Kazakhstan’s oil output is poised to increase 3% this month, industry sources told Reuters on May 20. Oil prices have fallen 1.3% this week to under $65/barrel, as the OPEC+ group of exporting countries increased production to challenge Kazakhstan’s non-compliance with its promise to reduce output. Kazmunaigas, the state-owned shareholder at the Kashagan offshore project, said that production in 2025 should grow to 17.8 million tons.
The Central Bank said on May 22 that a single QR-code for all bank payments should be operational from 2026. This measure was announced years ago and has been delayed a number of times due to regulatory and lobbying challenges.
Shukhrat Ibragimov is in talks to buy out the families of the original founders of Eurasian Resources Group, one of Kazakhstan’s largest mining companies, the FT reported on May 21. In an email to Vlast, ERG did not comment on the matter. Ibragimov’s late father Alijan, the late Aleksander Mashkevitch, and Patokh Chodiev founded the company in the 1990s and were collectively known as the “Eurasian Trio”. Kazakhstan’s government owns 40% of the company.
Around $15 billion-worth of cryptocurrency were withdrawn from Kazakhstan, the Central Bank’s deputy Berik Sholpankulov said on May 22. Sholpankulov said that insufficient administrative and financial regulation allowed gray operations to take place. Investigations are ongoing to trace any illicit activity. The Central Bank also said it will draw up a list of cryptocurrencies that can be legally traded in the country.
The ministry of ecology sent specialists to the massive titanium and magnesium plant in Oskemen on May 19 after yellow smoke engulfed the factory and spread to the north-eastern city. The official monitoring found that there had been a chlorine leak at the factory. The leak was contained on the same day.
The domestic consumption of natural gas is poised to double in the next five years, Aidyn Akan, the CFO at state-owned Qazaqgaz, said on May 22. Growing domestic consumption poses a challenge for both local and foreign producers, which will have to send increased volumes to the highly subsidized internal market and possibly forgo profits from exports. On May 21, the Parliament voted on a draft bill to amend a trade agreement with Turkmenistan, which includes provisions to import more natural gas.
A draft law published on May 20 by the ministry of labor could restrict the appointment of foreigners to top-level management positions without prior official approval. According to the proposal, foreigners without an official authorization could only hold CEO- and deputy CEO-positions in companies that are entirely foreign-owned.
Yerzhan Kezbayev, the former managing director of Kezbi, an oil service company, was sentenced on May 21 to 10 years in prison for embezzlement and tax evasion. The court established that Kezbayev stole funds earmarked for worker salaries in 2022-2023. The company worked in Zhanaozen with state-owned oil company Ozenmunaigas. Its workers had rallied in protest in January, as well as in other instances in the past few years, lamenting worsening conditions.
The prosecutor’s office of the northern Akmola region said on May 22 that they seized a 3-hectare land plot near Lake Shchuchye close to Burabay national park. The plot, owned by a company linked to Timur Kulibayev, a wealthy businessman and son-in-law of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, had not been developed in more than a decade and this resulted in its order for nationalization.
The government established a new special economic zone in the Kyzylorda region on May 19. The Korkyt Ata area, located near the Western Europe – Western China highway, is poised to host businesses that would benefit from an economic trade route that has been under construction for more than a decade.
The Prosecutor General’s Office did not question the suspects in the killing of Aidos Sadykov, a Kazakhstani journalist, citing lack of evidence, Sadykov’s wife said in a social media post on May 20. Sadykov was shot in June last year in Kiev and died two weeks later of health complications. The Ukrainian authorities classified the attack as “premeditated conspiracy to commit murder.” Of the two suspects, one fled to Kazakhstan, was detained and then released, while the other is currently “not even wanted,” Nataliya Sadykova said.
Kazakhstan’s authorities in various cities rejected applications to hold a rally on May 31, which marks the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression. Activists said that the day should not only focus on the “Great Terror” during Stalin’s time, but also on today’s crackdown on dissidents.
Yermek Tursunov, a film director, said on May 18 that he left the country because he feared for his freedom. Tursunov said he had been under pressure, after one of his producers was summoned to the police for questioning.
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