Kazakhstan’s government picked Russia’s Rosatom on June 14 to build the country’s first nuclear power plant. Almasadam Satkaliyev, the head of the Atomic Energy Agency, told Vlast that the selection process was purely based on a competition among some of the most experienced players in the sector. Satkaliyev also hinted that the government viewed favorably the possibility that China National Nuclear Corporation could build a second NPP.
The Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) announced on June 16 that Dodo Pizza, Russia’s largest pizza restaurant franchise, had moved its headquarters to Kazakhstan. Dodo Brands, the British Virgin Islands-registered owner of Dodo Pizza, was reportedly enticed by favorable legal and fiscal conditions.
State-controlled Kazinform reported on June 19 that the foreign shareholders at the Karachaganak gas and condensate field requested an additional payment of $1 billion to start work on a $3.5 billion gas processing plant. The ministry of energy said these conditions had become unacceptable and froze the project.
Should the Russian government fail to confirm in time the construction of a coal-fired power plant in the northern city of Kokshetau, Kazakhstan could build it alone, deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said on June 17. “There is a delay with export financing,” Sklyar said, adding that state-owned Samruk Energo could take the lead in the project. Last year, Kazakhstan signed an agreement with Russia on the construction of three new coal-fired power plants in Kokshetau, Semey, and Oskemen.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Kazakhstan on June 16-17 to meet with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as well as the other Central Asian heads of state. The second China-Central Asia summit followed the inaugural meeting in Xi’an in 2023. After a bilateral meeting with Xi, Tokayev proposed to create a cargo terminal in the port of Kuryk together with China to enhance the much advertised Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.
China’s TBEA will build a solar power plant and a coal-fired thermal power plant in Alatau, a new urban agglomeration in the Almaty region. The agreement was signed on June 16 during the Power Central Asia + China forum. Kazakhstan’s government is actively pushing for a rapid development of infrastructure for Alatau, a city that is poised to become a special economic zone and a transport hub.
On June 19, Sayasat Nurbek, the minister of higher education, advised students from Kazakhstan enrolled in the US to “clean up” their social media accounts in order not to become a target of the recent crackdown against student activism. In recent weeks, US President Donal Trump ordered more stringent controls on foreign students.
A leak of personal data surfaced on June 16 on social media, containing private information of more than 16 million Kazakhstanis. Two days later, the ministry of digital development said the leak was “old” and had already been under scrutiny. The leaked data is current as of May 2024.
New legislative amendments could soon be adopted by Parliament, including a ban on wearing clothing in public places that prevents facial recognition. The ban, adopted in the Senate on June 19, could directly impact women wearing religious headscarves.
Fresh amendments to financial monitoring are poised to put non-profit organization under the looking glass. New provisions, adopted by the lower chamber of Parliament on June 18, would put the Financial Monitoring Agency in charge of checking suspicious transactions linked to non-profits.
A 64-year-old resident of Aktobe won a court claim on June 20 that recognized him as a victim of political repression during Soviet times. The man was a student at the Kazakh National University in Almaty during the student protests of December 1986, which were violently quashed in what became known as the Zheltoksan events.
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