- Thursday, 2 April, 2026
- Almaty 48 °F / 9 °C
- Astana 30 °F / -1 °C
ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev held his annual end-of-year news briefing covering a broad range of areas from the situation in Ukraine to Kazakhstan’s economic stimulus package,...
HELSINKI – As Finland celebrated the Day of the Peacemaker last month, The Astana Times interviewed former President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari to talk...
ASTANA – Recognising the need to help build a more efficient and sustainable civil society in Kazakhstan, members of the Kazakh Parliament, representatives of various government ministries,non-governmental...
ASTANA – The government of Kazakhstan will allocate 178 billion tenge (US$977.75 million) in 2015 and a further 143.3 billion tenge (US$787.14 million)in 2016 from the country’s...
In recent decades, Kazakhstan has become a rightful member of economic society. Moreover, our country is always advancing its leadership in all directions: political, economic and other...
Skiing is a sport that is popular around the globe and Almaty is quickly becoming known for its world-class skiing facilities. This city ringed by snowcapped peaks...
The recent 3rd International Conference on Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons has shown an encouraging trend – the growing realisation by the world community of the urgent...
ASTANA – Miquel Riera, the international sport director of FC (Football Club) Astana 1964, seeks to promote Kazakh players in Europe, especially in Spain. He has worked...
ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev held his annual end-of-year news briefing covering a broad range of areas from the situation in Ukraine to Kazakhstan’s economic stimulus package,...
VIENNA – While attending the third International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna from Dec. 8-9, artist Karipbek Kuyukov made a lasting impression...
ASTANA – An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Kazakhstan recently commended the state’s actions to advance the economy’s potential through additional fiscal stimulus from the National...
The Astana EXPO 2017 National Company and Belarus Republican Union of Tourist Organisations signed a memorandum of partnership during the Dec. 11-12 visit of a Kazakh delegation...
“The number of the prison population in Kazakhstan reduced by 4 percent,” Kazakh Deputy Prosecutor General Zhakip Assanov said at the Dec. 12 second forum on prison...
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov held a meeting with Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda on Dec. 15. They discussed bilateral trade and economic cooperation, including...
A total of 13,543 property legalisation applications amounting to 103.3 billion tenge (US$562.86 million) had been received by Dec. 11 by the local executive commissions charged...
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so said the Chinese philosopher Laozi . He was a wise man. For those who heeded his...
ASTANA – Among the numerous nationalities that live in Kazakhstan, there is a very small community that has lived through some of history’s darkest times to preserve...
ATHENS – Greek government and Athens city officials joined more than 300 guests at Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens on Dec. 15 to celebrate the Kazakh Day...
The company Digital City Showcases recently announced the launch of its new Urban Infokiosk project, which will install self-service, touchscreen information terminals in shop windows that will...
ASTANA – At a regular government meeting on Dec. 4 led by Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov, improving Kazakhstan’s standing in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) was...
ASTANA – Astana Akim (Mayor) Adilbek Dzhaksybekov explained to the public on Dec. 11 some of the features of the city’s 36 new public buses. The new...
ASTANA – The Dec. 14 7th Winter Charity Ball at Radisson Hotel Astana raised 13 million tenge (US$70,815) for educational programmes for children from orphanages and low-income...
A new high school opened on Dec. 9 in the 12th district of Aktobe is expected to address three-shift education in the region and allow students from...
ASTANA – Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov and his Chinese counterpart, Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang approved and signed $14 billion worth of accords on...
ASTANA – The Kazakh language is now among the offerings of the Google Translate online global translating system, founder and director of theWikiBilim Public Foundation Rauan Kenzhekhanuly...
ASTANA – Kazakhstan “strongly condemns the act of terrorism committed in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Dec. 16,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in...
ASTANA – Several important memoranda, including a memorandum to deepen atomic cooperation, were signed Dec. 14 during the official meeting of the Kazakh-Chinese Council, where Kazakh Prime...
WASHINGTON, DC – Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov visited the United States on Dec. 10-11 to meet with top American officials to advance bilateral relations and discuss...
ASTANA – The heads of the governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) states met in Astana’s Palace of Independence on Dec.15 to examine ways to deepen...
Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan won the gold medal in dual moguls at the freestyle skiing World Cup races Dec. 13 in Ruka, Finland. Galysheva finished ahead of...
ASTANA – Rixos President Astana held a Friend’s Party for partners and colleagues Dec. 11 as a way to show gratitude for their camaraderie and cooperation. The...
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will lend the equivalent of $30 million in the local currency, the tenge, to Kazakhstan’s Eastcomtrans rail company to...
Italian government and business leaders expressed interest in EXPO 2017 during a Dec. 9-10 visit to Rome by Kazakh First Deputy Foreign Minister Rapil Zhoshybayev. During the...
The Big Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD) project concept was presented Dec. 9 to British investors at the headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)...
The Civil Service Reform Project, an EU-funded project with an overall budget of 4.6 million euros, has delivered seminars on best practices in civil service management in...
President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited on Dec. 4 South Kazakhstan and its capital Shymkent, which is Kazakhstan’s third most populous city and is expected to become a national...
ASTANA – Kazakh President NursultanNazarbayev highlighted the importance of government backing for innovative research Dec. 8 when he attended a conference on the issue in the TechGarden...
ASTANA – Stefano Ravagnan, Italy’s new ambassador in Astana, has plans to reinforce and formalise his country’s long-standing engagement with Kazakhstan, expanding the two countries’ traditional energy...
ASTANA – Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) and ALSTOM signed an agreement Dec. 5 for the latter to purchase an additional 25 percent stake in EKZ, its Kazakh locomotive...
French President François Hollande visited Astana and Almaty on Dec. 5-6. This is the third visit of a French president to Kazakhstan, after François Mitterrand in 1993...
ASTANA – French President Francois Hollande commended Kazakhstan for “successfully pursuing its goals in economic development” and playing “an important political and diplomatic role” that allows Astana...
BANGKOK – Kazakhstan and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) signed a new trust fund agreement Dec. 3 that provides...
Foreign ministers from Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) participating states assembled in Basel on Dec. 4-5 for the annual Ministerial Council meeting to assess...
ASTANA – Twelve young football players from Astana travelled to Soria, Spain, from Nov. 1 – 10 to play in the first Spanish-Kazakh youth football tournament. The...
ASTANA – Astana doesn’t lack for snow or cold weather, but with a paucity of slopes, one would be forgiven for thinking skating or cross-country skiing the...
The ninth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage reviewed new strategies to implement its goals and report on the status of eight...
GAITHERSBURG, MD – The International Science and Technology Centre (ISTC), a multigovernment nonproliferation programme established in 1992, is moving its headquarters from Moscow to Astana’s Nazarbayev University...
ASTANA – The London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting improving energy efficiency in Kazakhstan by facilitating foreign direct investment in the refurbishment of...
ASTANA – Publisher Marat Akmedjanov took his first steps in the industry with a magazine intended to draw tourists to his native Uzbekistan. Now he’s at the...
President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said that the fate of peoples who don’t honour their own histories will always be in doubt. Olzhas Suleimenov, prominent poet, social and...
“Seventy-seven percent of children pre-school education in Kazakhstan,” Minister Aslan Sarinzhipov said at a Nov. 28 extended collegium of the Ministry of Education and...
Kairat Abdrakhmanov and Carlos Agostinho Filomeno das Nieves, the permanent representatives of Kazakhstan and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively, to the United Nations, signed a joint communiqué...
On Nov. 25, Prime Minister Karim Massimov took part in a Senate meeting. During discussion of the law On the National Budget for 2015-2017, Massimov answered a...
First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev chaired a Nov. 27 regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund. The meeting...
Kazakhstan’s cultural heritage includes a long line of nomadic traditions. For thousands of years, nomadic herders have survived in the extremely cold winters and scorching summers of...
The Atyrau Paralympic wheelchair volleyball team won bronze at a Dec. 1 international tournament in Germany and player-coach Bauyrzhan Takhauov was voted captain of the team. The...
INCHEBURUN STATION, IRAN – In a major development with implications for regional trade and global politics, the presidents of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran launched a railway line...
It is easy to understand why protecting the environment does not figure high on the agenda of many developing economies. When poverty casts such a dark shadow...
Almaty-born Kazakh racer Lyubov Andreyeva, who recently turned 18, is hopeful about next year after the Nov. 26 season finale in Sochi, Russia. In her debut year,...
Kazakhstan’s famous figure skater Denis Ten set a new personal record in the short programme at the Nov. 24 regular Grand Prix in France, gaining the best...
Some 43 countries in the world are landlocked: 15 in Africa, 14 in Europe, 12 in Asia and two in South America. This list contains all the...
In my many years of translation work, an important place is taken by the work of my long-time friend, the undeniably gifted writer Zholtai Zhumat. Over a...
The 25th session of the Energy Charter Conference kicked off in Astana on Nov. 27. During the event, authoritative representatives of the world’s energy elite discussed pressing...
ASTANA – Astana’s Technology Commercialisation Centre (TCC) announced its latest round of grant winners, which include projects Lead Expert Erik Azulay described as world class, at a...
On Dec. 2, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) celebrates its national day. In 1971, after unification, the United Arab Emirates managed to transform themselves from desert areas...
The fall in oil prices and the decisions made at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is causing severe ripples throughout the world economy. So...
On this auspicious day, we would like to wish all of you (and ourselves) a happy fourth birthday to The Astana Times! The first issue of The...
Concerning the latest video: references to natives of Kazakhstanoperating in Syria and Iraq have been made before. Over the year and a half since the first videos...
ASTANA – The future of the international energy market and global energy management systems, as well as a review of Kazakhstan’s energy saving and energy efficiency policies,...
ASTANA – TOUCHka Ltd. has developed a mobile application, TOUCHka, which is an analogue to the Uber application in Europe and America. The application allows Astana and...
ASTANA – Global consulting giant McKinsey introduced its upcoming book “No Ordinary Disruption: The Four Forces Breaking All the Trends” at a press conference in Astana’s Marriott...
ASTANA – “Uly Dalanyn Kemenger Galymy” (Brilliant Scholar of the Great Steppe), an exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Doctor of Historical Sciences Kemal Akishev, opened...
ASTANA – There has always been enough room for all nationalities within the multi-ethnic and multicultural community of Kazakhstan. Throughout history, Kazakhs have demonstrated tolerance and compassion...
Poets, writers and literary critics from Kazakhstan and Russia met in Moscow on Nov. 26 for the first time in 25 years to talk about common problems...
ASTANA – The construction of a residential area using green technologies has begun in Astana, Chairman of the Board of the Samruk Kazyna Real Estate Fund Bolat...
ASTANA – Construction for Affordable Housing 2020, the national housing programme, will begin Jan. 1, First Deputy Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev announced at a Nov. 20 meeting...
Almaty’s Kairat defeated Aktobe 4:1 on Nov. 22 to claim the Kazakh Football Cup in Astana Arena. Aktobe scored first in the 19th minute, but Kairat’s Yury...
ASTANA – A group of 75 college students in Astana, Almaty and Ereimentau (150 kilometres northeast of Astana) had a unique opportunity recently to receive innovative training...
ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan publicly confirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties and friendly cooperation in Central Asia during the official visit of Uzbek leader Islam...
Showing pictures of deserts and ships standing on rocks, British rock group Pink Floyd has released a new music video highlighting the problems of the Aral Sea...
Members of Kazakhstan’s government presented the country’s most recent report on Kazakhstan’s implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment...
ASTANA – The role of civil society was discussed Nov. 19 during the regular session of the Commission on the Fight against Corruption under President Nursultan Nazarbayev....
ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed hope that the Czech Republic will assist Kazakhstan in building an economy that does not depend on natural resources during...
ASTANA – The Diplomatic Christmas Charity Bazaar , one of the biggest events of the holiday season, is just around the corner and bazaar Organising Committee Chairperson...
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry held a roundtable Nov. 21 to introduce the country’s policy to improve the investment climate and priority sectors of the domestic economy...
The newest “Golden Voice of the Turkic World” belongs to Kazakh singer Zhanar Dungalova, winner of the recent Turkvision Song Contest. The competition was organised within the...
ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev took part in a roundtable on industrialisation issues held Nov. 20 in the Akorda presidential residence, covering the results Kazakhstan achieved...
The Aral Sea has a grand history in Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region and was once one of the four largest lakes in the world, covering...
ASTANA – Verdi’s masterpiece “Aida” premiered Nov. 19 on the stage of the Astana Opera. Preparation took just over a month, as the staging involved all the...
The MolProduct milk factory in Petropavlovsk has increased its output to 60,000 tonnes since the beginning of the year. “We produce 25 sorts of milk with different...
ASTANA – President of the Swiss Confederation and Chairperson-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Didier Burkhalter visited Astana Nov. 20-21 to discuss...
ASTANA – A mobile messenger service unique to Kazakhstan Aitys (iTys) was presented by the Foundation for Development of the State Language at a Nov. 19 briefing...
Dear readers, During the almost four years that The Astana Times has existed, foreign ambassadors, diplomats and officials at the offices of international organisations in Kazakhstan have...
ASTANA – Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) launched on Nov. 18 in Almaty and will run through Nov. 23. The week, begun in 2008, is intended to spark...
ASTANA – Kazakhstan is a multicultural country with more than 130 nationalities living within its borders. The Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (APK) helps these ethnic...
Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili when the latter officially visited Kazakhstan. At a Nov. 12 meeting, Massimov and Garibashvili discussed...
“Under the law on improvement of conditions for business, the number of procedures during the registration of enterprises will be reduced by three times,” said Minister of...
ASTANA – The Sixth Economic Forum of National Business Expert-200-Kazakhstan organised by the rating agency Expert RA Kazakhstan (RAEX) and the Expert Kazakhstan magazine was held on...
ALMATY – The third Open Central Asia Book Forum and Literary Festival was held in Almaty from Nov. 14 to 17, featuring contests, film screenings, book launches,...
“Work on establishing high technology productions for export in Special Economic Zone Seaport Aktau continues,” said Akim (governor) of the Mangystau region Alik Aidarbayev at a Nov....
