BKS Forthcoming Events:

                         The British-Kazakh Society

'Celebrating the New Year plus 20 Years of the BKS' House of Lords Dinner

We have had an excellent response to our invitation to attend our prestigious New Year dinner in the House of Lords on 9 February 2022.

However, at this point, and due to high levels of COVID19 omicron variant, we are concerned about the health of our members and guests. Therefore, after careful consideration we have decided to postpone the dinner. At the moment we are aiming to hold the dinner in the week commencing 21st March 2022, and your reservations will be valid for the new date. We will let you know the new date as soon as confirmed.

We assure you that the dinner will eventually take place, however, we are very happy to offer you a full refund, if the new date is not convenient.

Yours sincerely,

British-Kazakh Society Team

Previous BKS events:

BKS Special Webinar 

'Rebuilding Confidence in the Business and Investment Community in Kazakhstan'

On January 21st, the British-Kazakh Society hosted a special webinar with the two respected Ambassadors - Joint-Presidents of BKS - HE Erlan Idrissov and HMA Kathy Leach.

The Republic of Kazakhstan and its people recently experienced an unprecedented situation. In this webinar, the two fellow Ambassadors – the two Honorary Presidents of BKS addressed this topic, expressed their professional opinions on it gave a broad answer to the questions from the audience. 

As mentioned previously, this webinar was conducted under Chatham House Rules and therefore no recording is available. However, we are planning to host a similar briefing event with our Ambassadors next month. We will keep you posted. 

Recent BKS Webinars:

Covid19 Rules for Foreign Travellers Arriving to Kazakhstan:

• Travellers need to show a coronavirus free PCR certificate issued within three days prior to arrival in Kazakhstan.
• From 3 December 2021 travellers from countries (including the UK) where the new Omicron variant was detected or those who visited these countries in the last 14 days must self-isolate upon arrival in Kazakhstan for seven days. 
• Travellers entering Kazakhstan who test positive for coronavirus currently need to self-isolate for 14 days. 
• PCR test certificate must be in English, Russian or Kazakh languages.

News About Kazakhstan / UK:

Kazakhstan:

On 19 January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appointed Ruslan Jaksylykov as a new Minister of Defense. Tokayev requested the newly appointed Minister to buy modern military equipment (click here).

On 19 January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev issued a decree creating Special Forces Unit (click here).

On 21 January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with representatives of local businesses. There is a large income inequality and social stratification in the country. He prioritized the following areas: fair competition, transparency, government policy predictability, fair taxation, social responsibility of entrepreneurs and decrease of government participation in the economy. He also critisied Samruk-Kazyna Wealth Fund and suggested its reformation (click here). 

On 21 January, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov announced that KazMunaiGas, QazaqGas and Air Astana are planning 2022 IPO. Samruk Kazyna is planning to privatize 40 companies (click here). 

On 22 January, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov held a government meeting on helping businesses which were affected by the unrest. 351 properties were damaged around the country. 1,591 local businesses (97% of them located in Almaty) suffered GBP 167 million in damages (click here). 

On 24 January, Chairman of 'Samruk-Kazyna' Almasadam Satkaliyev announced 50% job cuts from 248 people to 124 people. He dismissed Samruk Kazyna Invest General Director Aslan Sultanov, Samruk Kazyna Construction Chairman of the Board Bolatkan Sandykbayev, Samruk Kazyna Contract General Director Almas Akylov and Samruk Kazyna Business Service General Director Serikbek Elshibekov (click here). 

According to official statistics, as of 24 January, 1,157,681 people have been infected with Covid-19 in Kazakhstan, 993,940 people recovered and 13,142 died.

United Kingdom:

On 22 January, Richard Meddings CBE has been confirmed as the new Chair of NHS England (click here).

Upcoming changes to UK COVID-19 international travel restrictions (click here). 

£61 million joint funding will help accelerate renewable energy deployment that reduces UK exposure to volatility in global fossil fuel prices (click here).

According to the official statistics, as of 24 January, 15,953,685 people have been infected with COVID19 in the UK, 12,404,968 people recovered and 153,916 died.  

We welcome the following new members:

We would be glad to receive any feedback. Any suggestions and contributions with news of Kazakhstan and British-Kazakh relations are welcome.

Yours sincerely,

BKS Team