Articles by STAFF REPORT

Kazakhstan exports more than 800 goods to 113 countries

ASTANA – Kazakhstan exports more than 800 manufactured products to 113 countries, ranking 52nd among the largest exporting countries, said Minister for Investment and Development Zhenis Kassymbek. The government plans to increase the nation’s non-oil exports by 50 percent by 2025. “Today, Kazakhstan ranks 52nd among the largest exporting countries; in total, we export over…

Mazhilis reviews draft bill on repeated debt restructuring

ASTANA – Deputies of the Mazhilis, the lower house of the Kazakh Parliament, recently reviewed the draft bill on repeated restructuring of the debt owed by the Georgian government. Majilis chair Nurlan Nigmatullin urged the nation’s Ministry of Finance to advance the negotiations on similar debts involving other countries. Georgia took the $27.774-million loan in…

International journalists tour major Kazakh cities

ASTANA – More than 20 foreign journalists toured around Astana, Almaty, Shymkent and Turkestan as part of a week-long press tour initiated by Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Culture and Sports. The press tour aimed to help the journalists get a broad view of Kazakhstan’s cultural diversity and potential. “The Kazakh Foreign Ministry arranges press…

Kazakh Agency for Civil Service and Anti-Corruption reports on 2017 activities

ASTANA – Chairman of the Agency for Civil Service and Anti-Corruption Kairat Kozhamzharov briefed Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the agency’s activities for the last 10 months, including efforts to carry out anticorruption policies, according to Akorda’s press service. Kozhamzharov also mentioned international commendation for Kazakhstan’s efforts “For 10 months of the current year, 3,400…

Central Asian nation leaders to be invited to Kazakh capital for Nauryz celebration

ASTANA – Heads of Central Asian countries are to be invited to Astana for the Nauryz celebrations in March, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Kairat Abdrakhmanov said during the Nov. 27 international parliamentary conference dedicated to the Day of the First President of Kazakhstan. “We will work with all our neighbours to put into…

Kazakhstan team takes second place in Arm-wrestling World Cup

ASTANA – Kazakh athletes took second place in the overall team competition at the Arm-wrestling World Cup held in Rumia, Poland. The Arm-wrestling World Cup, held Nov.16-19, brought together the strongest handlers from 31 countries. The Kazakhstan team included 26 athletes. Ahmed Aliyev, the honoured coach of Kazakhstan and vice president of the Arm-wrestling Federation,…

Flying minibuses to start operation between cities and villages

ASTANA – Small passenger airplanes will soon begin flying between small Kazakh cities and villages, according to the Facebook page of Acting Deputy Chairman of Civil Aviation Committee of Ministry of Investment and Development Tota Amirova. “We are now working to acquire a large number of small new aircraft and have already called these aircraft…

Shchuchinsk-Borovoe resort reservoirs to be cleaned, sanitised

ASTANA – The Kazakh government has allocated 15.7 billion tenge (US$47.3 million) to clean and sanitise reservoirs the Shchuchinsk-Borovoe resort zone, including Shchuchye, Borovoe and Karasu lakes from 2017 to 2022. Approximately 1.2 billion tenge (US$3,619,000) will be used to plant 233 hectares of the resort zone near the Big Chebachie Lake and Tekekol Lake.…

Astana’s main Christmas tree will be at EXPO 2017 site

ASTANA – The capital’s main Christmas tree, as well as the ice rink, will be situated on the expo grounds, said EXPO 2017 commericialisation department director Daulet Yerkimbayev. “We are opening a unique ice rink. Its area is more than 3,500 square kilometres. It will be no ordinary shape. I can assure you that there…

Kazakh athlete wins gold at World Sambo Championship

ASTANA – Yesset Kuanov won a gold medal in the up to 62 kilogrammes (kg) weight category at the World Sambo Championship in Sochi, reported Tass.ru. The event, held Nov. 9-13, gathered athletes from 93 countries. “In the weight category up to 62 kilogrammes the winner is Kazakh athlete Yesset Kuanov, who won in the…

New Kazakh sports drama to be unveiled in December

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s first sports drama television series, about the challenging path of a young man in a professional cycling, was shot in the country, 24.kz reports. As the producers note, the main characters of the series, “Arman Zholynda” (“Path of the Dream”) were shot without doubles. To make the show look as realistic as…

Kazakhstan to start aviation fuel production in 2018, reducing dependence on Russia

ASTANA – Three Kazakh oil refineries will start producing aviation fuel in the second half of 2018 and are expected to be able to fully supply the Kazakh market. “We expect that in the second half of 2018, we will fully supply domestic market with aviation fuel, and we will be able to control its…

Kazakh native, New York policeman wins 13th boxing victory

ASTANA – Kazakh native Dimash Niyazov, a boxer by day and New York City policeman by night, recently defeated American Agustin Mauras, reported vesti.kz. The pair appeared on the undercard of the battle between Daniel Jacobs (33-2, 29 KOs) and Luis Arias (18-1, 9 KOs). The fight was scheduled as a six-rounder, but Niyazov defeated…

Altyn Zhurek award winners named

ASTANA – The names of Kazakhstan’s newest charity givers were announced in  October. Altyn Zhurek awards ceremony at Abay State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Almaty. Charity and philanthropy development among the Kazakhstan people have been gaining increasing support in the last few years. Business communities are also investing significant amounts to develop socially-important…

Nurlan Sauranbayev appointed Shymkent mayor

ASTANA – Nurlan Sauranbayev has been appointed new Akim (Mayor) of Shymkent, the third largest city in Kazakhstan. He replaced Gabidulla Abdrakhimov, who was appointed Secretary of Kazakhstan’s ruling Nur Otan party. Throughout his career, Sauranbayev worked in national companies, including Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, KazMunayGas, served as vice minister for industry and new technologies and…

Kazakh restaurant opens in Manhattan

ASTANA – While studying in the United States, Karaganda siblings Farida Gabbasova and Zhanibek Gabbasov missed the tastes of home. To treat themselves and others to their favourite foods, they have opened a small restaurant in Manhattan featuring Kazakh cuisine, reported 24.kz. “Everyone is trying to open their own cuisine in America: Chinese, Turks, many…

Kazakh investigators reopen case into banker’s death in 2004

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office has reopened the investigation into the death of prominent banker Yerzhan Tatishev, who was shot during a hunt in December 2004. The case was reopened after former business executive Muratkhan Tokmadi’s recent confession in a KTK TV channel documentary to shooting Tatishev during the hunt. Tokmadi claimed in the…

Venture fund for financing start-ups to be based on AIFC

ASTANA – A venture fund providing early financing for start-ups will be created based on the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), said Ministry of Education and Science committee chair Bolatbek Abdrasilov during a Central Communications Service press conference. The pilot project, with the goal of stimulating productive innovations, is being implemented within the loan agreement…

Eurasian Intergovernmental Council agrees on member state digitisation programme, transportation policy

ASTANA –The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council (EIC), bringing together the heads of government of EAEU member states, signed agreements Oct. 25 in Yerevan advancing Eurasian Economic Union efforts to digitise member nations and formalise EAEU transportation policy for 2018-2020. The council meeting was attended by the heads of government of Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Kazakh…

Industrialisation initiative results in economic growth, creating jobs, more tasks set

ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that around 1,060 projects were implemented and 100,000 jobs created as part of the industrialisation programme at an Oct.16 meeting with the Minister for Investments and Development Zhenis Kassymbek. The head of state emphasised the importance of implementing state and sectoral programmes and noted the interim results of…

Kazakhstan hosts CSTO Unbreakable Brotherhood 2017 exercises

ASTANA – The Unbreakable Brotherhood 2017 exercises on post-conflict resolution with the peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) were launched on the Iliisky training ground in the Almaty region, reported the Kazakh Ministry of Defence press service. The manoeuvres, held Oct. 16-20, were another stage of the operational-strategic exercise Combat Brotherhood 2017.…

Kazakh scientists make strides in identifying genetic predisposition to disease

ASTANA – The National Centre for Biotechnology recently discussed advances in identifying diseases at the genetic level. “We find out disorders through DNA and this allows us to take timely measures. At a genetic level, we can determine such socially important diseases as oncology, cardiovascular diseases metabolic syndrome and metabolic disorders,” said head of the…

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…