President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has received newly appointed Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Belarus,  with concurrent accreditation as Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the CIS charter structures Askar Beissenbayev.

During the meeting, the Head of State noted the importance of further development of the cooperation with Belarus, including within the Eurasian Economic Union....

Majilis chairman Nurlan Nigmatulin received the Ambassador of China to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiao.

The parties discussed strengthening of Kazakh-Chinese cooperation, including at the inter-parliamentary level. As Nurlan Nigmatulin emphasized, the bilateral cooperation has reached strategic partnership level. In the interests of the two countries’ peoples, the relations between Kazakhstani and Chinese parliamentarians are...

Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Askar Mamin introduced the new minister, Birzhan Nurymbetov, to the staff of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Head of the Government thanked Berdibek Saparbayev for his work as minister of labor and social protection of the population....

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received Talgat Temenov, artistic director of the K. Kuanyshbaev Kazakh drama theater.

During the meeting, development of theatrical art in the country was discussed.

Tokayev was briefed on the progress of construction in the capital of the new building of the Kazakh State Academic Musical Drama Theater.

Talgat Temenov proposed...

The I Central Asia Youth Festival is being held in Almatyt.

Addressing the opening ceremony, the mayor of the city Bakytzhan Sagintayev proposed to hold the Youth Forum of volunteers and volunteer organizations of Central Asia in Almaty next year.

He emphasized the special role of youth in the development of the...

In January-July 2019, investments in the education sector decreased by 10.2% compared to the previous year and reached only 92.8 billion tenge. The reduction in investment in education began last year, when over 7 months of 2018, the amount decreased by 16.4% on-year, to 103.3 billion tenge.

The share of investments...

For the first half of 2019, 173 billion tenge was sent to Kazakhstan from abroad through international money transfer systems.

This is 17.3% more than in January – June 2018.

Most of the money was sent from Russia at 72 billion tenge, 1.2% more than last year, while the country's share fell...

The number of new active SMEs in Kazakhstan decreased by 6.5% on-year, to 44.7 thousand.

Their share of all operating SMEs decreased over the year from 17.7% to 15.2%.

The largest number of new operating small and medium-sized companies was registered in Almaty at 17.6 thousand, 19.7% more than last year.

On the...

The Kazakh government approved Aug. 20 an expansion of the Astana International Financial Centre’s (AIFC) legal jurisdiction and an investment tax residency programme to attract foreign investment.

The expansion of the AIFC’s legal jurisdiction will allow the centre to adopt acts regulating labour relations and procurement procedures.

“As a part of the...

The Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) announced the closing at 17:00 o'clock, Almaty time, of the trading in instruments of the foreign currency market with settlement on the next business day or on the second business day after the trading day.

Trends in this communication are indicated relative to respective values of the previous trading day. If no deals were made in an instrument or it was not traded on the previous trading day, the trend is not indicated. 22 members of KASE traded in the session.

Posted by Kazinform.

The dollar weakened on Thursday as investors braced for a possible announcement or statement from the Federal Reserve at this week’s Jackson Hole, Wyoming event that would help address the worsening global economic outlook.

Market participants expect the Fed announcement could be a stimulus measure, or an affirmation that the U.S....

The AIFC Expat Centre is now servicing the requests of foreign investors and experts to issue or replace their driving licenses and to perform the registration of vehicles. 

It all came possible with the active support of the MIA’s Committee of Administrative Police and the NJSC "Government for Citizens” State Corporation."

The...

Joint-stock (JSC) National Company (NC) KazMunayGas (“KMG” or “KMG Group”), Kazakhstan's national vertically integrated oil and gas company, announces its operating and financial results for the first half of 2019 according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Oil and gas condensate production was down 0.5% year-on-year to 11,704 thous. tonnes (484...

At the end of December 2018, when representatives of Ozenmunaygas checked the fuel and lubricants for storage, the absence of more than 500 tonnes of gasoline and more than 5000 tonnes of diesel fuel in the tanks of Batsha Kuan for a total of 1.2 billion tenge was revealed.

The Department...

Modern aircraft are designed to use Jet A brand fuel, and the Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant is ready to produce it.

“Jet A is the same type of traditional jet fuel, but it has a different fractional composition, sulphur content,” Renat Salikov, head of the production and technical department, said. "There is...

A 40% increase in Gazprom’s quota for natural gas sales through exchange trading endorsed by the Cabinet will make it possible for the Russian energy giant to sell up to 25 bln cubic meters of gas per year at unregulated prices.

The government decree also canceled the parity principle between Gazprom...

OPEC+ countries participating in the Vienna Agreement on the reduction of oil production fulfilled the terms of the agreement by 159% in July 2019, a source told TASS after the meeting in absentia of the OPEC+ technical committee. Participants include Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

At the same time, OPEC countries complied...

Kazakhstan’s benchmark Urals crude oil’s differentials remained unchanged on Thursday, though weak margins weighed on the grade’s values.

Traders expected Urals full preliminary loading plan from Russian ports to emerge on Friday.

Urals refining margins in European refineries remained depressed - at $1.58 per barrel on Thursday compared to $3.45 per barrel...

Oil rose further above $60 a barrel on Thursday, supported by a drop in U.S. crude inventories and OPEC-led supply cuts, although worries about the global economy weighed.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels last week, more than analysts expected. Still, the U.S. Energy Information Administration also said gasoline...

British wholesale gas prices rose on Thursday morning as imports from Norway fell ahead of expected maintenance and unplanned outages continued to curb domestic supplies.

The within-day gas price was up 1.10 pence at 28.25 pence per therm by 0811 GMT.

The day-ahead gas price was up 0.90p at 29.00p therm.

Imports from...

Global trends on switch to low-carbon and «green» economy directly affect the volume of coal consumption in Kazakhstan, according to the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development.

“Notwithstanding this fact the coal industry goes on being one of the most important resource spheres of economy. The percentage of coal industry to...

Gold prices dipped on Thursday as investors locked in profits, with the focus shifting to Friday’s speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole meeting for clarity on the direction of monetary policy.

Spot gold was down 0.5% at $1,494.09 an ounce by 1212 GMT, while U.S....

Copper and other industrial metals prices fell on Thursday as the United States and China exchanged threats in their trade dispute and the yuan slumped to an 11-year low against the dollar.

Investors fear the trade war is undermining economic growth and metals usage. A weaker yuan, meanwhile, makes dollar-priced metals...

In June of this year, when the air temperature rose to + 40 ° C, in Atyrau, as in 2018, blackouts began again.

“In connection with the onset of abnormally hot weather in the Atyrau region, the consumption of electric energy increased sharply. The main source of electric energy generation, Atyrau...

In Kazakhstan, the production of hood-type respirators began under the license of the British AVON Protection. Licensor is the QHSE-Akbarys, a Kazakhstan company, the main activity of which is to supply personal and collective protective equipment for oil and gas projects.

The assembly of AVON NH15K respirators was established in the...

In July, as a result of the harvesting campaign of winter grain crops in the southern regions of the country, according to operational information from the regions, 1,171.4 tonnes of grain were harvested with a yield of 20.3 quintals per hectare. Both productivity and threshing exceeded last year's level. The decline surpassed new harvests. For some crops, for example, for corn and barley, grain reserves were even increased, and the largest expenses were for food wheat. The volume of feed grain increased, including due to its relatively low use in the summer.

Grain stocks at the beginning of the year amounted to 14,465,559 tonnes and decreased over the month by 1,328,793 tonnes or by 8.4%. As of February 1 of this year, Kazakhstan recorded 11867608 tonnes of grain, and stocks decreased by 2,597,951 tonnes or 18%. By March 1, grain stocks amounted to 10,277,759 tonnes and decreased in February by 1,589,849 tonnes or by 13.4%.

As of April 1, the amount of grain decreased to 9,234,499, by 1,043,260 tonnes or 10.2%. As of May 1, statistics recorded 7,840,581 in the republic with a decrease by 1,393,918 tonnes or 15.1%. As of June 1, grain stocks decreased by another 2,546,117 tonnes to 5,294,464 tonnes or 32.5%. By the beginning of the new season in Kazakhstan, 3,991,767 tonnes were recorded with a decrease of 1,302,697 tonnes or 24.6%

In July, grain stocks in Kazakhstan decreased from 3,991,767 to 3,468,869 tonnes, by 522,898 tonnes or 13.1%.

In July, grain stocks by types of crops changed in different proportions. Wheat decreased in July by 478,447 tonnes from 3,333,253 to 2,854,806 tonnes, or 14.4%. Corn increased by 8,576 tonnes from 31,842 to 40,418 tonnes, or 26.9%, while rice decreased by 23,855 tonnes from 81,898 to 58,043 tonnes, or 29.1%.

The amount of barley increased by 2,205 tonnes from 338,284 to 340,489 tonnes or 0.7%, rye decreased 825 tonnes from 6,972 to 6,147 tonnes or 11.8%, and oats by 10,112 tonnes from 65,858 to 55,746 tonnes or 15.4%

Buckwheat decreased in reserves by 3,586 tonnes from 26,841 to 23,255 tonnes, or 13.4%, millet by 913 tonnes from 4,018 to 3,105 tonnes, or 22.7%, and a spike mixture by 479 tonnes from 7,815 to 7,336 tonnes, or 6 ,one%.

Over the June of the 2018-19 season, wheat stocks in Kazakhstan decreased by 1,029,955 tonnes from 4,363,208 to 3,333,253 tonnes or 23.6%, corn by 7,280 tonnes from 39,122 to 31,842 tonnes or 18.6%, rice by 22,877 tonnes from 104,775 to 81,898 tonnes, or 21.8%.

Barley in volume decreased by 182,680 tonnes from 520,964 to 338,284 tonnes or by 35.1%, rye by 560 tonnes from 7,532 to 6,972 tonnes or by 7.4%, and oats by 19226 tonnes from 85084 to 65,858 tonnes or by 22.6 %

Buckwheat stocks decreased by 3,209 tonnes from 30,050 to 26,841 tonnes or 10.7%, millet by 730 tonnes from 4,748 to 4,018 tonnes or 15.4%, cereal mixtures by 3328 tonnes from 11143 to 7815 tonnes or 29.9% .

By Sergey Bukatov for Kazakh Zerno.

As follows from the data of the Statistics Committee of the Ministry of National Economy, for the first half of the year, the export of Kazakh wheat amounted to 3 million tonnes, which is 2.6% less than the volume exported last year.

Tevenue from grain sales grew by 16.2% to $532.9...

According to the regional agricultural departments, as of August 22, in Kostanay region 142.6 thousand tonnes of grain were threshed with 7.8% of the area with an average yield of 4.6 q/ha. This year, steady heat significantly affected the crops of Kostanay farmers and may affect the outcome of the...

The net loss of KazAgro holding in the first half of 2019 amounted to 15.9 billion tenge against a profit of 21.1 billion tenge in the same period in 2018. The company's loss before tax in January-June 2019 reached 13.1 billion tenge, while in the same period of 2018, profit...

Chicago corn futures edged up on Thursday as a widely watched crop tour indicated there could be a drop in yields in Illinois, the second largest corn-growing state. Soybean and wheat prices were also higher.

The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade had risen 0.1% to $3.70-3/4 a...

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy received a net loss in the first half of 2019 in the amount of almost 2.9 billion tenge against a loss of 5.3 billion tenge in the same period in 2018. The company received a profit before tax of 16.8 billion tenge in January-June 2019, while in...

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy placed 15-year bonds at KASE at KZT40 bln at KASE at 2% per annum, the KASE website reported. 40 mln bonds with a face value of KZT1,000 were offered for placement.

All issue volume is posted. This is the first bond issue within the second KTZ bond program...

Starting October 27, 2019, Air Astana will transfer its Moscow flights from Sheremetyevo Airport to Domodedovo, the company's press service said. “The transfer of flights will be carried out without interruptions in the schedule. Changing the airport concerns flights both from Nur Sultan and from Almaty,” the statement said.

According to...

Kazakhstan’s first low-cost airline FlyArystan will expand the number of its flights out of the Sary-Arka Airport in Karaganda in the second quarter of 2020.

The additional flights out of Kazakhstan’s fourth largest city will include 10 to 12 domestic and national routes and are expected to help develop tourism in...

Veon/Beeline Kazakhstan has tapped technology provider Kaltura’s cloud TV platform to deliver its newly-launched TV service, TV Internet Doma.

Beeline Kazakhstan is using the Kaltura TV platform technology to replace a legacy pay TV service and to reach more devices and customers, according to Kaltura.

Beeline Kazakhstan customers can now access premium live...

Singaporean investors hope to invest $200 million in constructing a kindergarten, schools and higher education institutions in the capital, reports the city administration.

The Singaporean company KinderWorld International Group signed an investment project roadmap for constructing kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities in Almaty, Nur-Sultan and Shymkent during the May 16-17 Kazakhstan...

Last week President Vladimir Putin celebrated 20 years in power. We take a look at how the country has been transformed under his leadership by going through the numbers.

On Aug. 9, 1999, Putin was plucked from obscurity and made prime minister. A short six months later Boris Yeltsin stepped down as...

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) reported on Thursday that the nation’s gold and foreign exchange reserves reached $528.4 billion, rising by $1.3 billion in one week.

The amount in international reserves has been above the central bank’s target level of half-a-trillion dollars for 11 consecutive weeks. The regulator explained that...

Renault has begun selling cars online in Russia in partnership with local tech giant Yandex.

Renault said the first car sold by its new online sales platform was the Arkana SUV costing 1.5 million rubles (21,200 euros).

Yandex said the Renault platform was the first such online sales scheme operating in Russia.

Yandex...

The Russian rouble strengthened on Thursday, moving away from a six-month low against the U.S. dollar reached earlier this week, as oil prices edged up and local tax payments buttressed demand for the Russian currency.

The rouble gained 0.3% to 65.52 versus the dollar by 0758 GMT, extending distance from its...

China stocks ended a volatile session higher on Thursday, as gains in consumer companies countered lingering worries over a bruising trade war with the United States.

The blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.3% higher at 3,793.51, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.1% at 2,883.44.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday...

China's central bank pumped 30 billion yuan (about 4.25 billion U.S. dollars) into the financial system Thursday, with less reverse repos maturing than conducted.

The People's Bank of China injected 60 billion yuan into the market through seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.55 percent, with 30 billion yuan...

China has cut red tape to boost healthy growth of enterprises in the raw material sector, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Thursday.

The MIIT has abolished 33 regulations on market access requirements for raw material enterprises, including yellow phosphorus, hydrogen fluoride and tungsten, according to an...

British multinational oil and gas company BP will start drilling operations in the Shafag-Asiman structure in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea in late 2019, where gas reserves may be equal to those of the Shah Deniz 2 field. 

BP plans to complete the first stage of drilling the first exploratory well...

Date: August 23, 2019; Source: Bloomberg.com

Energy

Precious and Industrial Metals

Agriculture

Date: August 23, 2019; Source: the National Bank of Kazakhstan