GOVERNMENT: Kazakhstan to reduce tax burden on oil companies
Head of State has held consultations with Prime Minister Karim Massimov. Massimov confirmed that the society is actively discussing the presidential elections. Prime Minister received instructions from President Nursultan Nazarbayev to pursue and bring to a logical conclusion the state programs. The President stressed that it will also give more confidence to investors. K. Massimov noted that holding of early presidential elections will contribute to the successful implementation of "Nurly Zhol" program as well as activities under Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy. First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev has held a regular meeting of the Interagency Commission on regulation of business. The IAC meeting was attended by members of the Kazakh Parliament, heads of central government bodies, the National Bank and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs. They discussed the issues of reduction of administrative barriers for business by decreasing the documents to 50% in accordance with the request of the President. In particular, they reviewed and approved proposals of the Expert Group on reduction and simplification of 134 permits of the Interior Ministry, the MCS, the MES, and the NB and other government agencies. Summing up the meeting, Bakytzhan Sagintayev emphasized the importance of implementing the President's goal and also gave a number of relevant orders. The Ministry of Energy considers 6-7 proposals on construction of the fourth oil refinery, First Deputy Minister of Energy Uzakbai Karabalin said. According to him, the oil refinery should be located in a region with a lot of consumers, because the prices rise because of transportation as well. Secondly, there should be pipelines not to transport oil by rail, which also adds up to the price. He stressed that if the oil prices continue to decline, the gasoline prices will continue to fall as well. The Government has appointed the Minister for Investment and Development Asset Issekeshev the investment ombudsman. Its tasks include consulting services, resolving problems on the Rights of investors, assisting in litigation. Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Berdibek Saparbayev chaired a meeting on improving labor mobility. The meeting was attended by heads of central and local executive bodies. During the meeting they discussed issues of migration, distribution of internal migration flows and balanced supply and demand of labor. In order to align the regional economic and demographic imbalance, they announced measures to increase the mobility of citizens within the framework of the "Roadmap of employment 2020", as well as to develop educational infrastructure in the northern and eastern regions of the country. After the meeting, B.Saparbayev instructed state agencies to improve internal labor mobility and reduce labor market imbalances. Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Vladimir Shkolnik put forward a candidature of Toshiba Westinghouse to build the nuclear power station in Kazakhstan. According to him, the meetings with all world producers of nuclear power stations like Canada, USA, China, France, Japan, and South Korea were held at the level of the government to select the best candidature.