The Week in Kazakhstan: Black Mail

Fintech company Kaspi.kz said on September 20 that a report published the day before on its role in bypassing sanctions against Russia was “misleading and inaccurate”. The report, published by short-seller Culper Research, argued that the group misled investors in the US ahead of its NASDAQ listing in January 2024 “that the Company has zero exposure to Russia”. Shares of Kaspi.kz fell by as much as 23% after the report was published.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held bilateral meetings with the presidents of both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before meeting all five Central Asian leaders at a 5+1 summit in Astana on September 17. His visit coincided with joint proposals to invest into the construction of an international airport at the Khorgos dry port, on the border with China.

The Russian government said it will “experiment” biometric checks at selected border points Alexander Gorovoy, a deputy minister, told Russian media outlet Kommersant on September 19. One of the selected border points is the automobile checkpoint in the Orenburg region, which borders Kazakhstan. According to the plan, Russia will take photo and fingerprint identification starting on December 1.

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart fired two deputy directors at the National Security Committee (KNB) on September 16. Ruslan Seisembayev headed the anti-terrorism service, while Askar Amerkhanov led the foreign intelligence service. On the same day, Tokayev appointed Ali Altynbayev as the new deputy head of the KNB. On September 18, Bakytbek Rakhymberdiyev was appointed to replace Seisembayev.

Alikhan Smailov, the head of the Supreme Audit Chamber, said on September 19 that the Development Bank of Kazakhstan only services “ten privileged actors,” echoing Tokayev’s remarks from 2022. According to Smailov, the bank needs to diversify its business and improve its work, because the budget money funneled through the bank takes too long to reach its final recipients.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is “ready to support Kazakhstan” in its plans to build a nuclear power plant, Rafael Grossi, its director, said on September 19. Kazakhstan will hold a referendum on October 6 on whether to build its first nuclear power plant. Kazakhstan’s government is actively campaigning to sway the vote in favor of the nuclear station.

Businessmen Kenes Rakishev and Shukhrat Ibragimov bought significant shares in coal producer Shubarkol Premium, according to data published on Kazakhstan’s Stock Exchange on September 17. The updated list of “significant shareholders” (owning more than 10% of the shares), importantly, does not include either Joint Resources or FCI Management, the companies controlled by Timur Kulibayev that previously jointly owned 83.5% of Shubarkol Premium. Kulibayev is the son-in-law of former Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Ibragimov is the son of the late owner of the Eurasian Resources Group. Rakishev is one of Kazakhstan’s richest businessmen.

Kazakhstan’s Agency for the Protection of Competition said on September 18 that it lodged a fine against petroleum trader Petrosun. The fine, amounting to 875 billion tenge ($1.8 million), addresses Petrosun’s abuse of its dominant position, for which it was under investigation also in 2023 and 2022, which led to a restriction of competition in the commodity market. Petrosun is owned in equal parts by state-controlled Kazmunaigas and China’s CNPC. Until July 2022 it was owned by companies related to Kulibayev and Daniyar Abulgazin.

A worker died and another was injured after a landslide at a mine in north-eastern Kazakhstan on September 19. The Orlovskaya mine is owned by London-listed KAZ Minerals. On August 31, at the Irtysh and Artemyevsk mines in the neighboring East Kazakhstan region, a total of five workers were killed after being poisoned with a gas leak.

The government restored on September 19 the full accreditation for Press.kz journalist Zhaniya Urankayeva, who had been banned from entering government buildings since September 6. Urankayeva was the first journalist to be banned under new regulations in the Media Law in force since August. 

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