Kazakhstan Business & Economy - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 1454

Telecommunications

U.S. Development Finance Corporation Signals Interest in Tele2 Upgrade in Kazakhstan

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has announced its interest in helping modernize Kazakhstan’s telecommunications infrastructure through a potential partnership with Qatar’s Power International Holding (PIH), which owns Mobile Telecom-Service LLP, operator of the Tele2/Altel brands. DFC Chief Executive Officer Ben Black and PIH President and Group CEO Ramez Al-Khayyat signed a letter of interest and financing proposal in Astana on June 16. The document outlines a proposed partnership to support Tele2’s transition to equipment supplied by “trusted vendors,” a move aimed at improving Kazakhstan’s digital security and supporting the rollout of 5G networks. According to DFC, the proposed investment would help build more secure telecommunications infrastructure for 5G connectivity and digital services. The corporation said it sees Kazakhstan as a key part of the Trans-Caspian Corridor and an important destination for investment from the United States in Central Asia. “This deal will be truly transformative, a game-changer for regional connectivity, and a major step toward building economic momentum in Kazakhstan,” Black said. The announcement follows the completion of the sale of Mobile Telecom-Service LLP, which operates under the Tele2/Altel brands, to PIH Communication LLC, a subsidiary of Power International Holding. According to Kazakhtelecom’s audited financial statements for 2025, cited by Kapital.kz, Kazakhtelecom received the second tranche of the deal, amounting to $25.415 million, on January 22, 2026. The first payment of $700 million was made by PIH Communication LLC on January 16, 2025, bringing the total paid so far to $725.415 million. The planned sale of Mobile Telecom-Service received political backing in February 2024, following talks between Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Kazakhstan’s telecommunications sector is also attracting greater attention from the U.S. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Tokayev met with Black in Astana on June 15 to discuss prospects for expanding economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the U.S. Tokayev described Black’s visit as a continuation of agreements reached during talks in Washington in November 2025 and as a sign of growing U.S. engagement in Central Asia.

Kazakhstan-U.S. Relations

Tokayev and U.S. DFC Chief Discuss Critical Minerals, AI, and Possible Kazakhstan Office

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met on June 15 with Ben Black, chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), as Astana seeks to expand economic cooperation with Washington and attract more strategic investment. The DFC, the U.S. government's international investment arm, mobilizes private capital in support of foreign-policy and economic-development priorities. A permanent DFC presence in Kazakhstan would give U.S. investors and Kazakh authorities a more direct channel for structuring and financing projects in priority sectors. Welcoming Black, Tokayev described the visit as a continuation of agreements reached during talks in Washington in November 2025, and an important step toward deepening Kazakhstan's multifaceted partnership with the United States. Tokayev said relations between Astana and Washington had intensified since President Donald Trump returned to office. "We fully support the bold vision and pragmatic diplomatic approach of the U.S. President. Kazakhstan plays an active role in advancing key American initiatives, including the Abraham Accords, the Board of Peace, the TRIPP initiative, and other projects. Together, these efforts have given new momentum to our enhanced strategic partnership, which is stronger today than ever before," Tokayev said. The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) has become important to Kazakhstan's transport agenda because a southern Caucasus route could broaden options for the Middle Corridor rather than replace existing Azerbaijan-Georgia links. Tokayev added that Kazakhstan's political and economic reforms are aimed at shifting the country from a resource-dependent model to a diversified, knowledge-based economy, and noted that the DFC's investment priorities align closely with Kazakhstan's development agenda. Black thanked Tokayev for the reception and described his meetings with Kazakhstan's business community in Almaty as productive and substantive. Tokayev emphasized the importance of translating political agreements into practical results and reaffirmed Kazakhstan's readiness to implement joint investment projects. The two sides discussed prospects for cooperation in critical minerals, transport connectivity, agriculture, digitalization, and artificial intelligence. They also reviewed the possibility of opening a permanent DFC office in Kazakhstan. The meeting followed several days of U.S.-Kazakhstan critical minerals diplomacy in Astana. The Times of Central Asia reported that the United States convened a C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue on June 10, where U.S. Special Envoy Sergio Gor said Washington saw Central Asia as a partner in diversifying access to strategic materials and highlighted the DFC's potential role in critical minerals, telecommunications, and Trans-Caspian infrastructure. David Fogel, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, told delegates at the Astana Mining & Metallurgy Congress on June 11-12 that Washington was moving "from dialogue to strategic execution" in the region's critical minerals industry. Fogel noted that the United States had brought an unusually large delegation to Kazakhstan, including representatives of more than 20 U.S. companies and senior officials, underscoring growing American interest in the country's mining, metallurgy, and industrial sectors. Those discussions fit Kazakhstan's attempt to move beyond extraction. Astana is seeking to position its mining sector around processing, technology transfer, and higher-value manufacturing, while linking critical minerals to...

Foreign Investment

Iran’s Solico Group to Build Major Cheese Plant in Kazakhstan

Iranian food conglomerate Solico Group will build a large cheese production plant in Kazakhstan’s Almaty region, marking a major step in the country’s efforts to expand value-added agricultural processing. Kazakhstan's Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov and Solico Group President Gholam Ali Soleimani signed the investment agreement for the project, which will focus on deep milk processing and industrial-scale cheese production. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 155,000 tons of cheese, with total investment estimated at 35.2 billion tenge, or roughly $70 million, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Agriculture. Construction work has already begun at the site in the Almaty region, and the plant is expected to be completed and commissioned in 2029. Saparov said attracting strategic investors into agricultural processing remains one of Kazakhstan’s key economic priorities. “President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has tasked the government with increasing the share of processed agricultural products and developing industries with higher added value,” Saparov said. “Kazakhstan’s dairy sector has significant growth potential. In 2025, domestic production of cheese and cottage cheese increased by 13.1%. This project will significantly expand the country’s processing capacity and create a guaranteed market for local milk producers.” He added that the government was ready to provide comprehensive support for investors in priority sectors of the economy. Soleimani described Kazakhstan as a promising regional hub for food production and said the company was considering additional investments beyond the cheese factory. “We view Kazakhstan not just as a site for a single project, but as a long-term strategic partner. The country has strong agricultural potential, a favorable geographic location, and an attractive investment climate. Alongside the cheese plant, we are also exploring projects in potato processing and baby food production.” The agreement includes a broad package of state incentives, including the provision of engineering infrastructure for the production site. Under the terms of the agreement, Solico Group will create at least 400 permanent jobs, provide training for Kazakhstani specialists, and transfer modern industrial technologies and expertise. The company also plans to allocate about 50 million tenge annually from 2028 to 2038 for social initiatives and support for local communities in the Almaty region. The agreement adds to a series of recent Kazakhstan-Iran trade initiatives. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Astana and Tehran said late last year that they aimed to triple bilateral trade to $1 billion in the coming years. Although some joint Kazakhstan-Iran projects were frozen earlier this year because of military conflict in Iran, economic cooperation appears to be recovering. In May 2026, Kazakhstani vegetable oil producers opened a new export route to Iran via the Caspian Sea.

Gold Mining

Kazakhstan Registers Five New Gold Deposits as Jewelers Seek Raw Materials

Citing World Gold Council data, Azamat Panbayev, chairman of the Industrial Committee at Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction, said Kazakhstan ranked 14th globally in gold production last year. He was speaking at the VII Forum of Gold Producers of Kazakhstan held as part of the international Astana Mining & Metallurgy Congress 2026. “The gold mining industry remains one of the strategically important sectors of industry and makes a significant contribution to the country’s economic development,” Panbayev said. “Kazakhstan has a substantial mineral resource base: 374 gold deposits with total reserves of 2,369 tons are currently listed on the state balance sheet. Last year alone, five new deposits with reserves of around 98 tons of gold were added to the state register.” According to the Ministry of Industry and Construction, Kazakhstan produced 71.2 tons of refined gold in 2025, while investment in precious metals production reached $202.6 million, up 38% from the previous year. Gold refining in Kazakhstan is carried out by Tau-Ken Altyn LLP, the country’s only specialized state refinery and a subsidiary of National Mining Company Tau-Ken Samruk JSC. The Astana-based plant purchases doré, a semi-refined alloy containing gold and silver, from gold mining companies and sells gold refined to 99.99% purity. However, only 5% of the raw materials purchased by jewelers in Kazakhstan come from the Astana refinery, said Kanat Baitov, executive director of the Dragnet Association. He estimated that more than 50% of the industry’s raw materials market remains in the shadow economy. “We mine 70 tons of gold every year. If even 20 tons, or at least 5 tons, of that were used for jewelry production, the industry would have real potential,” Baitov said. Kazakhstan has introduced a VAT exemption for jewelers purchasing granulated gold from the state refinery, according to Baitov. “They are ready to supply not only granulated gold but, over time, if volumes increase, they are also prepared to supply alloys to the domestic market and could produce ready-made assay standards for jewelers,” he said, referring to Tau-Ken Altyn. He noted that jewelers would only be able to benefit from the new tax incentives for purchasing raw materials from the state plant if they increased procurement volumes. Currently, by his estimate, purchases do not exceed 30 kilograms per year. He added that such practices could eventually raise questions from the state regarding the origin of the raw materials used by jewelers in Kazakhstan. Zhaniya Dabyr, co-owner of the jewelry company Kazakhyuvelir, said the industry faces several challenges. These include high raw material costs, limited access to financing, the shadow market, insufficient government support, weak promotion in foreign markets, and limited tax incentives. “We propose expanding the mechanism for selling gold to domestic manufacturers and introducing a more flexible system of installment payments, fixing the gold price on the purchase date, as well as considering discounts for domestic producers and additional preferences for export-oriented companies,” Dabyr said. Kazakhyuvelir also proposed creating a digital accounting system for the jewelry market that would cover manufacturers...

Coal

Kazakhstan Coal Exports Hit 7 Million Tons in Q1 2026

Kazakhstan coal exports reached 7.1 million tons in the first three months of 2026, while the domestic market remained the primary destination for the country’s coal producers, Nikolai Radostovets, executive director of the Republican Association of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises, said at the VII Coal Industry Forum. Energy Ministry figures have put Kazakhstan’s 2025 coal production at around 115.9 million tons. Of that amount, 85.9 million tons were supplied to the domestic market, including the housing and utilities sector and thermal power plants, while exports amounted to 30 million tons. Kazakhstan’s main coal export destinations remain Russia, Poland, Uzbekistan, Turkey, India, and Malaysia, Radostovets told participants at the Coal Industry Forum, held as part of the Astana Mining & Metallurgy Congress, AMM 2026. Coal output is expected to rise this year to 128.9 million tons. In January-March, nearly 29 million tons of coal were mined, while exports reached 7.1 million tons, according to industry association data. “One of the key tasks for the industry remains ensuring stable supply to the domestic market, including thermal power plants and the housing and utilities sector,” Radostovets said, whilst also stressing that exports remain a crucial part of the sector’s sustainability. “Exports ensure workload for enterprises, foreign currency earnings, tax revenues and stable production programs. Domestic needs are always prioritized, but exports help maintain overall production levels and the financial sustainability of enterprises,” he said. He also warned that Kazakhstan’s coal exports face mounting transportation risks linked to geopolitical shifts across Eurasia, as well as insufficient capacity in regional logistics infrastructure. To preserve export potential, Radostovets said Kazakhstan needs more predictable tariff-setting by transport operators, expanded alternative logistics routes, improved efficiency at the Caspian ports of Aktau and Kuryk, and stronger intergovernmental coordination on transit issues. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov sought to reassure coal producers that domestic demand for their products is likely to grow in the coming years as the government expands coal-fired power generation. “Against the backdrop of rising electricity consumption, industrial growth and the development of the digital economy, reliable baseload generation is becoming increasingly important. In this regard, the government has approved the national project ‘Development of Coal Generation,’” Akkenzhenov said. The program covers 2026-2030 and provides for the construction of new energy facilities, while expanding or modernizing existing installations. This is expected to create additional demand for around 20 million tons of thermal coal per year by 2030. Kazakhstan’s renewed emphasis on coal reflects a wider tension in its energy policy. The government is seeking a route out of electricity shortages and provide reliable baseload generation for industry, data centers, and other energy-intensive sectors, while also maintaining its formal target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Officials have argued that new coal capacity will be paired with cleaner technologies and modern emissions controls, but the scale of the planned expansion underlines how central coal remains to Kazakhstan’s power system. The national project includes eight new coal-generation facilities, including major projects in Ekibastuz, Kurchatov, and Zhezkazgan, as well...

AMM 2026

U.S. Investors Show Growing Interest in Kazakhstan’s Mining Sector

U.S. investors are showing growing interest in Kazakhstan’s critical minerals sector, with attention increasingly focused not only on extraction but also on processing, metallurgy and broader supply-chain development, according to Nicole Rodgers, president of the U.S.-based Alliance for Mineral Security, an industry group representing companies involved in mining, processing and the use of strategic minerals. Rodgers spoke during the panel session “Investment Climate in Mining and Metallurgy” at the Astana Mining & Metallurgy Congress, AMM 2026, where she emphasized that predictability and regulatory consistency are among the most important conditions for attracting global capital. “In our view, Kazakhstan is moving in the right direction, including by harmonizing regulations with international standards, developing early-stage geological exploration, building industrial clusters and moving toward more sophisticated investment structures,” Rodgers said. “At the same time, American investors are interested not only in extraction, but in participating across the entire value chain.” She pointed to an agreement between U.S.-based Cove Capital and Kazakhstan’s national mining company Tau-Ken Samruk on the joint development of the Severny Katpar and Verkhne Kairakty tungsten deposits in the Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan. Under the deal, the investment package includes plans to build two processing plants and a metallurgical facility, with a total projected value of $1.1 billion. Interest from Washington has also been reinforced at the political level. Speaking at the C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue in June, U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor said Washington intended to play an active role in developing Central Asia’s mining sectors. “Interest in Kazakhstan from American investors is high, but for that interest to materialize in practice, infrastructure, energy capacity and skilled personnel are critical,” Rodgers added. While foreign interest is rising, industry representatives said Kazakhstan’s ability to convert that interest into long-term investment will depend on the consistency of its legal and regulatory framework. Nikolai Radostovets, executive director of the Republican Association of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises, said amendments to Kazakhstan’s Subsoil Code, adopted in 2018, should now be aligned with changes in environmental, water and land legislation introduced in recent years. Ruslan Baimishev, president of the Kazakhstan Mining Chamber, also highlighted the importance of legislative stability, particularly in tax policy, saying investors require consistency in government decisions. World Bank Senior Mining Specialist Remy Pelon said many countries are reforming their mining sectors to meet growing demand for minerals needed for the global energy transition. At the same time, Pelon warned against overcorrection. “Governments must create conditions for the efficient use of mineral resources in the interests of national development, but it is equally important to preserve a balance between industrial policy, openness to new market players and competitiveness,” he said. “That balance is especially important for countries aiming not only to extract raw materials, but also to develop processing, local manufacturing and technological expertise.” Kazakh officials used the forum to underscore recent legal measures designed to improve investor protections. Arman Khassenov, deputy chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Investors’ Rights under the Prosecutor General’s Office,...