Articles by Yelena Levkovich

NUR-SULTAN – The international forum, Museums of Kazakhstan: Global Competitiveness, was hosted recently by the Kazakh National Museum and dedicated to its fifth anniversary. Vice Minister of Culture and Sport Eldos Ramazanov, archaeologist Zeynolla Samashev, Kazan Islamic Culture Museum head Ilnur Nizamiev, Athena Epigraphic Museum Deputy Director John Venieri, Northern Macedonia National Archaeological Museum Director…

NUR-SULTAN – Italian investor Eni launched Kazakhstan’s largest wind power production project Dec. 18 in the Aktobe Region. The $100-million effort is also supported by Kazakh Invest and General Electric. Italian Ambassador in Kazakhstan Pasquale D’Avino, regional Akim (Governor) Ondassyn Urazalin, Eni Executive Vice President for the Central Asia region Luca Vignathi and Kazakh Invest…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s famous Golden Man, the burial suit of a roughly third-century BCE Saka warrior, has finished his tour of world museums. His travels, the Procession of Altyn Adam, were summed up by Kazakhstan’s National Museum. The main goal of the project was to introduce the international community to the ancient history, rich culture…

NUR-SULTAN – Global Blue, Europe’s tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, officially launched Dec. 8 in Almaty. Tax-free shopping is part of the state strategy to attract visitors by positioning the country as an ideal shopping destination in the Central Asian region. Global Blue is a strategic technology and payment partner which empowers merchants to…

NUR-SULTAN – Bambino ice cream has one main goal – to amaze people’s taste buds with high quality, organic ice cream. The pink brand is one of the most recognisable among domestic food producers. The company, which began operation more than 10 years ago, offers in excess of 50 types of gelato, from the classic…

NUR-SULTAN – Akim (Mayor) of Nur-Sultan  Altai Kulginov presented the annual report on the socio-economic development of the Kazakh capital Dec. 18. Kulginov noted the positive dynamics demonstrated in the gross regional product growth – there was an increase of 4.2 percent in the first half of the year to 2.7 trillion tenge (US$7 billion).…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh National Museum with the support of the United Nations opened Dec. 10 a diplomatic photo and video exhibit dedicated to Kazakhstan’s Independence Day and the museum’s fifth anniversary. Diplomatic corps representatives, Kazakh deputies and others attending the opening ceremony applauded the more than 50 exhibits. The display features photographs of the most…

NUR-SULTAN – The first class of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) Academy of Law to successfully complete Foundations Programme for Future Lawyers was awarded certificates Dec. 9. For several months, 54 students from four Kazakh (Eurasian National University (ENU), KAZGUU University, KIMEP University and Nazarbayev University) and two foreign institutions (BPP University and University…

NUR-SULTAN – The capital Department of Architecture, City Planning and Land Relations has presented a unified design code for the city, according to its website. The new system will be gradually implemented within the city upgrade programme. In October, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev requested city authorities create the code, as the capital lacked a common urban…

NUR-SULTAN – Antikor Ortalygy service centre, the Kazakh Anti-Corruption Agency model for providing transparency, opened Dec. 12 in the capital. The department is the only law enforcement agency in the country that has completely switched to the open space format, as all administrative and operational investigative staff work is done in glass-enclosed rooms, demonstrating transparency…

NUR-SULTAN – The capital recently hosted the 2019 National Tourism Awards, given to the best vacation destinations and locations throughout Kazakhstan. The honours seek to stimulate competition among domestic tourism operators both locally and internationally. The awards, presented for the second year, named prize winners in 10 categories related to industry development. The prizes are…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh National Museum recently hosted Great Steppe Heritage, a celebration dedicated to the museum’s fifth anniversary, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The programme is part of the Museum Parade national awareness raising campaign started in late August and still covering all regions of the country. The main goal…

NUR-SULTAN – Prime Minister Askar Mamin launched textile and food plants Dec. 5 in Shymkent and the Turkestan Region, reported Kazakh Invest press service. His visit to the country’s third largest city and adjacent region offered the opportunity to review the progress of the State Programme of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development and the Economy…

NUR-SULTAN – The Yessil Winter Festival took place Nov. 30 in the Kazakh capital. The city hopes to popularise winter sports among its residents with the festival, according to the Nur-Sultan akimat (city administration) website.  The festival was part of other celebrations of the Day of the First President and was initiated by the Yessil…

NUR-SULTAN – Thirteen of China’s most influential travel, lifestyle, fashion and shopping bloggers and public opinion leaders arrived in Almaty Nov. 13 to tell their followers about Kazakhstan. The tour, initiated by Kazakh Tourism with the support of Capital Partners Real Estate and Air Astana, the nation’s largest carrier, was aimed at highlighting the country,…

NUR-SULTAN – The national awareness raising campaign, “16 Days Against Violence,” launched in the Kazakh capital Nov. 25. The campaign aims to promote human rights work on maternity and child care among the population, the Nur-Sultan akimat (city administration) explained on its website. The campaign was initiated by the Nur-Sultan Police Department’s Local Police Service…

NUR-SULTAN – Not Just a Movie International Short Films Festival, a collaborative project of Vosmerka.kz and the Office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Kazakhstan, opened Nov. 29 in the capital. For three days, participants and visitors were treated to 24 shorts from three constituent regions of Russia – Chuvashia, Tatarstan and Yakutiya, – as well as Kazakhstan.…

NUR-SULTAN – The inclusion support office opened Nov. 27 at new school-lyceum No. 88 is the sixth under the Every Child Deserves a School project launched by the Bolashak Corporate Foundation, reported the capital akimat (city administration) website. “Students (with special needs) now have the possibility to study with their peers and receive the necessary…

NUR-SULTAN – Yerzhan Maksim, a young talent representing Kazakhstan at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Gliwice, Poland, took second place in the competition, scoring 227 points. Maksim, 10th in the lineup on Nov. 24, performed “Armanyńnan Qalma” (“Do Not Betray Your Dream”). The composition is a call to never give up and trust…

NUR-SULTAN – QazTrade will launch export.gov.kz in December, a website providing a wide range of services for local and foreign businesspeople, reported primeminister.kz. The QazTrade centre operates on the one window principle, serving as the platform where entrepreneurs can interact with institutions such as Kazakh Invest. To broaden its functions, officials are expanding access to…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh Mazhilis approved Nov. 20 in first reading new amendments to the country’s criminal code to stiffen penalties for various crimes. The amendments follow Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s call for stiffer penalties during his Sept. 2 state-of-the-nation address. Deputy Prosecutor Marat Akhmetzhanov presented the draft law at the Mazhilis plenary meeting chaired…

NUR-SULTAN – Almaty city authorities have examined the city’s buildings to create a risk map to let people know which residential buildings can and should be renovated or redesigned to minimise earthquake consequences. The map will be released in 2020. “We plan to release a risk map next year, which will clearly define what impact…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s new draft law on the status of teachers envisages the allocation of 5.2 trillion tenge (US$12.9 billion) for wage increases, bonuses for pedagogical skills and classroom management, leave payments and other incentives for members of that profession over the next five years. The new draft law provides 10 additional protections for teachers’…

NUR-SULTAN – More than 200 people in Kazakhstan’s capital sought medical help over a few freezing, snowy days in the city in mid-November, zakon.kz reports. Local authorities mobilised all city services to cope with the snow and ice.  Four emergency stations and 20 hospital emergency rooms provide emergency trauma services in Nur-Sultan. Last week, trauma…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh capital hosted the True or False Media Literacy Championship Nov. 16, reported the akimat (city administration) website. The project, aimed at improving young people’s media literacy, began in the city in mid-October and involved 150 individuals aged 14-29.  Fifty contestants participated in the championship, conducted in the brain ring format. They…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan is open to industrial cooperation in producing telecommunication satellites as well as common commercial projects at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin said during the Nov. 12 opening ceremony of the Space Days in Kazakhstan astronautics international forum.   “First President Nursultan Nazarbayev and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pay special attention…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for the country to end its requirement that foreign visitors register with migration authorities, saying at an Oct. 29 meeting in Almaty that the government should address the issue by the end of the year.  The procedure, he said, is a source of corruption. “If we really want…

NUR-SULTAN – Qatar Airways is set to launch direct flights to Kazakhstan connecting the Kazakh capital, Almaty and Qatar capital Doha under the open skies regime introduced Nov. 1 at the country’s 11 airports, reported sputniknews.kz. Negotiations between the countries’ civil aviation authorities concluded Nov. 8. Qatar Civil Aviation Administration President Abdullah Nasser Turki al-Subai,…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh entrepreneurs plan to promote their own breed of cattle starting next year through the Kazakh Whiteheaded Breed International Council. Plans to create the council began after a memorandum was signed involving five-seven states, said Kazakh Whiteheaded Breed National Chamber Executive Director Dauren Matakbayev at the KazAgro/KazFarm 2019 international exhibition. “Today the Kazakh…

NUR-SULTAN – Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 КО) will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight world champion status next year in an IBF-organised fight against Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta (21-0, 5 КО). The event is in accordance with IBF and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) regulations and will be scheduled for either Feb. 8 or Feb. 29…

NUR-SULTAN – Georgian writer Vakhtang Gogoladze presented his book “There, in Kazakhstan” Oct. 31 in Tbilisi, reported zakon.kz. The work is devoted to the country’s hospitality and kindness, bringing together short stories about times when ethnic Kazakhs supported forced migrants and helped them overcome difficulties in their new environment.  Gogoladze’s parents came to Kazakhstan in…

NUR-SULTAN – Officials in the Almaty Region recently agreed to assist Kazakh and U.S. entrepreneurs establish a cannabis textile plant in the region. The plant’s products will be exported to China and Europe. Almaty Region Akim (Governor) Amandyk Batalov recently accepted a proposal to assist Elaxima Tech Style, along with U.S. partners, to create a…

NUR-SULTAN – The Oct. 25-27 ninth international DosStar Operetta and Musical Festival opened with the “Love under cover” performance at the Temirtau Palace of Culture, reported inform.kz. The play was presented by the actors of the Omsk State Musical Theatre. “We sent the sheet music to the Karaganda Musical Comedy theatre in advance, enabling the…

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government will continue efforts to streamline processes to do business in Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Askar Mamin said Oct. 24 at the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Congress opening ceremony.  “The government and Atameken Chamber are working closely for more efficient realisation of the strategic objectives set by Kazakhstan’s First President (Nursultan…

NUR-SULTAN – The Senate is proposing e-format competitions to secure hunting grounds and fishery waters starting in 2021 to ensure the procedure is more accessible and transparent. The chamber previously adopted relevant amendments on agro-industrial sector management. To prevent the unlawful removal of flora and fauna, officials recommend increased accountability for those who cut, destroy…

NUR-SULTAN – The Ministry of Education and Science is seeking to improve and renew the quality of school books through a system of blind peer review, reported zakon.kz. Experts would not know the author’s names, freeing them from undue pressure, said Minister Askhat Aimagambetov at the government meeting.  He criticised the existing system of issuing…

NUR-SULTAN – Almaty’s St. Ascension Cathedral reopened in October following major restoration started in 2017.  Standing under the arches, the Metropolitan of Astana and Kazakhstan Aleksander congratulated the clergy and lay people on the special occasion in the city’s spiritual life and held the first divine liturgy for parishioners after presenting the Holy Mother statue. …

NUR-SULTAN – Disneyland may be coming to Kazakhstan. Plans are underway to build a roofed amusement park in the capital and city authorities are seeking appropriate acreage and investors, reported sputniknews.kz. To attract investors and assist with construction, the land should be located in convenient part of the city providing all necessary infrastructure and municipal…

NUR-SULTAN – Carpets from Shymkent are gaining attention in the internal market and entering the international one. Bal Tekstil, the country’s largest carpet manufacturer, began operation in 2013 in the city’s special economic zone. Its story began in 1994, however, when Talgat Ishakhov started wholesaling foreign rugs.  With hard work and focused on his main…

NUR-SULTAN – Almaty Akim (Mayor) Bakytzhan Sagintayev recently presented the city development strategy through 2050 to an audience of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University students. “On instructions of Elbasy (First President Nursultan Nazarbayev), we’ve already finished the long-term city strategy called Almaty 2050. I want to share my vision on our city development, counting on your…

NUR-SULTAN – The capital akimat (administration) offers rehabilitation, specific social services, free use of public transportation and the possibility of employment to its 25,715 residents with disabilities, reported its press service Oct. 19 to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Approximately 2,689 individuals are classified in the first group of those with disabilities,…

NUR-SULTAN – The capital and Almaty are among the top ten most attractive tourist cities in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), reported turstat.com. The website ranks the most popular destinations for autumn travellers. The two cities, along with Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Minsk (Belarus), Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and Yerevan (Armenia), are the most frequently visited by CIS…