Temirtau, 2 November. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told the Qarmet workforce that the plant has overcome a period of multibillion losses and last year turned a net profit on revenue of 1.1 trillion tenge; 3.5 billion dollars will go into modernisation by 2028, Akorda reported.
The President began with the region: heavy-industry enterprises of the Karaganda region produced goods worth 4.2 trillion tenge, and the country’s GDP this year, he said, will reach 398 billion dollars, “the highest figure in Central Asia”; the share of manufacturing exceeded 14%. “The Karaganda plant is the flagship of domestic metallurgy and the economic pillar of the whole region,” Tokayev said. Qarmet, he said, overcame its losses by optimising costs and attracting investment, and attention is given to digital solutions and to the organisation and safety of work.
On the social side he named the tram in Temirtau, restored at the company’s expense (“I have just ridden the tram and approved this initiative”), and the Bolashakka Zhol programme for training and employing young specialists: at the first stage it will cover about 500 people from different regions. The President expects other large enterprises to join the programme.
On the People’s Construction project, Tokayev recalled that he has declared next year the Year of Great National Construction and that about 6.5 trillion tenge will be allocated to it by the end of 2029. The plant’s output, he said, already goes into passenger buses in Saran, and the new casting-and-rolling complex will make premium steels for the oil, nuclear and machine-building industries; the President signed a commemorative plaque marking the start of its construction.
He addressed business separately: small business will get support, including exemption from inspections for the next three years, and it is necessary to “work on funding for enterprises so as to make loans cheaper”. On stability, Tokayev said that those who wish harm on the country and try to damage Kazakhstan “must and will be held to account under the principle of Law and Order”, and that Kazakhstan will continue to develop cooperation with all neighbouring states.
The President signed a decree on state awards for contribution to industrial development and presented awards to 15 workers of Qarmet, Karaganda Komir and Orken: the Kurmet Order went to Qarmet ladle operator Zeinolla Idrisov and Tentekskaya mine foreman Alexander Izmer; six people received the Yenbek Dancy Order, third class, and seven the Eren Yenbegi Uchin medal. Seven of those honoured work at Qarmet, five at Karaganda Komir and three at Orken.
What it means: The President named the result of Qarmet’s recovery programme, a net profit on revenue of 1.1 trillion tenge, and the volume of investment to 2028, 3.5 billion dollars. In the same speech he tied the plant to the People’s Construction project and declared 2027 the Year of Great National Construction.
Background: In August 2024 Tokayev said at the plant that inviting a domestic investor had been the right decision.
