The Central Bank to switch gears on currency policy, the ministry of energy proposed to scrap fuel price caps.
Timur Suleimenov, the Central Bank’s chairman , told the press on January 17 that the regulator plans to sell the proceeds from gold sales in the currency market. Since 2011, the Central Bank has been buying all the gold in the country to replenish Kazakhstan’s gold and foreign exchange reserves. It then sells some of this gold on foreign markets and redirects the US dollars it earns to gold and foreign exchange reserves. Now, it will increasingly sell the US dollars it earns to stabilize the tenge currency.
Kazakhstan’s Central Bank proposed on January 14 a resolution to narrow the permissible deviation for foreign currency exchange rates at private exchange bureaus. The Central Bank said the proposed changes are aimed primarily at reducing currency speculation and financial market risks. [Read more here.]
Arman Shakkaliyev, the minister of trade, proposed on January 14 that foreign online marketplaces operating in the country should register on an official electronic platform. E-commerce is soaring in Kazakhstan, its volume exceeding $4.5 billion in 2023. The government argued that an official registration would ensure the quality of goods and protect consumer rights.
Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia’s agriculture watchdog, said on January 14 that Kazakhstan is not complying with temporary restrictions on the export of wheat, flaxseed and lentils into Russia, introduced in October last year. Kazakhstan’s ministry of agriculture noted that 40% of the total wheat exports last year went to customers in Uzbekistan. The neighboring country is now the largest importer of Kazakh wheat.
Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev chaired on January 15 the first meeting of the working group for the implementation of the national project “Modernization of the Energy and Utilities Sectors.” According to early guidelines, the government envisions an investment of around 6.8 trillion tenge ($12.8 billion) to upgrade public utilities and 6.2 trillion ($11.8 billion) to beef up electricity generation by 2029. [Read more here.]
The ministry of energy issued a proposal on January 17 to abolish state regulation of fuel prices. The ministry said in a note that current caps make Kazakhstan’s fuel among the cheapest in the region, leading to illegal or “gray” exports and potential domestic deficit. Lawmakers will now discuss the proposal.
New York-based Human Rights Watch published on January 16 its analysis of last year’s events in Kazakhstan, saying that the authorities “routinely violate the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of association.” In particular, HRW noted that the newly-adopted mass media law “threatens freedom of speech and the right to information.”
The Almaty Military Court said on January 16 that the trial regarding the murder of Yerlan Zhagiparov and Auez Kapsalanov in January 2022, during the so-called Bloody January events, will continue behind closed doors. The decision, reportedly made at the request of an expert witness, has drawn sharp criticism from Saule Kobzhanova, the lawyer representing Zhagiparov’s family, who called the move “groundless.” [Read more here.]
Labor inspections in 2024 found wage arrear violations worth 4.5 billion tenge ($8.5 million), owed to 18,800 workers, the ministry of labor reported on January 13. The ministry also noted that labor inspectorates issued more than 250 fines and that around 800 million tenge ($1.5 million) have yet to be paid to around 1,100 workers across the country.
The Almaty mayor’s office rejected on January 15 a request to hold a rally on March 8. Several feminist groups had sent out an application to hold a march on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The officials stated that a rally would pose a “threat to public order.” An application to hold an IWD rally was also rejected last year.
The Mangistau Prosecutor’s Office said on January 13 it had fined oil company Mangistaumunaigaz for a total of 32.2 billion tenge ($60 million) for environmental violations in December last year. Mangistaumunaigaz is owned by the flagship oil company Kazmunaigas and China’s CNPC via a Netherlands-registered company, Mangistau Investments B.V. It operates several fields in the region in Kazakhstan’s west. [Read more here.]
The national operator Kazakhtelecom said on January 15 it completed the sale of Mobile Telecom-Service, owner of two large telecoms operators, to Qatar’s Power International Holding. The national holding Samruk-Kazyna had owned 100% of MTS and its subsidiaries, Altel and Tele2, since 2019.
New car sales surged in Kazakhstan last year, the Kazakhstan Automobile Union said on January 15. The total number of new cars sold in 2024 amounted to 205,100, a 3.2% increase compared to 2023.
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