The Week in Kazakhstan: Hold On

The presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan signed on November 13 an agreement to integrate their energy systems. Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev flew to Baku, Azerbaijan for the COP29 summit and said that the agreement would pave the way for new corridors for the supply of clean energy to Europe.

Masdar, the UAE’s state-owned renewable energy company, signed on November 13 the investment agreement for its prospective 1 GW wind farm in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region. The signing ceremony was held on the sidelines of COP29 in Baku and witnessed by several UAE and Kazakhstani government officials.

At a Finance Congress in Almaty on November 15, Central Bank head Timur Suleimenov said that targeted transfers from the National Fund could be authorized by Parliament, if the government chooses to implement such a rule. As of now, only “guaranteed transfers” are planned in advance and discussed in Parliament. This year, “targeted transfers” are on track to significantly surpass “guaranteed transfers”.

Plans to merge Kazakhstan’s Stock Exchange (KASE) and Astana International Exchange (AIX) have been shelved indefinitely, a Central Bank spokesperson told Vlast on November 15. In a speech to the nation, Tokayev had instructed to unite the two exchanges into a single institution, but the Central Bank has repeatedly postponed the merger over “uncertain conditions,” although it has declined to clarify which conditions would allow the merger. Last month, two Russian companies bought the 13.1% stake in KASE previously owned by the Moscow Stock Exchange, currently under sanctions.

At an Agriculture Congress in Astana on November 15, Tokayev ordered the government to review the conditions for the implementation of the universal income declaration. Government officials and their spouses as well as certain businessmen must declare their income, and the government earlier planned to extend this measure to every citizen.

The Astana Interdistrict Civil Court rejected on November 11 a push by a group of journalists to label the government’s new accreditation rules as unlawful. A new Media Law, passed earlier this year, is said to threaten freedom of speech and access to government officials.

The number of corpses of Caspian seals found on the shores of the western Mangistau region rose to 850 by November 11, according to the local authorities. Seasonal tides and migration routes repeatedly turn Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea shores into the resting place of dead seals. According to the Central Asian Institute of Environmental Research, in the past century, the population of Caspian seals shrank by 90% and the total population now counts fewer than 100,000 seals.

The Majilis plans to approve two loans proposed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) over the summer, MP Tatyana Savelyeva said on November 13. The ADB will provide a 15-year, 52.3 billion yen ($337 million) loan and the AIIB will send a 15-year, 52.7 billion yen ($340 million) to Kazakhstan’s government.

Ruslan Berdenov, an MP for the Respublika party, said on November 13 that the government should increase taxes on imported goods that compete with those that are locally produced. Berdenov said that the common market within the Eurasian Economic Union is essentially damaging domestic production.

Workers for UBR, a drilling service company, went on strike on November 13 in the oil town of Zhanaozen, in the western Mangistau region. UBR was established in 2011 to absorb the workers that were fired by Ozenmunaigas in connection with an eight-month strike that culminated with the killing of at least 16 striking oil workers. On November 14, Ozenmunaigas said they company is negotiating with workers, but the strike continues as of November 15.

A court in Almaty sentenced a police officer on November 13 to 2.5 years of restricted freedom for torture. The officer was accused of torturing a detainee during Qandy Qantar (Kazakh for ‘Bloody January’, the violent repression of protests in January 2022). Despite calls for an independent investigation, the details of Qandy Qantar remain opaque.

Bereke Bank’s new shareholder, the Qatari financial institution Lesha Bank, extended on November 13 Andrei Timchenko’s mandate as the chairman of the board. Formerly a subsidiary of Russia’s Sberbank, Bereke was acquired by state holding Baiterek in August 2022, renamed, and earmarked for sale. In October 2024, Lesha concluded the purchase.