Articles by ASSEL SATUBALDINA

ASTANA – “Polish Advocates of Freedom – Saint John Paul II and Blessed Father Władysław Bukowiński,” a photo exhibition recently opened in the capital, pays tribute to two significant religious figures both in their historical homeland Poland and in the world. “We brought 12 stands; of those, 10 are devoted to St. John Paul II…

ASTANA – The Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region demonstrated a dynamic and remarkable 4.1-percent economic growth in 2017 over the 2.5-percent increase in 2016 and the latest Regional Economic Outlook for the CCA released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts growth to stabilise at 4 percent in 2018-2019 and approximately 4.1 percent in…

ASTANA – Astana Club, a platform to debate public issues based on Chatham House rules, kicked off its fourth annual meeting Nov. 12. The meeting focused on challenges facing the Eurasian region and the building of Eurasian strategic architecture. The meeting gathered 50 leading experts, politicians and diplomats from 33 countries. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are studying the possibility of creating a joint oil and gas enterprise, said Kazakh Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev and Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov during their meeting in Astana. “We are now considering the opportunity of setting up a joint enterprise in the oil and gas industry because…

ASTANA – Investments in housing construction have grown 31.5 percent compared to 2017, reaching 818.9 billion tenge (US$2.2 billion), reported Kazakh Minister for Investments and Development Zhenis Kassymbek. Increased construction financing by private developers (53 percent) and the population (43.2 percent) underpinned the growth. “Per one tenge of state investments, there are eight tenge of…

ASTANA – Five young and successful Kazakh women won a TechWomen seed grant for their Uki.kz project. The award ceremony at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco concluded an intensive five-week programme meant to empower and support emerging women leaders in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). The Kazakh team included Zhanargul Izimova, Sberbank retail managing…

ASTANA – Kazakh athlete Abzal Azhgaliyev finished second in the 500 metres at the season-opening World Cup Short Track Nov. 2-4 in Calgary, Canada. Finishing the race in 40.136 seconds, Azhgaliyev placed second after Wu Dajing, China’s 24-year-old champion and gold medal winner at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, whose result was 39.915 seconds.…

ASTANA – Kazakh developers Timur Ryspekov, Vladislav Polonski and Anastasiya Kletscheva won Best Use of Hardware award at the recent Space Apps Challenge competition finals organised by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in New York. This year’s competition brought 25,000 participants from more than 70 countries. The Space App Challenge is an international 48-hour…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s employment and mass entrepreneurship programme seeks to recruit 571,000 citizens through state support mechanisms by the end of 2018, said Kazakh Minister of Labour and Social Protection Madina Abylkassymova. The programme primarily seeks to improve the qualifications of the labour force, develop mass entrepreneurship and involve the self-employed and unemployed population in the…

ASTANA – The city hosted the Smart Service hackathon Oct. 27-28, where 160 participants had the chance to suggest their solutions to make the capital more innovative, attractive and comfortable. The teams had 48 hours to develop a product that would meet the city’s needs as tasked by Astana Innovations and its partners, including ARTA…

ASTANA – Astana welcomed German and Kazakh businesses, representatives of governments and specialists for the conference, Kazakhstan and Germany: Partners in Building Sustainable Agriculture, Oct. 26 in Astana. They discussed increasing competitiveness in agriculture, sustainable agriculture, point farming, digitisation, logistics and research. “The huge work is being carried out in these areas in Kazakh agriculture,”…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has given birth to many talents, one of whom is Ivan Gusev, the Karaganda-born pianist currently residing in the United States and performing concert programmes on its world-famous stages. Born in 1988, his family moved to Korolev in the Moscow region in Russia when he was four years old. His passion for…

ASTANA – The volume of foreign directed investments injected in the Kazakh economy rose by 15.4 percent in six months, Minister for Investments and Development Zhenis Kassymbek reported Oct. 23. The figure is estimated at $12.3 billion compared to $10.5 billion during the same period in 2017. Kazakhstan tops Central Asian countries in terms of…

ASTANA – Meet & Sketch, which seeks to enrich art life in the capital, provides Kazakh urbanites with a great opportunity to hone their drawing skills while joining like-minded people from different backgrounds. Mirra Kotovskaya, a capital native working as a graphic designer and illustrator, established the community in August. She was inspired by open…

ASTANA – Sixty-six gas wells will be drilled at the Tengiz field as part of the $5 billion North East Ring Project (NERP), said Union of Kazakhstan Oilfield Service Companies Chair Rashid Zhaksylykov at an Oct. 10 press conference. Tengiz is Kazakhstan’s major oil and gas field operated by the Chevron-led joint venture Tengizchevroil. “It…

ASTANA – The Sixth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions kicked off Oct. 10 in Astana gathering more than 80 delegations, representatives of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism, representatives of religious and public organisations and high-level officials, including President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, who was on his official visit to…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan will allocate 280 billion tenge (US$762.8 million) to build 52 schools across the country, said Deputy Minister of Education Bibigul Asylova during the meeting of the commission reviewing National Fund budget spending on the Nurly Zhol infrastructure development programme for 2015-2019. President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the programme in 2014 as a way…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, sharing not only the border, but culture, history and spiritual values, have enjoyed a dynamic partnership over the years, with the bilateral ties withstanding the test of time, said Uzbek ambassador to Kazakhstan Saidikram Niyazkhojaev in an interview with The Astana Times. The nations established diplomatic relations in 1992. A…

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited businesses, public service facilities and met with local administration officials during a Sept. 28-29 visit to Shymkent city in southern Kazakhstan. In June, Nazarbayev declared Shymkent the country’s third city of national significance alongside Almaty and Astana. The declaration is part of an effort to make Astana, Almaty,…

ASTANA – Azret Sultan, the state historical and cultural reserve museum, and Khoja Ahmed Yassawi mausoleum, both located in Turkestan, will undergo major renovations, said Minister of Culture and Sports Arystanbek Mukhamediuly. He presented the plan Sept. 26 to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The efforts are meant to boost Turkestan’s tourism potential, which acquired new status…

ASTANA – Kazakh Minister of Culture and Sports Arystanbek Mukhamediuly reported the details of a new inbound and outbound tourism development strategy at a Sept. 24 Majilis (lower house of the Parliament) meeting. They include developing a tourism map, establishing a tourism and hospitality university and enhancing access to tourist sites, among other measures. The…

ASTANA – The Ghost Expedition, organised by the European Union Delegation to Kazakhstan, Swiss Embassy and TSE Gallery, is the final exhibit in a series of similar events as part of the Astana Art Show. The display will run through Oct. 26. It follows the recently-ended European Residence Project, which displayed the works of six…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan allocated 194.3 billion tenge (US$547.96 million) to its regions development programme in 2018, reported Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov at a Sept. 25 government meeting. The programme, which received national level status at the meeting, was first adopted in 2014 to centralise different programmes meant to develop each region’s potential. The…

ASTANA – Astana hosted the Social Good Summit Sept. 21, joining countries around the world to explore the role of technology in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The summit is a worldwide event organised during the United Nations General Assembly Week in New York and uniting a global and diverse community of…

ASTANA – Parents in Astana now have more educational options for their kids, as the first Montessori school in Kazakhstan opened in the capital welcoming first ten students aged 6-9. The child-centred educational approach developed by Maria Montessori in 1897 is one of the world’s most popular educational methods and it has gained increasing popularity in…