50 largest companies of 2019: Forbes Kazakhstan
Coal producers had the strongest revenue, but there is also a Shymkent airline among the growth leaders.
Substantially Kazakhstani economy has adapted to the crisis, it can be proven by sound financial position of private companies. From 2015 to 2018, the total revenue of the top 50 doubled - from 2.9 trillion to 6.58 trillion tenge, in dollar terms - by 45.4%. Stagnation in dollar terms was observed only in the hardest year for the economy in 2016, when GDP was kept in the positive zone only with the help of a massive infusion of money from the National Fund. In 2018, the top-50 total revenue grew to $ 19.09 billion from $ 17.37bln tenge in 2017, despite the average national currency rate drop from 326 tenge to 344.7 tenge per US dollar. At the same time, mining and oil and gas companies traditionally benefiting from the devaluation of local currency accounted for only 20% of the list. In total, 41 participants increased their revenue over the year, and only 9 decreased. Interestingly, there were only four mining companies in the top 10 of the fastest growing companies, the rest - retail, construction, electricity, engineering and even air transportation.