Photo: Nurlan Urankhaev – Akim of Abay region at a briefing January 30, 2022
Russian Copper Company (RMC) is planning to invest approximately one billion dollars in the construction of a mining and processing plant and the development of the Aidarly copper deposit in the Abay region of Kazakhstan. The Akim of the region, Nurlan Urankhaev, has announced that 560.5 billion tenge will be allocated from the budget for the development of two copper deposits and the construction of a mining and processing plant. The plan also includes the development of the Zhanarskoye groundwater deposit, but the investor for this project has not yet been identified. RMC is owned by Russian entrepreneur Igor Altushkin, who, in order to avoid sanctions, established the “RCC Holding Company” and divided the shares so that no one had a controlling stake. This company is most often operating in Kazakhstan through the Aktobe Copper Company branch. The Kazakh government has been attempting to create favourable conditions for the relocation of foreign companies that had left the Russian market. Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov announced that 19 foreign companies based in Russia had relocated to Kazakhstan. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry has stated that they are not actively involved in Russian companies, but they are subjecting them to a three-level test. If the founder or head office is under sanctions, then their presence in Kazakhstan will be limited due to the difficulty of conducting financial transactions and services in banks.