Kazakhstan’s government said on July 29 that the European Commission had issued a sanctions waiver to receive Kazakh coal, even if shipped through Russian ports. In the wake of the publication of the European Union’s latest sanctions package targeting Russia, Kazakhstan’s ministry of trade said that Kazakhstan coal will be exempt from restrictions. In 2023 and 2024, more than half of Kazakhstan’s coal exports went to the EU and generated $382 and $312 million in revenues respectively.
A court in Almaty fined on July 31 human rights lawyer Bakhytzhan Toregozhina for “spreading false information.” She was found guilty for her social media posts calling attention to the deteriorating health of Kazakhstani political prisoner Marat Zhylanbayev. [Read more here.] Meirzhan Doskarayev, a lawyer who often visited Zhylanbayev in prison, said on August 1 that he is also being accused of “spreading false information.” Also on August 1, the Presidential Central Communications Service announced the opening of a new Center for Combating Disinformation.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said on July 31 that water flow from transboundary rivers to Kazakhstan is decreasing. The offtake from the southern regions from the Syr Darya have increased as farmers face drier climate and potential drought. Farmers in Uzbekistan have also had to face water scarcity due to climate change.
Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said at a press conference on July 31 that the tenge-US dollar exchange rate will improve and settle at the 540 tenge/$1 level set in the official 2026 forecast. The day before, the Central Bank had announced an extraordinary currency intervention worth $125.6 million to strengthen the tenge, which had fallen to 550/$1.
State-owned companies increased their output in the first half of the year. On July 29, Kazmunaigas said its oil and gas production increased by 8.8% and 18.3% respectively, compared to the same period last year, mostly driven by the expansion project at Tengiz. On August 1, Kazatomprom reported that uranium production in the country increased by 13% in the first six months of 2025.
Tengizchevroil, the joint venture that operates Kazakhstan’s top oil producer, was fined on July 29 for excessive emissions into the atmosphere. The Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office accused TCO of irregular emissions in the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024. A court in Atyrau imposed a 640 million tenge ($1.2 million) fine.
During an official visit to Turkey, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that Kazakhstan plans to increase oil shipments via Azerbaijan to Turkey, through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. At the moment, Kazakhstan sends around 1.4 million tons of oil through the BTC, about 2% of its total exports. The two countries had signed a similar agreement in 2023.
Energy minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said on July 31 that pipeline operator Kaztransoil and Russia’s Transneft are negotiating a 25% increase in the capacity of the pipeline that links Russia to China, via Kazakhstan. Russia has been using Kazakhstan’s pipeline network, with an annual capacity of 10 million tons, to ship oil to China.
Dina Smailova, the head of the NeMolchi.kz foundation, also known as Dina Tansari, said on July 29 that she was granted the status of political refugee in Montenegro, where she has lived for years. Smailova had been under pressure from the authorities in Kazakhstan and was briefly detained in Montenegro in April.
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