Articles by Staff report

Nigmatulin urges support for Kazakh President’s initiatives at IPU forum

ASTANA – Chairman of the Mazhilis (lower chamber of Kazakhstan’s Parliament) Nurlan Nigmatulin appealed to the world parliamentary community to support the counterterrorism initiatives of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Mazhilis press service reported. Nigmatulin reviewed Kazakhstan’s proposals and Nazarbayev’s efforts in strengthening regional and global security for the 137th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary…

Kazakh government, UNDP to support 15 city energy saving projects

ASTANA – Fifteen Kazakh cities, including the capital, Kostanai, Shymkent and Taraz, will install energy saving technologies by 2020 to reduce carbon intensity and enhance infrastructure energy efficiency, said United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Resident Representative Munkhtuya Altangerel during an Oct. 13 press briefing. The project will be implemented as part of an Aug.…

Khrapunovs summoned for interrogation by Kazakhstan’s Anti-Corruption Bureau

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau is seeking to interrogate the former Akim (mayor) of Almaty and governor of the East Kazakhstan region Viktor Khrapunov and his wife Leila Khrapunova and others in relation to a corruption investigation. The bureau has found evidence it believes implicates these individuals in criminal acts, including the creation and…

New television channel kicks off in Kazakhstan

ASTANA – The ON! TV Channel has launched a joint project with Russian channel Pyatnitsa! to air some of Pyatnitsa!’s most popular programmes in Kazakhstan. “The strategic partnership is starting the renewed brand ON! Pyatnitsa. The audience of the channel will be able to access Pyatnitca! TV channel’s most popular programmes, such as Revizorro, With…

University to produce solar generators in Shymkent

ASTANA – South Kazakhstan State University plans to begin manufacturing mobile solar power generators in Shymkent, University Head Zhumakhan Myrkhalykov announced at a recent government press conference. “Our mobile solar power installations are designed to provide electricity to remote villages and farms; they differ from common models by the features of a constructive solution,” he…

Astana Park named CIS’ best outdoor amusement park

ASTANA – Stolichniy (Capital) Park, which attracts 500,000-one million visitors annually, won the Best Outdoor Amusement Park award at the 15th Khrustalnoye Koleso (The Crystal Wheel) contest in Sochi. “It’s a result of many years of hard work aimed at developing leisure and cultural attractions in the capital. This is the first award in the…

Iranian investors to open sausage production plant in East Kazakhstan

ASTANA – Iranian producers are set to open a plant for non-waste meat processing in Semei, according to the press service of the East Kazakhstan region’s akimat (administration). The project was discussed at a meeting attended by Akim (Governor) of the East Kazakhstan region Daniyal Akhmetov with the leadership of the Agro Portal Kazakh-Iranian company.…

Dimash Kudaibergen becomes face of Kazakh national postal company

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s national postal company Kazpost has signed Kazakh popular singer Dimash Kudaibergen as the face of its brand, according to the company’s press service. Born in Aktobe, Kudaibergen is a new Kazakh singing star enjoying a tremendous popularity abroad. He is enjoying particular popularity in China, after debuting in January and placing second …

Kazakh President visits manufacturing plants in Aktobe

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was briefed on the operations of a rail beam plant operating under the State Programme for Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development (SPAIID) during a recent visit to the Aktobe region, according to the Akorda press service. President Nazarbayev learned about the plant’s exports to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and…

Kazakh President briefed on Baiterek project at Baikonur

ASTANA – Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev was briefed on the latest in Kazakh-Russian cooperation on the Baiterek joint project at the Baikonur complex during a recent trip to the Kyzylorda region, according to the Akorda press service. “As part of our agreements with Russia, the strategic directions for the development of the complex are determined.…

Entrepreneurship plays role in helping to socially rehab former prisoners and probationers

ASTANA – Some of the actions planned to help socially rehabilitate former prisoners and citizens in probation were reviewed by Minister of Internal Affairs Kalmukhanbet Kassymov during the Sept. 25 Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament) government hour. The government is not only interested in providing vocational training, but also in employing convicts while they serve…

New prisons will burden Kazakh budget, official says

ASTANA – Kazakhstan has abandoned plans to build new prisons as part of the public-private partnership (PPP) due to the high cost of the project, said Minister of Internal Affairs Kalmukhanbet Kassymov during a recent Mazhilis government hour. He addressed “measures taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and local executive bodies to implement the…

Workers receive $6.7 million in back pay after national labour inspections

ASTANA – As of Sept. 21, national labour inspectors revealed salary arrears to 20,000 employees worth more than 2.65 billion tenge (US$7.8 million) in 1,194 enterprises, according to the press service of the Kazakh Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population. “As a result of taken measures, including the establishment of rigid schedules and…

Civil servants from Russia improve their qualifications in Kazakhstan

ASTANA – The Academy of Public Administration under the President of Kazakhstan hosted a seminar on introducing modern management technologies in the activities of state bodies for the basic and advanced level of Russia’s reserve of management personnel, according to the press service of the academy. The seminar was attended by 30 civil servants from…

Almaty hosts Central Asia’s first football championship for children with cerebral palsy

ASTANA – Almaty hosted Sept. 26-27 the first football championship in Central Asia among children diagnosed with cerebral palsy and neurological diseases with the support of Kazakhstan’s Football Federation. The championship brought young players aged 10-15 years together to form six teams. “Football is one of the rehabilitation methods for children with cerebral palsy. Look…

Renewable energy to light 100 pedestrian crossings in Astana

ASTANA – Nearly 100 pedestrian crossings in Astana will be powered by wind and solar energy, said head of the city’s renewable energy sources project Rustam Kadyrov Sept. 19. The measure seeks to save energy and enhance the lighting at night to decrease the road crash rate in the city. “Column with a console will…

President tours memorial in Almaty region

ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited recently the Batyr Babalar memorial complex in the Raiymbek rural district of the Karasai district during a working visit to Almaty and the Almaty region, according to the presidential administration press service. Nazarbayev was acquainted with the expositions of the memorial complex, which demonstrate the history of Kazakhstan, beginning…

Wood wool cement factory opens in Kazakhstan

KOKSHETAU – A factory to produce Albolite, also known as wood wool cement, has launched operations in Kazakhstan. “Yernazarov and Co LTD produces albolite bricks. Albolite is a unique construction material, which consists of processed wood chips bonded with M500 cement and which contains mineralisers,” according to the company. Albolite is known to have high…

Kazakh car manufacturers ask officials to revise tariff policy with Uzbekistan

ASTANA – KazAvtoProm, the Kazakh Car Industry Union, released an open letter to Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov expressing concern about access of their products to the Uzbek market. “The draft resolution of the Uzbek President ‘On measures for streamlining of foreign economic activity of Uzbekistan’ adopted Sept. 19 raises concerns about the prospects…

Kazakh schoolchildren to learn about maintaining healthy lifestyle

ASTANA – Kazakhstan plans to launch Foodprint, a national programme which aims to promote healthy lifestyle among schoolchildren. “This project envisages the education of schoolchildren starting from the junior classes to determine the calorie content of food, the purity of air and water and the amount of consumed oxygen. The project will help Kazakh schoolchildren…

Almaty awards best landscapers

ASTANA – One hundred landscapers of Almaty took part in the recent competition for the title of the best, held by the Chisto po-Almatinsky (Clean as in Almaty) fund with the support of the Efes Kazakhstan company. The competition lasted four months. All of the city’s condominiums applied for participation in the competition and then…

Nazarbayev, head of National Scientific Cardio Surgical Centre discuss development of cardio surgery in Kazakhstan

President Nursultan Nazarbayev recently discussed the development of cardio surgery in Kazakhstan in a meeting with Chairman of the Board of the National Scientific Cardio-Surgical Centre Yuri Pya. The head of state noted the significance of the 27th Congress of the World Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons, where the best cardio surgeons from 50…

Government should control bitcoin operations, says Mazhilis deputy

ASTANA – Kazakhstan Mazhilis (lower house) deputy Amanzhan Zhamalov suggested placing bitcoin operations under the government control during a Sept. 13 Mazhilis plenary session. Referring to the rapid development and spread of bitcoin operations worldwide, Zhamalov asserted Kazakhstan should keep the operation under control to determine the trends in the emerging market. “The crypto currency…

Jordan launches ‘GGG’ clothing line with Kazakh ornamentation

ASTANA – The Jordan American brand of sportswear recently presented a collection of clothes devoted to Kazakh boxer Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), vesti.kz reports. Nike has already started selling two kinds of caps, four T-shirts and one sweatshirt from the Golovkin’s collection. The design is based on Kazakh ornamentation and uses the boxer’s phrase…

Prime Minister discusses Digital Kazakhstan with international experts

ASTANA – Kazakh Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev discussed with international experts Sept. 13 in Astana the development of the Digital Kazakhstan programme, according to prime minister’s press service. Development of the programme involves sending its main concepts to experts in various countries for review and has involved working with such large international companies as IBM,…