Global vacancies

Kreston expands into Kazakhstan

January 14, 2008

Finaudit of Almaty, the country’s largest city and former capital has been admitted as a membership of Kreston International.

Jon Lisby , Kreston’s Executive Director reports:

“We are delighted to have secured Finaudit’s membership – the firm is of the highest quality in Kazakhstan . The managing director, Mr Eruel 0. Nurseitov is the current Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Collegium of Auditors; one of the two recognised professional institutes in the country and previously held the position of Chairman of the Kazakhstan Union of Accountants. The number of business referrals has been increasing in recent years and it was essential that we were able to find a suitable firm to represent our members’ interests in this region”.

Kazakhstan ’s trading past dates back to the days of the Silk Road but now the industrial sector’s main focus is the extraction and processing of fossil fuels and minerals.

The country declared independence at the end of 1991 being the last Soviet Republic to do so and has a population of some 16 million. Annual GDP growth since 2000 until the recent downturn has averaged 9% driven by foreign investment in the oil sector. Kazakhstan has attracted 80% of foreign direct investment into Central Asia .

Kazakhstan was among the first CIS countries to promulgate accounting standards and in 2002, the standard setting body took a bold step when it decided to adopt IFRS in its entirety for certain companies. Furthermore, Kazakhstan was one of the first CIS countries to adopt a law on audit activities, which established the concept of auditing standards. As a result, accounting and auditing is more advanced in Kazakhstan than in most other CIS countries and audit law requires obligatory quality control to be exercised by professional associations in respect of their members.

Finaudit’s clients include paper mills, chemical plants, distilleries, companies in the oil and gas sector and, of particular interest, the currency issue factory of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

Daniyar Nurseitov, Director is confident of the positive impact that membership will have on his firm’s continued development and commented “We believe that membership in Kreston will become a key milestone in the history of our firm”.

For further information please contact The International Office