The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. has announced the expansion of its luxury hotel chain in the CIS with the development of the first hotel in Kazakhstan, an oil-rich post-Soviet republic in Central Asia. The 145 room hotel, owned by a subsidiary of Capital Partners L.L.C., is located in the 37 storey Essentai Tower within the mixed use Esentai Park development project in Almaty, the biggest city of Kazakhstan, which includes an extensive shopping mall, a Fitness Club and residential complexes. The hotel, located in the center of the city, will offer Club and Suite accommodation together with over 10,000 square feet of meeting facilities.
The 10th session of the Kazakhstan-China Joint Commission on the use and protection of transboundary rivers was held in Astana, the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture reports. According to the department, during the meeting the sides highly appreciated the results of work performed for the further advancement of the Kazakhstan-Chinese cooperation in the use and protection of transboundary rivers. The sides noted the progress in the preparation of agreements on water sharing between the two countries. “Also, participants of the meeting discussed the joint construction and operation of hydropower on rivers. The 2013 joint plan of the Commission approved at following the meeting,” the statement said.
In near future 13 ecological stations will be opened at the entrances to Almaty. Almaty traffic jams and pollution are well known. During the recent meeting the President instructed Almaty authorities to take measures to improve the environmental situation. At the meeting on improvement of Almaty transport system, the mayor Akhmetzhan Yesimov said the President had approved the transport development program. Other measures for improvement of the environmental situation are to be taken. A trolley bus park will be provided with another 195 vehicles. By the end of 2013, the municipal bus park will have another 400 buses running on gas. Thus, their number will triple. It is also planned to organize municipal taxis to regulate the market, compete with cab drivers, and to improve the quality of public transport.
Agromash Holding comes to the final stage of preparation on welding and painting of cars, which is an important phase of the project of assembling the domestic Nomad SUV, the press office of the holding reports. This project is a part of the investment program of capacity utilization of the former Kostanay diesel plant. The company’s management is planning to launch a new line by the end of this year. The new equipment will increase the production of SUVs up to 25, 000 units per year. The plant representatives noted that the unique equipment for Kazakhstan will meet all requirements and quality standards. In February, the Agromash Holding plant JSC is expected the highly qualified specialists from South Korea, Italy, and Russia, who will control the process of installation and commissioning of high-tech equipment for welding and painting of Nomad cars.
Russian airline S7 Airlines announces the opening of flights from Novosibirsk to Shymkent and back, the press service of the airline. The flights will start from April 5, 2013, flights will be conducted on Fridays. Flights to Shymkent will be performed on liners Airbus A320, designed to carry 158 passengers in economy and business class. It should be noted that the fifth city of Shymkent Kazakhstan, which flies S7 Airlines. The airline operates scheduled flights from Moscow to Pavlodar and Ust-Kamenogorsk, Novosibirsk and Almaty.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a loan of $196.5 million to Kazakhstan to rebuild and expand the road connecting Shymkent City to the Uzbek border. The expanded road will boost regional trade by facilitating the transit of goods and passengers. The project will also encourage the growth of private sector companies in carrying out related engineering and maintenance contracts.
