The Week in Kazakhstan: Top Thirty

Almaty-based company Kazstanex was added to the US Treasury’s latest sanctions list on October 30. According to US officials, the company nominally traded machine tools and industrial equipment from Europe to China, which were later shipped to Russia. Uzbekistan-based Uzstanex, owned by Kazstanex, was also put under sanctions. Earlier in June, the US Treasury had added another Kazakhstan-based company to its sanctions list.

Finance minister Madi Takiyev told Vlast on October 30 that the government plans to balance half of this year’s outstanding budget deficit of 4 trillion tenge ($8.2 billion) with transfers from the National Fund. Tax revenues and dividends from state-owned companies should cover the rest, Takiyev said. Meanwhile, the government continues to promise that transfers from the National Fund are poised to decrease, despite this year’s record highs. Takiyev also said that the government’s forecast for 2025 is optimistic, as it plans to increase budget revenues by 3 trillion tenge, on the back of increased production at the Tengiz oil field, while also reducing social expenditure.

Despite constant withdrawals, Nurlan Baibazarov, the minister of economy, believes that the goal to increase National Fund assets to $100 billion, as ordered by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is still possible. "We have time until 2030. By then, oil production will stabilize at about 105 million tons, and we expect an average price of $75/barrel,” Baibazarov said on October 30.

Kazakhstan's minister of agriculture Aidarbek Saparov said on October 31 that Russia’s ban on imports of grain from Kazakhstan could be lifted within a week. Over the last few weeks, Rosselkhoznadzor, the Moscow-based regulator, imposed a number of restrictions on imports of agricultural goods from Kazakhstan, sparking a diplomatic row.

Kazakhstan’s government renewed on October 31 an agreement with Russia to maintain a shared +7 country calling code. In 2021, the government had successfully reserved +997, but plans to implement the new code fell through over costs and infrastructure issues.

Hundreds of dead Caspian Seals were washed ashore in the Mangistau region between October 28 and 30. Experts say environmental pollution, climate change, and barge traffic in the Caspian Sea could be among the reasons for the seasonal mass death of seals.

The renowned travel publication Lonely Planet added Kazakhstan to its list of the best 30 countries to visit in 2025. This could contribute to boosting tourism in Kazakhstan. According to official sources, 1.1 million tourists visited Kazakhstan in 2023, a 17% increase on the previous year.

Telegram, the BVI-registered messaging service, could open an office at the Astana International Financial Center, the government said on October 31 during a Senate hearing. Telegram has been under fire recently over its lack of content moderation, which has allegedly led to several illegal transactions through its platform.

Solidcore bought on October 31 the rights to develop the Syrymbet polymetallic deposit from Berkut Mining, a subsidiary of Lancaster Group. Solidcore, formerly known as Polymetal, listed its shares in the Astana International Stock Exchange last year, and then fully relocated to Kazakhstan this year and changed its name. Solidcore also delisted from the Moscow Stock Exchange earlier this year.

The Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund and holding bought on September 30 the company AsiaGaz Chundzha and said it will transfer its assets to its subsidiary Qazaqgaz. The transaction was disclosed on Kazakhstan’s Stock Exchange on October 30. Businessman Kairat Boranbayev, who served 1.5 years in prison for embezzlement between 2022-2023, previously owned AsiaGaz Chundzha.

Workers at Kezbi, an oil service company in the western Mangistau region, went on strike on October 29, calling for the establishment of a new company to absorb redundancies. A number of workers in the oil service industry have gone on strike over the past few years, including Kezbi workers in February.

Dmitriy Dubovitsky, the founder of the media Za nami uzhe vyekhali (Russian for “They’re already coming for us”), handed over the project to Asset Matayev, the owner of the news agency KazTAG, on October 28. Dubovitsky said a burnout from the media beat was among the reasons for his exit.