A delegation of Kazakhstani parliamentarians headed by Senate Speaker Dariga Nazarbayeva is participating in the meeting of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in Saint Petersburg.

Taking the floor at the Conference on Countering International Terrorism, the Senate Speaker said that international terrorism had been one of the most pressing problems of the...

peaker of the Senate of the Kazakh Parliament Dariga Nazarbayeva met with Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly Valentina Matvienko

During the meeting, Dariga Nazarbayeva noted strategic character of the Kazakh-Russian partnership and the two countries' role in development of economic integration on Eurasian space.

"We highly appreciate...

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has received today Minister of Foreign Affairs Beibut Atamkulov.

The Head of State was reported on the results of the Ministry's activity in Q1 2019 and plans for the nearest future. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed out the importance of raising effectiveness of Kazakhstan's investment policy and promotion...

First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - the Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev has received today Minister of Defense Nurlan Yermekbayev.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was reported on the course of fulfillment of the instructions given at the last sitting of the Security Council. The Minister also reported on the current...

Majilis Speaker Nurlan Nigmatulin has met on April 18 with Deputy Chairman of the Committee for International Affairs of the Russian State Duma Anatoly Karpov.

At the onset of the meeting, the sides discussed the most relevant issues of Kazakh-Russian partnership in many spheres. Speaker Nigmatulin stressed that Russia is Kazakhstan's...

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in an extended meeting of the board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, reports the press service of Akorda.

Head of the Presidential Administration B. Sagintayev, Assistant to the President - Secretary of the Security Council K. Kassymov, First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister...

Cooperation in the finance and banking sectors was reviewed at the 40th meeting of the Eurasian council of central (national) banks in the town of Mir, Grodno Oblast, BelTA learned from the information and public relations department of the National Bank of Belarus.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the...

The American Heritage Foundation’s Research Centre annually publishes a report on the economic freedom of countries around the world. The Index of Economic Freedom is a combined indicator that assesses the level of economic freedom that forms the corresponding rating.

Countries are ranked by 12 quantitative and qualitative indicators in four...

As of the end of March 2019, the international reserves of Kazakhstan decreased by 11.8% compared to the same period a year earlier, and amounted to $27 billion.

Such a reduction in foreign exchange reserves in the corresponding period was the most significant in recent years. A more noticeable decrease by...

The inflow of foreign investment in Kazakhstan in 2018 decreased by $1.3 billion. According to the International Investment Position, the country received $160.3 billion last year, which is $1.3 billion less than in 2017.

Most investments in Kazakhstan came from the Netherlands. Last year, $67.7 billion was transferred from this country....

In January-March 2019, the volume of investments in fixed assets amounted to 2.1 trillion tenge, which is 7% more than in January-March 2018.

In three months, the volume of construction and overhaul of buildings and structures amounted to 860.3 billion tenge.

While 556.4 billion tenge was spent for the purchase of new...

Based on results of trades on the spot-market:

- weighted average US dollar rate with settlements T+1 in tenge (USDKZT_TOМ) made up KZT379.25 per US dollar at the trades volume of USD52,090 th.;

- on US dollar with settlements Т+0 and T+2 in tenge no deals were made; at the session close...

The U.S. dollar gained on Thursday on strong retail sales data, while the euro was dented by weak manufacturing data in the region.

U.S. retail sales increased by the most in 1-1/2 years in March as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles and a range of other goods, the latest indication...

The upcoming IPO of KazMunayGaz will be focused on attracting retail investors, Murat Temirkhanov, acting chairman of the board of Halyk Finance, said. “Samruk-Kazyna has a very clear decision to focus specifically on retail investors, in order to raise the investor base. There will be in many ways similar to...

In January-March 2019, loading oil into tankers in the port of Aktau using the capacities of KazTransOil amounted to 501 thousand tonnes, which is 7 thousand tonnes less than in the corresponding period of 2018, the press service of the company reported.

Consolidated oil turnover of KazTransOil in the first quarter...

According to the ministry, sending gas to third countries is unprofitable, because the approved export customs duty rate outside the Eurasian Economic Union is $168.88.

"It is economically unprofitable and will not allow Kazakhstani products to compete for export markets with Russian fuel. Therefore, work is underway to reduce rates. The...

Construction of the Saryarka gas pipeline in Kazakhstan will be completed in December 2019 according to the schedule. It will originate from the Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent gas pipeline.

Part of the construction and installation work is already running. Major construction work will be completed by the end of 2019. Commissioning is planned for...

From March 6 to April 15, 2019, the Gazprom Group pumped 1.4 billion cubic metres of gas coming from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan into underground storage facilities in Europe. As a result, the volume of active gas groups in storage in Europe grew to 6.4 billion cubic metres.

By the...

At a working meeting of the Chairman of the Board of Gazprom Alexey Miller and the Acting Head of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov, the parties discussed the gasification of the republic.

It is noted that the level of gasification of Bashkortostan, which os bordered by Kazakhstan with which it shares a number...

The volume of oil pumped through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in the first quarter of 2019 amounted to more than 8.15 million tonnes. This is 1.3% lower than the same period of 2018.

In January-March 2019, the BTC pipeline pumped 8 million 150.2 thousand tonnes of oil, which is 81.5% of...

Europe’s demand for Russian gas, which includes supplies from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, in order to pump it into underground storage facilities will be significantly lower than in previous years, Gazprom said, attributing the trend to warm weather. Traditionally, European consumers start filling their storages with gas in early spring.

The...

Kazakhstan’s benchmark Urals crude’s differentials in northwest Europe lost 35 cents a barrel to dated Brent on Thursday, with only one deal completed, while traders expect ample supply of the grade in May.

Urals crude loadings from Russia’s Baltic Sea ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga for May 1-10 were set at...

Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as a drop in crude exports from OPEC’s defacto leader Saudi Arabia and a draw in U.S. oil inventories supported prices, while the strengthening dollar and weak equities kept futures in check.

Brent crude futures were at $71.70 a barrel by 11:24 a.m. EDT...

The British wholesale day-ahead gas price fell on Thursday due to warmer weather and lower demand expectations but signs of possible reduced flows from Norway in the future prompted prices further along the curve to rise.

Day-ahead gas fell 0.85 pence to 35.40 pence per therm by 0820 GMT.

The weekend gas...

Kazakhstan's refined copper output rose 10.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, while refined zinc production fell 2.9 percent and crude steel output was down 2.7 percent, Statistics Committee data showed on Wednesday.

London-listed copper miner KAZ Minerals and Glencore's Kazzinc account for a large part of Kazakhstan's metals...

The National center for integrated processing of mineral resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan said that the total amount of investment in new production of the mining and metallurgical and chemical industries in Kazakhstan and abroad will be more than $ 2 billion in the coming years.

"The Karaganda plant of...

The Astana International Exchange (“AIX”) is pleased to announce that on 17 April 2019 ordinary shares (the “Shares”) of Polymetal International Plc (“Polymetal”) have been listed. Polymetal shares will be traded under the ticker POLY with quotation and settlement in US dollars, and will be fully fungible between LSE, MOEX...

ChTPZ Warehouse complex supplied 300 tonnes of EVRAZ large diameter pipes to the Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant. Products manufactured at the Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant, which is part of the ChTPZ Group, will be used for the technical re-equipment of the enterprise.

Under the terms of the tender, ChTPZ Warehouse Complex...

Gold inched up on Thursday, recovering from near 4-month lows it hit early in the session after data showing euro zone businesses were under pressure reignited concerns about global growth, but a stronger dollar capped its gains.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,274.44 per ounce by 1237 GMT, having...

Zinc prices sank to a one-month low on Thursday after inventories in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses climbed and weak manufacturing data in Europe took the shine off base metals.

Base metals prices had jumped in the previous session after upbeat GDP data from top consumer China but fell on Thursday...

Inflation in March of this year was 4.8% by March 2018. Prices for foodstuffs increased by 6.7%. For comparison, non-food products have risen in price only by 6%, services by only by 1.2%.

In the first quarter, food prices increased by 6.4% yoy, although the overall inflation rate was 5%. For...

By April 18, spring sowing of grain in the south of Kazakhstan was performed on 343.3 thousand hectares, which is 2.4% of all planned areas. Last year to this day in the southern regions of the country 262.2 thousand hectares were sown with grain.

As indicated in the summary of the...

The Ministry of Agriculture offers banks to use agrarian receipts as collateral when lending to farmers. This proposal was made by Vice Minister Rustem Kurmanov.

According to him, the development of the industry requires financial resources for which farmers do not have enough collateral.

"Therefore, the issue of introducing a new financial...

In January-February 2019, exports of wheat and meslin from Kazakhstan amounted to 1.2 million tonnes. Compared to the same period in 2018, this volume increased by 12.5%. The total value of delivered wheat was $213.8 million. Revenue from export of goods increased by 27.9%.

The largest volume of grain was shipped...

As of April 18, Kazakhstan planted spring spiked grains throughout the areas of 343.3 thsd ha, or 2.4% of the planned figures (14.344 mln ha), declared the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In particular, to date the following southern provinces of the country started planting grains: Jambyl (183.1...

China soybean futures edged up on Thursday to hold above a 2019 low touched the day before, as investors weighed prospects for a U.S.-China trade settlement against bumper South American crops and the impact of swine fever on Chinese feed demand.

Trading was subdued as investors awaited weekly U.S. export data...

The KASE index ended the day with a moderate decline by 0.85%, continuing the downward trend in the increased trading volumes. Note that over the past two sessions, the KASE index sank by 3.5%, having lost a third of the advantage gained since the beginning of the year. At the...

Officials from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Hungary have gathered to discuss developments on efficiency of Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor.

The 4th Meeting of the Ministers of Transport of the Turkic Council was held on April 17 in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek.

In his opening speech, Turkic Council Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev emphasized...

The number of POS terminals used in Kazakhstan totaled 138,900 at the end of February, up by 6.9 percent year-on-year, reports Profit.kz. About 93.9 percent of the terminals are used by retail companies, up by 8.6 percent year-on-year to 130,400 units. The number of POS used by banks dropped by...

The Machine Building Plant of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan is the only factory in the Commonwealth of Independent States that produces Caterpillar carrier tractors and this year the company exported its first four tractors to Russia, reports the Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development, Defense and Aerospace Industry press service.

The factory produces...

FlyArystan, Kazakhstan’s first low-cost airline, will launch daily flights from Almaty to Karaganda starting May 2, reported the company press service.

Tickets for the 90-minute flight on a 180-seat Airbus A320 start at 5,999 tenge (US$16) one way, including all airport taxes. FlyArystan offers options such as additional baggage, in-flight catering...

First Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Finance has been appointed Kazakhstan's Representative to the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The decree on appointment of Alikhan Smailov was signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the press service of the Ministry of Finance says.

Reported by Kazinform.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland expanded 8 percent year on year to reach 95.17 billion yuan (about 14.2 billion U.S. dollars) in March, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

During the first quarter, FDI inflow rose 6.5 percent from one year earlier to 242.28 billion yuan, the MOC...

Chinese commercial banks continued to see net foreign exchange sales last month but the volume has narrowed from that in February as cross-border capital flows remained basically stable, the country's forex regulator said Thursday.

Chinese lenders bought around 151.3 billion U.S. dollars worth of foreign currencies and sold 157.5 billion dollars...

The Russian rouble weakened on Thursday as investors awaited a report on Moscow’s role in the 2016 U.S. elections and amid thin trade in Western markets before the Easter holiday.

At 0727 GMT, the rouble was 0.25 percent weaker against the dollar at 64.00 and had lost 0.31 percent to trade...

Russia’s central bank plans to lower its key rate in 2019, but still considers current inflationary expectations to be high, its monetary policy chief said on Thursday, a week before the central bank’s rate-setting meeting.

Speaking ahead of a week of silence before the April 26 meeting, the central bank’s Alexei...

Inflation will remain near the 4% target in Russia during 2019, director of the Central Bank's department of monetary policy Alexey Zabotkin said.

According to Zabotkin, inflation in Russia has slowed thanks to a stronger ruble and the government decision to limit the rise of petrol prices.

According to the Ministry of Economic...

Turan Drilling & Engineering Company LLC, which is a joint venture of Azerbaijan’s SOCAR AQS and KCA Deutag international oilfield services company, will commence drilling operations in early May.

Ramin Isayev, chief director of SOCAR AQS, made the remarks at a briefing in Baku on the activities of the enterprise. He also...

A number of foreign companies have taken Turkmenistan to court over unpaid bills.

After energy prices crashed and Russia, one of the two main gas buyers, halted all purchases from Turkmenistan, foreign contractors started complaining about non-payments. Now, some are taking the government of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to arbitration in an...

Date: April 19, 2019; Source: Bloomberg.com

Energy

Precious and Industrial Metals

Agriculture

Date: April 19, 2019; Source: the National Bank of Kazakhstan