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  "publishedAt": "2026-05-15T11:50:00.000Z",
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  "textContent": "President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkhat Mirziyoyev visited a new mosque built in the southern city of Turkestan on May 15. The mosque, billed as “a personal gift” from Mirziyoyev for what Kazakhstan calls “the spiritual capital of the Turkic world.” A 2023 investigation revealed that the family of shadow businessman Khabibula Abdukadyr was involved in the construction.\n\nTokayev appointed on May 8 Murat Yergeshbayev as the new governor of the southern Kyzylorda region. The former MP replaced Nurlybek Nalibayev, who was named deputy Prime Minister on May 6. The post of deputy PM was left empty by the departure of Roman Sklyar, who was named head of the Presidential Administration on May 5, replacing Aibek Dadebai.\n\nAdilet, a new political party, held its first congress in Astana on May 7. It boasted endorsements of around 10,000 signatories and picked Dadebai as the chairman. After his dismissal as the head of the Presidential Administration, presidential aide Aibek Smadiyarov said that Tokayev asked Dadebai to “do some political work.”\n\n**Environment**\n\nKazakhstan is set to establish a national operator responsible for handling nuclear waste. On May 13, the Majilis, the lower chamber of Parliament, approved a bill that would also ban the storage of radioactive waste produced abroad.\n\nThe Stepnogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine, a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom, which owns a 49% stake in two of the largest uranium mines in Kazakhstan, will face fines regarding its financial obligations related to past environmental violations. The company operates lots 6 and 7 at the Budenovskoye field in the Sozak district in the southern Turkestan region. [_Read our reportage and investigation from the “Uranium Steppe.”_]\n\nDuring a press conference on May 14, activists from the “Save Kok-Zhailau” group called for the government to scrap the Almaty Mountain Cluster project. The activists cited its environmental risks and potential legal violations. The government maintains that the project will boost tourism.\n\n**Energy**\n\nScheduled maintenance at the Kashagan field will force a reduction in oil shipments through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, sources told Reuters on May 14. The month-to-month reduction will amount to around 20% to 1.45 million barrels per day between May and June, the sources said.\n\nZhaikmunai, a subsidiary of London-listed Nostrum Oil and Gas, lost its case on 13 May 2026, in which it challenged tax claims for the years 2018 and 2019. The company said it will appeal the decision.\n\nKazakhstan plans to stop electricity imports from Russia next year, deputy energy minister Sungat Yessimkhanov said on May 12. Kazakhstan plans to add new capacity to bridge the current energy deficit.\n\n**Labor, Economy, and Society**\n\nAn explosion at a Kazzinc plant in Oskemen resulted in three casualties. Two workers were killed by the explosion on May 5, while another died of complications a week later. Industrial accidents routinely claim workers’ lives.\n\nA new report by the World Bank, announced on May 13, said that Kazakhstan’s GDP growth is poised to slow to 4.6% in 2026, down from a 6.5% growth in 2025, which coincided with the completion of the expansion of the Tengiz oil project. By 2028, the Bank said, GDP growth should stabilize at around 3.5%.\n\nMPs from the ruling Amanat party asked the government on May 13 to either restructure or liquidate the state-owned Non-Performing Loan Fund. Audits showed weak results in the management of distressed assets and toxic loans.\n\nThe pre-trial detention of civil activist Sanzhar Bokayev was prolonged for another month, his lawyers told Radio Azattyq on May 14. Bokayev was arrested on March 18 on suspicion of spreading false information and embezzlement.\n\nOn May 8, a court extended the extradition arrest of Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev, who was detained in May 2025 in Almaty at Russia’s request. In 2022, Movlayev fled Russia to Kyrgyzstan and then crossed into Kazakhstan for fear of deportation. He sought political asylum in Kazakhstan, but his case has yet to be decided. [_Read more about Russian activists being detained in Kazakhstan here._]\n\nAfter almost a decade of delays, cost overruns, and corruption cases, Astana’s light rail transit will start taking passengers on May 16. The LRT will connect the airport to the main train stations, running through some of the most trafficked areas of the capital. According to the city administration, this could relieve some of the traffic jams during rush hour.\n\nThe hosts of the Kazakhstan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale said on May 11 that they did not demand the removal of artist Asel Kadyrkhanova’s work. Kazakhstan’s ministry of culture previously said that the work was removed in part due to a clause in the contract with the Museum that hosts the pavilion. [_Read more here_.]\n\n**Central Asia**\n\nKyrgyzstan’s General Prosecutor’s Office ordered on May 12 that the trial against former national security committee head Kamchybek Tashiev be classified. Tashiev is being accused of abuse of office and plotting a coup. He was dismissed from his post in February and he is currently not allowed to leave the country.\n\nOn May 13, Uzbekistan kicked off a large-scale privatization process. The Uzbek ministry of economy and finance sold in an IPO around 31% of the National Investment Fund, raising around $600 million, in a deal that values the company at $1.95 billion. The Fund is a shareholder in large state-owned enterprises, including Uzbekistan Airways, Uzbekhydroenergo, and Uzbektelecom. The interest of large investment brokers contributed to the offering being oversubscribed.\n\n_This weekly covers May 5 – May 15._\n\n**Sign up for our English-language newsletter.**",
  "title": "The Week in Kazakhstan: Take It Lightly"
}