Kazakhstan's New Special Status City, Budget Growth, and Putin's Visit

Kazakhstan's Parliament has approved in its first reading a constitutional law granting the city of Alatau a special status. The new city is expected to become a new point of economic growth with a separate business zone featuring tax incentives, simplified licensing, and a "one window" principle for investors. Forty-four projects worth 1.8 trillion tenge have already been announced.

A separate governing body will be created for the strategic management of Alatau, while the local akimat (administration) and maslikhat (council) will retain their functions. The city also plans accelerated development in technologies like artificial intelligence services, digital services, and unmanned transport.

Tax revenues to Kazakhstan's republican budget since the beginning of the year have reached 3.6 trillion tenge. This represents an increase of 900 billion tenge compared to last year, with a growth rate of 133 percent.

The main contributor was Value Added Tax (VAT), accounting for about 1.8 trillion tenge. Of this amount, 1 trillion tenge came from domestic VAT, with the remaining 800 billion from import VAT.

A mass brawl in Shalkar, Aktobe region, resulted in the death of a 17-year-old teenager on the night of March 20. According to preliminary data, a conflict between groups of young people escalated into a fight.

Police have launched a criminal investigation into the incident. All participants have been identified and taken to the police department as circumstances are being clarified.

Kazhydromet has published data on air quality in Kazakhstan for February. Karaganda once again topped the list with very high pollution levels; out of 61 cases recorded nationwide last month, 55 were in Karaganda.

The cities of Satpayev and Abay were also classified as having very high pollution levels alongside Karaganda. Cities with high pollution levels included Almaty, Astana (Nur-Sultan), Ust-Kamenogorsk, and Temirtau.

Kazakh authorities do not rule out indexing wages amid rising global oil prices. Vice Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev stated that increased revenues in the oil and gas sector could boost budget receipts, potentially allowing companies to earn more and raise salaries.

However, he emphasized that it is too early to draw conclusions as oil prices remain unstable and could decline rapidly.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Putin's upcoming state visit to Astana.

"The negotiations in Astana are important for strengthening strategic partnership between our countries," President Tokayev noted during the call.

President Putin agreed with this assessment and highlighted the progressive nature of bilateral cooperation across all strategically important sectors.

Kazakh citizens have encountered issues when calculating vehicle taxes using an online calculator provided by tax authorities. The calculator does not include the vehicle's year of manufacture as an input field, making it impossible to account for previously announced tax benefits for older cars that were part of recent legislative changes.