Nazarbayev urges Russia to participate in Kazakh privatization program

    President Nazarbayev on Tuesday invited Russian companies to participate in the Central Asian nation’s mammoth privatization program, which seeks to reduce the state’s presence to 15 percent of the economy.
    “About 800 state-owned enterprises, with a value of $10 billion, will be transferred to the competitive environment. Sales are to be conducted in different ways, from a simple auction to direct sales to strategic investors. I think that Russian companies will actively participate in this event,” Nazarbayev said during the XIII forum of interregional cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia.
    The Kazakh president also encouraged Russian companies to play an active role in the work of the country’s planned international financial center, which will have its own jurisdiction based on British principles of rights to use and the introduction of the principle of investment residency.
    “The Astana International Financial Center will start work on Jan. 1, 2018. This center will be located at the site of the Expo 2017 complex,” Nazarbayev said.
    The Kazakh leader noted that the capital’s financial center will provide significant benefits to investors as there will be no obligation to pay corporate tax or taxes on income, land and property.
    “The financial center will have a simplified visa and labor regime. We invite Russian companies to take an active part in the work of the Financial Center,” Nazarbayev said.
    Nazarbayev also proposed to his Russian counterpart that the two nations benefit from their strategic geographical location through the joint development of the transport system and logistics.
    “The transportation industry must be one of the pillars of economic development,” Nazarbayev said, noting that only 0.10 percent of commercial transport between Asia and Europe passes through Russia and Kazakhstan.
    Putin, for his part, told the forum that Russia would continue its efforts to boost trade and return to the path of growth and sustainable development with the help of the business communities of both nations.
    “For Russia, Kazakhstan is a strategic partner and ally. Our cooperation is multifaceted and comprehensive, and growing steadily in all directions,” Putin said.
    Around 6,000 companies, cooperating in virtually all sectors of the economy, have been created jointly by the countries, the Russian president said.
    “Last year, Kazakhstan was visited by about 150 branches of Russian companies. Kazakhstan is the second-largest trading partner of Russia among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” Putin said, according to Akipress.