The Week in Kazakhstan: As You Wish

More gas from Russia, AI film festival in Astana

Central Bank head Timur Suleimenov said on September 15 that three cryptocurrency exchange operators have received licenses in Kazakhstan. So far, their trading volume has reached around 2 billion tenge ($4.5 million) over the past two months. Five more companies are in the process of obtaining licenses.

After direct orders from the new governor of the Atyrau region Bulat Akchulakov, the ministry of ecology said on September 17 that it found evidence of air pollution originating from the oil refinery and sewage treatment facilities. One of Kazakhstan’s three largest oil refineries is inside the city of Atyrau.

Al-Farabi Operating, a joint venture between state-owned Kazmunaigas and Russia’s Lukoil, announced on September 16 that it would exit an oil and gas exploration project in the Caspian Sea and return the license to the government. Established in 2021, the venture did not find oil. Lukoil is also in talks to sell its stake in the Kalamkhas-Khazar project in the Caspian, because of Western sanctions against the company.

Kazakhstan’s ministry of energy said on September 16 that in 2026 it plans to import up to 11 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia. This represents a sharp increase from the 4 bcm imported in 2025 – about 70% of the total imports and 13% of the total domestic consumption, about 30 bcm. For 2027, the plan is to import around 9 bcm, the ministry said.

After his appeal against an extradition to Russia was rejected last week, Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev attempted suicide twice in a pretrial detention center in Almaty, on September 15 and 16. Movlayev was kept in detention for a year and a half while his request for asylum is under consideration. After last week’s decision against asylum, he could be extradited back to Russia. [Read more here.]

Azamat Omarov, a satirical commentator, pled guilty to charges of “inciting social discord” and was released from detention on September 15. Under the terms of his release, he will serve a 3.5-year suspended sentence and a 5-year ban from socio-political activity, including running his YouTube channel Akhual Segodnya. “In bringing these charges against Omarov, authorities succeeded in silencing him,” Human Rights Watch said in a note.

Former banker Zhomart Yertayev was released from prison this week, after completing a multi-year prison sentence for embezzlement. Yertayev led Bank RBK, a mid-sized lender. Former banker, Bakhyt Ibragim, was involved in the same case and sentenced to prison. A few months after his release in 2023, Ibragim committed suicide.

The 2028 winners of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League will face in a Supercup match in Astana, the European football organization said on September 15. This will be the first major UEFA final hosted in Kazakhstan. The 30,000-seater Astana Arena will host the match.

Kazakhstan will host the world’s largest AI film festival on October 1-3 in Astana. According to the organizers, it received around 8,000 submissions.

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