Articles by Dana Omirgazy

BI Group IRONMAN Kazakhstan Returns After Two-Year Break

NUR-SULTAN – After a two-year break caused by pandemic restrictions, the BI Group IRONMAN Kazakhstan and the BI Group IRONMAN 70.3, Astana’s largest international triathlon tournament will gather 2,200 triathletes from 77 countries on Aug. 14 in Nur-Sultan, reported the press service of the Nur-Sultan akimat (city administration). Each race consists of three non-stop stages…

Kazakh Сapital to Host Asian Judo Championships 2022

NUR-SULTAN – Nur-Sultan will host the Asian Judo Championships 2022 among men and women on Aug. 4-7 at the Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov Martial Arts Palace, reported the National Olympic Committee. Some 208 competitors, including 118 men and 90 women from 21 countries will take part in individual and mix-team competitions. Eighteen athletes will represent Kazakhstan. “The…

Thirty-Two Kazakh Children Take Part in Planet of ART-2022 International Festival

NUR-SULTAN – Thirty-nine talented children from six countries performed at the July 23 gala concert as part of the Planet of ART-2022 international festival at the Aktobe Regional Gaziza Zhubanova Philharmonic. More than 3,000 children between 12-18 years of age from Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan took part…

Government Mandates Clean-Up Effort of National Parks and Resort Areas

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Yeraly Tugzhanov declared that the government would clean the territory of the national parks and resort areas from waste within one day and install additional containers for collecting solid household waste at a July 25 meeting on tourism development, reported the Prime Minister’s Office. Over the first seven months…

Fifteen Kazakh Women-Led IT Startups Selected For Incubation and Acceleration Program in Tashkent

NUR-SULTAN – Fifteen startup projects from Kazakhstan were selected at a pitch day on July 15 as part of the Tumaris. Tech international project aimed at promoting women’s initiatives in the information technology sector in Tashkent, the press service of the IT Park Uzbekistan reports. Out of 148 applications submitted from five Central Asian countries,…

Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko Enters Top 10 Ranking at 2022 Tour de France

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh cyclist Alexey Lutsenko, 29, entered top 10 in the general rankings as the Tour de France finishes July 25 with traditional stage 21 to the Champs Elysees in Paris. This year, Lutsenko ranks ninth. “I came to the Tour de France to compete again for a high result in the overall standings.…

EBRD Invests in Kazakhstan Railway Bonds to Upgrade Alternative Freight Route Between Asia and Europe

NUR-SULTAN – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced plans to invest 50 billion tenge (US$103.7 million) in the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) bond issue to be listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, reported the bank’s press service. The investment seeks to help the nation’s railway operator to strengthen financial and operational resilience…

QazaqGaz to Build Gas Processing Plant at Kashagan

NUR-SULTAN – The QazaqGaz National Company has started construction of a gas processing plant at Kashagan oil field with a projected capacity of 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas, said QazaqGaz Chairman Sanzhar Zharkeshov during a July 22 meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, according to the presidential press service. The company plans to expand…

Astana Ballet Closes Its Season with ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ Premiere

NUR-SULTAN – The theatrical season of the Astana Ballet turned out to be eventful and rewarding, featuring 90 performances visited by 30,000 spectators, as well as engaging tours abroad, the press service of the Kazakh Ministry of Culture and Sports reports. This season, the ballet troupe prepared and presented five premieres. These are the one-act…

Kazakh Film ‘A Dark, Dark Man’ Deserves to Be Experienced on Big-Screen, Says New York Times Review

NUR-SULTAN – The New York Times published a review of the Kazakh crime film “A Dark, Dark Man” directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov on July 19. According to a critic, this police procedural is “clearly designed for big-screen immersion.” Its methods and themes also recall such acclaimed art-house titles as Bruno Dumont’s “Humanité,” Bong Joon Ho’s…

Kazakh Great Writer Mukhtar Auezov’s Bust Unveiled in Cholpon-Ata

NUR-SULTAN – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev unveiled a brand new bust to Kazakh writer Mukhtar Auezov as part of his visit to Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, according to the presidential press service. Tokayev left a note in the book of honored guests at the house-museum of the writer. The house of Mukhtar Auezov was built in 1959 in…

Kazakh President Proposes Central Asian Leaders Create Joint Media

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev urged Central Asian leaders to join efforts in the fight against attempts to split relations between states and strengthen interaction in the information space at a July 21 fourth consultative meeting of the heads of states of Central Asia in Cholpon-Ata, reports the presidential press service. Tokayev encouraged the…

President Tokayev Calls for Greater Regional Economic Cooperation at Consultative Meeting of Central Asian Leaders in Cholpon-Ata

NUR-SULTAN – The Treaty between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan on friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation for the development of Central Asia in the 21st century was agreed upon and the procedure for its signing began, reported the presidential press service. The event is…

Nur-Sultan Enters COVID-19 Moderate Risk Yellow Zone as Daily Infections Surpass 600

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan was included in the moderate risk yellow zone on the coronavirus infection map on July 21, as COVID-19 cases surged in the past two weeks. Over the past day, 642 people were infected with COVID-19 in Nur-Sultan with 2,257 coronavirus infections registered in Kazakhstan. “The epidemiological situation in the…

Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto Wins Women’s Steeplechase Title at World Athletics Championships

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto, 26, won country’s first-ever gold medal in the women’s 3000 meters steeplechase on July 20 at World Athletics Championships, reports Sports.kz. Kenyan-born Jeruto finished first in 8 minutes, 53.02 seconds, the third fastest time in history. She outraced Ethiopian silver and bronze medalists Werkuha Getachew (8:54.61) and Mekidas Abebe (8:56.08).…

Kazakh Ministry of Defense to Upgrade Defense and Industrial Complex

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov shared the plan for the development of the country’s defense and industrial complex in his July 8 response to the open letter of the deputies of Mazhilis, a lower house of Kazakhstan’s Parliament. Zhaksylykov said that the plans include increasing the share of internal production, and the repair…

Amanat Party’s Tomiris Project to Promote Women’s Leadership in Regions

NUR-SULTAN – Thirty women from all regions of Kazakhstan will be selected to complete the leadership training program as part of the Tomiris project, the press service of the Amanat party reported on July 18. “First of all, participants will take courses on leadership, gender issues in politics, law, emotional intelligence, project management, negotiation, public…

Environmental Protection Expenditures Rise to $855 Million in 2021

NUR-SULTAN – The volume of environmental protection expenditures in Kazakhstan reached 417 billion tenge (US$855 million) in 2021, 8.6 percent more compared to 2020 and 0.8 percent less than the record level in 2019, energyprom.kz reports on July 18. Atyrau, Aktobe, Zhambyl and the East Kazakhstan regions accounted for more than half of all environmental…

Kazakhstan to Deliver Space Communication Services to Tajikistan

NUR-SULTAN – The National Center for Space Communications (RCSC) and Tajikistan’s Isatel agreed on July 18 to extend the KazSat-3 satellite transponder capacity to Tajikistan’s remote regions, reports the Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry. Kazakhstan’s satellite communication system fully covers the country’s needs for communication services and also supplies its products…

Denis Ten’s Movie ‘Blind Love’ to Premiere This Week, Four Years after His Tragic Death

NUR-SULTAN – The ‘Blind Love’ movie written by Kazakh figure skater and 2014 Winter Olympics bronze medal winner Denis Ten is set to premiere on July 19 in Almaty, four years after his tragic death shocked the nation. The movie, which was produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Denis Ten’s mother Oksana Ten, will be available…

Volume of Services in Kazakhstan’s Arts and Entertainment Industry Reaches Record Level

NUR-SULTAN – The volume of services in the culture, arts and entertainment industry of Kazakhstan reached record levels of 11.9 billion tenge (US$24.8 million) in the first quarter this year, finprom.kz reports. In terms of regions, the leading regions are Nur-Sultan (3 billion tenge (US$6.2 million)), followed by Almaty (2.3 billion tenge (US$4.8 million)) and…

Sanctions, Migration of Russian Citizens to Kazakhstan Boost Popularity of Money Transfer Systems

NUR-SULTAN – During the first five months of this year, the volume of transactions through international money transfer systems from abroad to Kazakhstan hit a record 178.8 billion tenge (US$370 million), which is 58.4 percent higher than in the same period last year, ranking.kz reports on July 14. Two-thirds of the funds were received from…

Number of Registered Investment Sub-Accounts Soars in Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh citizens registered over 367,000 securities accounts during the first six months of this year, Kazakhstan Central Securities Depository (KCSD) reports on July 12. The overall increase reached 64 percent since the beginning of the year. To compare, since July 1, 2021, the number of sub-accounts has more than doubled (+187,000), of which…

Tokayev Signs New Amendments to Grant Legal Force to Electronic Documents

NUR-SULTAN – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed July 14 new amendments and additions to legislative acts that enhance citizens’ ability to exchange and receive documents in electronic form, granting them the same legal status as paper copies, the presidential press service reports. The law also provides measures to improve the quality of communications in rural areas…

EU to Enhance Transport, Logistics Ties with Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN – The European Union Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala expressed interest in strengthening transport and logistics cooperation with Kazakhstan during the July 14 videoconference with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, reports the presidential press service. The Kazakh President confirmed his keen interest in developing cooperation with the EU and his readiness to boost…