Lufthansa to Resume Flights to Kazakhstan After Almost Year Long Suspension
NUR-SULTAN – Germany’s Lufthansa announced it would resume its regular flights to Kazakhstan in May. The flights will be resumed from the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan and Almaty to Frankfurt. Frankfurt to Almaty flights will be operated on Mondays and Saturdays landing at Nur-Sultan’s international airport, and a non stop direct flight on Thursdays. Lufthansa, whose…
Foreign Investors’ Council Meeting Focuses on Investment Attractiveness of Kazakh Hydrocarbon Sector
NUR-SULTAN – The Foreign Investors’ Council held a working meeting on March 3 with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the heads of oil and gas companies operating in Kazakhstan, reported the Akorda press service. The meeting sought ways to increase the investment attractiveness of the country’s oil and gas sector The council’s meeting was attended by…
Presidents Tokayev and Japarov Visit AIFC Together
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov visited the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) on March 3, reported the Akorda press service. The AIFC is a major financial institution in the country and the region of Central Asia. Launched in 2018, it offers financial services, including financial technologies, Islamic finance, green…
Kazakhstan Seeks to Attract $9.5 Billion in Agriculture Investment By 2025
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government plans to attract four trillion tenge (US$9.57 billion) of investments in its agriculture sector, said Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin during a government meeting on March 2. Addressing the meeting, Kazakh Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov said the ministry plans to implement 380 investment projects, including 250 import substitution projects.…
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov Visits Kazakhstan, Meets With President Tokayev
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov wrapped up the results of their meeting during a joint press briefing on March 2, the Akorda press service reported. Japarov is on his first official visit to Kazakhstan as the president of Kyrgyzstan after he won nearly 80 percent of the votes in…
U.S. Senior Official Notes Kazakhstan’s Experience in Returning Its Citizens Caught Up in Conflict Zones
NUR-SULTAN – United States Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS John T. Godfrey commended Kazakhstan’s efforts to return its foreign terrorist fighters home, as he delivered a keynote address during the virtual Middle East Countering Terrorism conference hosted Feb. 25 by Washington-based Middle East Institute (MEI).…
President Tokayev Congratulates Citizens on National Gratitude Day
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated the country’s citizens on the Day of Gratitude celebrated March 1 in Kazakhstan, reported the Akorda press service. The Day of Gratitude has been celebrated in Kazakhstan since 2016. Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed initiating the holiday in April 2015 during the celebration of the 20th anniversary…
New Project Gives Voice to Kazakh Scientists, Promotes Diversity
NUR-SULTAN – Gylym Faces (Faces of Science), a new project launched by enthusiasts Anastasiya Gorbunova and Assel Mussabekova, seeks to showcase the diversity of Kazakh science. Gorbunova and Mussabekova shared their experience of running the project, and how they came up with this idea in a recent interview with The Astana Times. Both Gorbunova and…
Coronavirus Restrictions to Ease in Kazakhstan in March
NUR-SULTAN – As the epidemiological situation stabilised in Kazakhstan, the country’s commission on the fight against coronavirus made a decision to ease the restrictions starting March 1, according to an official announcement by the Kazakh Prime Minister’s press service. The extent to which the restrictions will be loosened depends on the zone where a region…
Kazakhstan to Accept More International Flights as Epidemiological Situation Stabilises
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s commission on the fight against coronavirus allowed for an increase in the number of international flights, reported the Kazakh Civil Aviation Committee. Starting Feb. 24, there will be more flights from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Almaty-Tashkent-Almaty flights will be increased from four to eight per week and operated by Air…
No Region Left Behind in Red Zone, as Epidemiological Situation Stabilises in Kazakhstan
NUR-SULTAN – No region in Kazakhstan is currently in the high risk red zone. Only the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan, as well as Akmola, Pavlodar, West Kazakhstan, and Kostanai regions are in the moderate risk yellow zone. All other regions in the country are in the green zone. “The country’s epidemiological situation has stabilised. Many…
Kazakh Government Signs Agreement to Coordinate Macroeconomic Policy for Next Three Years
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government, the National Bank, and the Agency for Regulation and Development of Financial Markets signed an agreement on coordination of macroeconomic policy measures for the next three years, the Kazakh Prime Minister’s press service reported. “Improving living standards and the well-being of the population is the main priority of the country’s…
Fitch Affirms Kazakhstan at ‘BBB’ Rating, Outlook Stable
NUR-SULTAN – The Fitch credit rating agency affirmed Kazakhstan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BBB’ with a stable outlook. The report noted the country’s strong fiscal and external balance sheets along with accumulated oil revenues. External and fiscal buffers showed good performance against coronavirus and oil price shocks. “Large sovereign external buffers are…
45-Foot Ice Volcano Goes Viral in Kazakhstan, Attracts Tourists (Video)
NUR-SULTAN – With winter destinations already abundant in Kazakhstan, one more spot can be added to the tourist map. A 14-metre ice volcano in the Almaty region has become a popular sight among locals despite the four-hour drive from Almaty. The ice tower is located in the Kegen district between the Kegen and Shyrganak villages.…
Kazakh Foreign Minister, OSCE Senior Officials Address International Conference Commemorating Astana 2010 Summit
NUR-SULTAN – Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi, OSCE Chair Ann Linde and OSCE Secretary-General Helge Schmid opened an international conference commemorating the historical significance and relevance of the OSCE Summit hosted by Nur-Sultan (then Astana) in 2010 and the Astana Declaration. The event was organized by and held…
Projects Worth $3.3 billion Planned in Shymkent Over Next Five Years
NUR-SULTAN – Over the next five years, the Shymkent authorities are planning a pool of 123 investment projects worth 1.36 trillion tenge (US$3.3 billion) that are expected to create 11,500 jobs, reported the Kazakh Prime Minister’s press service. Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin visited the cities of Shymkent and Turkestan Feb. 17 as part of…
Freedom of Expression is the Constitutional Right of Every Citizen, Says Tokayev
NUR-SULTAN – Freedom of expression is a constitutional right of every citizen, said Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at a virtual meeting with the country’s Prosecutor General office, reported the Akorda press service. “Since last year, Kazakhstan has had a fundamentally new law on peaceful assemblies, which introduced a notification system to organise rallies instead of…
ADB Raises $20 Million from First Gender Bonds in Kazakhstan
NUR-SULTAN – The Asian Development Bank has raised nearly 8.4 billion tenge (US$20.1 million) from the first gender bonds issued in Kazakhstan, reported the bank’s press service. The funds will help finance ADB’s Promoting Gender Equality in Housing Finance project meant to expand lending operations of Kazakhstan’s Otbasy Bank and promote affordable mortgage loans to…
Tokayev Emphasises Importance of Judiciary Reforms
NUR-SULTAN – The reforms to modernise the judiciary system in Kazakhstan should mobilise quality specialists and ensure impartiality in court decisions, said Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at a meeting that focused on the modernization of the judiciary system. These measures are designed to increase trust of people in the judiciary. “The Supreme Court сhair has…
New Opportunities, Old Roads: Kazakhstan’s Silk Road
NUR-SULTAN – Twenty-three years ago in February, then Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a state program into existence to revive the historical centers of the Silk Road, preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Turkic-speaking states, and build tourism infrastructure around the places once passed by the Great Silk Road. Twenty-three years on, the goal…
Norwegian Peace Movement Praises Kazakhstan’s Anti-Nuclear Fight
NUR-SULTAN – Tore Nærland, a leader of The Bike for Peace Movement, published a book on the organisation’s activities over the years and appealed to the nuclear countries to abolish nuclear weapons. The book “Peace, Disarmament and a Nuclear-Weapon-Free-World” has been released in February of this year and was supported by the Mayors for Peace…
Kazakhstan Enters Green Zone, Says Kazakh Healthcare Minister
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan returned to the low risk green zone, said Kazakh Minister of Healthcare Alexey Tsoy at a press briefing in the Kazakh capital. The ministry regularly updates the matrix concerning the epidemiological situation. As of Feb. 12, there have been 200,044 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,630 deaths. Kazakhstan also reported 48,522 cases of…
Capital City Budget Optimised by Nearly $103 Million in 2020
NUR-SULTAN – The budget of the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan has been optimised by 43 billion tenge ($102.8 million), said Nur-Sultan Mayor Altai Kulginov at a virtual meeting with citizens on Feb. 10. The money that was saved will now be directed to financing the social sector, infrastructure development, healthcare and education. “As instructed by the…
KEGOC Digitises National Energy System, Expands Energy Cooperation with Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
NUR-SULTAN – KEGOC, Kazakhstan’s electric grid operator, is negotiating the expansion of its automatic frequency and power control system to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, said KEGOC Chair Bakytzhan Kazhiyev at a Feb. 9 government meeting. The automatic frequency and power control system is meant to automatically maintain a balance between the production and consumption of electricity.…
Kazakhstan’s Anti-Corruption Agency Head Reports 2020 Results
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Agency on the Fight against Corruption recently organized an expanded meeting discussing the country’s efforts to curb corruption. The meeting gathered government officials, experts and public activists. The agency seeks to incorporate innovative approaches to addressing the issue. “Eliminating corruption was one of the most important priorities in the electoral program of…
