Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 15
Trend:
Privatization of Kazakhstan's national companies may begin in the second half of 2018, said Kairat Kelimbetov, the manager of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).
"Next year the Samruk-Kazyna JSC together with national companies will start very ambitious privatization programs. For almost two years, Samruk-Kazyna wants to privatize such companies as Air Astana, KazMunayGas, Kazatomprom and many others. We think that such privatization will start in the second half of next year and we hope that this will happen on the AIFC platform," Kelimbetov said at a round table for the diplomatic corps in Kazakhstan Nov.15.
He noted that the AIFC is currently "working on some pillars, such as the capital market."
"We hope that we will be able to restart this market in Kazakhstan, and this will also concern privatization in Kazakhstan," he said.
Kelimbetov further noted that the international presentation of the AIFC will be held on July 5 2017, but it will operate from January 1, 2018.
He noted that the AIFC will consist of several bodies, including the Exchange, which is being created together with foreign partners, including NASDAQ and Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Last year, the National Economy Ministry of Kazakhstan published an expanded list of objects subject to privatization in 2016-2020. The 65-item list includes companies of Samruk-Kazyna's subsidiaries, such as KTZ, KMG, Kazatomprom, Samruk-Energo, Baiterek, and KazAgro. There are about 700 companies in the list.