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  "publishedAt": "2026-02-06T13:09:00.000Z",
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  "textContent": "Kazakhstan plans to introduce closer monitoring measures regarding the content of concerts performed by musical artists, both local and foreign, deputy minister of culture and information Yevgeniy Kochetov told the press on February 6. Artists planning a concert in the country will have to agree to refrain from performing songs with lyrics that could be considered illegal, Kochetov said. A similar legal amendment passed on the same day also increased the assessment period for new movies’ distribution from seven to 30 working days. [_Read more about the cinema industry’s fear of increased censorship here._]\n\nConstitution and Its Critics\n\nA letter signed by a number of human rights and civil activists addressed to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was published on January 31, requesting that participation in the drafting of the new Constitution be extended to the wider population. In their opinion, the reform process is being “rushed.”\n\nIllustration: Vlast.kz\n\nOn February 4, a court in Astana ordered that Yermek Narymbay, a political activist and government critic, be placed in pre-trial detention for two months, after he criticized the adoption of a new Constitution in a Facebook post. Lawyer Vasiliy Sadykov told Vlast that his detention is connected with a violation of a previous sentence. In 2015, Narymbay was sentenced to three years in prison for “inciting discord” and was banned from political activity.\n\nJournalists Dina Yelgezek and Zhalgas Ertai reported being visited by the police in their homes after they posted comments regarding the draft Constitution on social media, Radio Azattyk reported on February 4. The same day, news agency KazTAG reported that its website was being selectively blocked by a number of telecom providers. On February 3, one day prior, KazTAG had published a few articles that criticized the changes to the Constitution.\n\nPolice in Kazakhstan asked social media project Til Kespek Joq to delete a video they posted regarding the establishment of the “Article 9” advocacy group, Assem Zhapisheva, Til Kespek Joq’s founder said on February 4. Article 9, a new initiative, is seeking the removal of the Russian language’s constitutional status as an official language, leaving Kazakh as the sole state language.\n\nEnergy\n\nShell’s CEO said during an earnings call on February 5 that the company will pause its investment plans in Kazakhstan in light of a recent legal defeat in an arbitration dispute with the government over alleged contractual violations. Shell holds key stakes in consortia operating two of Kazakhstan’s largest oil and gas fields, Karachaganak and Kashagan, both at the core of ongoing multibillion-dollar arbitration claims. [_Read more here_.]\n\nChina’s Sino-Science Oil and Gas (also known as Geo-Jade Petroleum) signed a memorandum with Kazakhstan’s government on a major unconventional gas extraction project. The project aims to produce up to 1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas from the Sozak field in southern Kazakhstan, Sultangali Kinzhakulov, the director of national investment agency Kazakh Invest, said on February 4. The Chinese company said it is ready to invest up to $7.8 billion dollars in the exploration and development of the field.\n\nOn January 31, the ministry of energy said that operations had resumed at the western Tengiz oil field, one of Kazakhstan’s largest. A power outage caused by an accident on January 18 had resulted in a halt in production.\n\nRussian oil producer Tatneft quit a gas-to-polymer project linked to Tengiz, PetroCouncil, a Kazakhstan-based lobby group said on February 5. The planned plant was projected to process around 153 million cubic metres of butane gas extracted from associated sour gas at the Tengiz field to produce butadiene, a compound used to produce synthetic rubber and fuel additives.\n\nThe Ishim-Astana main gas pipeline, intended to supply Kazakhstan’s northern regions, including Astana, with gas could be online by 2030, ambassador to Russia Dauren Abayev said on February 5 in an interview. For over a decade, the country’s government has sought to fully connect the capital to the national gas network. Connecting Astana to the gas grid has been at the top of the government’s agenda for more than a decade. Under current plans, the pipeline is due to be completed with help from Russia’s state-owned Gazprom.\n\nBusiness\n\nTimur Turlov, the owner of Freedom Holding, said on February 2 that he plans to acquire another bank and a local marketplace in Kazakhstan. To finance these initiatives, the holding company is considering issuing up to $500 million in bonds, Turlov said in an interview with Bloomberg, adding that he aims to buy a bank with assets worth no less than $5 billion in assets and $500 million in capital.\n\nA financial report on Kazakhstan’s Stock Exchange published by Bereke Bank on February 2 also disclosed that Bereke’s ultimate beneficiary is Power International Holding, a major Qatari business conglomerate. Qatar’s Lesha Bank, which acquired Bereke in 2024, acted as an investment vehicle for Power International Holding, according to the documents. In January 2025, Power International Holding also paid $1.1 billion to buy mobile operator MTS, which owns the Altel and Tele2 brands.\n\nHuman Rights\n\nCivil activist Nurzhan Sembayev was detained in the eastern city of Semey on February 3, after allegedly “participating in a banned organization.” Sembayev was detained in 2024 and called as a witness during trials concerning Qandy Qantar, the January 2022 protests that swept across Kazakhstan and were violently repressed by the authorities.\n\nKarakalpak activist Rassul Zhumaniyazov left Kazakhstan to an undisclosed country in Europe, Kazakhstan’s Bureau for Human Rights said on February 5. Zhumaniyazov is the last of about a dozen Karakalpak activists who were detained in Kazakhstan after the 2022 unrest in Nukus. Uzbekistan’s government had asked for their extradition to put them on trial. After lengthy negotiations, all activists relocated to Western countries, except for Rinat Utambetov, who agreed to return to Uzbekistan, where he was later sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.\n\nPolitics and Society\n\nThe Almaty Prosecutor’s Office and taxi hailing app Yandex Qazaqstan will cooperate to assess drivers’ income in an effort to combat child support evasion, the government agency said on February 5. City prosecutor Serik Karipbekov explained that some of the people who fail to pay alimony claim to be formally unemployed, while earning income through digital platforms, including Yandex.Taxi services.\n\nFormer minister of economy Asset Irgaliyev was appointed advisor to the president on February 2. He will retain his post as the head of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms.\n\nSports\n\nElena Rybakina, a 26-year-old tennis player for Kazakhstan, won the Australian Open on January 31. In the women’s singles final game she beat Aryna Sabalenka, currently ranked number one by the World Tennis Association. This is Rybakina’s second Grand Slam win after her triumph at Wimbledon in 2022.\n\nAlmaty will host the 2029 Asian Winter Games after Saudi Arabia's withdrawal, the Olympic Council of Asia said on February 3. Almaty had hosted the Games in 2011. The decision was announced at the Winter Olympic Games in Italy, by OCA President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani.\n\n**Sign up for our English-language newsletter.**",
  "title": "The Week in Kazakhstan: Unwelcome Mat"
}