Astana adds 18,000 hectares to city limits
ASTANA – Astana Maslikhat (local city administration) deputies recently approved the addition of 18,129 hectares to the capital’s city limits. The newly incorporated area will accommodate 211,000 people and facilitate the construction of new schools, kindergartens and city infrastructure. “Over the past five years, the population of Astana has increased by 35 percent from 645,000…
Investment ministry to review regulations to improve Kazakhstan’s investment attractiveness
ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Investment and Development hopes to improve the country’s attractiveness to investors by reviewing current labour, tax and customs laws. “This year we are moving on to the active phase of National Investment Strategy implementation and plan to hold 45 events. The work will involve a number of central government…
Kazakhstan launches new system to track alcohol, oil product production, distribution
ASTANA – Kazakhstan is launching an automatic system to track the production and distribution of alcohol and oil products called eSapa. The controlling devices – counters – are being installed at alcohol production facilities and oil refineries as well as at petrol stations. According to the press service of the National Information Technologies responsible for…
U.S. forensic experts rule out fatal accident in Tokmadi case
ASTANA – Specialists from the United States invited to Kazakhstan to reconstruct the crime scene in the Tokmadi case recently concluded that the gun in question could not shoot by itself. They insist it was a deliberate murder. The Zhambyl regional specialised criminal court continues hearings on the case of Muratkhan Tokmadi, who is accused…
Kazakh authorities detain suspected members of eight organised crime groups
ASTANA – Eight organised criminal groups were detained Feb. 15-16 during special large-scale operations in the Almaty, South Kazakhstan and Zhambyl regions and the city of Almaty, said Oksana Loskutova, an official spokesperson of the Kazakh Prosecutor General’s Office. The operations were organised by the National Security Committee and National Bureau of Anti-Corruption to combat…
Second wave of privatisation: three most profitable companies unveiled
ASTANA – Kazakhstan is set to sell 877 companies, including 215 assets of the Samruk Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund, through the 2016 to 2020 second wave of privatisation of state-owned companies, according to official data. Following the results of the first wave of privatisation in 2014 and 2015, 37 facilities were sold. The starting price…
2,800 HIV-positive cases in Kazakhstan last year, prevalence remains low, says health official
ASTANA – Last year, more than 2,800 new HIV cases were detected in Kazakhstan, though the prevalence of HIV in the country remains low, said Vice Minister of Healthcare of Kazakhstan Lyazat Aktayeva at a recent technical seminar on HIV and migration in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. “Over the past year, there have been…
Kazakhstan’s external debt increases $75 billion in 10 years
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s external debt has increased $74.6 billion to $168.9 billion in the past ten years as of October 2017, according to Kazakh National Bank press service. The nation’s financial regulator cited several reasons for the increase. Intercompany debts have the largest share in debt structure accounting for 62 percent and totalling $105.3 billion.…
Kazakh association takes initiative to create rules of the game on crypto-currency market in EAEU
ALMATY – Organisers of the Feb. 16 International Crypto Conference 2018 in Almaty said their goal was to become a “translator of the Eurasian view on the problems of the crypto-currency industry development.” Chairman of the Board of the Kazakhstan Association of Blockchain and Crypto-currency Yesset Butin stated this is especially important in the context…
New government website allows citizens to submit documents electronically
ASTANA – Kazakh citizens are now able to provide residence certificates to government agencies and other property information through a government website rather than in paper format. The new pilot project allows receiving three types of information certificates on the consent of the beneficiary via SMS to third parties, according to the Government for Citizens…
Abai Arena multifunctional complex construction starts in Semey
ASTANA – Construction has started on Abai Arena, a complex with an entertainment and sports centre in the new district in Semey. The facility is dedicated to the city’s 300th anniversary. “Abai Arena will set the trend for the development of culture and sports in the city with its unique architectural design and functionality. It…
Kazakh citizens will soon be able to enter UAE without visas
ASTANA – Starting March 10, citizens of Kazakhstan will be able to enter the United Arab Emirates without visas. This was reported by the head of the press service of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry Anuar Zhainakov on his Facebook page. “Kazakhstan and the UAE have completed domestic procedures in accordance with the agreement between the…
Face recognition system launched in Astana administration building
ASTANA – The Astana city government recently launched a facial recognition system to identify people entering Astana’s government administration building and hopes to launch the technology in other public areas of the city. “A pilot project for facial recognition is launched in the capital’s administration building. It is important to introduce this technology around other…
Kazakhstan launches online platform to monitor greenhouse gas emissions
ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Energy and the World Bank recently launched an online platform to monitor and report greenhouse gases (GHG) emission sources. “Kazakhstan’s emissions trading system is the first of its kind in the Central Asia region,” said World Bank Country Manager for Kazakhstan Ato Brown. “With support from the Partnership for…
New York Times articles, Khan Academy educational materials to be translated into Kazakh
ASTANA – Popular New York Times articles and educational materials from the global education nonprofit Khan Academy will be soon available in the Kazakh language, KazContent Board Chair Yevgeniy Kochetov announced recently. KazContent was established in 2009 and is responsible for creating national media content and developing the Kazakh internet segment. The company manages eight…
Golovkin named ambassador of First International Boxing Forum
ASTANA – Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin, the WBC, WBA (Super), IBF and IBO middleweight champion was named ambassador of the first international boxing forum held in early February in Sochi. “It was a big honour for me to be ambassador at the First International Boxing Forum. Thank you so much to the Boxing Federation of Russia…
60-year-old Aktau fitness buff goes viral, challenges youth to match his exercise routine
ASTANA – The video of 60-year-old Zheksen Ayupov from Aktau city in western Kazakhstan doing an ab roller wheel exercise recently went viral on Kaznet. Born in 1958, sports have been an important part of Ayupov’s life since childhood. He began wrestling when he was a child and later switched to other activities. Over the…
Nazarbayev wants National Bank to put an end to ‘pervasive’ theft in banking sector
ASTANA – Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev lamented the “pervasive theft of the state’s and people’s money” at the Feb. 9 extended government meeting he chaired. “When are we going to finish this business?” Nazarbayev asked the governor of the National Bank, Daniyar Akishev. He reminded everyone present of the situation BTA Bank, once Central Asia’s…
Five-star hotel, recreation areas to open this year on Alakol Lake
ASTANA – Two recreation areas and a five-star hotel will open this year on Alakol Lake. The construction of a railway station and repair work on area roads are also under way. “This year, there are plans to open two more recreation areas and a five-star hotel for 500 people. Besides that, the construction of…
Astana Opera presents concert of French Impressionist composers
ASTANA – The Forte-Trio ensemble will present an evening of French chamber music entitled “L’Impression” Feb. 9 at the Astana Opera House in the capital. The musicians will perform the famous trio for piano, violin and cello by Maurice Ravel for the first time. “The title of the concert ‘L’Impression’ is translated from French as…
Kazakhstan among world’s leaders in civil aviation security, minister says
ASTANA – Kazakhstan recently passed an audit of aviation security of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, joining the world’s leading nations in civil aviation security, said Minister for Investments and Development Zhenis Kasymbek. “Kazakhstan has successfully passed an audit of aviation security of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and confirmed the high level of…
Kazakh government considers creating civil aviation management organisation
ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry for Investment and Development suggested establishing a new national company to manage civil aviation. “We have developed approaches to the implementation of the British model, which involve changes in the current legislation regarding the transfer of oversight functions in the field of flight safety to a new structure in the…
Changes in Kazakhstan life for 2018
ASTANA – Pensions have increased, prices for foreign passport registration and railway tickets have risen and police will be warning before fining. The coming year will bring many innovations, both pleasant and not, and Kazpravda.kz correspondents have prepared a special survey on the ways Kazakh life will change in 2018. New base rates for minimum…
Kazakh golfer joins Stanford University team
ASTANA – Young Kazakh golfer Daulet Tuleubayev from Almaty has joined the Stanford University golf team. The athlete will continue his education and sports career at the American university with a 100-year history, according to the official website of Stanford University. The talented 18-year-old athlete was invited to enroll in about 20 universities in the…
Kazakh, foreign airlines to launch new international Kazakhstan-based routes in 2018
ASTANA – Kazakh and foreign airlines are planning to launch new international flights to and from Kazakhstan this year. Regular flights will be opened from Astana to Tyumen, Krasnodar, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk and Sochi in Russia as well as Vilnius, Milan, Batumi and Dushanbe. Foreign airlines, including Air Baltic, Emirates, Fly Dubai, Aeroflot and Angara, will…
