Articles by Julia Rutz

Global Figure Skating Stars Perform with Denis Ten in Astana

Olympic and world figure skating champions participated in Denis Ten’s show titled, Denis and Friends: Olympic Energy took part on May 29 and 30 in Almaty and on June 1 in Astana. Kazakhstan-born figure skater and bronze medal winner at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, Ten gathered the brightest world stars in figure skating, including…

German Entrepreneurs Seek Partnerships in West Kazakhstan

Consul General of Germany to Kazakhstan Michael Grau visited Uralsk on May 28 with a delegation of German businessmen to tour several local leading enterprises in hopes of finding partnership possibilities. The visitors toured the Uralsk Commercial and Industrial Company Ltd., the Glasswork-Service Ltd., Kubley Ltd., Zhaikmunay Ltd. and the regional hospital. According to Grau,…

Kazakh Pilots Begin Training at Finnish Aviation School

Twelve Kazakh student pilots have been selected to take part in a training programme at Finland’s Patria Flight Training Centre, through which they may earn commercial pilot’s licenses and international pilot certificates. Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Finland Galymzhan Koishibayev visited the Kazakh students at the Patria Centre in Helsinki, Finland, on May 26. In his…

Shakeev, Bisengaliyev perform new works with London Symphony Orchestra

Songwriter and composer Erkesh Shakeev and violinist Marat Bisengaliyev introduced their new joint music project with the London Symphony Orchestra on May 19 in Almaty. “The album recording started on May 12 in London. The album called ‘Inception’ features compositions in neoclassical style. This is a unique event for Kazakhstan. No one solo performer or…

Kurmangazy Conservatory Performs at Beijing Modern Music Festival

Almaty’s Kurmangazy Conservatory Choir and choir rector and People’s Artist of Kazakhstan Zhaniya Aubakirova performed at the Beijing Modern Music Festival (BMMF) 2014, along with performers and composers of modern music from around the world. The festival took place in Beijing from May 16-22 and included compositions by composers from across the globe, including Italy,…

New Bike Lanes Proposed for Almaty

ALMATY – Bicycle lanes are to be built in Almaty, following the suggestions of Dutch experts engaged in a project to improve the city’s traffic infrastructure. The draft bicycle lanes construction project was presented on May 16 in Almaty during a meeting with Mayor of Almaty City Akhmetzhan Yessimov. The suggestions made by the Dutch…

Eco-Friendly Mega Shopping Mall to Open in Summer

ALMATY –A new 100,000-square-metre shopping mall utilising innovative green building technologies will open here on Aug. 1. The new Mega Park Mall, which is part of the MEGA shopping mall chain,  will be located between Seifullin Avenue and Makatayeva Street. About 600 trees and bushes will be planted on the mall grounds and two walls…

EXPO 2017 Will Include Astana Botanical Gardens

ASTANA – A botanical garden to be built in Astana as part of EXPO 2017 will become a significant attraction, according to the Astana City Communal Services Administration. The 97-hectare garden complete with a parking lot will be located between Kabanbai Batyr Avenue and Turkestan Street. The communal services administration has also noted that the…

St. Petersburg to Host Days of Astana Culture

ASTANA – Days of Astana Culture will be held in the Kazakh capital’s twin city, St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 17-18. The celebration is being organised as part of the cooperation agreement concluded between the two states. According to the mayor of Astana’s press service, because Astana and St. Petersburg are twin towns, they conduct…

New Kabanbai Batyr Memorial Opened in East Kazakhstan

UST-KAMENOGORSK – The opening of a new memorial to noted 18th Century commander Kabanbai Batyr took place in this city in East Kazakhstan on May 7. The ceremony was arranged to coincide with Defenders of the Homeland Day. A dramatic performance was organised to celebrate the opening of the memorial and Executive Secretary of the…

Railroad Connecting Minsk-Moscow-Astana-Almaty Could Become Reality

ASTANA – A new railroad connecting the capitals of the three Customs Union states and Almaty could be built soon, said Askar Mamin, head of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, Kazakhstan’s national railway company, and Vladimir Yakunin, president of the state-run Russian Railways Company, during a press conference of the Railway Service Council of the Commonwealth of…

Moroccan Delegation Discusses Cooperation in Tourism, Governance, Inter-religious Dialogue

ASTANA – A delegation of Moroccan parliamentarians headed by Speaker of Morocco’s  House of Councillors Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah visited Astana on April 23. The visit came at the invitation of Kazakh Senate Speaker Kasym-Jomart Tokayev. This is the first visit Moroccan representatives have paid Kazakhstan since establishing diplomatic relations in 1992. The Senate press service…

First Kazakh Earth Remote Sensing Satellite Launched

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s first Earth remote sensing satellite was launched from the Kuru Spaceport in Guiana on April 28 at 22:35 local time, the press service of Kazcosmos reported. According to a press release, the satellite, KazEOSat-1 (Kazakhstan Earth Observation Satellite 1), was constructed, as per Kazcosmos specifications, by the French company Airbus Defence and…

New Technology to be Used in Kumyss Production in Karaganda

ASTANA – A pilot project using German technology to produce a version of the traditional Kazakh mare’s milk drink kumyss will be launched next year in the village of Osakarovka in the Karaganda region. Entrepreneurs from Karaganda visited German facilities last year to become familiar with the technology of producing milk powder. Production there was…

Tale of Batu Unlocks the Secrets of Kazakh Culture, History for Children

ALMATY– A fantasy story about the fascinating adventures of a young boy and his friends has just been published to inspire children to be curious about Kazakh culture, the language and the country’s rich history. Titled“In Search of the Golden Cup: the Adventures of Batu and His Friends,” the new book was written by Kazakh…

Pereversev Releases New Online Album

ALMATY – Famous Kazakh pianist, Oleg Pereversev, who is also a member of the musical group Chick Flick and instrumental duet Vivat, recently presented his new online album “Classical Music for All.” It took a year to prepare the new tracks, which represent classical music from different periods, including masterpieces by Bach, as well as…

Kazakh-British Partnership Offers Opportunities to Local Scientists

ALMATY – A new £20 million ($33.4 million) partnership programme was launched on April 9 to promote scientific research cooperation between the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan, the press service of the British Council reported. The new Newton–Al-Farabi partnership programme is a five-year programme to increase cooperation in science and innovation between the Kazakh and UK…

Flash Mob Draws Attention to Physically Challenged

ALMATY – A group of physically challenged individuals put on a dancing flash mob show April 5 at the Maxima Shopping Mall. The flash mob was warmly welcomed by visitors. The three-minute performance was organised to show people that disabilities don’t stop people from enjoying their lives and even dancing. “The event had a positive…

Aerial Monitoring of Saiga Population to Help Determine Their Numbers

ASTANA – An aerial census and monitoring of the saiga population in Betpakdala, Ustyurt and Ural regions is scheduled for April 7 and 10 as part of a programme to preserve and manage fauna resources, according to the press service for the Kazakh Ministry of Environment and Water Recourses. The aerial counts are being conducted…

Fundraising Campaign Seeks to Make Almaty Green Again

A new fundraising effort was launched April 4 in Almaty to help plant and maintain the city’s trees, as well as to clean its rivers, install litter bins and fund landscape design. The campaign is placing posters near cash registers in shops and gas stations around the city urging people to donate five tenge (US…

21st Session of Assembly of People of Kazakhstan to Focus on Peace, Spirituality, Harmony

ASTANA – The 21st session of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (APK) will be held April 18 at Astana’s Palace of Independence. The session will focus on the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy and fostering a culture of peace, spirituality and harmony. “Ideological problems are the basis of the current crisis the world is facing.…

Kazakhstan 2050 Plan Unveiled Online in 20 Languages

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kazcontent on March 27 unveiled online access to the country’s Kazakhstan 2050 plan in 20 languages. “I would like to note that during the years of independence, Kazakhstan has become a reliable, responsible and respected member of the international community. All the events and processes that…

Almaty Prepares for 28th Winter Universiade

ALMATY – Construction of an ice dome and ice arena will be finished by August 2016, said Almaty Mayor Ahmetzhan Yessimov during a March 27 meeting on municipal development issues chaired by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. “The city is actively preparing for the 2017 Winter Universiade. This year, we are going to start building an…

Motor-Roller Returns to Kazakhstan after European Tour

ALMATY – The Kazakh musical group Motor-Roller, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013, has returned home after a European tour. The musicians performed in March in several German cities including Berlin, Cologne, Munich and Frankfurt. They also gave a concert in the Czech capital, Prague. According to frontman Ilyas Autov, group members were nervous…

Kazakh Film Inspired by Hemingway Nominated for Nika Award

According to the Kazakhfilm press office, the Kazakhstan movie “Shal,” which was inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea,” has been nominated for best movie in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Baltic States at Nika 2014. The movie is directed by Yermek Tursunov, the acclaimed director who is renowned for…