Articles by Nazira Kozhanova

Online poll asks public to choose murals to display on Nur-Sultan buildings

NUR-SULTAN – The Urban Art Astana Festival is conducting a public vote to choose which murals to display on Nur-Sultan buildings, reported urbanfest.kz. “An international jury pre-selected 52 works that are available for voting in a public poll. Overall, we received 200 works from all around the world. The public vote is conducted online and…

Exhibition of emerging artists opens in Nur-Sultan

NUR-SULTAN – Zhyndy Kobelek, an exhibition of emerging Kazakh artists, opened May 3 in Nur-Sultan and will run until May 31. The exhibition is organised by the Platforma Projectroom Gallery as a part of their art education programme. The exhibition features the result of two months of training of emerging Kazakh artists by curators Aigul…

Kazakh figure skater Tursynbayeva to appear as ‘black raven’ next season

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh figure skater Elizabet Tursynbayeva will appear next year in her short programme as a black raven to the music of Camille Saent-Saёns’ “Dance Macabre,” the skater recently announced on her Instagram account. ‘Dance Macabre’ (Dance of Death in French) is dedicated to the legend that every Halloween calls for the dead to…

NU’s Eurasian Forum of Higher Education Leaders to focus on preparing graduates for changing futures

NUR-SULTAN – The Eurasian Forum of Higher Education Leaders will be held at Nazarbayev University in Nur-Sultan June 6 and 7. The theme of this year’s forum is “Future Ready Graduates.” “We believe that, together with our participants and speakers, we will find an answer to the question of what the future graduates should be.…

Eurasian Development Bank to provide 102 billion tenge to build Saryarka gas pipeline

NUR-SULTAN – Eurasian Development Bank will be included in the list of Saryarka gas pipeline investors with a commitment to provide 102 billion tenge (US$267 million) for the project. “We are now working on our construction of the Astana gas pipeline (Saryarka gas pipeline) project. We talked about this here last year. Our credit committee…

KAZ Minerals Group boosts copper production in first quarter of 2019

NUR-SULTAN – KAZ Minerals Group increased its overall copper and ores production in the first quarter of 2019, with its Aktogai plant increasing copper and sulfide ore production and Bozhshakol, Bozymchak and the Eastern Region plants increasing ore production. In the first quarter of 2019, the KAZ Minerals Group produced 67,300 tonnes of copper, which…

Astana Opera announces May programme

NUR-SULTAN – Astana Opera has introduced its May programme, which includes traditional classical music concerts as well as special events dedicated to holidays. “From Seville to Naples” (7 p.m., May 3) is a concert of Spanish, French and Italian composers such as de Falla, Rossini, Verdi, Bizet, Massne and Seine. Honoured Workers of Kazakhstan Bibigul…

Kazakh voters have until May 10 to confirm voter registration, must present ID to vote

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh voters seeking to participate in the June 9 presidential election have until May 10 to confirm registration at their local polling station and appeal any inaccuracies, according to regulations announced recently by the Central Election Commission. Voters must also present a state ID or passport at the time of the vote, according…

Kazakh start-up Eco Poof makes eco-friendly ottomans

NUR-SULTAN – Eco Poof makes orthopaedic ottomans from recycled materials. The company started producing and selling its contoured footstools in Karaganda after winning a start-up contest last year. “In making our products, we use cardboard and plastic. We transform plastic using a special machine. A regular plastic bottle is turned into tape of a certain…

Hydroponic greenhouses supply Almaty, Nur-Sultan with fresh pesto

NUR-SULTAN – Hydroponic greenhouses that started as a hobby are now in the fresh pesto business. The project supplies shops in Almaty and the capital and is meeting the cities’ growing demand for the basil, nut and garlic sauce. The ShöpShop brand (Shöp meaning grass in Kazakh) was launched by Daniyar Takishev, Yerzhan Toltayev and Rauan…

Kazakh athletes win gold, silver, bronze on Asian Boxing Championship’s final day

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh athletes won two gold, two silver and six bronze medals on the final day of the 2019 Asian Boxing Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. Several male athletes qualified for the final round. Zakir Safiullin (60 kilogrammes) bagged a silver medal, losing to Tsendbaatar Erdenebat (Mongolia); Tursynbai Kulakhmet (75 kilogrammes) won gold in his…

Architect’s Instagram account captures disappearing history of Kazakh capital

NUR-SULTAN – Temirtas Iskakov runs an increasingly popular Instagram account that aims to showcase the capital’s history through historic buildings, some of which eventually will be gone. The project is particularly important, as the city is considered one of the fastest changing capitals in the world. “After moving to Astana (now Nur-Sultan), I started hearing…

Kazakhstan unveils new measure to attract foreign investment

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh officials unveiled at an April 22 government meeting the new Coordinating Council on Investment Issues, which is meant to help the country attract more foreign investment. “A working group with the involvement of all interested government agencies and national companies has developed a new approach to attracting investments. The parties’ opinions were…

Nur-Sultan conducts first electronic land sublease auction

NUR-SULTAN – The first land plot sublease electronic auction was conducted in Nur-Sultan from March 20 to April 4. Eighty-one entrepreneurs competed for 10 land plots that were subleased via the auction. “This electronic platform conducts a land sublease rights auction for the first time. Only the property that is to be transferred into the…

Ancient manuscripts, autograph sessions and master classes to pique readers’ interest at upcoming 2019 Eurasian Book Fair

NUR-SULTAN – Eurasian Book Fair 2019, featuring a book exhibition, presentations, talks, workshops and meetings with writers, will be held April 24-27 in the capital. The event will be hosted by Korme Exhibition Centre. The main goal of the book fair is to promote reading, as well as support literary heritage development among the participant…

Kazakhstan’s agro industry goes digital

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan will launch 20 digital and 4,000 advanced farms as part of a larger initiative to digitise the nation’s agro-industrial complex. “As a part of the agro-industrial complex digitisation initiative, no less than 20 digital and 4,000 advanced farms will be created on the entire state territory. Also, 100 percent of processes and…

Kazakhstan ships first Caterpillar carrier tractor exports to Russia

NUR-SULTAN – The Semey Machine Building Plant in Kazakhstan is the only factory in the Commonwealth of Independent States that produces Caterpillar carrier tractors and this year the company exported its first four tractors to Russia, reports the Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development, Defense and Aerospace Industry press service. The Semey factory produces the vehicles…

Indian Embassy marks important dates with events in Nur-Sultan

NUR-SULTAN – The Indian Embassy in Kazakhstan organised a concert of Kazakh artists performing Indian dance and music April 9 to celebrate the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Foundation Day and the 25th anniversary of the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC) in Kazakhstan. Regional performers who have been practicing and promoting Indian music and…

Nur-Sultan hosts Triumvirart contemporary art exhibition

NUR-SULTAN – The April 4-30 Triumvirart contemporary art exhibition in the capital features the work of three Kazakh artists Marat Bekeyev, Eduard Kazaryan and Andrei Noda. The artists’ work features paintings and sculptures. The free exhibition is being hosted by the Forte Bank Kulanshi Art Gallery. This exhibition is called Triumvirart, which is a word…

Ilyas Zhansugurov’s poem translated into English

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh poet Ilyas Zhansugurov’s poem “Kulager” has been translated into English to celebrate his 125th birthday. The translation, completed by English poet and translator Belinda Cooke, was presented April 5 at the National Academic Library of Kazakhstan, reported Kazinform. The Ilyas Zhansugurov Fund trusted the translation to Cooke, who transcribed the works of…

Khabar TV launches Central Asia’s Got Talent

NUR-SULTAN – Khabar TV, in conjunction with Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek channels, started the casting process April 3 for Central Asia’s Got Talent. The show will be broadcast in the four countries. “For the first time in Kazakh TV’s history, we will gather all talented people in a single space. Previously, Kazakh TV channels only…

Migration service centres facilitate issuance of 1.5 million work permits over last three years

NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh government’s creation of migration service centres has allowed the government to issue an additional 1.5 million work permits over the last three years. “The country’s sustainable socio-economic conditions attract a big influx of foreign citizens. Over the last three years, internal affairs agencies issued and extended 1.5 million of Kazakhstan work…

Halyk Bank to provide women entrepreneurs with one billion tenge in loans

NUR-SULTAN – Halyk Bank plans to provide one billion tenge (US$2.6 billion) in loans to women entrepreneurs this year, continuing its 2018 commitment to empowering female businesspersons. The announcement was made by Halyk Bank board chairperson Umut Shayakhmetova during the Women in Business forum in Almaty, reported NewTimes.kz. “Last year, under the memorandum with the…

Kazpost uses drones to increase newspaper and magazine delivery to rural areas

NUR-SULTAN – Kazpost used drones to increase the volume of newspapers and magazines delivered to rural areas tenfold in 2018. The action has made periodical delivery more cost-efficient. The postal service distributed 11,000 kilogrammes of newspapers and magazines via drones last year, a number made possible due to the large range of regions which Kazpost…

Kazakhstan experiences industrial growth, takes efforts to continue growth

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s industrial sector is growing and the government is taking measures to keep that momentum going, according to a recent report. Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Roman Sklyar reported during a recent government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Askar Mamin on the implementation of the second five-year phase of the national 2015-2019…