Bi-Weekly Economic News Summary

KAZAKHSTAN - In Brief 30 May 2024 by Evgeny Gavrilenkov

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May 16 President: Kazakhstan and China have the potential to increase annual trade turnover between the two countries by a factor of 2.5 compared to 2023, i.e., up to $100 bln. Oil transit: Oil pumped through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in Jan-Apr 2024 amounted to 9.6 mln tons, from which 19% (1.8 mln tons, up by 22.5% y-o-y) was the oil transit from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. May 17 Government: Kazakhstan and Malaysia have signed cooperation agreements (in the area of Islamic finance, trade, food industry, mining, gold processing and production of technical oils) worth more than $350 mln. May 18 Government: In 2024, Russia plans to increase the sugar quota for Kazakhstan by another 100K tons to 220K tons. May 20 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): The Russian Foreign Minister Mr. Lavrov, took part in the meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers in Kazakhstan. KMG: In 1Q24, the company increased oil and gas condensate extraction by 1.7% to 503K bpd, and its extraction of gas production grew by 4.6% to 2.5 bcm. Fitch: The agency has confirmed Kazakhstan's rating at BBB with a "stable" outlook. Energy Ministry: In 4M24, oil and condensate extraction in Kazakhstan decreased by 0.8% to 30.2 mln tons. Bereke bank: Qatar's Lesha Bank acquired Kazakhstan's Bereke Bank (former subsidiary of Sberbank in Kazakhstan) for $146.6 mln. May 21 Ministry of Trade: Kazakhstan intends to increase exports of manufactured products to China up to $12.5 bln (i.e., by a factor of 2.5). KMG: The company has extended the current contract for the supply of Kazakh oil to Germany (Schwedt refinery) until the end of 2024 in the amount of 100K tons. May 22 Government: China's Fujian wants to...