Articles by Staff Report

ASTANA – The Kazatomprom national atomic company will complete a feasibility study by the end of this year before deciding whether to move forward with a planned nuclear power plant, announced Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev at the Sept. 7-8 Kazenergy Eurasian Forum in Astana. “Once we have the report, we will be able to make…

ASTANA – The Astana city government plans to build a system of enclosed pedestrian footbridges connecting buildings two and three stories above the sidewalk, according to the akimat (city administration) press service. The announcement was made during a meeting with the participation of Akim (Mayor) of Astana Asset Issekeshev. The system will be similar to…

ASTANA – A new religion textbook will be added to the national school curriculum, announced Minister of Religious Affairs and Civil Society of Kazakhstan Nurlan Yermekbayev at a recent government meeting. Society and Religion is the textbook’s working title, according to Yermekbayev. “Together with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan,…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan is considering making children’s vaccinations mandatory only for dangerous infectious diseases, Minister of Religious Affairs and Civil Society of Kazakhstan Nurlan Yermekbayev announced during a recent government meeting. “We are currently considering the issue of mandatory vaccination provided for dangerous infections, parasitic diseases that can be transmitted from one child to another,”…

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev held a meeting Aug. 23 with Minister of Information and Communications Dauren Abayev, according to akorda.kz, during which the minister reported on the development of the Digital Kazakhstan programme. Nazarbayev stressed the relevance of large-scale digitalisation of the economy in the context of growing global competition. “Today this issue is…

ASTANA – The Kazakhstan TV/radio company, which includes the only sports television channel KazSport in the country, has rebranded itself. Starting with the new TV season, which the channel starts on Aug. 28, the names of a number of TV channels will be written in Latin. Its sports TV channel will be now be called…

ASTANA – The privatisation of 60 percent of companies sought for Kazakhstan’s national privatisation programme within the Samruk Kazyna National Welfare Fund has been completed. Samruk Kazyna Chairperson Umirzak Shukeev reported Aug. 23 on the fund’s activities to Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, highlighting the progress in its transformation and privatisation programmes. Established in 2008, the…

ASTANA – Kazakh Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev praised EXPO 2017’s contribution to economic growth and regional integration in his opening remarks to the Eurasian Week forum on Aug. 24. “It is very symbolic that the Eurasian Week forum is held within the international EXPO exhibition, the achievements of which will contribute to a harmonious transition…

The Almaty City Court Appeals Board upheld the decision of the Almaty City Specialised Criminal Court against BTA Bank’s former board of directors’ chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov, who in June 2017 was found guilty of organising and leading a criminal group and embezzling more than one trillion tenge (more than US$7.5 billion) from the bank. The…

ASTANA – A swimming competition involving children with disabilities took place Aug. 17 in Astana. The Kazakh association of parents of children with disabilities organised the event with the support of Asyl Bala national association to demonstrate children’s boundless capabilities. Children that participated in the race have different diagnoses, including cerebral palsy, spina bifida and…

ASTANA – Almost 80 percent of all oil produced in the country is exported. The revenues of the Kazakh budget from the export of crude oil increased 53 percent this year. Oil export increased 46 percent, according to Energyprom. In the last six months, the prices for crude oil increased 27.2 percent in comparison with…

ASTANA – Chinese entrepreneurs plan to build a 200 MW solar power plant in the Otyrar district of the South Kazakhstan region, according to Chinese company Qingdao Beihai representative Ming Ie. Local authorities plan to allocate 300 hectares and provide infrastructure. Also, in accordance with a bilateral agreement, the station will be called Kunnery. “In…

Despite urging from Astana area businesses, EXPO 2017 will not be extended past its scheduled Sept. 10 closing date, Astana EXPO 2017 national company director of public relations Sergei Kuyanov announced during an Aug. 16 press conference. “The EXPO works according to the regulations of the Bureau International des Expositions, according to which specialised exhibitions…

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed to Rector of the Kazakh National Agrarian University (KazNAU) Tlektes Yesspolov the need to create a national science centre in the field of agriculture. “It is necessary to increase the effectiveness of the introduction of research results and training of specialists. In addition, the production of competitive, export-oriented agricultural products…

ASTANA – World-famous designer Pierre Cardin will arrive in Astana Sept. 1 to present his new collection designed specifically for Kazakhstan. The show will last three days and feature 120 outfits with more than 300 accessories. Kazakh fashion lovers have a chance to enjoy a fashion show, but there is more to it than that.…

ASTANA – The Expert Council of International University Sports Federation (FISU) has recognised the Winter Universiade in Almaty as the best in the history of international student competitions, according to an organisation press release. Almaty’s Grand Hyatt Hotel hosted a meeting of the FISU Executive Committee. The key event of this session was the council’s final report,…

ASTANA – Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci proposed during the recent Kazakh-Turkish business forum a visa-free regime for migrant workers between Turkey and Kazakhstan, Astana TV channel reports. He said both countries have been cooperating for a long time. And over the years of joint work, Turkey has invested about $2 billion in Kazakhstan…

ASTANA – New rules for emergency medical care will provide high-quality emergency medical assistance, according to Vice Minister of Healthcare Lyazzat Aktayeva. “Now there are four categories for emergency calls, three of them have potential and immediate threats to life and health, ambulances will immediately go out for such calls. The fourth category is calls…

ASTANA – An online vote called Yenbek Zholy, to determine the best employee of the capital, will be held among the employees of various enterprises from Aug. 1 to 31, the media centre of the Astana akimat (city administration) reported. Twenty-three applications were submitted for participation in the contest between May 20 and July 20.…

ASTANA – Due to the Russian National Day at EXPO 2017, a delegation from Chelyabinsk region led by its Governor Boris Dubrovskiy visited Kazakhstan National Space Centre. This meeting gave the parties new opportunities to identify new areas of cooperation. The delegation included members of the regional authorities and representatives of the region’s business community.…

ASTANA – Chinese logistics centres become more accessible to Kazakhstan within the One Belt, One Road project. An initiative announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, One Belt, One Road is aimed at reviving and boosting cooperation between countries that once laid along the Silk Way route linking Asia and Europe. Part of the…

ASTANA – The Social Health Insurance Fund received 800 million tenge (US$2.4 million) in payments in July, according to Fund Chairperson  Yelena Bakhmutova. “According to the preliminary data, the total volume of contributions exceeded 800 million tenge (US$2.4 million), so this means that the number of people that got insured went above 384,000. We expect…

ASTANA – EXPO 2017 visitors learn not only about future energy opportunities, but also about the inexhaustible human energy. Native of Kokshetau Batima Kussainova, 64, volunteered to participate in the large-scale event. “When I came to the expo organising committee in February, I was accepted with great pleasure out of the competition and awarded the…

ASTANA – The Kazakh alphabet in the Latin script will be developed by the end of the year, said Minister of Education and Science Yerlan Sagadiyev during a recent press conference. According to him, this is the country’s most important project and it must be done right. “It is important to be cautious here. This…

ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture has revealed plans to create 31 dairies within the development of small-scale agricultural processing enterprises, said Vice Minister of Agriculture Gulmira Issayeva. “The ministry pays special attention to the development of small processing enterprises; there are plans to create 31 mini-centres for milk processing, so-called cheese-making centres. Also,…