Social spending is largest percentage of Kazakh budget in first half 2019
NUR-SULTAN – Spending on social programmes accounted for the largest part of Kazakhstan’s government spending from January to April. Social assistance spending accounted for 27.6 percent of Kazakhstan’s $9.98 billion state expenditures during that period. Total government spending increased 16.7 percent for that time period year-on-year with spending on social assistance increasing 20 percent to…
Kazakh mobile app provides legal assistance to young families
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government unveiled June 25 a mobile app to provide legal assistance to young families, announced Minister of Information and Societal Development Dauren Abayev at a public meeting. The app is not yet available but developers hope it will be available soon through the Apple Store and Google Market. The government created…
Maria Agapova to be first Kazakh woman to compete in UFC world promotion
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s first amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) world champion Maria Agapova has been invited to the second main fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series July 30 in Las Vegas. The winner will sign a contract with the world promoter. Agapova (6-0) will meet Tracy Cortes (5-1),…
More than 200 remote Kazakh villages to get broadband internet by September
NUR-SULTAN – More than 200 remote villages will receive broadband internet connection by Sept. 1, reported the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry press service. Fibre optic line construction in villages in the Kyzylorda, Pavlodar, Turkestan and Zhambyl regions will be completed in three months, giving 201 villages access to broadband internet. In…
Kazakh healthcare action plan shows results: screening exam identifies early stages of illnesses in more than half a million children
NUR-SULTAN – The action plan to develop primary healthcare in Kazakhstan is showing results. The national screening programme, which examined five million children in 2018, revealed illnesses in approximately 522,000 youngsters, noted Minister of Healthcare Yelzhan Birtanov at the June 18 meeting with the population. “Currently, measures are being taken to cure them. Children with…
Kazakh mortgage programme helps thousands of military personnel acquire housing
NUR-SULTAN – More than 3,000 Kazakh Armed Forces personnel’s families purchased housing in 2018 under a mortgage loan programme created by the Kazakh government specifically for members of the Armed Forces. The new model makes it possible to acquire housing using a mortgage loan under programmes of second-tier banks. Since the beginning of the new…
Kazakh graduating high school students undertaking Unified National Testing June 20-30
NUR-SULTAN – Senior students in Kazakhstan’s high schools are undertaking Unified National Testing (UNT) June 20-30. This year, more than 117,000 people applied to take the exam, of which 96,000 or 72 percent are senior high school students. “Today, Kazakhstan launched UNT,” wrote Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in a June 20 Tweet. “I commissioned the…
Gasoline prices drop in Kazakhstan as country reaches sufficient supply for domestic market
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s gasoline prices have dropped, and an Energyprom study found that the country has sufficient supply for the domestic market and is planning to gradually increase exports. According to May data, average prices in Kazakhstan dropped 6.9 percent for AI-92 gasoline, down to 147.6 tenge (US$0.38) per litre; 3.8 percent for AI-95/96, down…
Indian investors to build ski resort, noodle factory in Turkestan Region
NUR-SULTAN – Chaudhary Group (CG Global) is planning to build a ski resort, instant noodle factory and food park in the Turkestan Region. The Indian company intends to attract Spanish and Swiss specialists to assist with the ski resort. Meirzhan Myrzaliyev, the region’s deputy akim (governor), met in Almaty with CG Global board chair Binod…
Kazakhstan holds free digital literacy courses
NUR-SULTAN – The Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry and Zerde Holding, the national information and communication technology (ICT) company, have launched digital literacy training programmes throughout the regions. The courses will develop human capital as part of the Digital Kazakhstan state programme, which includes achieving 80 percent digital literacy in the country.…
Kazakhstan’s digitisation generates $578 million for economy in 2018
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s digitisation efforts generated $578 million for its economy in 2018, said Kazakh Vice Minister of Digital Development, Defence and Aerospace Industry Ablaikhan Ospanov at the June 12-14 International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Chief Information Officer (CIO) Summit in Nur-Sultan. IDC forecasts that 30 percent of Global 2000 companies will allocate at least 10…
Tokayev set to win Kazakhstan’s presidential election with 70 percent, exit poll predicts
NUR-SULTAN – Incumbent President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is expected to win the June 9 presidential election receiving the support of 70.13 per cent of the voters who cast their ballots, results of a nation-wide exit poll suggested. The results, released immediately after midnight of June 10, suggest that Tokayev won a clear victory over…
Kazakh Housing Construction Savings Bank completes 2019 plan for issuing military personnel mortgages
NUR-SULTAN – The Housing Construction Saving Bank of Kazakhstan (HCSBK) has fully disbursed funds for the 2019 military personnel housing programme. The programme started May 2 and ended May 27, as the bank announced it was completed ahead of schedule. The bank issued 680 loans worth 10.7 billion tenge ($US27.9 million). Another 3,143 loan applications…
Kazakhstan launches ‘Single Window’ process for all import-export documents
NUR-SULTAN – All import and export documentation in Kazakhstan can now be obtained through Single Window, according to the State Revenue Committee press service. The change, implemented by this Ministry of Finance committee and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), is part of a larger initiative to promote operations and make them more…
Kazakh athletes pave way for Summer Olympics by participating in licensed competitions through June 2020
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh national teams will take part in 28 licensed world championships, 19 Asian championships and 12 world-qualifying tournaments this year to secure their Olympic quota. Individual athletes will participate in three world championships, 19 Asian and 18 world-qualifying tournaments and more than 50 competitions as part of the World Cup to win licensing…
“Aladdin” film in Kazakh draws record attendance in Nur-Sultan premiere
NUR-SULTAN – The film “Aladdin” directed by Guy Ritchie was released May 23 in Kazakh in the capital and a record 3,000 viewers watched the film in Kazakh during its first weekend. The figure doubled the performance of the film “Dumbo” released in Kazakh. The Meloman Company, the largest home entertainment company in Kazakhstan, stressed…
Kazakh National Bank presents investment activities overview
NUR-SULTAN – As of May 1, the portfolio of pension assets of the Single Accumulated Pension Fund (SAPF) was 9,761.9 billion tenge (US$25.5 billion). Cash and financial instruments denominated in tenge amounted to 6,613.1 billion tenge (US$17.3 billion) or 67.7 percent, denominated in foreign currency – 3,148.8 billion tenge (US$8.2 billion) or 32.3 percent, according…
Authorities seek to provide housing for large families in capital
NUR-SULTAN – Nur-Sultan Akimat (city administration) issued certificates for 150 apartments for rent to large families in the capital’s housing queue June 4 as part of the Berekely Baspana rental housing programme and to mark the Day of Kazakh State Symbols, reports its press service. There are more than 46,000 people in the capital’s housing…
Kazakhstan’s remaining second-tier banks continue mergers as field reforms
NUR-SULTAN – After the National Bank’s purge of what it identified as bad actors in 2018, Kazakhstan’s remaining second-tier banks are now undertaking mergers and acquisitions to ensure financial stability, reports Finprom.kz. The Kazakh National Bank’s measures were intended to remove unscrupulous financial institutions from the banking sector and support those that conducted a “healthy…
Kazakhstan to build 5G infrastructure in three largest cities, plans to expand to other population centres
NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government plans to build the infrastructure necessary to support 5G networks in Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent by the end of the year. The projects will serve as models for 5G infrastructure development in all population centres with more than 50,000 residents, the prime minister’s press service reports. Kazakh Prime Minister Askar…
Kazakh swimmer takes bronze in breaststroke at Champions Swim Series’ second stage
NUR-SULTAN – Rio 2016 Olympic champion and Kazakh swimmer Dmitriy Balandin won a 200-metre breast stroke bronze medal May 12 in the Champions Swim Series’ second stage in Budapest, Hungary. The International Federation of Water Sports (FINA) organised the Champions Swim Series for the first time this year. The tournament gathers the best swimmers, who…
French author presents comic book featuring Kazakh traditions and culture
NUR-SULTAN – French engineer Jacques Ortet presented the comic book “Les aventures de Jak et Bil au Kazakhstan: Le trésor de Gengis Khan (The Adventures of Jacques and Bil in Kazakhstan: the Treasures of Genghis Khan)” in Brussels May 19 at a meeting with Kazakh Ambassador in Belgium Aigul Kuspan. The adventures of photographer Jacques and…
Kazakhstan Science Fund seeks to act as investor in its commercialisation projects
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s Science Fund would be able to expand its sources of finance and improve its profitability and innovation if it is able to function as an investor in its commercialisation projects, said Kazakh Senate Speaker Dariga Nazarbayeva during her May 14 visit to the organisation. She also advised the organisation to advertise its…
Kazakhstan installs tourism police at popular attractions, hopes increased security will boost tourism
NUR-SULTAN – Tourist police units were recently added to attractions in Almaty, Nur-Sultan, the Akmola Region, the Almaty Region, the East Kazakhstan Region and the Turkestan Region by an April 10 order of the Kazakh Ministry of Internal Affairs, said Nur-Sultan Police’s Migration Service Department Head Arman Baimukhamet at a May 20 tourist police demonstration…
Tenge projected to become stronger, National Bank says
NUR-SULTAN – Internal and external currency value factors including oil prices, foreign investments and international reserves indicate that the tenge will become stronger, the Kazakh National Bank has announced. “Fundamental drivers of the exchange rate add up favourably. So, since the beginning of the year, oil prices have risen from $54 to $70 per barrel.…
