The recent establishment of a special judicial panel to review investment cases or disputes – which formally began work early this year – was another sign of the country’s sprint to attract major international investors.

The energy ministry. said Kazakhstan produced 21.1 million tonnes of oil and gas condensate in the first quarter of 2021, in compliance with the country's obligations under OPEC+ deal.

The IMF has approved the disbursement of $111 million to Georgia under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to support the ex-Soviet country's economy and help it to strengthen resilience to shocks.

Central bank governor Yerbolat Dosayev said the introduction of new COVID-related restrictions may slow down economic growth in Kazakhstan by 0.5 percent to 3.2 percent in 2021.

The assertiveness with which the government of President Ilham Aliyev is purging certain figures suggests a degree of post-war confidence that previous "untouchables" - once too thorny to confront on the backdrop of a war situation - are now fair game.

Fitch Ratings has revised JSC TBC Leasing's (TBCL) outlook to "stable" from "negative", while affirming the company's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BB-' and Support Rating (SR) at '3'.