Articles by Dmitry Lee

ASTANA – The Day of Unity of the People of Kazakhstan is to be marked on May 1 with celebrations all over the country. This day is celebrated to highlight the unity of the multi-ethnic community that has been thriving in the Kazakh steppes. For the first time in Kazakhstan, it was celebrated in 1996.…

ASTANA – Approximately 150 renewable energy projects developers and representatives of engineering, consulting and advisory companies in the energy sector gathered in Astana April 20-21 for the Kazakhstan Power and Renewable Energy conference. “Kazakhstan is expected to become the biggest renewable energy player in the region and is taking further steps towards exploitation of its…

ASTANA – The Akmola’s Camp for Wives of Traitors of the Motherland (known as ALZHIR for its Russian acronym) museum was founded in 2007 and offers a glimpse of the injustices and hardships faced by women sentenced to prison during the Soviet era. The museum’s archives contain official Soviet documents, personal messages and decrees. Some…

ASTANA – A concert to mark the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was held April 14 in the capital at the National University of Arts. The concert featured Kazakh traditional tunes played on musical instruments from the Western world, composed by a British composer Nicholas Singer. Among the guests…

ASTANA – President of KTZ, national railway company, Askar Mamin and Almaty regional governor Amandyk Batalov took part in laying the first link of the track panels at the 110-kilometre railroad of the construction of Secondary Rail Road Almaty 1 – Shu on April 7. “Today we witnessed the result of a successful implementation of…

ASTANA – Some businesses are prospering no matter the crises and circumstances. One such small business owner spoke about her handmade notepad workshop that makes a profit even during economic uncertainty. In an interview with The Astana Times 23-year old Saule Smailova, architect by occupation and founder of BLOCKmeNOT, mentioned some key points of successfully…

ASTANA – So you’re foreign and new in town. The first thing you want to do is find a good, comfortable place to live, with all the amenities in walking range, and preferably right in the centre of the transport network. Here are a few tips from The Astana Times on how to pick an…

ASTANA – Should every offender really be jailed, or are there alternatives that could better help people change and become productive citizens? Local heads of the EU project “Enhancing Criminal Justice in Kazakhstan” discussed these and other questions in an exclusive interview ahead of the official launch of the project on April 8 at Astana’s…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Cuba are about to witness a historic moment: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev will pay his first official visit to Havana on April 2-3. “We will meet the President not only as the head of state, but also as a friend of the Cuban people,” said Cuban Ambassador in Kazakhstan Carlos Valdés…

ASTANA – People need to have a choice between essential and overly-luxurious that adds up to the value. By trying to draw the line among luxury, comfort and the basics, The Astana Times will try helping readers choose the right premium fitness club for leisure and workout sessions. Fitness clubs in the city can be…

ASTANA – Contacts between India and Kazakhstan go back over three millennia, with evidence of trading links between the Indus valley civilisation (3,300–1,300 BC) and the people who inhabited Kazakhstan, Ambassador of India in Kazakhstan Harsh Kumar Jain explained in an exclusive interview with The Astana Times. “The advent of the Great Silk Road significantly…

ASTANA – Antinuclear weapons activists in Karaganda commemorated the 25th anniversary of the shutdown of the Semipalatinsk’s nuclear test site by handing over the World Relay to youth on March 10 in Karaganda. “Seventeen universities were online. It was really interesting to speak with the youth,” said Karipbek Kuyukov, honorary ambassador of The ATOM Project…

ASTANA – Members of the lower chamber of the Parliament (MPs), the Mazhilis, are discussing ways to raise the yearly rent for Russian military test sites in Kazakhstan, reported Deputy Defense Minister Okas Saparov on Feb. 16. Russia is paying around $24 million per year for four rented military facilities: the Kapustin Yar test firing…

ASTANA – The Hungarian economy has seen constant growth since leaving behind the echo of the 2008 financial crisis, and the country’s embassy in Kazakhstan is now ready to further deepen and expand cooperation, and exchange experiences, the Hungarian top envoy in Astana says. “Prime Minister [of Hungary] Viktor Orban’s visit last spring was very…

ASTANA – Although Bulgaria and Kazakhstan might seem to have little but the Soviet Union to link them, Bulgarians actually first arrived on the territory of modern Kazakhstan more than 100 years ago and faced, with the Kazakhs and other peoples living on the steppe, the dangers posed by the harsh climate and clashes over…

ASTANA – They say only great despair may bring light to treasures of the human intellect, but what if aside from despair alone, you’re being chased by the serial killer Ghostface and only have 60 minutes to get away? The popularity of the city’s real-time escape rooms is undoubtedly on the rise. Residents currently have…

ASTANA – InvaMade, a new online store launched Feb. 5 in Almaty, is hoping to serve as a window of opportunity for Kazakh citizens with physical challenges to earn extra cash. “I have heard of social entrepreneurship and started to collect more information about what it was,” said creator Aizhan Khalilova-Borsukbayeva in a phone interview…

ASTANA – Twenty bids have been won by Kazakhstan for the Youth Olympic Games in Norway in nine events. The former Winter Olympics city of Lillehammer hosts 70 nations during the Games Feb. 12-21. Youth from 15 to 18 years old battle for 70 medals in 16 events. “Your participation in these Games is very…

ASTANA – As a result of the large-scale Kazakh-Iranian business forum held Feb. 6-8 in Tehran, the two nations have agreed on a supply of Kazakh-made train cars to Iran and to establish a joint investment fund. The arrangement is the first such event since Iran came out of the shadow of international sanctions and…

ASTANA – Small businesses can be hard to maintain during unstable economic periods, and Astana’s key makers are feeling the same pinch as the rest. The Astana Times continues its conversations with small-business operators, this time talking to key makers in the city to try and understand how the challenging times are affecting their businesses…

ASTANA – The Kazakh capital, which is widely-known for its frosty winters, has plentiful entertainment during its six-month winter, such as skating, skiing and even swimming in the frozen waters. But the owner of a snowmobile business Dauren Issinov offers another adventurous type of leisure around Astana. “The best moments [while riding snowmobiles] are when…

ASTANA – According to Chairman of Committee of Administrative Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Maksat Baibolov, the damage from the poachers in 2015 totalled 618 million tenge (approximately US$1.6 million), Interfax Kazakhstan reported. The figure exceeded that of 2014 twice, Baibolov noted. In total, 123 men people were indicted, seven were…

ASTANA – Headlines with the word “oil” often steal clicks these days, especially in oil-exporting Kazakhstan, as commodity prices and its national currency are directly correlated with global crude oil prices. Now, another headline-making word and nation has become especially important for Kazakhstan: Iran. Ambassador of Iran to Kazakhstan Mojtaba Damirchiloo, in an exclusive for…

ASTANA – The fates and paths of different ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan crisscrossed the steppes for numerous reasons – most were deported and repressed under the Stalinist regime. Georgians, however, made the country their home by choice rather than by necessity. “There have never been mass migrations of Georgians, as opposed to other ethnic…

ASTANA – Kazakh authorities recently amended the agricultural sector legislation, allowing the country to prolong land leases, facilitate tax administration and provide investment preferences for foreign investors, reported LS, the local web portal. The land lease term for foreign companies has increased from 10 to 25 years, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The Agribusiness…