Eight candidates seek the office of Kazakh President
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh Central Electoral Commission (CEC) closed nominations April 28 for the June 9 presidential election. The field, which began with nine nominees, was reduced by one April 29 after a candidate withdrew. The candidates’ registration stage will continue until May 11. The CEC summed up the results at its April 28 meeting.…
Designer converts Karaganda coal into award-winning jewellery
NUR-SULTAN – Olga Zeller, a designer from Karaganda, creates coal jewellery in a variety of designs, from patterns inspired by her own heritage to modern minimalist looks. Zeller is trained as an economist, but five years ago, she got involved in jewellery manufacturing. “First I worked with polymer clay. Frankly speaking, I did not think…
Kazakhstan could see first female presidential candidate as Ak Zhol party nominates Daniya Yespayeva
NUR-SULTAN – The Ak Zhol party nominated April 24 Daniya Yespayeva as its candidate for the June 9 presidential election. If confirmed by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, Yespayeva would be the first woman in Kazakh history to run for president. Yespayeva, a banker from the Aktobe Region, received 49.5 percent of the party’s 190…
Kazakh tourism professionals seek out new attractions among nation’s eastern wilds, atop its horses
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Tourism national company plans to take travel industry representatives and travel writers on four scouting exhibitions in 2019 to identify new tourist attractions, said its Deputy Chair Timur Duisengaliyev during the recent Almaty Travel Fest. The first tour, the Vostochnyi (Eastern) Transit international expedition, will follow the path of the famous geographer,…
Hometown love can win Kazakh schoolchildren 10-day trip across the country
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh school children aged 11 to 15 now have the opportunity to win a 10-day trip across Kazakhstan by expressing what they love about their home region. The Samruk Kazyna Social Development Trust recently launched a national competition asking participants to write an essay or poem or produce a film describing what they…
Where can a Finn find like-minded folk in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan? Why, at the Finno-Ugric Ethno Cultural Centre, of course
NUR-SULTAN – The Finno-Ugric ethno cultural centre in the Pavlodar Region gathers nine ethnicities, providing an opportunity for its members to preserve their cultural heritage and share it with the Kazakh people, said chair Olga Nikolashina. “This is how our work on the creation of the centre began. We worked with the archive, the migration…
Want to explore Kazakhstan’s rich cultural history? Three new visitors’ centres will help
NUR-SULTAN – Cultural heritage tourism continues to develop in Kazakhstan, covering more regions and involving the country’s business community. As part of the Ruhani Zhangyru (Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) programme, the Otyrar, Tamgaly and Ulytau visitor centres will open this year, said Sacral Kazakhstan Research Centre head Berik Abdygaliuly after the programme’s national committee meeting.…
Bird watchers migrate to Almaty for Wings of Alakol festival
NUR-SULTAN – The Wings of Alakol bird watching festival will take place May 9-11 at the Pelikan Family Recreation Centre on Alakol Lake in the Almaty Region. Festival will offer bird watching opportunities as well as art and cultural activities and performances. The recreation centre and Veter Stranstvii (Wind of Travels) magazine are organising the…
17,000 runners to race in Almaty Marathon, one hopes to set Guinness Record
NUR-SULTAN – Seventeen thousand runners will participate in the Almaty Marathon April 21, 10 percent of whom are from 53 countries of the world including China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uzbekistan. The marathon’s regional ambassadors actively promote running in nearly every Kazakh city, Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan).…
Kazakh brand Shoqan produces high quality, affordable classic clothing
NUR-SULTAN – Almaty entrepreneurs Nursultan Magzumov and Ulugbek Sharipov are promoting the culture of Kazakh men wearing suits by producing a high-quality, stylish and affordable clothing line. The team, in conjunction with the Kazakh producer Eric Tastembekov, founded Tumar Qazaqstan in 2016. In January 2017, they registered the Tumar trademark of men’s watches and launched…
Kazakhstan’s Bublik wins Monterrey Challenger, enters ATP’s top 100
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh tennis player Alexander Bublik won the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, entering ATP’s top 100 ranking. Bublik defeated Serb Pedja Krstin and American Mitchell Krueger in the second and third rounds, respectively, then beat Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the quarterfinals, 7-6 (5), 6-3. In the semi-finals, he…
Israeli Film Festival opens in Kazakh capital
NUR-SULTAN – The Israeli Embassy in Kazakhstan, in cooperation with KazGUU University, opened the week-long Israeli Film Festival April 8 by screening Yossi Madmoni’s “Restoration.” The festival is aimed at showing Israeli culture and daily life and emphasising topics common to all people. The closed screening was attended by Israeli Ambassador to Kazakhstan Liat Wexelman,…
Kazakh ploggers clean capital’s parks
NUR-SULTAN – More than 400 ploggers participated in an April 7 event aimed at cleaning the capital’s parks and drawing people’s attention to the environment, recycling and a healthy lifestyle. Sparta Astana Eco Club, Sparta Astana Running Club and We Are for a Clean Country Eco Movement, supported by the city akimat (administration) and Adal…
Kazakh capital to host 2019 UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism
NUR-SULTAN – The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Nur-Sultan Akimat (city administration) will organise the eighth UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism under the Smart Cities, Smart Destinations theme in the Kazakh capital Oct. 9-12. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili and Nur-Sultan Akim (Mayor) Bakhyt Sultanov signed April 5 an agreement at the…
Different nationalities live in peace, preserve their culture and traditions in Kazakhstan, says Ukrainian community leader
NUR-SULTAN – Representatives of different ethnicities live in peace and harmony in Kazakhstan, with opportunities to preserve their traditions, customs and language, and share them with other members of society, said Tamara Shirmer, head of the capital’s Obereg Ukrainians’ Community. “We are proud that fate has given us the opportunity to live in such a…
Almaty tourist flow exceeds one million
NUR-SULTAN – The number of tourists to Almaty increased by 11.8 percent to 1.1 million visitors last year, one-fifth of all guests to the country. The city akimat (administration) paid attention to the infrastructure and opened a tourism hub. “Because of the simplification of the visa regime, EXPO 2017, the Universiade, creation of tourist infrastructure…
Professionalism and dedication to work is valued regardless of gender, says Kazakh engineer
NUR-SULTAN – Professionalism and dedication is valued in the workplace regardless of gender, said Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE) engineer Yenlik Mirzabekova. Work is a part of people’s lives; thus, they should treat it with respect, spend their time with meaning and understand its value for themselves and the development of the country, she noted in…
First Edmund Muskie Alumni Conference gathers individuals from 12 countries in Kazakh capital
NUR-SULTAN – The inaugural Edmund Muskie Alumni Conference was held in the capital March 29-30 to enhance connection and inspire ideas by creating common ground for dialogue and exchange. The event was organised by Cultural Vistas, a non-profit exchange organisation, with the support of the United States Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in…
Inclusive kindergarten opens in capital
NUR-SULTAN – RostOk inclusive kindergarten, which provides rehabilitation for children with autism spectrum disorders, hearing impairments and speech and movement disorders, opened April 1 in the capital. The kindergarten can accept 55 youngsters aged from two and a-half to seven on a paid basis for a full day and 65 from low-income families for a…
Kazakh acrobatic gymnasts win medals at 2019 World Cup in Las Vegas
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh male acrobatic gymnastics team of Daniel Dil and Vadim Shulyar won the gold medal March 25 at the 2019 Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) World Cup in Las Vegas. The women’s team of Anel Nurzhanova and Yulia Prosvetova took the bronze. The victories are the first for the country at the…
Denis Ten exhibition attracted 35,000 visitors in Japan
NUR-SULTAN – The Denis Ten Foundation organised the D10 world exhibition, dedicated to the memory of the Kazakh figure skater and bronze medallist at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, during the 2019 World Figure Skating Championship in Saitama, Japan. The four-day exhibit attracted 35,000 visitors. The exhibition presented Ten’s own photos and those taken during his…
Elizabet Tursynbayeva wins silver medal at World Championship, completes history-making quadruple salchow
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh figure skater Elizabet Tursynbayeva, who won the silver medal at the 2019 World Figure Skating Championship in Saitama, Japan March 22, made history in the process. She is the country’s first female athlete to receive a medal and first woman to complete a quadruple salchow at the event. “I am overwhelmed with…
Dimash Kudaibergen wins audience vote at World’s Best competition, voluntarily leaves competition
ASTANA – Young Kazakh singer Dimash Kudaibergen voluntarily left the World’s Best competition and won the audience vote for the best performance singing French song “SOS d’un terrien en detresse.” At the final stage, Kudaibergen sang the “Adagio” song with which he previously won the sixth round of the ‘I Am a Singer’ competition in…
Kazakhstan ranks fourth in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group I after first round
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s national football team ranked fourth in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro 2020 qualifying’s Group I after Belgium, Cyprus and Russia, but ahead of Scotland and San Marino. Kazakhstan sensationally won its first match 3:0 to Scotland March 21 on Astana Arena. The Kazakh team scored the first goal in…
Kazakh Parliament, Astana City Assembly approve renaming capital city, additional actions necessary to change name
ASTANA – The Kazakh Parliament and Astana Maslikhat (city assembly) have taken the first steps to change the name of the capital city from Astana to Nur-Sultan in honour of recently resigned and founding President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Parliament and city assembly approved March 20 a proposal from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to change the name…
