Kazakh ice cream gets silver in Forbes Russia top 10 new brands rating

ASTANA – Forbes Russia, one of the most popular and authoritative economic rating agencies, has ranked Shin-Line’s Bakhroma ice cream second among its top 10 best new products of...


Kazakh surgeons performed first hybrid cardiac surgery in country, eighth in world

ASTANA – Presidential clinic surgeons performed hybrid cardiac surgery in the capital Dec. 19 for the first time in the post-Soviet space, reported its press service. The operation was...


Astana clinics introduce health bracelets with patients’ medical records

ASTANA – A pilot project involving health bracelets with QR codes has been introduced at capital clinics Nos. 4, 9 and 10. The bracelets provide information about a patient’s...


Mangystau youth receive up to one million tenge for social projects from World Bank

ASTANA – Mangystau region youth have received up to one million tenge (US$2,664) in World Bank grants for social projects, said regional Youth Policy Department head Bauyrzhan Tuyakov during...


Smart locks to be installed in Astana residential complexes

ASTANA – Smart locks will be introduced in the capital’s residential complexes, reports 24.kz. A new mobile application will allow users to access courtyards, parking and apartments with a...


Kazakh housing prices expected to grow 10 percent in 2019, Astana remains highest priced city

ASTANA – Housing prices in Kazakhstan are expected to increase 10 percent in 2019, according to a recent report by the Union of Builders of Kazakhstan. The rising exchange...


Kazakh Healthcare Ministry to set price ceilings for medicine

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Healthcare will set price ceilings on the sale of medicine across all regions in the country, said Pharmacy Committee Head Lyudmila Byurabekova during...


One of Kazakhstan’s 100 new faces trains young sportspeople in rural area

ASTANA – Almas Beissenov, an 18-time winner of the Kazakhstan Athletics Championship, is sharing his experience with young athletes. He works as a coach at a sports school in...


New tax regulation will serve as safety cushion for self-employed Kazakhs

ASTANA – The New Year started with enforcing the Unified Cumulative Payment (UCP) programme for informally employed Kazakh citizens. President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the amendments to the Tax Code...


World Chess Federation Commission admits first Kazakh representatives

ASTANA – Six Kazakh representatives recently gained membership in the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) Commission for the first time, reports the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) press service. Traditionally,...


Kazakh Culture and Literature Centre opens in Tashkent

ASTANA – The Kazakh Culture and Literature Centre opened at the Alisher Navoi National Library of Uzbekistan in Tashkent Dec. 26 as part of the Ruhani Zhangyru (Modernisation of...


Kazakh employment, training programme bring positive results, focuses on competencies for Industry 4.0

ASTANA – More than 500,000 people were employed in an 11-month period in 2018, including more than 368,000 for permanent positions, as part of the Productive Employment and Mass...


Kazakh hockey players

Kazakh junior hockey team wins hearts at World Juniors, retains spot in top division

ASTANA – The Kazakh junior hockey team retained its place in the top division at World Juniors after defeating Denmark 4-0 Jan. 4 in Vancouver, Canada. Team captain Sayan...


Kazakh greenhouse industry faces low demand, competition from Uzbekistan

ASTANA – Kazakh businesspeople establishing greenhouses in the country face competition from Uzbekistan producers and lack of retail availability. While healthy food is trending, the demand for fresh herbs...


Kazakhstan spends more than $5.3 billion to improve housing in last two years

ASTANA – Approximately two trillion tenge (US$5,332,054,000) was invested in housing through the Nurly Zher housing programme over the past two years, with 5.5 tenge (US$0.02) of private investment...


Aktobe archaeological sites can be housed in open air museums, parks, says research centre director

ASTANA – Aktobe has many archaeological sites to be discovered, said Director of the Research Centre of the region’s Department of Culture, Archives and Documentation Aslan Mamedov. Once excavated,...


Kazakh tennis player Putintseva ranks 44th in the world

ASTANA – Kazakh professional tennis player Yulia Putintseva was recently ranked the 44th best player in the world and the highest ranked player in Kazakhstan by the Women’s Tennis...


Astana Ballet launches backstage tours

ASTANA – Astana Ballet has prepared a special gift for residents and guests of the city. The ballet has launched weekly backstage tours, showing patrons what mysteries are really...


Kazakhstan introduces single entry electronic visa

ASTANA – Beginning Jan. 1, Kazakhstan has introduced a single-entry electronic visa for citizens of 117 countries. An electronic business or tourist visa or one for medical treatment will be...


Kazakh manufacturing labour productivity grows 1.2 times, third five-year plan focuses on export-oriented enterprises

ASTANA – Labour productivity in manufacturing has increased 1.2 times during the current industrialisation plan, First Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Roman Sklyar reported Dec. 29. The...


AGF Group increases home textile exports

ASTANA – AGF Group, Kazakhstan’s first specialised home textile manufacturer, has supplied 4.4 billion tenge (US$11.9 million) in products to foreign markets in 2018, increasing export production sevenfold. In...


Mama Pro fund supports mothers of children with special needs, offers entrepreneurship courses

ASTANA – Mama Pro, a public fund which helps vulnerable children and their families, received the Tanym award this year. Launched in 2017, the organisation makes an invaluable contribution...


Kazakhstan aims to improve transparency of law enforcement agencies

ASTANA – The conference on the transparency of law enforcement agencies, held in the capital Dec. 25, served as a dialogue platform between the agencies, non-governmental organisations, lawyers and...


Moviegoers view Central Asia through cinematic lens at documentary film festival

ASTANA – The recent 2018 Central Asian Documentary Film Festival (CADF) in Almaty explored themes of environment, identity and migration in the region. The documentary festival was part of...


Astana Invest contributes to foreign investment growth, focuses on PPP projects

ASTANA – Fixed investment in the capital reached 854 billion tenge (US$2 billion) in an 11-month period in 2018, reported the Astana Invest press service. Foreign investments represented 23...


Kazakh government to increase irrigated land area to 3.5 million hectares

ASTANA – The Kazakh government plans to increase the nation’s irrigated land area from the current 7 percent to 16 percent by 2028, said First Vice Minister of Agriculture...


Astana Opera House stages “The Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake” ballets in Italy

ASTANA – Astana Opera Ballet Company presented Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” Dec. 20-23 at the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genoa. “The audience is amazing. They gave us a warm...


Kazakhstan sets record for beef exports

ASTANA – Beef exports have reached 18,800 tonnes in 2018, 25 percent more than the 15,000 tonnes planned by the Ministry of Agriculture. Almost half was exported by the...


Mazhilis discusses Digital Kazakhstan’s progress in creating smart cities

ASTANA – After examining international practices in building smart cities, the Kazakh government has developed its own concept, announced Minister of Information and Communications Dauren Abayev at a recent...


West Kazakhstan region approves 12 investment projects worth $107 million

ASTANA – A $6 million export-oriented feedlot for nearly 20,000 cattle will be built in the Kaztalovski district in the West Kazakhstan region, the regional press service reports. More...


Kazakh President reshuffles government, appoints new ministers of foreign affairs, defence and aerospace industries, and industry and infrastructure development

ASTANA – In a reshuffle aimed at strengthening the investment attraction and export promotion efforts of the Kazakh government, President Nursultan Nazarbayev reorganised three ministries and appointed new ministers...


Car sales in Kazakhstan jump 25 percent in 2018

ASTANA – Car sales in Kazakhstan increased 25.8 percent from January-November over the same time last year. Dealers sold 52,467 cars totalling $1.3 billion. Of those, 48.2 percent were...


QR codes offer instant information about Astana street vendors

ASTANA – Four-hundred Quick Response (QR) codes have been assigned to street vendors of food, beverage, flowers and souvenirs as part of Social Entrepreneurship Corporation Astana’s programme “1000 Places...


Tajik cultural heritage, local culture awareness encouraged in Kazakhstan, says community leader

ASTANA – Avicenna, Almaty’s Tajik cultural centre founded in 2009, seeks to strengthen Kazakhstan’s inter-ethnic harmony and ensure the preservation and development of the ethnic group’s traditions, customs and...


Programmes seek to attract more medical tourists to Kazakhstan

ASTANA – Medical tourists from 45 countries come to Kazakhstan annually, reported Deputy General Director of the National Centre for Health Development Aiman ​​Iskakova. Ninety percent of them are...


Turkestan’s infrastructure capable to provide facilities on 368 hectares, says city akim

ASTANA – Turkestan is making progress on the three main elements of its Turkestan Major Plan, City Akim (Mayor) Alipbek Userbayev told a delegation of government officials visiting the...


One of Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces promotes Paralympics sports

ASTANA – Although blind in one eye, Kuralbai Orynbassaruly has achieved excellent results in sambo and judo without any concession to his vision impairment. Following his first and only...


External news in brief

Sergei Dvortsevoy’s “Ayka” was revealed to be on the short list for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the...


Business news in brief

Askar Mamin resigned from his position as chair of national logistics company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), and Christian Kuhn was elected to the post, reports Kapital.kz. In addition to...


Economy news in brief

The number of small enterprises in Kazakhstan increased by 2 percent in one month and by 15 percent over the year, reports finprom.kz. At the end of November, the...


National news in brief

Kazakhstan BAB Investment Group will invest 185 billion tenge (US$500 million) to build a recycling plant in Aktobe, the region’s press service reported Dec. 7. The agreement was one...


EU sees direct dependency on Central Asian security, initiates more projects to stabilise region

ASTANA – The European Union (EU), which adopted its Central Asian strategy in 2007, will be redefining the document early next year. Peter Burian, EU Special Representative for Central...


Almaty opens nation’s first inclusive cinema hall

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s first cinema hall for people with autism spectrum disorders opened Dec. 18 at the ADK Shopping Centre in Almaty. The project, organised by the Bolashak Corporate...


Okean Art: school for children with unlimited possibilities

ASTANA – Okean Art is relatively a small school which opens a whole new dimension that can change lives. Thirteen years ago, the school started as a small art...


Local Kazakh foundation expands public access for people with limited mobility

ASTANA – Beginning in January, the Tandau Foundation’s Dostupnyi (Accessible) Pavlodar project aimed at making public spaces accessible for those with limited mobility will expand throughout the country as...


Kazakh animator and graphic designer creates art with purpose

ASTANA – Kazakh animator and graphic designer Erden Zikibay tries to amalgamate culture, history and politics to create art with purpose. An Almaty native, graduate of George Mason University...


Astana Hub to make smart city technologies country’s calling card, says Astana Hub CEO

ASTANA – Astana Hub is a concept designed to create a system for start-up development, including interaction with local businesses and government. It seeks to find and create Kazakh...


Ministry of Culture and Sport presents Notre Dame de Paris in Kazakh capital

ASTANA – Twenty years ago, the world saw the legendary Notre Dame de Paris musical for the very first time. As part of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary...


Air Astana adds new generation fuel-efficient aircraft to fleet

ASTANA – Air Astana recently added the Embraer E-Jet E2, one of the world’s most fuel-efficient planes, to its fleet. The aircraft also features an image on its nose...


Model UN programme provides unique opportunity for personal development of Kazakh students

On the eve of the 27th anniversary of our independence, Kazakh children tried themselves in diplomatic shoes. Two months ago, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched the Jas Diplomat...