Debts owed by power plants to QazaqGaz Aimaq for commercial gas have reached 72 billion tenge, reports infohub.kz.
The largest debtor remains the Mangistau Atomic Energy Combine (MAEK) in Aktau, with a debt of 28.6 billion tenge, according to Nurlan Zhumagulov, an oil and gas industry analyst and author of Energy Monitor.
He noted that over the first six months of 2026, MAEK's debt increased by approximately 20 billion tenge. For comparison, at the end of 2025 it stood at 18 billion tenge.
Untimely settlements with power plants are reflected in QazaqGaz's financial results. The company's gas trading remains unprofitable: in the first half of 2026, this segment posted a loss of 119.5 billion tenge.
At the same time, losses from gas sales are offset by revenues from logistics and transit. For January–June, net profit from this segment amounted to 162 billion tenge.
Overall, QazaqGaz's consolidated net profit for the first half of 2026 was 42 billion tenge, down 62% year-on-year.
"One of the main reasons was the increase in the cost of purchased gas. Over the year, expenses for its acquisition rose by 31%, from 436.1 billion to 570.5 billion tenge. In particular, imports of Russian gas increased amid reduced supplies from TCO and KazRosGas," the analyst notes.
Meanwhile, the annual increase in wholesale prices for commercial gas by an average of 33% has not yet allowed the company's gas trading to become profitable.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that QazaqGaz allowed an increase in supplies from Russia amid declining production at Tengiz and attacks on the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant, which processes Kazakhstani raw materials from Karachaganak.