Bi-Weekly Economic News Summary

KAZAKHSTAN - In Brief 09 Jul 2025 by Evgeny Gavrilenkov

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Jun 25 Parliament: The Mazhilis (lower house) of the Parliament has finally approved the new Tax Code as amended by the Senate. The new Code introduces a progressive personal income tax scale: a salary of up to a specially introduced “monthly indicator” equal to 8500 per year (currently about KZT33.4 mln), will be taxed at 10%, and 15% over this amount. The Senate also proposed maintaining the current tax relief for non-residents on income from trading government securities. The 20% VAT rate originally proposed by the government has been reduced to 16%. Jun 26 British Energy Institute: Kazakhstan reduced oil production by 2.7% y-o-y in 2024, and increased gas production by 0.7% y-o-y. Government: Kazakhstan will build an airport near the border with China (in the Zhetysu region) for $0.5 bln in cooperation with German investors. Jun 27 Atomic Energy Agency: By the end of 2025, Kazakhstan plans to sign an intergovernmental agreement with Russia to construct the first nuclear power plant. The cost of the project is estimated at $14 bln. Construction will be completed in 7 years. Government: Mongolia and Kazakhstan target a ten-fold increase in bilateral trade turnover (to $500 mln) in the years to come. KMG: The company has launched the first stage of a project to produce "green" hydrogen in Atyrau (in Western Kazakhstan). Jun 30 Foreign Ministry: The Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan and Russia discussed cooperation, including regional and international agendas. Ministry of Transport: The former head of Temir Zholy (a national railway company) Mr. Sauranbayev has been appointed Minister of Transport. Foreign investments: China's ZiJin Mining has signed an agreement to pur...