The Week in Kazakhstan: Fever Pitch

FC Kairat to play in the Champions League, the Constitution turns 30

FC Kairat to play in the Champions League, the Constitution turns 30

FC Kairat, an Almaty-based soccer team, qualified for the first time in its history to the Champions League group stage after beating Scotland’s Celtic Glasgow on August 26. UEFA, the European soccer federation, held a lottery draw on August 28, which set world-renowned teams such as Real Madrid, Inter, and Arsenal as Kairat’s early adversaries. Kairat is the second team from Kazakhstan to ever qualify for the Champions League group stage, after FC Astana managed the feat in 2015.

A court in Almaty issued on August 26 a non-custodial sentence against five defendants accused of “attempting to organize a mass riot” ahead of last year’s referendum about the construction of Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant. The five had been in custody since September 29 last year. [Read more here.]

At its routine meeting, the Central Bank kept interest rates at 16.5%, despite calls for lowering the rate. On August 29, the regulator said annual inflation at 11.8% did not allow for a rate cut.

The Central Bank also revised its growth forecast upwards to 5.5-6.5% for 2025, while keeping next year’s forecast within the 4-5% range. On August 26, the ministry of economy said its forecast for GDP growth next year improved to 5.4%.

Around 60% of all car purchases in the first half of 2025 were facilitated by bank loans, the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan reported on August 29. The value of car loans increased by 53% to 1.3 trillion tenge ($2.4 billion).

Alibek Zhamauov was appointed to head the national company Qazaqgaz on August 29. Prior to the move, Zhamauov had served as vice-minister of energy for two years. He replaces Sanzhar Zharkeshov.

The Atyrau regional ecological department filed an appeal to reinstate the 2.3 trillion tenge ($4.4 billion) environmental fine against NCOC, documents revealed on August 25. Earlier in August, a court in Astana had overturned the fine against the consortium of trans-national oil companies operating the Kashagan offshore oil field. The fine has become a bone of contention between the government and the companies, among which Italy’s Eni and Britain’s Shell.

On August 21, a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York charged Maxim Larin with an eight-count indictment for his involvement in a scheme to illegally export weapons parts and accessories from the United States. Larin, a resident of Plantation, Florida arranged to send these weapon parts to other countries, “including Kazakhstan, which serve as transshipment points for materials destined for Russia,” the US Attorney’s Office said in a press release. Larin now faces 20 years in prison.

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will fly to China on August 30 to attend the annual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In the city of Tianjin, in northern China, Tokayev will meet with some of his Central Asian counterparts as well as the presidents of Russia and China.

The Kasteyev Museum in Almaty closed its doors until December, the administration said on August 27. The national museum will undergo restoration works. Almaty is growing into a culture and arts center in the region, as a new modern art museum and a center for contemporary culture will open their doors in September.

On August 30, Kazakhstan celebrates 30 years since the adoption of the Constitution. The document was approved by referendum at a time when the legislative body had been disbanded in the wake of then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s struggle for power. [Read more here.]

This weekly will take a break next Friday and return to you the following week.

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