Articles by Zhanna Shayakhmetova

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh students in the United Kingdom are pursuing their degrees in some of Britain’s highest ranked universities, reported Studying-in-UK.org. Approximately 458,490 international students study in the U.K., according to 2017-2018 academic year statistics. Students from Asia make up almost half of the number, with 204,400 individuals enrolled in British universities. The number of…

NUR-SULTAN – Air Astana Group expects that more than five million passengers will travel this year on Air Astana and its low-cost subsidiary, FlyArystan, reported the company’s press service. The number is a 17-percent increase over 2018. Air Astana President Peter Foster noted FlyArystan’s launch in May was a significant event for the company. “During…

NUR-SULTAN – The Ministry of Agriculture is targeting increasing investment and livestock production as part of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s plan for agricultural development outlined in his state of the nation address. Livestock has experienced a 3.9-percent increase in gross output through the first 10 months of 2019, reported the ministry’s press service Dec. 10. Gross…

NUR-SULTAN – Narxoz University is launching dual degree programmes beginning next year with leading partner institutions including Birkbeck (University of London), the University of Coventry and Keele University (U.K.); La Rochelle University (France) and the Financial Academy under Russian government. Students will study three years at Narxoz and one year at the partner university. Upon…

NUR-SULTAN – The capital’s Barys Hockey Club celebrated its 20-year anniversary and honoured its greatest players in a pregame ceremony Dec. 1 at Barys Arena. The jerseys worn by Nikolai Antropov, Brandon Bochenski, Kevin Dallman, Alexander Koreshkov, Fyodor Polischuk, Vitali Yeremeyev and Talgat Zhailauov were raised to the rafters for the first time ahead of…

ALMATY – Thirty-one agreements worth $2.3 billion were signed between governmental bodies and the business community Nov. 27 at Almaty Investment Forum 2019. The major deals included an $11.3-million agreement on green city financing between the Almaty akimat (city administration) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a memorandum of cooperation with the…

NUR-SULTAN – Scott’s Music Room, a unique English language school based in the capital, offers interactive classes delivered by British music teacher and founding director Joe Scott. Preston-born Scott opened the school with his wife Gaukhar in 2018. There are no extra requirements to enjoy the classes, as the lessons are designed for all ages…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh researcher Amina Mirsakiyeva and 20 of her colleagues have launched an Instagram account to share their knowledge and experience with like-minded women in science. The team, known as #KzPhDGirlsUnion, is celebrating its first anniversary this month. The project’s main mission is to promote science in the country and especially to serve as…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan has joined the Global United Nations programme on Supporting the Management of Violent Extremist Prisoners and the Prevention of Radicalisation to Violence in Prisons along with Tunisia and Uganda, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Kazakhstan reported recently. Launched by the UNODC, the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre and the UN…

NUR-SULTAN – The St. Petersburg Chamber Opera, the state chamber music theatre, will present Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto” Nov. 9 and Georges Bizet’s “Les Pêcheurs de Perles” (“The Pearl Fishers”) Nov. 10 at the Astana Opera House in the capital. The theatre will stage the productions with an unconventional interpretation of the stories, colourful, luxurious costumes…

NUR-SULTAN – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Nazarbayev University’s E.Quality Talks club initiated “The Power of Girls: Independent and Unstoppable on the International Day of the Girl Child” Oct. 11 in the capital. A trailer for the upcoming documentary “Qyzbolsyn” (“Let There Be a Girl”), directed by Katerina Suvorova and UNFPA activist Akmarzhan…

NUR-SULTAN – French company SUEZ and Kazakh Keremet Projects are planning to build two solid waste landfills near Almaty and in the Almaty region, reported the Almaty region administration press service. Keremet will oversee all stages of the project, including constructing the landfills. SUEZ, represented in 80 countries, operates 100 municipal solid waste landfills globally.…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed at the Oct. 11 meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Ashgabat to introduce the Commonwealth Visa, a single visa regime in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), along the lines of the principles of the Schengen agreement that exists in Europe. This approach aims…

NUR-SULTAN – More than 70 scientists, politicians and experts from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan developed a common programme to solve problems related to biodiversity conservation, land degradation and climate change at a regional trialogue Oct. 9-11 in Almaty. Central Asia has arid and semi-arid areas characterised by serious transboundary desertification, reported the…

NUR-SULTAN – The Karaganda-Balkhash highway will be opened in 2020 and this year, 40 kilometres of the roads will be opened, reported Oct. 8 Primeminister.kz. The Karaganda-Temirtau and Karaganda bypass projects will be completed before the end of the year with the commissioning of 61 kilometres of roads. Prime Minister Askar Mamin also instructed to…

NUR-SULTAN – In her recent open letter to the world’s children, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore stressed the need to work with today’s children and young people “on twenty-first century solutions to twenty-first century problems.” She shared her thoughts on the new set of challenges that children face globally and reflected…

NUR-SULTAN – Ninety-seven percent of rural settlements or more than 5,000 villages will gain broadband internet access by the end of 2022 and satellite technology will be technically feasible for the remaining 3 percent, reported Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Askar Zhumagaliyev at an Oct. 1 government meeting.  “Internet access in rural…

NUR-SULTAN – Narvik, one of Norway’s largest ports, can become an Atlantic port for Kazakhstan, said Narvik Port Authority Director and CEO Rune Johan Arnøy. He was in the Kazakh capital to participate in the Sept. 19-20 Coordinating Council on Trans-Siberian Transportation (CCTT) General Assembly plenary session. “We met with the management of KTZ Express,…

NUR-SULTAN – Left wing forward Bulbul Kartanbay has become the first Kazakh athlete to play in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) after signing Aug. 16 with the Metropolitan Riveters.  “We are really proud to welcome Bulbul to the Riveters and the NWHL. Her skill, dedication to the game and incredible enthusiasm will make her…

NUR-SULTAN – The expo site in the capital has become the home of the newly opened Astana IT University. As a one-of-its-kind in the country, the university has the mission of preparing qualified personnel to implement the Digital Kazakhstan state programme, according to the city administration press service. Approximately 600 students will study cryptography, robotics,…

NUR-SULTAN – As the role of international law and global institutions in maintaining peace and security diminish, Kazakhstan’s history of peace and denuclearisation can serve as a valuable model, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told the Sept. 11 gathering of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. “Our country has developed the Code of Conduct…

NUR-SULTAN – How can a country ensure social integration for national minorities? Why is a state language key for integration? How do digital media help to ease inter-ethnic tensions? The Astana Times exclusively interviewed Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Lamberto Zannier Sept. 3 to learn more…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Invest supported implementing four projects worth $217 million and construction and installation works for 12 projects worth $1.7 billion in the first half of 2019. Thirty-four projects worth $7.1 billion have entered the execution phase, the company’s press service reported Sept. 2. “It is also expected to assist in the commissioning of…

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s first state-of-the-nation address focused on constructive public dialogue as a basis for a stable and prosperous Kazakhstan, experts say. “President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s state-of-the-nation address was interesting not only in terms of what reforms and visions were presented, but also in terms of the fact that this was the first…

NUR-SULTAN – Vice President of the Nevada-Semipalatinsk movement Sultan Kartoev and teacher at Nazarbayev Intellectual school Askhat Zhumabekov will release in December a book titled “Kazakhstan is an architect of a nuclear weapon free world.” The release of the book will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the first nuclear explosion at the Soviet Union’s…