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New International Terminal of Almaty Airport to Open in June

Construction of the new international terminal of Almaty Airport is now 87% complete and is scheduled to begin operations in June of this year, the President of the Istanbul-based TAV Airports Holding, Serkan Kaptan stated during a meeting with the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Alikhan Smailov. The area of the new terminal – initially scheduled to open in August 2024 - will be twice as large as the current building, and will cover 55,000 square meters. Smailov emphasized that the construction of the new international terminal in Almaty is of strategic importance. "We expect that its opening will significantly increase passenger traffic, expand the geography of flights, and provide residents and guests of the metropolis with quality services and a high level of comfort," the Prime Minister stated, as reported by his press service on January 18th. The existing terminal will only be used for domestic flights in the future. At the same time, the potential of both terminals will reach 14 million passengers per year, whilst the volume of cargo traffic passing through Almaty Airport planned to reach 100,000 tons. The Prime Minister added that Almaty Airport should be developed as a fully-fledged multi-modal transport and logistics hub with the inclusion of rail and road transportation, and the investor should take this into account in future plans. TAV Airports is now the beneficial owner of 85% of Almaty Airport and its associated fuel and catering businesses, with Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund, managed by VPE Capital and backed by Kazyna Capital Management holding the remaining 15% stake. Kazakhstan’s main aviation gateway and the flagship carrier Air Astana’s base, Almaty Airport is an important junction on the modern Silk Road. TAV has said it is investing around US $200 million to increase the airport’s capacity to 14 million passengers.

10 months ago

Oil and Gas

Kazakhstan Exported Close to a Million Tons of Oil to Germany in 2023

KazTransOil JSC, the national oil pipeline operator and a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas, says it supplied 993,000 tons of oil to Germany in 2023. Oil from Kazakhstan is transported to Germany through the trunk oil pipeline system of the Russian state-controlled pipeline transport company, Transneft. In January 2024, KazTransOil plans to transport 100,000 tons of oil to Russia for further delivery to Germany. During 2024 as a whole, KazTransOil plans to ship up to 1.2 million tons of Kazakh oil to Germany via the trunk oil pipeline system of Transneft.

10 months ago

Foreign Trade

Russia Reopens Market for Kazakhstan’s Livestock Products

As of January 15th, the Russian Federation has lifted restrictions on the import of livestock products from Kazakhstan. The decision was made following negotiations last December between the Ministers of Agriculture of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, Aidarbek Saparov and Dmitry Patrushev, the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan has reported. “This is an important step for the agricultural industries of Kazakhstan and Russia, which helps strengthen trade and economic ties between our countries,” Saparov stated. The import of Kazakh livestock products to Russia was suspended in January 2022 due to veterinary problems in several regions of Kazakhstan. After a two-year break, the Russian market has reopened to suppliers of livestock products from those regions of Kazakhstan where the vaccination of cattle has been confirmed by the World Organization for Animal Health. In other regions, the vaccination campaign is still ongoing. Saparov pointed to the fact that trade turnover between the two countries is uneven, with imports to Kazakhstan from Russia far exceeding exports. Therefore, Saparov focused on the potential for increasing the supply of Kazakh products to the Russian market. In other news, as Russia is currently experiencing an acute shortage of chicken eggs, the Russian side has asked Kazakhstan to increase the supply of eggs. The issue was discussed on January 17th by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan and Russia, Serik Zhumangarin and Alexey Overchuk. Zhumangarin instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to urgently consider this issue and find ways of increasing the supply to border regions of the Russian Federation. In 2022, Kazakhstan produced more than five billion chicken eggs, 102% of the population’s needs. From January-November 2023, 4.9 billion eggs were produced. During that period, Kazakhstan exported 186.6 million eggs — 114 million to Afghanistan, 70 million to Kyrgyzstan, and 2.6 million to Russia.

10 months ago

EU Cooperation

European Commission Vice-President’s Visit a “New Impetus” to EU-Turkmenistan Relations

On January 17th, a delegation from the EU led by the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas visited Turkmenistan as part of its wider tour of Central Asia, with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan being their previous stops. The visit comes ahead of the Europe-Central Asia Investors Forum, which aims at strengthening connectivity by developing transport routes within and between Central Asia and the European Union. It is also a testament to the growing partnership between the EU and the region, said the Delegation of the EU to Turkmenistan. In Ashgabat, Schinas met with the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, and the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rashid Meredov. At the meeting, key issues such as cooperation in the EU-Central Asia format, the engagement of Central Asian countries in the EU Global Gateway initiative, and the participation of Turkmenistan in the upcoming Investors Forum were discussed. Schinas welcomed Turkmenistan’s efforts in the process of its accession to the World Trade Organization and its commitment to becoming a member of a multilateral trading system, and congratulated Turkmenistan for joining the Global Methane Pledge at COP28 in Dubai. He also underscored the EU's commitment to human rights as a fundamental principle and commended Turkmenistan's engagement in the Annual Human Rights Dialogue. At a press briefing following the visit, Schinas said “I am proud to be the first Commissioner to visit Turkmenistan since the beginning of this European Commission five years ago. Turkmenistan is an important partner of the EU in Central Asia. My visit was an opportunity to discuss Global Gateway, the EU’s main investment strategy with partners worldwide. The Global Gateway is about investing in our mutual interests, and is ideally suited to Central Asia given that it is already the world’s gateway between East and West. It was also an occasion to give new impetus to EU-Turkmenistan relations across the board.”

10 months ago

Bilateral Cooperation

UAE Opens Borders to Tourists from Uzbekistan, Abolishes Visa-Regime

Uzbekistan's ambassador to the Emirates, Abdulaziz Akkulov, and the UAE Deputy Foreign Minister, Khalid Abdullah Belhoul have signed a protocol exempting citizens of both countries from visas requirements. As of February 16th, citizens from Uzbekistan will be able to enter the United Arab Emirates without the need to obtain a visa for up to 30 days, according to information reported on Podrobno.uz. The agreement follows an increase in the number of tourists from Uzbekistan visiting the UAE -119,500 in 2023. A considerable amount of money - $9.2 million was spent obtaining visas to the emirate. In this context, the agreement on increasing visa-free travel can be seen as an impetus for further development of tourism potential between the two countries. Citizens from Uzbekistan can now visit 29 countries without the need of a visa - significant progress for the power of the Uzbek passport. Thanks to this latest addition, Uzbekistan now holds 71st position in the Global Passport Power rankings.

10 months ago