

As the official website of Kazakhstan’s president reported, Darkhan Dilmanov has been discharged from the office of the deputy head of the National Security Committee/Head of the Border Guard Service.

«The president has discharged Darkhan Dilmanov from the office of the deputy head of the National Security Committee, head of the Border Guard Service,» the official statement said.

Darkhan Dilmanov was born in 1969 in Kyzylorda. He graduated from the Moscow Border Guard Highest Command School under Soviet KGB, Kyzylorda State University and Moscow Border Institute under Russian FSB.

Over the period from 1986 to 1998, he served in...

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture Erbol Karashukeev has come up with an idea to establish a new veterinary medicine distributor. This company may work exactly like SK Pharmacy, a national distributor of medicines in Kazakhstan, the official noted.

«We plan to establish a single distributor of veterinary medicine and diagnostic products that would be operated similar to SK Pharmacy. When I say “single distributor» I mean a company that fully belongs to the government and operates under the strict domestic and international standards of quality control. This company must be responsible for direct purchases of veterinary medicine from leading local and...

As the Ministry of Defense reported all units of the Kazakhstan army have been put on training alert. A significant part of military personnel should move to training grounds by trucks, heavily armored vehicles, and railways where they have to conduct training exercises.

These exercises include tactical maneuvers and shootings during daylight and at night. The ministry is going to estimate the ability of military units to take joint action in order to implement tactical tasks within specific time frames. The military officials also want to make sure that officers have a clear understanding of what they have to do...

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov has warned the people of his country that due to the current geopolitical tensions the economic situation in the country may worsen, the Interfax Kazakhstan newswire reported.

The situation in the country is quite difficult, stated the president

«Prices have soared and everything is going to be much more expensive. Unemployment is also still in place. We know about the shortage of main products. That’s why I ask people to reconsider their spending; they have to forget for a while about expensive purchases, refrain from big banquets and stop wasting money. The top priority now...

IT Visa has been available in Uzbekistan since April 1, 2022. This new tool allows foreign specialists to enter Uzbekistan and get a residence permit with no hassle.

Among those who are eligible for IT Visa are foreign investors, founders of IT Park resident companies and IT professionals. Members of their families can obtain a visitor visa. Residents of the Uzbek IT Park can take advantage of a bunch of benefits including exemption of taxes and customs duties. However, they still have to pay income tax (7.5%) and dividends tax (5%).

To support newcomers the IT Park is ready to...

According to the press service of the Karaganda region, the election of a mayor of the town of Abai is set for April 10.

There are four candidates for the position, including Medeu Akhmetov, the current mayor of Abai, who has stayed in office since May 15, 2018, Akniet Abzhatov and Amangeldy Nurmukhanov, both workers in the local administration and Gulnara Kosaeva, a coach in a local sports club. The first and the last candidates are nominees of the Amanat and NPK (Kazakhstan Peoples Party) political parties respectively, while the other two are independent candidates.

Abai is a town of...

The agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Korea regarding the mutual abolition of visas is going to resume for Kazakhstani people starting from April 1, according to the press service of the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This visa-free regime had been suspended by the Korean government because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now citizens of Kazakhstan will be able to enter the Republic of Korea and stay there visa-free for 30 days. However, for those who are going to work, study or live in South Korea, visas are still required.

Foreigners, who enter Korea should register...

According to Bagdat Musin, minister of digital development, innovations and aerospace industry of Kazakhstan, residents in 200 settlements have no access to the internet even though mobile operators claimed that they have. This statement was made during a meeting of the counting committee which has audited the activities of the ministry.

As he noted, the quality and presence of internet access is an urgent problem.

«In 2019 we did 50 examinations of the quality of the communications. Last year we did 560 such examinations. In 2019 mobile operators paid just $32,200 in fines; in 2020 the total number of penalties...

The Royal Dutch airline KLM may return to Kazakhstan. At least, this question became a significant part of talks between Askar Zhumagaliev, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the Netherlands and KLM top officials: Frank Prilevitz, vice president for international affairs and corporate law and Seth van Straten, KLM network director.

As Askar Zhumagaliyev noted, there are no direct flights to Kazakhstan from the Netherlands. As a result, Dutch entrepreneurs have to make transfers while traveling to Kazakhstan, and of course, resuming direct air travel can boost cooperation between the two countries.

“There is a great opportunity for KLM to restore direct flights...

Once the new railway from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan is done, the transit of cargo toward the south will be much faster, said Kairbek Uskenbayev, minister of industry and infrastructural development of Kazakhstan.

The new railway is going to connect Darbaza and Maktaaral. The railway station Darbaza, Kazakhstan is located between Arys and Saryagash (both of which are in the Turkestan region of Kazakhstan). Kazakhstan exporters are used to sending their goods such as wheat and flour via Saryagash, the railway station right on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and near the Uzbek capital city of Tashkent. However, exporters have...

Kazakhstan is a member state of the Eurasian Economic Union where the balance of migration is most negative, as tens of thousands of people leave the county forever.

According to the Eurasian Economic Commission’s data, all EEU member states except Russia reported a negative migration balance last year. Kyrgyzstan has shown the lowest migration rate (-769 people).

Kazakhstan demonstrates the biggest rate of negative migration balance. About 32,200 people left the country last year, while only 10,900 people came to Kazakhstan to live here. In 2021 the number of people leaving Kazakhstan increased by 20% compared to 2020.

However, the...

Gulmira Satybaldy, wife of once-powerful mogul Kairat Satybaldy, is accused of embezzlement of public funds of particularly large sums of money, according to the Anti-Corruption Agency of Kazakhstan.

The Shymkent department of the Anti-Corruption Agency is conducting a pre-trial investigation into the activities of several official representatives of the Shymkent Department of Public Transportation and Roads and a company called Ariya-Zhana Astana. Gulmira Satybaldy is one of them.

«The investigation focuses on the embezzlement of $1.6 million of public funds in 2021. This money was paid for construction services, which were never done in practice,» the agency said in an...

On March 29, Rustam Akhmetov, the first deputy chairman of the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition stated that the government won’t be able to support domestic prices for gas after 2025. This assessment is based on the rate of annual growth of gas consumption in Kazakhstan and the shrinking volumes of fuel that have been exported by the country abroad.

In 2021, Kazakhstan exported 7 billion cubic meters of gas out of the 25 billion cubic meters of gas the country produced in total. For years the government of Kazakhstan has subsidized domestic gas prices at the expense...

Euro-5 road tractors will be free from recycling fees. Moreover, a fee for the first registration will also be lifted, according to Kairbek Uskenbayev, Kazakhstan’s minister of industry and infrastructural development.

As the official said, the move is aimed at improving the competitiveness of local carriers. The government wants the domestic lorry fleet to increase from 7,615 trucks to 15,000 trucks by 2025.

«Over the period from 2023 to 2028 no fee for first registration will be required for Euro-5 trucks. Also, this kind of vehicle from 12 to 50 tons in weight will be free from a recycling fee...

As herd immunity in Kazakhstan has become a reality, the government decided to lift any limitations for vaccination and revaccination with Pfizer’s vaccine for all categories of citizens in the country.

According to Eraly Tugzhanov, deputy prime minister of Kazakhstan, the decision regarding overall vaccination is a result of three prior stages. In the first stage, the vaccination with Pfizer covered pregnant women, teenagers and those who headed abroad. In the second stage, the country’s health system started to vaccinate elderly people over age 60 and then over 50.

«Today more than 10 million people in Kazakhstan are fully vaccinated...

According to his official website, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has appointed Erulan Zhamaubayev to be the new deputy head of the cabinet.

«To appoint Erulan Zhamaubayev deputy prime minister – minister of finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan and to discharge him from the position of minister of finance,» the official edict by the president said.

Erulan Zhamaubayev was born in 1974. He graduated from the Kazakh State Academy of Management, faculty of finance and Kazakh Economy University named after Ryskulov, MBA.

Over his career, Zhamaubayev worked in the National Bank of Kazakhstan, the House Construction Savings bank of Kazakhstan and...

As Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice reported, the country has won a case in an arbitration court against Big Sky Energy Corporation. The decision of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an international arbitration institution entered into force on March 25, when the deadline for appeal had expired.

Big Sky had tried to make the Republic of Kazakhstan pay $460 million of compensation for contracts with third parties not linked to the government.

«Big Sky had tried to claim restitution from the state of Kazakhstan based on alleged violations of the US-Kazakhstan investment agreement,» said the ministry.

The...

The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) has decided to lift its customs tariff for electric cars imported in the Eurasian Economic Union member-states in a limited quantity, Kolesa.kz reported.

Among countries that are going to introduce zero tariffs for importing electric cars are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Currently, all these countries except Kazakhstan have in practice a 15% tariff.

The new rule also prohibits owning, using or controlling these electric vehicles by people who have either Russian citizenship or residence permit by Russia.

«We expect that these new tariff benefits along with other measures aimed at stimulating...

While responding to a question about what he is thinking of the legal side of the arrest of Kairat Satybaldy, nephew of the first president Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kanat Musin, the country’s minister of justice pointed out that the constitutional law on the first president covers members of his immediate family, not nephews, Sputnik Kazakhstan reported.

He denied the possibility of legal prosecution of Nursultan Nazarbayev and his daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva.

«We cannot detain or arrest these individuals. This is a law. However, there are no problems with asking them questions and receiving answers,» said Kanat Music.

He believes that law...