Kazakh freelancers will no longer need to pay mandatory pension contributions
ASTANA – Freelancers who combine work and have employment contracts will soon be exempted from the obligation to pay pension contributions. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Law of Kazakhstan on Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative on Employment dated Dec. 27, 2018 was amended to simplify the procedure for paying…
Pilot programme allows schoolchildren to buy meals using card controlled by parents
ASTANA – Elementary school students in three schools in Astana are now able to buy meals using Astra Plat cards as part of a new pilot project. Their parents can control the purchase of healthy and unhealthy food online. Using cards instead of cash increases safety of the students as well, say officials. “As part…
Kazakh citizens to declare income, property and debts
ASTANA – Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, every Kazakh adult citizen will be required to declare his or her income, property and even debts. The tax declarations will counteract the shadow economy, reduce the level of corruption in state bodies, expand the tax base and increase revenues to budget from individual income tax. Experts also believe…
Kazakh special economic zones do not justify state support, need to be improved
ASTANA – The Ministry for Investment and Development recently determined that special economic zones are not justifying the state support they receive and has called for increased efficiency within the zones. “We carried out a major analysis of the work of the special economic zones. There are certain omissions, shortcomings. A lot of money was…
Kazakh government to devote $61.4 million annually to develop AIFC
ASTANA – Kazakhstan will devote approximately 20 billion tenge (US$61.4 million) annually over the next three years to develop the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and the centre hopes to attract up to $40 billion in investments within the next 10 years, AIFC Governor Kairat Kelimbetov said recently. He also said the AIFC plans to…
Astana-Pavlodar highway to be toll road in 2018
ASTANA – The Astana-Pavlodar highway, where construction started in 2014 under the Nurly Zhol national programme, will begin operation in mid-2018. The route, an important part of the Centre-East transport corridor, will be a toll road in the future. The 1,016-kilometre transport corridor has been under repair since 2011, said KazAvtoZhol Deputy Chairperson Temirkhan Mendygaliyev.…
Government to equip hospitals with medical information systems by 2019
ASTANA – All medical organisations in Kazakhstan will be provided with information systems by the end of 2018, said Vice Minister of Healthcare Alexei Tsoi. He said the Ministry of Healthcare is also working to complete digitalisation of healthcare organisations and their access to the internet, creating up-to-date mobile applications to reduce the number of…
Government increases number of educational grants
ASTANA – In 2016, the government provided 31,702 educational grants. This year, it is going to increase the number by approximately 6,000 educational grants. This year, 50,416 graduates participated in the complex testing. At that, 21,078 of them got at least 50 points, passing the test. Minister of Education and Science Yerlan Sagadiyev recently highlighted…
Astana’s new railway station to include food court, shopping boutiques
Astana’s new Nurly Zhol railway station, opening June 1, will feature a food court, shopping boutiques, lounges and a separate CIP-zone, modelled after VIP zones, Deputy Minister for Investment and Development Roman Sklyar announced recently. Trains will also arrive inside the six-storey station, which will include numerous elevators and escalators. “The station has an aesthetically…
