Articles by Yerbolat Uatkhanov

ASTANA – “Karaman,” shot in Kazakhstan, is considered to be the nation’s first adventure mystical thriller. The movie was released April 12 and despite the mysticism on the verge of reality, makes viewers consider what is more important than material wealth. The film’s concept belongs to scriptwriter and actor Marat Abdullayev, who was inspired by…

ASTANA – Astana Akim (Mayor) Asset Issekeshev briefed Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev April 5 about the capital’s development and the most recent infrastructure improvements. The President assigned the city administration to pay attention to the construction of housing and social facilities, creation of parking spaces and ensuring safety in public places as well as power…

ASTANA – Astana Akim (Mayor) Asset Issekeshev briefed Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev April 5 about the capital’s development and the most recent infrastructure improvements. The President assigned the city administration to pay attention to the construction of housing and social facilities, creation of parking spaces and ensuring safety in public places as well as power…

ASTANA – As of April 1, the Kazakh Ministry of Finance is using a free, online electronic customs system. The project, supported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), aims to eliminate direct contact between customs officers and customs clearance experts, simplifying and speeding up the customs clearance process. The ASTANA-1 automated…

ASTANA – Boeing delivered the first 737 MAX 8 to SCAT, one of six such aircraft the airline is acquiring under its fleet and route network expansion plan. With the new planes, the airline will be able to achieve double-digit improvement in its fuel efficiency and environmental performance. In addition, SCAT will be the first…

ASTANA – The city dimmed its lights March 24 to mark Earth Hour, initiating a series of environmental events to be held in the country this year. For exactly one hour, the capital’s iconic objects and 10 residential complexes turned off their illumination as a sign of non-indifference to the future of the planet. Most…

ASTANA – Bakhtiyar Adamzhan, principal dancer of the Astana Opera, brilliant Kazakh artist and Grand Prix winner of many international competitions, has won over the audience of Moscow’s State Kremlin Palace. He performed March 24 at “Rudolf Nureyev, From the Past to the Future,” a gala concert of world-famous ballet stars. “It is a great…

ASTANA – East Kazakhstan region Akim (Governor) Daniyal Akhmetov and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Sir Suma Chakrabarti signed a 5.6 billion tenge (US$17.6 million) agreement to finance modernising the street lighting systems in six cities and 11 towns in the region. The document, signed in London in early March, will provide…

ASTANA – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a $37.6 million post-privatisation loan to the Mangistau Regional Distribution Company (MRDC) to help the company improve efficiency and promote renewable power integration in the region. The loan will help MRDC, a major power utility in western Kazakhstan, finance its investment programme until…

ASTANA – The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation recently signed an agreement to hold World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in Astana on July 4. The forum will attract more attention to the AIFC and promote it as a regional hub of Islamic finance. The annual forum was founded by…

ASTANA – The Kazakhstan Engineering company celebrated its 15th anniversary March 13. Since its creation, the company has ensured a unified financial, production and technological policy for the largest enterprises of Kazakhstan’s military-industrial complex. Today, the company produces cutting-edge military equipment unseen elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The sole shareholder of Kazakhstan…

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a new seed production programme in which farmers will be offered free high-quality seeds and required to return only a portion of their value in autumn. The remainder will be paid by the state. The plan was developed due to worsening grain quality in the past…

ASTANA – Tag-Tin is the latest Kazakh company to use state financing to increase production to compete with foreign producers. The company is planning to build a sunflower and rape seed processing plant for export to China. The new creamery will be the second in the country to process both crops. The facility, with a…

ASTANA – With state support, more and more companies start production of essential goods, successfully competing with foreign products. KAZBRAND used the state support to construct high-tech plant and is entering one of the most competitive and profit-making niches of food market with high quality instant noodles. The company aims to distinguish own products by…

ASTANA – Ualikhan Nysanov is the latest Kazakh businessperson to incorporate blockchain into his business model. As the developer of AIDA Service, the construction company owner is using the payment method to eliminate intermediaries as he expands beyond the country’s borders. Nysanov is planning to penetrate the North and South American markets by 2019. The…

ASTANA – The Kazakh pharmaceutical industry increased production of the country’s most popular medications by 73.1 percent with production increasing 79.8 percent over 2016. Prices for pharmaceutical products in Kazakhstan have also increased 6.6 percent over the last 12 months. The production increases are an attempt by the Kazakh pharmaceutical industry to replace imports with…

ASTANA – Kostanai-based NabasFabrik will begin exporting feathers to European Union (EU) countries for the first time in the nation’s history. The regional administration is doing everything possible to reduce bureaucratic red tape and register additional companies with the right to export to the EU and China. “In June, as a result of inspections conducted…

ASTANA – Alageum Electric, one of Kazakhstan’s major electrical engineering companies, offers a wide range of products and services. The company not only provides power transformers to the domestic market, but also exports them abroad. The new plant opened this year will strengthen its positions in the Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan markets. “There…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has made what officials called an “incredible” leap forward on the prison index, moving from the third-ranked country in the world in terms of number of prisoners per capita and dropping to 71st place. The scale and speed of the change is already making Kazakhstan a model for other prison reform projects.…

ASTANA – The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which opened Jan. 1, is set to register companies and launch its exchange, court and arbitration centre this year. The main office will also be moved to the grounds of the EXPO 2017. The AIFC office will not be the only venture on the campus. Nazarbayev University,…

ASTANA – Air Astana’s passenger traffic grew 12 percent and revenues 22 percent in 2017 after declines in 2015 and 2016. The airline carried 4.2 million passengers last year. Growth in cargo transportation reached almost 30 percent. “Astana EXPO 2017 and increased transit traffic through the new terminal at Nursultan Nazarbayev airport in Astana became…

ASTANA – A new Regional Small Business Programme (RSBP) launched by the European Union (EU) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Almaty Jan. 30 will provide online training and knowledge-sharing platforms for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Central Asia region. “Training programmes for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises’ (MSME) finance…

ASTANA – The Kazakh government plans to build a $1.6 billion beltway around the city of Almaty to reduce traffic in the city limits and decrease air pollution. The 66-kilometre road will pass through the Karasai, Ili and Talgar regions and includes 38 bridges and overpasses. It will also intersect with international highway transit routes,…

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Finance, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and Euroclear Bank SA (Euroclear) have signed a memorandum on cooperation to develop a new international clearing system. The ministry will be able to place tenge bonds through Euroclear, the world’s largest bond clearing system. “Providing non-residents direct access to the market…

ASTANA – The Association of Kazakhstan Automobile Business recently predicted that the Kazakh car market would grow 15-20 percent this year. The recovery of the market after the fall in sales during 2014-2016 was one of the most important events in the country’s economy in 2017. Vice-president of the association Anar Makasheva is a strong…