Kazakhstan Display Named “Most Authentic” at Turkish Tourism Fair
ASTANA – At the 18th Annual East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Exhibition (EMITT) on Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, Kazakhstan’s display, “Kazakhstan: The Land of Wonders,” was named “Most Authentic.” The Committee of Tourism of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Kazakhstan, headed by Chairman Marat Igali, along with delegations from Astana,…
Two Kazakh Films Recognised at Iranian Film Festival
Acclaimed Kazakh films Shal (released in 2012) and Harmony Lessons (2013) received awards at the 32nd annual Fajr Film Festival in Tehran, which was held from Feb. 1 to Feb. 11. Yermek Tursunov’s Shal was honoured for its outstanding technical and artistic achievement. Yerbolat Toguzakov, who starred as the main character, personally presented the feature…
Golovkin Retains Title, Extends KO Streak with TKO Over Adama
ASTANA – Kazakh professional boxer Gennady Golovkin retained his WBA and IBO middleweight titles and extended his winning streak to 29-0 with 26 knockouts by defeating Ghana’s Osumanu Adama (now 22 wins, 4 defeats) in seven rounds in Monaco on February 1. Adama became Golovkin’s 16th back-to-back KO. It was predicted that Adama would need…
Kazakhstan Beats Belgium, Advances to Davis Cup Quarterfinal against Switzerland
ASTANA – In the first round of the Davis Cup, Kazakhstan upset Belgium 3-2 at Astana’s National Tennis Centre on Feb. 2 to advance to the quarterfinals which will also take place in Astana in April. Andrey Golubev, who has an ATP ranking of 87, clinched Kazakhstan’s victory by beating Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans (161). Kazakhstan…
EBRD Senior Economist Sees “Stable Growth” for Kazakh Economy in 2014
ASTANA – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) presented its annual Transition Report in Astana on Jan. 30. The report, entitled “2013 Transition Report: Stuck in Transition,” is the EBRD’s flagship publication and provides an annual update on the progress of reforms and economic developments across 30 countries from central Europe and Central…
Kazakhstan Wins Bronze at Bandy World Championships
Kazakhstan defeated Finland 5:3 to win the country’s fifth bronze medal in history in Bandy World Championships. This year’s championship took place from Jan. 26 through Feb. 2 in the Russian cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov. Seventeen countries, including Kazakhstan, participated in the championship. Kazakhstan captured the bronze by winning three of six games. They…
Astana to Host 2014 World Junior Chess Olympiad
ASTANA – Astana will host the World Junior Chess Olympiad in October 2014 that is expected to attract youth from more than 50 countries, according to the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. “Kazakhstan proved that it is willing to further develop chess,” President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov told the media, as he explained…
Nuclear Medicine Centre to Open in Semey
Kazakhstan’s first nuclear medicine centre is to be constructed in Semey. “It was proposed to build such a radiological facility back in 2003, based on the existing oncology centre,” Bayan Atantayeva, deputy director of radiological services of Semey regional oncology centre, said. “Even then, the cost of such a grand project was estimated at 13.9…
Kazakh Crews in Top 20 in Dakar 2014
ASTANA – The final stage of this year’s 35th annual Dakar Rally, a South American adventure beginning in Rosario, Argentina, finished on Jan. 18 in Valparaiso, Chile. Kazakhstan’s fastest car crew, headed by Aidyn Rakhimbayev, finished 17th overall; in the truck category, Artur Ardavichus, Alexey Nikizhev and Radim Kaplanek came in 14th. As usual, the…
Astana Celebrates Epiphany Day by Jumping in Freezing Waters
ASTANA – Thousands of Astana residents flocked to the Yessil River in temperatures below freezing on Jan. 19 to commemorate the Russian Orthodox Church’s Epiphany Day by dipping into the freezing water. Epiphany Day celebrates the christening of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River by John the Baptist and the manifestation of the Christian god…
Astana Pro Cycling Team Sets Sights on 2014 Tour de France Success
ASTANA – London Olympics 2012 gold medalist and Astana Pro Cycling Team manager Alexander Vinokourov during a Jan. 14 press conference set out an ambitious goal for the team for 2014—to win Tour de France. “Last year we worked as a team to win Giro d’Italia and it was quite difficult,” Vinokourov commented. “But our…
Kazakh Expat Gains Experience, Advocates for Home Country Abroad
ASTANA – While more and more foreigners are moving to Kazakhstan, tales of Kazakh expatriates abroad are still rare. Astana native Raushan Makhmutova, who has been working abroad since 2006, is one of Kazakhstan’s relatively small number of global workers and travellers. There are dozens of pins on Makhmutova’s personal map of travels, marking places…
Winter Fun: Skating on the Open Ice
ASTANA – While some dislike the fact that Astana sees some of the coldest winters in the world, many others take advantage of the capital’s cold weather. One way locals spend quality cold weather leisure time is skating on the Yessil River and on the Rowing Canal. Every winter, thousands of locals flock to the…
Barys Beats Rival Ak Bars 2:1
Barys beat their rival, Ak Bars on their opponent’s home ice with a score of 2:1 after a very tense three periods. The team now only stands one point behind Ak Bars in the rankings. For the Astana based Barys team, every game against the Kazan, Russia based Ak Bars is a big event. The…
Kazakhstan Hockey Upsets U.S. in Semis, Wins Silver in Trentino Winter Universiade
Kazakhstan’s national Universiade team finished in 15th place in the medals standings at the Dec. 11 – 21 Universiade in Trentino, Italy with two gold medals, two silver and one bronze. Kazakhstan’s hockey team also attracted attention by beating Canada and the United States in the early rounds and nearly beating Canada again in the…
Maxim Akbarov: Aliens Had Nothing to Do With Our Movie
ASTANA – The spirited Kazakh comedy “Aliens Have Nothing to Do With This” opened across the country on Dec. 5. Maxim Akbarov, one of the film’s stars, spoke to The Astana Times about the film and his plans for the future in an exclusive interview. The 28-year-old Akbarov is well known to Kazakh audiences from…
Shumenov Returns to Ring, Successfully Defends Title
Kazakh professional boxer, Beibut Shumenov (14 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws, nine knockouts) returned to the ring in San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 14 after a year and a half hiatus to successfully defend his WBA light heavyweight champion belt against Slovak Tamas Kovacs (23 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws, 14 knockouts). Shumenov knocked Kovacs…
Undefeated Astana Arlans Dominate Mexico Guerreros, 4-1
ALMATY, Dec. 7 – The Astana Arlans remain undefeated in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) after dominating Mexico Guerreros, 4-1, in Almaty on Dec. 7. The Arlans previously bested Russian Boxing Team and the Azerbaijani Baku Fires. The Guerreros have been struggling all season long, losing both their previous series 0-5, and presented a…
Golovkin Upsets American Boxer at Madison Square Garden
The expression of shock on the face of American boxer Curtis Stevens (25-4, 18 KO) at being knocked down in the second round by Kazakhstan-based boxer Gennady Golovkin (28-0, 25 KO) demonstrated just how underrated Golovkin has been in the boxing world. But by the time the refs stopped their Nov. 2 fight at Madison…
“If You Want Peace, Prepare For… Peace,” Anti-Nuclear Weapons Activist Says
VIENNA, Nov. 1 – Karipbek Kuyukov, the famous artist and Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project brought this simple message with him on a recent visit to Austria: “If you want peace, prepare for peace, prepare for it with all your efforts, each day of your life, each hour of your day”. Such a message…
Efforts to Boost Almaty Tourism Infrastructure
ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev recently tasked Almaty Akim (Mayor) Akhmetzhan Yessimov to continue developing Almaty’s infrastructure and underlined that tourism is to play a key role in the region’s development. “I have instructed (the akim) to extensively work on the development of tourism where skiing plays an important role, (utilizing the) potential of the…
Two Astana Dakar Rally Teams in Top 10 in Morocco
ASTANA – Over six days and in 40-degree desert heat, two Astana Dakar Rally Team crews finished in the top 10 after the race in Morocco on Oct. 13-19. “It was a very good result for our team,” said Gabdulla Ashimov, co-pilot of the T1 HiLux Overdrive crew. “We made it to the top 10…
17th AIBA World Boxing Championship Takes Place in Almaty
ALMATY –The 17th Amateur World Boxing Championship began in Almaty Oct. 14 at Baluan Sholak Palace of Culture and Sports with the record-breaking participation of 576 boxers from 116 countries. The event is also unique in that it is the first time the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) new rule eliminating protective headgear is being implemented.…
Barys Goalie Credited with Score, Helps Team Win
ASTANA – In a turn of events rarely seen in any hockey league, Barys hockey club goalkeeper Vitaly Eremeyev scored a goal in the Oct. 19 3:2 Barys victory against the Sibir hockey club. It was a close, physical game for Barys Astana, one of the squads no team wants to face this season, but…
Russian Language Still Important, While Kazakh Need to Be Learned, President Says
ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev said the country was “on the right track” in its process of transitioning from Russian to the Kazakh language during his address to top-level officials on Oct. 17. “You can’t expect an adult to learn a language overnight,” he said, stressing that ethnic Kazakhs who do not speak their own…
