Russia to introduce special registration rules for Kazakh citizens during World Cup 2018

ASTANA – Russia will be hosting World Cup 2018 and the Kazakh Embassy there will introduce special registration rules for Kazakh citizens in a number of cities beginning May...


EBRD to finance modernising street lights in East Kazakhstan region

ASTANA – East Kazakhstan region Akim (Governor) Daniyal Akhmetov and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Sir Suma Chakrabarti signed a 5.6 billion tenge (US$17.6 million) agreement...


Nauryz unites Kazakhstan in celebration

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s annual Nauryz celebration on March 21 and 22 was as eventful as ever, despite this year’s cold, foggy weather. Astana residents celebrated Nauryz for the first...


Ancient Otrar settlement animated film presented under Ruhani Janghyru programme

ASTANA – The animated film “Otyrardy Korgau” (“Defence of Otrar”) was presented in the South Kazakhstan region in early March under the Ruhani Janghyru (Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) programme....


Virtuoso violinist Erzhan Kulibaev performs at Astana Opera

ASTANA – World famous Kazakh violinist Erzhan Kulibaev was featured March 21 in the Astana Opera Chamber Orchestra’s “Masterpieces of violin music” concert under the direction of Abzal Mukhitdinov....


Kazakh comic superhero Ermek Batyr conquers mainstream US audience, spin-off on its way

ASTANA – “Ermek Batyr,” a comic book featuring the Kazakh superhero, has gained immediate interest since its release on Amazon’s Comixology, the leading digital platform. Creators Madibek Musabekov and...


Adili – Kazakh ethnic style accessories

ASTANA – National-style accessories are becoming increasingly in vogue in Kazakhstan. Adili, the brand offering fashionable accessories with a national ornament, is introducing elements of that style into everyday...


Promising young entrepreneur named one of Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces

ASTANA – Arman Toskanbayev, 26, is an ambitious businessperson engaged in popularising, protecting and developing Kazakh entrepreneurial activities. His endeavour and persistence serve as an example for thousands of...


Locally-made electric cars to be available in Kazakhstan this year

ASTANA – The Kostanai car plant has started serial assembly of electric cars and customers will be able to buy the Chinese JAC iEV7S in the second half of...


Kazakhstan’s first ammunitions plant to launch this year

ASTANA – Officials have indicated Kazakhstan’s first ammunitions plant will start delivering cartridges to the Kazakh Armed Forces this year. The project was under discussion for several years and...


Kazakh Government to build more college dorms to accommodate increasing student numbers

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev recently ordered 75,000 more dormitory beds be made available to address an increasing shortage in housing for Kazakh college students. Out of 530,000...


Almaty quilting enthusiasts try to patch together a world record

ASTANA – Quilting enthusiasts in Almaty will work from March 22 to the Sept. 16 Almaty Day to break a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest patchwork quilt...


Central Asian artists bring postmodern life to ancient oral traditions in US staging of women warrior epic

ASTANA – “Qyrq Qyz” (“Forty Girls”), a multimedia theatrical performance directed by Uzbek filmmaker Saodat Ismailova, will debut at New York’s BAM Harvey Theatre March 23 and 24. The...


Entrepreneur turns hobby into business

ASTANA – Bakhargul Tolegenkyzy, one of Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces, has been collecting Turkic gold and silver antiques since she was young, eventually presenting them in her own private...


NASA astronauts plant trees at Baikonur before expedition

ASTANA – Cosmonauts and astronauts heading into space for the first time from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome traditionally plant a tree on Cosmonauts Alley, the avenue in Moscow leading to...


Mazhilis passes draft law on CIS information security

ASTANA – The Kazakh Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) approved March 14 a draft law to regulate interaction between Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries in cross-border communications, the...


Kyzylorda rice producers to manufacture animal feed from rice hulls

ASTANA – The Kyzylorda region Chamber of Entrepreneurs will be putting the phrase reduce-reuse-recycle into action. The organisation, which studied the leading rice-producing countries, found many South Korean farmers...


EBRD loans $37.6 million to Mangistau region utility company

ASTANA – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a $37.6 million post-privatisation loan to the Mangistau Regional Distribution Company (MRDC) to help the company improve...


Switzerland conducts investigation against former Almaty mayor and family

ASTANA – The Geneva Prosecutor’s Office is conducting its own investigation against Viktor Khrapunov, his wife Leila Khrapunova and stepson Ilyas Khrapunov, Zakon.kz reports. The criminal case is now...


Ancient Saraishyk to be revived in Atyrau region

ASTANA – A historical and cultural museum of Saraishyk, displaying artefacts from this ancient city of the Great Silk Road, will be constructed near Atyrau city, said Atyrau region...


Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to boost economic cooperation, trade

ASTANA – The Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Bilateral Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, co-chaired by Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin and Uzbek First Deputy Prime Minister Ochilboy...


Central Asia: one region with many faces and common prosperity

The recent Central Asian regional summit (or a working meeting?) did not bring any breakthrough announcements but the whole idea of a regular platform for only five Central Asian...


Central Asian leaders meeting represents unity, understanding

The first working meeting of the leaders of the Central Asian states has taken place. Negotiations to arrange this meeting lasted until the very moment of the meeting, during...


AIFC to host World Islamic Economic Forum in Astana in July

ASTANA – The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation recently signed an agreement to hold World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in Astana on July...


Kazakh government approves five social initiatives roadmap

ASTANA – The Kazakh government approved the Five Social Initiatives roadmap March 13 previously announced by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The measures, cutting across affordable housing, lower tax burden, accessibility...


Khorgos to introduce new luggage terminal to fully automate cargo transportation

ASTANA – The Khorgos cross-border trade centre will offer improved services, enhanced safety and automated baggage handling to provide better conditions for tourists and avoid transporting cargo through the...


Kazakh government passes draft national anti-corruption report

ASTANA – The Kazakh government adopted a draft National Report on Combating Corruption presented March 13 by public service affairs and anti-corruption agency deputy chairman Sayan Akhmetzhanov. The document...


Korean Cultural Centre hosts Olympics exhibit

ASTANA – The city’s Korean Cultural Centre (KKC) is presenting an exhibit related to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. “The Winter Olympic and Paralympic...


Kazakh stunt people take part in internationally acclaimed films, launch training courses

ASTANA – Kazakh stunt performers are known for their top-level skills and spectacular horse scenes. They are experts in fight choreography using swords and weapons, waterfall jumps, fires and...


Kazakhstan Engineering celebrates 15th anniversary of domestic innovation in armaments

ASTANA – The Kazakhstan Engineering company celebrated its 15th anniversary March 13. Since its creation, the company has ensured a unified financial, production and technological policy for the largest...


Gene editing will cure cancer, HIV, young Kazakh biotechnologist and Famelab winner says

ASTANA – Genetically modified living organisms might sound like fiction today, but in the not-too-distant future, genome modification will be used to edit DNA and treat human diseases like...


International contemporary music festival to be held in Almaty

ASTANA – The Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory is arranging an international festival of contemporary classic music dedicated to the Nauryz holiday April 2 to 5 in Almaty. Outstanding and world-renowned...


BI Group hosting start-up competition to mark Astana’s 20th anniversary

ASTANA – BI Group, one of Kazakhstan’s leading construction and real estate companies, is hosting the Happy Start-Up competition to mark the capital’s 20th anniversary. The best projects will...


Health Technology Assessment is key element in decision making, says Polish expert

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s healthcare system is being reformed based on introducing compulsory health insurance and no modern country can offer a basic benefit package without a Health Technology Assessment...


Tengizchevroil chooses national cadres and local suppliers

ASTANA – Tengizchevroil (TCO), the company responsible for developing the Tengiz oil field in the Atyrau region, has expanded production through Future Growth and Wellhead Pressure Management (FGP-WPMP). The...


Kostanai region to advance agriculture, car assembly with Italian, Chinese investments

ASTANA – The Kostanai region has announced plans to launch eight projects this year worth 28.3 billion tenge (US$88 million), according to a March 13 regional press service report....


Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture to provide farmers with free seeds

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a new seed production programme in which farmers will be offered free high-quality seeds and required to return only a...


Yakutia’s National Library promotes Kazakh literature

ASTANA – The Kazakh Literature and Culture Centre opened March 15 in the National Library of Russia’s Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) under the international project initiated by the Kazakh...


Samarkand, South Kazakhstan entrepreneurs agree to establish joint ventures

ASTANA – Representatives of the Umar Company from Samarkand city in Uzbekistan recently visited the South Kazakhstan region and agreed to establish joint enterprises with businesses from that region....


Astana to celebrate Nauryz in grand style

ASTANA – Nauryz, an ancient holiday symbolising spring revival, is always celebrated by Kazakh people with grandeur. The festivities in the capital, including concerts and exhibitions, will take place...


Skier wins Kazakhstan’s first gold medal at Paralympic Games

The Kazakh National Paralympic team recently won its first gold medal in the history of the Paralympic games with Alexander Kolyadin’s winning gold in the men’s 1.5km sprint classic....


Smart technologies transform education, healthcare in Pavlodar region

ASTANA – The Pavlodar region is building its smart cities by introducing 74 education, healthcare, culture and social projects as part of the Digital Kazakhstan initiative, reported the regional...


Kazakh National Bank presents consumer-friendly home loan programme

ASTANA – The Kazakh National Bank recently presented the 7-20-25 mortgage programme, which will provide soft conditions for every citizen with official income to purchase housing. The plan was...


Kazakh Senate Chairman, Indonesian President discuss Islamic finances and congress of world religions

A meeting with the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo was a central event of Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s official visit to Indonesia...


New York real estate baron to return assets to Kazakh BTA Bank

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank will receive assets and money worth $38.3 million after reaching an amicable agreement with Joseph Chetrit, an American developer and former partner of fugitive...


Tokmadi sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for murdering former BTA Bank chair

ASTANA – Muratkhan Tokmadi was sentenced March 16 to 10 1/2 years in a maximum-security prison for murdering the chair of the BTA Bank Yerzhan Tatishev during a hunt...


Central Asian heads of state discuss regional challenges in Astana

ASTANA – Leaders of five Central Asian states met March 15 in Astana in such a format for the first time in 10 years to address regional challenges, such...


Value of Astana Process recognised during int’l ministerial meeting on Syria

ASTANA – The Kazakh capital hosted a March 16 trilateral ministerial meeting of the guarantor states within the framework of the Astana Process on Syria, which was attended by...


Kazakhstan announces conference on Afghan gender equality

Ambassador-at-large of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs Stanislav Vassilenko proposed during a March 8 United Nations Security Council meeting on Afghanistan a three-pronged approach to bringing peace and...


Kazakh film producer presents “Unfriended: Dark Web” at South by Southwest Film Festival

ASTANA – Kazakh producer Timur Bekmambetov and Blumhouse Productions CEO Jason Blum presented a horror film titled “Unfriended: Dark Web” at the March 9-18 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film...