Government extends microfinancing opportunities for rural Kazakhs
ASTANA – Kazakh Vice Minister of Labour and Social Protection Nurzhan Altayev held an open lecture at Nur Otan Party headquarters dedicated to the country’s nationwide mass entrepreneurship programme. Altayev reviewed the development of the programme, how to participate in it, how to get a microloan and how to open a new business. More than…
Pavlodar to spend $3 million to expand Irtysh River embankment
ASTANA – The expansion of the Irtysh River embankment in Pavlodar will cost more than a billion tenge (US$3 million), Pavlodar city Akim (Mayor) Nurzhan Ashimbetov said at a recent maslikhat (city council) session. “The project of the embankment from KazTransOil [building] to the railway bridge is ready. It turned out to be expensive, while…
Kazakhstan examines Singapore’s tourism success
ASTANA – In developing tourism in Astana, Kazakhstan is studying the experience of Singapore, said Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev during a recent meeting with the founder and Managing Director of Hotel Properties Ong Beng Sen in Astana. Hotel Properties is a Singapore-based corporation that owns hotels, resorts and shopping centres in 13 countries, including shares…
Foreigners visiting Kazakhstan must register certain mobile phones
ASTANA – Foreign citizens will have to register certain mobile devices while visiting Kazakhstan, Information and Communications Minister Dauren Abayev announced in a recent blog post. Abayev announced that persons must register mobile communication devices produced in the territory of Kazakhstan and imported to the territory of the country, including those operating in the country’s…
Astana is a financially self-sustaining city, says mayor
ASTANA – Speaking at the 11th Astana Economic Forum May 17, Astana Akim (Mayor) Asset Issekeshev said the capital city produces more revenue than it takes from the national budget. “One of the myths to dispel about Astana is that it lives at the expense of the state budget. Considering the total amount of investments,…
Bolashak programme expands list of international university options
ASTANA – Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science recently expanded its list of leading foreign educational institutions, foreign organisations for training and language schools recommended to the recipients of the Bolashak international scholarship for 2018. Prospective students can apply to leading North American, European and Asian research institutions and receive funding from the government. Harvard,…
Hazret Sultan Mosque presents updated website
ASTANA – The capital’s Hazret Sultan Mosque presented a new version of muslim.kz, the spiritual and educational portal, May 16, the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. “Several sections, such as illustrated namaz (prayer) and Qur’an, were added to the new muslim.kz. Website visitors can also use a recently added section providing a…
‘Music is to cooking like coffee is to a Monday morning’ for Astana Marriot sous chef
Twenty-nine-year-old Andrey Volkov moved from Moscow to become the sous chef at the Astana Marriott Hotel alongside Executive Chef Heri Sudarmanto. The Astana Times recently interviewed Volkov about his journey as a chef and culinary experiences in Astana. Did you plan to dedicate your entire life to cooking? To be honest – no, I did…
Astana enters top three May Day CIS travel destinations
ASTANA – Minsk, Baku and Astana were the most popular Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) travel destinations for the May Day holidays, according to Russian booking service Tvil.ru. The cities were followed by Yerevan (Armenia), Almaty, Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Chisinau (Moldova), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) in the rating based on an April 29-May…
Seven-year-old Kazakh boy becomes world chess champion in relevant category
ASTANA – Seven-year-old Dinmukhamed Tulendinov from Kazakhstan came out on top in the under-seven category at the recent FIDE World School Chess Championship in Durres, Albania. The competition welcomed 387 participants from 40 countries competing in 12 categories from U7 to U17. Tulendinov is a student at the Zhansaya Abdumalik Chess Academy, one of the…
Kazakh President congratulates nation on May 1 holiday
ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev congratulated the nation May 1 on the Kazakh People’s Day of Unity. “This truly national celebration is a vivid symbol of our patriotism, love and devotion to our native land. Due to unity and harmony, we have achieved great success in building an independent state, having earned high prestige and…
Mazhilis meeting discusses Aral Sea protection in modern Central Asia
ASTANA – The Aral Sea problem and measures to mitigate the consequences of the drying sea were recently discussed at a meeting on the protection of water resources of trans-boundary rivers in the Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament) in Astana. The Central Asian countries intend to persuade Kyrgyzstan to unfreeze its participation in the International…
Mazhilis approves amendments to intellectual property rights legislation
ASTANA – Registration of intellectual property rights will soon be simplified as the Kazakh Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament) approved April 24 amendments on intellectual property legislation in the second reading during a plenary meeting. “Amendments to the draft law are made to create a basis for arranging social relations related to intellectual property rights…
Kazakhstan and South Korea to increase turnover
ASTANA – A Kazakh delegation met in Seoul with representatives of major South Korean business companies in conjunction with the April 17 agreement between the countries’ foreign ministers. They agreed to boost IT, investment, mining and building projects and increase trade turnover. The mission, led by Vice Minister for Investment and Development Arystan Kabikenov, negotiated…
Some electricity users in Kazakhstan to be charged more in 2018
ASTANA – Some electricity users in Kazakhstan might be shocked to learn that domestic electric power prices have recently increased. As of March, Kazakh citizens using electric stoves pay 1,216 tenge, 1,566 tenge and 1,903 tenge for 100 kilowatts per hour for consumption levels one, two and three respectively. Tariffs are differentiated into three levels…
World thought leaders to gather for new Astana Economic Forum
ASTANA – The former President of France and the former Secretary-General of the United Nations and other international thought leaders will gather in Astana May 17-19 for the 11th Astana Economic Forum (AEF). The name of the forum is being changed this year to the Global Challenges Summit (GCS) 2018, says a press release by…
Medical spending up 22 percent among Kazakh population, says report
ASTANA – A recent report revealed people in Kazakhstan increased their spending on treatment 22 percent, reported finprom.kz. Approximately 14 percent of the total volume of medical services were covered by patients themselves who paid 42.8 billion tenge (US$131.4 million) in total. Their spending hiked 22.4 percent within a year, indicating the biggest increase. Demand…
Inclusive design centre opens in Astana
ASTANA – Wheelchair user, blogger and Elaman Social Fund for Social Innovation Projects chairperson Almaz Yerzhan knows the challenges of getting around the capital. His project, an inclusive design centre to help wheelchair users find jobs and adapt socially, recently opened in the city. The fund received support from the capital administration to create a…
Kazakhstan resolves all Central Asian border issues, announces Kazakh President
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s national borders with all bordering Central Asian nations have been legally delineated and all border issues have been resolved, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced after a recent meeting of five Central Asian nation presidents. “The key point is that Kazakhstan finally finished the agreement on demarcation of our borders. We started from…
Bollywood to shoot movie about Mangistau region
ASTANA – A Bollywood film company will shoot a movie about the Mangistau region famous for its historical sights, Akim (Governor) of the Mangistau region Yeraly Tugzhanov announced recently. “We made prior agreements with Bollywood on shooting a movie about the Mangistau region. I think it is a splendid place that has no analogues,” he…
Kazakh clothing manufacturers fail to meet national demand, says report
ASTANA – Kazakhstan needs to increase its domestic clothing production to meet national demand, reports Energyprom.kz. In January, domestic manufacturers matched 19.3 percent of national demand for hosiery and 16.9 percent for sportswear. Poor performance is observed in other segments, where production meets only 1-2 percent of the country’s demand. During the first two months…
Hiring US forensic experts in Tokmadi case was Yerkin Tatishev’s idea
ASTANA – Yerkin Tatishev, the brother of late BTA Bank chair Yerzhan Tatishev, who was killed during a winter hunt in 2004, told Forbes.kz he was the one who pushed to hire U.S. forensic and firearms experts to examine his brother’s death. “Hiring American experts on behalf of our family was my idea. To avoid…
Kazakhstan to build university hospitals in Almaty and Karaganda
ASTANA – The Kazakh government plans to build two university hospitals using public-private partnerships, Minister of the Healthcare Yelzhan Birtanov announced during a recent government meeting. The construction of a hospital with 300 beds will be linked to Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medicine University (KazNMU) and an integrated clinic in Almaty will involve Karaganda Medicine University.…
Shymkent oil refinery reconstruction to end in May
ASTANA – The Shymkent oil processing plant (SOPP) reconstruction will last for one additional month and the interim shutdown will not affect the Kazakh fuel supply, said Vice Minister of Energy Makhambet Dosmukhambetov during the 2018-2020 draft budget presentation. “The reconstruction will proceed according to plan. It will not affect the budget or the fuel…
Kazakhstan has ‘zero tolerance’ policy on torture, officials tell European parliamentarians
ALMATY – Kazakh officials briefed European parliamentarians, representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the media April 16 on the country’s effort to prevent domestic torture and protect citizens’ human rights, Almaty Internal Affairs Department reported. Senior representatives of the Kazakh ministries of internal affairs and foreign affairs, as well as Prosecutor General’s Office and National…
