The Week in Kazakhstan: Loud Silence

The National Security Committee (KNB) issued on May 22 an arrest warrant against Frank Monstrey, a Belgian businessman.The KNB opened an investigation two days before in Astana, without disclosing the nature of the case.Between 2004 and 2017, Monstrey held a stake and a managerial position in Zhaikmunai, an oil company operating in the north-west of the country, later renamed Nostrum Oil & Gas.An OCCRP investigation in 2018 revealed that companies tied to him were the source of around $440 million, which was subsequently invested in real estate and businesses in the United States.The Supreme Audit Chamber reported several budgetary shortcomings on May 21.According to the Chamber, in 2025 budget revenues fell short of the target by 335.3 billion tenge ($700 million), due, in part, to an “overly optimistic forecast of tax revenues.” The Chamber also criticized the inefficient use of budget funds last year, noting an increased inefficiency compared to 2024.Askarbek Yertayev, the minister of labor, said on May 18 that it will only allow pension savings withdrawals up to around 20% of the total accumulated sum in the coming weeks.The government is curtailing the withdrawal of pension contributions, according to age groups.On May 19, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed into law the bill that allows the killing of stray or abandoned animals that go unclaimed for more than five days.The bill, which does away with the earlier capture-vaccination-sterilization-release policy, had been harshly criticized upon its adoption in parliament.Nurlan Sauranbayev, the minister of transport, said on May 19 that unfavorable market conditions led the government to postpone the planned IPO of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the national railway company.Just weeks before, the government had announced preparations for an upcoming sale of shares.The dispute resolution court at the Astana International Financial Center ruled on May 20 in favor of Ukraine’s Naftogaz, allowing the company to pursue a $1.4 billion arbitration award against Kazakhstan-based assets owned by Russia’s Gazprom. [Read more here.] A joint investigation by Vlast and Belgium’s RTBF unveiled a network of a fake investment scam across Europe.The investigation, published on May 20, showed that the websites used to lure residents of Belgium, Germany, and other countries to invest across fake platforms were built by a Kazakhstani designer.