-3°C / -9°C
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
Bolashak International scholarship
programme celebrates 20 years
president nursultan nazarbayev was greeted by jubilant “bolashakers” as they call themselves at the celebration of the scholarship programme’s twentieth year in
astana on nov. 29.
By Julia Rutz
ASTANA – A celebration of the
twentieth year of the Bolashak International Scholarship Programme
took place on Nov. 29 at the Palace
of Independence with President Nursultan Nazarbayev in attendance.
The event included a discussion of current challenges in the
implementation of the Kazakhstan 2050 national strategy, a
new political policy and a summarization of the programme’s
20th year history
The event was opened by Chair-
man of the Council of the Bolashak International Scholarship
Programme Association Fellows
Bauyrzhan Baibek.
“Bolashak fellows established
this association 12 years ago to
unite active and well-educated
youth wanting to contribute to
www.astanatimes.com
No 21 (42)
the development of their homeland. Today, this association
unites three generations of successful and ambitious people.
Our main goal is to lead the
country towards prosperity,”
Baibek said.
continued on page a2
parliamentarians support
aTom project’s efforts
to Ban nuclear Testing
By George d. Gleboff
stan’s Mazhilis, concluded with
mentary leaders and deputies from
the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) and beyond came together on Nov. 29 in this city’s historic Tauride Palace for an international
conference focusing on nuclear security in the modern world and seeking
ways to advance the cause of global
nuclear disarmament.
On an unusually warm and
sunny day for a city known as the
City of Rain, speakers and deputy speakers of parliaments from
Azerbaijian, Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Rus-
cally stressed the importance of
the early entry into force of the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty (CTBT). It called on states
on whom its entry into force depends to promptly sign and ratify
the treaty, and welcomed efforts
aimed at achieving this goal, including The ATOM Project.
Today, the CTBT’s entry into
force depends on its signature and
countries explored various ideas
to give an additional impetus to efforts to promote a nuclear weapons
free future, including Kazakhstan’s
initiative, The ATOM Project.
Speaker of the Mazhilis (lower
house) of Kazakhstan’s Parliament Nurlan Nigmatulin read out
a welcoming message by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who
underscored his country’s tragic
legacy of nuclear weapons testing and stressed the importance of
redoubling international efforts to
promote global nuclear disarmament against modern challenges.
President Nazarbayev also stressed
the importance of further promotion
of the efforts of The ATOM Project,
which has already attracted wide international attention.
The conference, organised
jointly by the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and Kazakh-
Iran, Israel, Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea, Pakistan and the
ing three recognised nuclear weapon
expressed the conviction that all
modern threats to nuclear nonproliferation should be removed
based on international law and
keeping the balance of the three
main components of the Treaty
on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT) – disarmament,
non-proliferation and peaceful use
of nuclear energy.
More than 500 participants took
part in the conference, including members of parliaments and
representatives of the CTBTO,
Pan-African Parliament and the
International Committee of the
Red Cross and Red Crescent, nonproliferation experts as well as
university students.
continued on page a8
prosecutor General daulbayev astana’s development needs
seeks stronger Ties on legal
special attention, says president
Issues with canada
By Gulnaz Kalikhanova
OTTAWA – Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General Askhat Daulbayev
visited Canada on Dec. 4, seeking to
promote wider cooperation between
the two countries in legal matters.
In the Canadian capital, he met
Speaker of the Canadian Senate Noel
Kinsella, Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration Chris Alexander and
Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General William PentDuring a meeting in Ottawa’s
historic Parliament building, Daulbayev and Kinsella welcomed
the dialogue between Kazakhstan
and Canada and highlighted the
importance of increasing interparliamentary exchanges. As an
important step in this direction,
promote cooperation between the
standing legal affairs committees
of the parliaments of Kazakhstan
and Canada.
The Senate Speaker also invited
parliamentary staff to take part in the
gramme at the Canadian Parliament.
continued on page a3
Kazakhstan’s 2020 Transit plan
Helps connect europe and asia
By Rysty alibekova
ASTANA – Recently, the government of Kazakhstan adopted
an infrastructure development plan
that covers from now until 2020.
It was developed in part by the
World Bank and previously agreed
upon by all impacted state and local agencies and associations. In
scale plan for the development of
transport infrastructure and its integration into the global transport
system.
While presenting the document,
Minister of Transport and Communications Askar Zhumagaliyev
noted that the project will increase
transit by two times, integrate
Kazakhstan into the international
transport system and develop local
infrastructure located outside of
city centres.
At the end of 2012, Kazakhstan
was ranked 86th on the World
Bank’s logistics Performance Index. However, planned compre-
hensive measures to improve the
quality of transportation, as well
as the removal of physical and
non-physical barriers, are expected
to provide Kazakhstan the opportunity to rise to 40th place in this
rating.
The programme seeks to develop all modes of transportation by
2020. Thirty thousand kilometres
of roads, 8,202 kilometres of railway and all 302 railway stations
will be renovated. The programme
includes a number of other measures aimed at the development of
transport infrastructure.
Along with the repair and construction of roads, the programme
focuses heavily on the development of roadside service infra2020, it is planned to build 260
roadside service centres. Also,
nine bus stations, 45 terminals,
155 service stations and 1,048 passenger taxi stands will be built in
the provincial areas of the country.
The document also increases the
ASTANA – President Nursultan
Nazarbayev held a meeting on the
future of Astana on Nov. 27, noting
that a recent visit to Astanagenplan
inspired him to think more deeply
about the city’s future.
“The city’s population is increasing and is currently 900,000.
We originally planned to achieve
this mark between 2020 and 2030.
In this regard, development of the
city lags behind its population’s
ties have begun to arise. Of course,
we are working on the development of all cities in the country,
but the capital should be given
special attention. This spring, I
held a meeting on this matter and
gave a number of instructions. I
saw progress in their implementation, but we face new challenges
that require appropriate solutions,”
Nazarbayev said.
The President said that 188 plots
of 7,000 hectares had been returned to state ownership.
“According to the General Pros-
hectares of land has not been returned. Of these, 711 plots were
wrongly listed as hosting construction projects. Why hasn’t this
land been returned? A variety of
reasons are cited. In 2008, the akimat (city administration) reached
an agreement with land users, who
were ready to transfer the land to
the state at the land’s initial cost.
Once the plots had been bought
at a low price and when it came
time for construction, they ask for
a higher price. This allows major
outrage must end. The money is
not earned fairly. It is one thing
when the money spent by the
landowner is returned legally, but
when state needs arise, the land
should be returned. We have all
legal avenues at our disposal,”
Nazarbayev noted.
Nazarbayev noted that in areas close to the capital, there is
no legal procedure regarding land
issues, this has resulted in an epidemic of squatting.
“Development of land around
Astana happens haphazardly.
The current population is already
ahead of 2015 forecasts. Today,
156,000 people live there, while
there are 175,000 waiting.
continued on page B8
number of bus routes. Today, regular bus service covers 75 percent
of rural villages with a population
of over 100 people. Meanwhile,
by 2020 it is planned to open 300
additional routes, which will completely cover all villages.
Also, changes will be made in
the railroad sector. The Zhezkazgan – Beineu and Arkalyk – Shubarkol lines are under construction. In addition, the line between
the Zhetygen station and Kazybek
station, which bypasses Almaty,
will be built between 2015-2017
through a public-private partnership focused on unloading cargo at
the transit hub.
Overall, it is expected that by
2020, 81 percent of state railroads
will be assessed as “good” and 19
percent as “satisfactory”. In addition, in light of the rolling stock
road engines, over 20, 000 trucks
and 1,138 passenger cars will be
upgraded.
continued on page a4
discussing astana’s development, president nazarbayev drew attention to the analysis of data on housing prices.
InsIde
naTIon
economy & BUsIness
edIToRIal
opInIons
naTIon & capITal
Kazakhstan Bills Russia for Baikonur
Cleanup a2
SPAIID Project Providing Power to Southern
Kazakhstan a4
A Year of Hard Work a6
WIlleTTS: education Is Key Area of
British-Kazakh Cooperation a6
Writers B1
Kazakhstan Space Agency Makes
Advances a2
Biofuel Increasingly Replacing Coal in Almaty
Region a5
IDRISSOV: Regional Integration Is the Key to
Stabilising Afghanistan a7
Christmas Charity Bazaar Held in Radisson
Astana B8
Us$ 1 = 154.25 KZT 1 euro = 210.64 KZT 1 Rouble = 4.69 KZT
A2
NATION
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
national space agency makes advances
By Igor larionov
Kazakhstan’s space industry is
one of the newest and highest priority areas of state policy. Today, the
most important functions of Kazakhstan’s national space agency
(Kazkosmos), created in 2007 by
a presidential decree, are promoting and further developing this high
tech industry and interacting with
leading foreign countries and international organisations in the exploration and use of outer space for
peaceful purposes.
Deputy Chairman of Kazkosmos
Yerkin Shaymagambetov elaborated upon recent progress and prospects.
Please tell us a little bit about the
national space agency’s international outreach.
Kazkosmos has enacted intergovernmental agreements on space cooperation with the governments of
China and signed agreements on the
exploration and use of outer space
for peaceful purposes with the German, British, Swedish, Indian, Japanese, Korean, emirati, Saudi and
Thai space agencies.
We are in contact with the National Academy of Sciences of the
Republic of Belarus and the Netherplan to sign an intergovernmental
agreement with Belarus and an interdepartmental agreement with the
Netherlands on cooperation in the
exploration and use of outer space.
Who are our key partners?
yerkin shaymagambetov
priority for us is collaboration with
Russia. One of our main areas of
cooperation is the use of Baikonur,
which is currently under lease. Recall that in 2004, the presidents of
Kazakhstan and Russia signed an
agreement on cooperation and the
use of the Baikonur Cosmodrome,
according to which the lease was
extended until 2050. This document
also stipulates that Russia will fully
promote participation with the Republic of Kazakhstan on projects related to the creation and use of new
environmentally friendly spacerocket complexes and other joint
projects and programmes.
After that, the signing of the intergovernmental agreement on the
creation of the environmentally
friendly space rocket complex Baiterek took place.
One of the largest projects currently being implemented with
Russia is the creation of the KazSat
satellite communications and broadcasting system. On July 16, 2011,
the satellite KazSat 2 was launched
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Now, the Russian company Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems is
building the KazSat 3 satellite. Its
launch is scheduled for April 2014.
In addition, two ground control
complexes were built in the Akmola
and Almaty regions.
Moreover, on May 22, 2008, an
intergovernmental agreement in
cooperation on the use and development of the Russian global satellite
navigation system, GlONASS, was
signed. Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary
(state - owned company) is working
on the formation of ground infrastructure for Kazakhstan’s highly
precise satellite navigation system
(SNS) through the creation of regional differential satellite navigation systems using GlONASS and
American GPS.
What contacts have been established in this area with other CIS
countries?
At Kazakhstan’s suggestion,
space cooperation between CIS
states is facilitated through annual
meetings of high ranking space
Thus, at the recent fourth meetjoint space exploration and the priorities established by the CIS Development Concept and Action Plan
for the second phase (2012-2015) of
the 2020 CIS economic Development Strategy.
One of the areas of such coop-
eration is the joint exploitation of
SRC Zenith. No less important for
Kazakhstan is bilateral space coop-
ploration and use of outer space for
peaceful purposes that entails the
creation of a space system for scien-
as space technology, joint research
and the training of RK space pro-
(COP NTN).
The agency also continues to
develop bilateral cooperation with
China, a country that mastered inde-
universities. Kazakhstan is also interested in participation in the Dnepr programme for the commercial
launch of space satellites using the
MBR PS-20 commercial system,
Kazakh company MCC Kosmotras.
satellite will be launched with this
programme.
As for cooperation with nations
further abroad, intergovernmental agreements signed with France
in October 2009 partnered stateowned Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary,
with French eADS Astrium on two
creation of a remote sensing system consisting of an orbital group
of high and medium resolution RS
satellites, a ground control complex and a ground target centre for
receiving and processing satellite
data and housing the information
transmissions system. The project,
alongside the development of high
space technologies, is focused on
environmental protection and the
assurance of national security.
The second project involves the
creation of an assembly and testing
complex for spacecraft. It is currently under construction in Astana.
In March of this year, during a
visit to london, a Kazkosmos delegation signed a memorandum of
Agency on cooperation in the ex-
a member of the space superpower
club. On September 7, 2013, during
dent to Kazakhstan, an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation
in the exploration and use of outer
space for peaceful purposes was
signed. On September 23, 2013 in
Beijing, during the 64th International Astronautic Congress, the Kazkosmos delegation headed by Talgat
Mussabayev met with leaders of
the National Space Administration
and space enterprises of China. The
Chinese side expressed strong interest in bilateral cooperation and an
agreement was reached on developing collaboration in four areas:
and Chinese remote sensing satellites, telecommunications satellites
and space science development.
Also, the RK National Centre for
Space Research and Technology,
jointly with the Japanese Aerospace
exploration Agency, is working on
global space monitoring of emergencies and natural disasters using
remote sensing.
The continuation of international
cooperation, Kazakhstan’s acquisition of advanced know-how from
other countries and the transfer of
space technology leads to a more
agile and effective national space
industry.
Kazakhstan Bills Russia for Baikonur cleanup
By michelle witte
ASTANA – Kazakhstan has sent
lomatic channels for the cleanup
of the crash of its Proton-M rocket
earlier this year. Russia is disputing
the amount.
Shortly after taking off from
the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in July 2013, the rocket
exploded, spilling roughly 600
tons of heptyl, amyl and kerosene
fuel. Roscosmos, Russia’s Federal
Space Agency, began cleanup efished in late September. At the
time, Akim (Governor) of the
Kyzylorda oblast Krymbek Kusherbayev said they would continue
to monitor the area, but that it did
not “raise any concerns.”
On Nov. 22, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of environment and Water
Resources said that the damage
to the environment had been assessed at over 13.69 billion tenge
mos representatives in the working group overseeing the cleanup
had announced their readiness to
discuss compensation. Now, however, Roscosmos press spokesman
Sergei Gorbunov says Russia will
conduct its own on-site review of
the damage and Kazakhstan’s calculations, Russia's Izvestia News
reported on Nov. 27.
Russia successfully launched
another Proton-M rocket from
Baikonur on Sept. 29. Its launch
had been delayed until the cleanup
was completed. Russia conducts
almost all of its commercial rocket
launches from Baikonur and delays
of commercial launches can lead to
Kazakhstan’s approval of only
12 launches at the beginning of
2013, citing environmental concerns, have led to tension between
the two countries and threats by
lion it pays annually in rent for the
space complex.
Russia and Kazakhstan have a
lease agreement on Baikonur that
allows Russia to continue operating the site through 2050, with the
increasing involvement of conduct
technicians and scientists. The
space agencies of the two countries agreed on Nov. 26 to develop
a new cooperation programme to
2030, including creating joint projects at Baikonur.
Andrey Grozin, head of the Central Asia and Kazakhstan Department of the Institute of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Countries in Moscow suggested in
a September interview with Pravda.
Ru that programme changes may
include dropping the current lease
agreements in favour of more cooperation and a greater share for KaKazakhstan’s national space
agency has also said that it does
not exclude the possibility of
working with Western countries
at the space complex, if the price
is right. NASA, which ended its
shuttle programme in 2011, has
a contract with Russia to launch
astronauts from the site, which it
has extended into 2017. Russia is
also building a new cosmodrome
Bolashak International scholarship
programme celebrates 20 years
continued from page a1
He stressed the youth’s importance in building a strong and
competitive society, as the young
are the backbone of any developing nation. He also noted that
about 50,000 young people got
the chance to study abroad thanks
to this scholarship programme, including through short-term internships. More than 900 of them are
now working in the regions. “I am
also proud to say that thanks to our
fellows, we have dubbed several
Hollywood movies into the Kazakh language,” Baibek said.
Nazarbayev welcomed all of the
event’ s participants and expressed
his pleasure in being amongst Bolashak scholars at such a formal
occasion.
“The Bolashak programme is
a farsighted solution for a young
country’s post-independence hardships. At the dawn of independence, Kazakhstan needed highlyof conducting further reforms to
overcome obstacles. Today, Bolashak scholars work in all spheres of
the economy and are securing the
further development of Kazakhstan by using what they learned
while studying abroad. You [Bolashak fellows] are the future of
this country,” the President said.
In his speech, Nazarbayev also
noted that thanks to Bolashak
scholars, Kazakhstan reached its
previous goal and became one of
the 50 most developed countries in
the world. Now, the country is pursuing a spot in the top 30.
students from 1993. Now, there are
more than 10,000! And each second fellow is working in a Kazakh
enterprise,” said Nazarbayev.
It is also remarkable that two
thirds of the fellows are children
whose parents do not work in government and 200 fellows were orphaned as children. There are also
Bolashak scholars among the Kazakhs who migrated back to Kazakhstan from China. This proves
that the programme gives a chance
versity, which was established
in order to give Bolashak scholars the opportunity to pass their
knowledge to the next generation,
has become home to 200 of these
fellows.
One of the conference guests
was British education and Science Minister David Willets, who
congratulated the President as well
as all Bolashak fellows on the programme’s 20th year. He also delivered Prime Minister David Cameron’s greetings. Cameron visited
Kazakhstan this summer and said
he enjoyed his time in the country.
“I am very proud that my country
is the number one destination for
Bolashak fellows. Four thousand
Kazakhstan students have studied
in British universities. I should
also mention that our universities
were impressed by the quality of
your students and we will gladly
welcome more Kazakhstan students in the future,” said Willets.
According to the British minister, he came to Kazakhstan not
only for the event, but also to discuss the launch of a new fellowship
programme for those who want to
study cutting edge technology. The
minister expressed his hope that
this programme will serve as a
bridge between the two countries
and will allow British students to
come to Kazakhstan in the future.
During the event, many Bolashak fellows gave speeches discussing their Bolashak experiences,
recent personal accomplishments
and plans for the future.
Gorbunov, who studied heart surgery in Germany, is now one of
the most renowned surgeons in
Kazakhstan. He thanked the President for establishing a new, fully
equipped cardiac surgery centre
where 13 Bolashak fellows are currently working. He also noted that
two successful heart transplants
were performed at the centre; more
importantly, such surgeries are free
for patients, as they are fully sponsored by the government.
“Being able to perform surgery out in the regions is a huge
achievement for us, the fact that
we are able to operate on anyone
there, even newborns, makes it
even more remarkable. Five years
ago, I was giving a speech at this
event and talked about the 600 surgeries I had performed. Now, I can
say that this number has reached
1,717,” Gorbunov said.
Another fellow, Rustem Karymov, who graduated in 2008 from
a British university, put his knowledge of e-commerce into practice
after returning to Kazakhstan. He
helped bring the electronic ticket
system to Kazakhstan while working at Air Astana. Right now, he is
a co-founder of a successful online
shop.
“I am an ordinary boy from
Karaganda who grew up in an ordinary family headed by a teacher
and miner. This scholarship gave
me a rare opportunity to get an
education and to learn from the
best. Now, I’m continuing to work
for the betterment of entrepreneurs
in Kazakhstan. The country holds
great potential for young and ambitious people,” Karymov said.
During the forum, Bolashak fellows who are still studying in london, Washington, D.C. and Shanghai congratulated the President and
fellows on the 20th anniversary via
internet and wished that the current
Kazakhstan boxer Serik Sapiyev was one of those students. He
in its far east, seen by many as a
launch from its new cosmodrome
is scheduled for 2015. And despite
the lease agreement, Russia’s
space programme has created a
number of possible scenarios for
its work at Baikonur, including the
possibility of pulling out almost
completely in 2020, as reported by
Russia’s Izvestia on April 8.
Kazakhstan also plans to increase investments in its own
space programme, as laid out in its
development programme through
2020. The country plans to launch
its third telecommunications satellite, KazSat-3, from Baikonur in
early 2014. All the KazSat satellites have been built by the Russian Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems company.
said that studying in london was a
“second life” and “golden ticket”
he got after winning the Olympics
in 2012.
Near the end of the event,
the President awarded the
Kozhakhmetov, who is going to
The Bolashak International
Scholarship Programme was established on Nov. 5, 1993 by a
decree of President Nazarbayev.
Year after year, the programme has
gained momentum and was eventually declared a state objective.
In the programme’s early years,
scholars studied in four countries
and France. later, more countries
were added to the list. From 20052013, the Bolashak Scholarship
was awarded to 9,240 Kazakhs to
study in 200 top universities across
33 countries. Most of them chose
is the second most popular destination. Third place is tied between
Germany, Canada and Russia. All
in all, 10,025 scholarships have
been awarded over the past 20
years of the programme’s existence. Of them, 52 percent have
been for social sciences students;
38 percent of Bolashak recipients
graduated to work in the industrial-manufacturing sector. Furthermore, 12 percent and 8 percent of
Bolashak graduates went into the
creative arts and the healthcare industries respectively. All Bolashak
fellows are employed and 64 percent work in Kazakh companies,
27 percent work in government,
state - owned companies employ 6
percent and NGOs employ 3 percent.
domesTIc
news In BRIef
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
Serik Akhmetov visited a specialised centre for registering cars and
issuing driving licenses in Astana
opened in September of this year as
a pilot project on the order of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Since
the launch of the centre, about
4,000 driving licences have been
issued and over 17,000 vehicles
registered. Similar centres are operating in Almaty, Karaganda and
Aktau and are planned for Taraz,
Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk, Taldykorgan and Kyzylorda in the future.
Kazakhstan will gradually reduce Proton carrier rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
from Kazkosmos, the country’s
National Space Agency, said on
Dec. 4. Kazkosmos Deputy Chairman Meirbek Moldabekov said
Kazakhstan had signed an agreement with Russia on the reduction.
The Proton series would eventually be replaced by a new launch vehicle known as the Zenit lV, which
is currently undergoing an upgrade
process that will last until 2018,
mean the end of Proton launches
in 2018, as the Zenit would need
to Moldabekov, the Proton is Baikonur’s “workhorse,” and the port
will be useless if Proton operations
shut down.
A distillation unit invented in Kazakhstan will be used in the search
for life on Mars, said Boris Pilat,
one of the authors of the project.
According to the scientist, the distillation unit will be used by two
Russian expeditions, one to Phobos,
a natural satellite of Mars, and one
to Ganymede, a satellite of Jupiter.
The equipment will be used to demineralise water samples. According
to Pilat, mineral impurities could
prevent equipment from analysing organic compounds in samples
taken during the expedition. The expedition to Phobos is scheduled for
2018 and the Ganymede expedition
for 2022. The inventors are planning
to present two versions of the distillation unit to their Russian partners.
The different versions are required
because of the different goals of the
two missions. The demineralisation
technology is based on the use of
dialysis. Two semipermeable membranes that release colloid solutions
from low-molecular compositions
are used in the device. According
to Pilat, salt ions will be removed
from the solution with the help of
now working on making the device
smaller. The invention has been patented in Kazakhstan.
Kazkosmos and Roskosmos,
the national space agencies of Kazakhstan and Russia, have agreed
to develop a programme of further
cooperation to 2030, including the
development of joint projects at
the Kazakhstan-based Baikonur
Cosmodrome. The agreement was
reached during the visit of Oleg
Ostapenko, head of Roskosmos, to
Astana on Nov. 26. In particular,
the two sides dwelt on launching
a KazSat-3 communications satellite in 2014. They also broached the
subject of launching KazeoSat-1,
a remote sensing satellite, in 2014.
Baikonur is closer to the equator
than other launch sites, a situation
that facilitates geostationary orbit
or orbits less inclined to reach the
International Space Station (ISS).
This privileged geographic placement enables the launch of more
drome has been rented out to Moscow since 1994 for an annual fee of
town accommodates over 70,000
people, 37 percent of whom are
Russian citizens. About 4,000 Russians live in Kazakhstan almost
permanently on business trips to
facilitate space launches. The town
budget receives over 1 billion roubles a year from the Russian federal budget. Roskosmos spent over
tain infrastructure and space facilities at the cosmodrome.
A3
EURASIA&WORLD
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
Kazakhstan
exTeRnal
news In BRIef
President
Nursultan
Nazarbayev sent condolences to
South African President Jacob
Zuma on the passing of Nelson
Mandela. “The world famous
President Nelson Mandela was a
ination and the apartheid, having become the creator of a new
democratic secular state.”
On Nov. 27, Kazakhstan’s
Secretary of State Marat Tazhin
accepted the credentials of the
new non-resident ambassadors
and Herzegovina, Montenegro,
Bangladesh, the Philippines,
Zambia, Nigeria and Fiji. In bilateral meetings, Tazhin and the
new ambassadors discussed the
current state and prospects of
their interstate relationships.
Tazhin pointed out that globalisation and the development of
cooperation in politics, the economy, trade, science and culture
was in the nation’s best interests. The ambassadors expressed
mutual interest in the expansion
of contacts in a wide range of
issues, including international
and regional security, mutual investment and trade, alternative
energy sources, the agricultural
industry, education, science and
tourism. The meetings revealed
a new vector in Kazakhstan’s diplomacy: to step up cooperation
with Africa and latin America,
regions with high development
potential.
sity of Science and Technology
a cooperation agreement with the
President of Al-Farabi Kazakh
ment of academic programmes.
The agreement envisages the two
universities exchanging academic expertise and students. During
the meeting with the delegation
come a global university in the
coming phase since it enjoys an
infrastructure that is eligible, indicating that the university now
has on its rolls students from
around 55 nationalities of friendly countries. Malkawi briefed the
delegation about the establishthat Al-Farabi Kazakh National
which enjoys good reputation
mainly in the medical and engineering faculties.
ference, “Foreign policy of Kazakhstan and its founder, President Nursultan Nazarbayev,”
dedicated to the Day of the First
President of Kazakhstan was
Istanbul on Dec. 5. A video about
and the country’s achievements
over the years of independence
opened the conference. Participants’ speeches were devoted to
the achievements and success of
Kazakhstan in the political, social
and economic spheres reached
under President Nazarbayev. The
conference participants noted the
pace of the country’s development in all spheres and its promotion of social modernisation
and democratisation. Speaking
at the conference, Rector of Bahstressed Nazarbayev’s leadership
qualities. “Nursultan Nazarbayev
is a guarantor of stability and democratisation in Kazakhstan,” he
said. Ambassador of Kazakhstan
to Turkey Zhanseit Tuimebayev
informed participants about the
main achievements of Kazakhstan over the years of independence and discussed the role of the
head of state in the establishment
and development of the country.
An exhibition dedicated to the
Day of the First President and the
main achievements of Kazakhstan was held within the conference.
commitment to aiding afghanistan
By michelle witte
ported to Afghanistan. Kazakhstan
has provided aid to Afghanistan to
support the nation’s agriculture,
education, healthcare and transportation sectors, and is a backer
of major transregional energy projects involving Afghanistan, including the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas
pipeline and the electricity conduit
between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Afghanistan and Pakistan called
CASA-1000.
At the Istanbul Process Ministerial Conference in Almaty last
spring, which focused on Afghanistan’s development, President
Nazarbayev said, “The main element of the international assistance
programmes is about the economic
rehabilitation of Afghanistan. We
need to speed up regional economic cooperation and integrate
Afghanistan in this process.”
It is expected that about 8,000-
ASTANA, Dec. 1 – Kazakhstan remains willing to help Afghanistan through a variety of
mechanisms, including training
programmes that bring Afghan
students to study in Kazakhstan,
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
told Special Representative of
Kubis in a meeting on Nov. 28
in Astana.
mission to assist Afghanistan, visited the Kazakh capital from Nov.
27-28, meeting with the President,
Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Senate
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Foreign
Minister erlan Idrissov and other
In meetings with Kazakh ofpreparations for Afghanistan’s
presidential elections next year,
try and its economy, and regional
and terrorism. “Naturally, I was
of the President of Kazakhstan’s
readiness to continue to cooperate
and help Afghanistan,” Kubis said
after his meeting with Nazarbayev,
also adding that they discussed
ongoing preparations for the presidential election in Afghanistan
nursultan nazarbayev and Jan Kubis discussed Kazakhstan’s cooperation with the Un, preparations for afghanistan’s
presidential elections next year in astana on nov. 28.
next April and their implications
for the situation in that country.
Regional cooperation is seen as
key to stability in Afghanistan and
and NATO troops withdraw from
prosecutor General
daulbayev seeks
stronger Ties on legal
Issues with canada
continued from page a1
people and students are now travelling between the two countries,
Daulbayev and Alexander also
discussed opportunities to facilitate people-to-people ties. The
sides highlighted the importance
of reviewing existing measures
to improve the visa regime for
increasing the number of mutual
visitors. On a visit to Astana last
month, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird promised to take
up the matter of facilitating visas
for Kazakhstan citizens wishing
to travel to Canada with his colleagues.
Daulbayev also extended an
invitation to Alexander to visit
Kazakhstan in the near future,
which was accepted.
At Daulbayev’s meeting with
opportunities for broadening the
bilateral relationship in the lecooperation include combating
terrorism, transnational organcyberterrorism. The Kazakhstan
delegation also expressed an
interest in learning more about
Canada’s experience in strengthening criminal justice and legislative reforms.
late October, to discuss regional
security and cooperation issues.
askhat daulbayev
deepening cooperation between
the legal authorities of the two
countries and exchanging experience and experts will play
an important role in broadening
of the bilateral Treaty on Mutual
legal Assistance on Criminal
Matters between Kazakhstan and
cial visit of President Nursultan
Nazarbayev to Canada in 2003.
While in Ottawa, Daulbayev
also had a working lunch with
Canada’s Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs Daniel Jean. The
parties welcomed the recent successful visit of Baird to Astana
and the joint statement by Baird
and Kazakhstan’s Minister of
Foreign Affairs erlan Idrissov,
which, among other issues, urged
greater engagement in the legal
sphere between Kazakhstan and
Canada.
Daulbayev and Jean also discussed global security issues,
including the situation in Afghanistan post-2014 and regional
stability in Central Asia.
The visit capped off what has
been a year of intensive bilateral
exchanges and visits between
ing the two capitals’ mutual desire to deepen cooperation across
a wide spectrum, from nuclear
energy to agriculture to legal
matters and beyond.
Kazakhstan has long had a key
support and logistics role in operations in Afghanistan. The country’s rail and road systems are
part of the Northern Distribution
-
Afghan President Hamid Karzai
over Karzai’s delay in signing an
agreement about the remaining
troops has led the White House to
warn it would withdraw all troops
if an agreement isn’t reached
soon.
at osce meeting, fm Idrissov
calls for United and equal
security in euro-atlantic
and eurasian area
By Ilyas omarov
KYIV – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan erlan Idrissov
participated in the 20th meeting
of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in europe
To deepen bilateral cooperaalso discussed opportunities to
promote exchanges among students studying law and criminology. While in the Parliament,
Daulbayev was also greeted in
sessions of the Senate and the
House of Commons.
The talks between Daulbayev
and Alexander focused on issues
of migration and the facilitation
of travel. Kazakhstan and Canada are two of the world’s largest
countries by landmass and, having relatively small populations,
face similar challenges related to
labour migration and immigration in general.
During their meeting, Daulbayev and Alexander noted that
the exchange of best practices in
this area can be instrumental in
further promoting Kazakh-Canadian cooperation. As a grow-
the nation next year. Kubis has visited several other countries in Central Asia over the past few months,
troops currently in Afghanistan
would stay in the country after the
2014 withdrawal. Recent tensions
on Dec. 5-6, urging fellow participating states to continue working
towards a united and indivisible
security in the euro-Atlantic and
eurasian space as called for in the
Astana summit declaration three
years ago.
In his opening statement, Idrissing’s organisation, praising the
host country’s “realistic and pragmatic approach” and the successful achievement of their goals during their one-year chairmanship of
the organisation.
Idrissov also outlined Kazakhstan’s plan for its key activities
within the OSCe in the coming
years. He called on participating
states to continue implementing
the provisions of the declaration
adopted at the OSCe summit in
Astana, which is one of the few
political statements unanimously
endorsed by all members of the organisation.
“The most recent OSCe summit,
held in 2010 in Astana, adopted a
declaration that outlined the current priorities of the organisation,
highlighting its three dimensions
equally. The Astana Declaration
creates a vision for a security
community designed to search for
answers to current challenges. It
should unite all OSCe participating states in the euro-Atlantic and
eurasian space without dividing
ence or zones with different levels
of security,” he emphasised.
Idrissov underlined that almost
40 years after the signing of the
Helsinki Final Act, which created
the original Conference on Security and Cooperation in europe
(CSCe) in 1975, the document has
not lost its relevance and continues
to positively impact regional and
global politics. “We believe the
Helsinki+40 [process] should be
focused on implementing the Astana Declaration to construct a united
and indivisible security community
in which different regional organisations can interactively resolve
problems in this area.”
He also updated his colleagues
from 57 participating states and 11
partnering states on the continuing
implementation of provisions of
the Astana Declaration in the political, military, economic, environmental and humanitarian spheres.
According to Idrissov, one of the
important aspects of the organisation’s work is its collaboration on
Afghanistan.
The foreign minister also welcomed Switzerland and Serbia’s
upcoming chairmanships in 2014
and 2015, expressing hope for continued fruitful and effective work.
With regard to the unfolding
rissov stressed that Kazakhstan has
always been a supporter of integration processes.
“However, our country believes
that the political choice of the development model of each country,
including the choice of forms of
integration, is the sovereign right
of the country and should be based
primarily on its own national interests,” he said.
Idrsissov also noted that Kainterest in integration within the
economic Space, though, he said,
“we do not think that this interest somehow prevents the natural
search for opportunities of integration in other directions.”
During the two-day visit, Idrissov met lamberto Zannier, OSCe
secretary general, and discussed
Kazakhstan’s cooperation with
the organisation, including over
the concept of the euro-Atlantic
and eurasian Security Community, cooperative action in dealing with transnational threats and
settling the situation in Afghanistan. He also noted the relevance
of Zannier’s OSCe Security Days
initiative, which was launched in
2012. According to the minister,
the Security Days provided a good
platform for exchanging views on
the OSCe’s military and political
agenda.
eral for Political Affairs Jeffrey
Feltman, Idrissov discussed creat-
and mechanisms for providing humanitarian assistance to the countries of the region.
With the new OSCe High Commissioner on National Minorities
foreign ministers of Kazakhstan and
Ukraine erlan Idrissov (l) and leonid
Kozhara (r) shake hands at the start
of the osce council of ministers in
Kyiv on dec. 5.
Astrid Thors, Idrissov discussed
Kazakhstan’s cooperation with
the institute she leads. He noted
the importance of maintaining and
developing Kazakhstan’s model of
tolerance in its multi-ethnic and
multi-confessional society, and
emphasised that Kazakhstan’s historical experience could be useful
for other countries. Idrissov called
on Thors to support President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s initiative to
develop the “Towards Tolerance in
the New Decade” OSCe document
and invited the high commissioner
to visit Kazakhstan in 2014.
At meetings with heads of foreign delegations, including repreCroatia, Spain, Norway, latvia
and other countries, Idrissov discussed the key priorities of the
country’s Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy, the participation of foreign
businesses and governments in
eXPO 2017 in Astana, the support
for Kazakhstan’s candidacy for the
curity Council for 2017-2018, as
well as opportunities for attracting
investment and new technologies
and liberalising visa requirements
for Kazakh citizens.
A4
ECONOMY
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
Kazakhstan’s 2020 Transit plan Helps
connect europe and asia
continued from page a1
The nation’s airports will also
be reconstructed, including 11 of
the 18 existing airports. Repairs
will be focused on runways and
terminals. In addition, by 2020, 75
new international air routes will be
opened.
The programme includes the
further development of water
transport infrastructure. In particular, a project to expand the capacity of the seaport in Aktau by adding three dry cargo terminals, is
underway. As a result, the throughput capacity of the seaport will increase from 16.8 million tons per
year to 20.5 million tons.
“Kazakhstan, with its location
on the crossroads of several international transport corridors, meets
all prerequisites for becoming a
major logistics hub connecting
europe and Asia,” Prime Minister
Serik Akhmetov said at a cabinet
meeting. He stressed that the President pays special attention to the
development of transit potential,
the implementation of major infrastructure projects and the integration of the region into international
transport corridors.
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ),
the national railway company,
with its full range of assets and
competencies, will become the
main multimodal logistics operator behind the plan. The company
will also operate the Aktau Seaport, SeZ Khorgos - east Gates,
the country’s airports and domestic
terminal network.
The integration of transport assets into a single structure, according to Zhumagaliev, will provide
the necessary level of coordination and management, form integrated multimodal services and
introduce a “single window.” This
will create favourable conditions
for Kazakhstan’s transit capabilities and exports. Dubai World’s
acquisition of port and terminal
infrastructure in Kazakhstan will
give additional impetus to the development of the country’s transport and logistics system. Kazakhstan is negotiating with Swissport
International and lufthansa Consulting on matters pertaining to
the country’s airports.
President of KTZ Askar Mamin
reported on the development of the
President Nursultan Nazarbayev of
Kazakhstan signed a law on amendments and additions to the national
Tax Code on Dec. 5. The law includes provisions implementing
the concept of a new budget policy
function of individual taxes for the
taxation of luxury goods (an excise
tax on tobacco and alcohol, a tax on
transport and property), and the Advisory Council decisions on taxation.
In order to discourage people from
consuming harmful products, the
plan includes increased excise taxes
on spirits. Rate increases for low alcohol products are expected to be
debated in 2014. For strong alcoholic
beverages, it is proposed to increase
excise tax rates in 2014 from 500
In order to further increase excise duties on cigarettes, the law mandates
that in 2015, excise tax be increased
transport and logistics system. According to him, to improve competitiveness and increase transit
capacity, the company is implementing a business strategy to
promote its services and improve
14 freight train routes run between
Asia and europe. As a result, overland delivery times from consolidation centres in China will shrink
to 300 percent less than those of
traditional maritime routes.
The ability to transit goods
through Kazakhstan requires fully
developed transportation and logistics infrastructure and its integration into the international
system. To do this, the country is
implementing investment projects
for the development and modernisation of infrastructure and
the transport and logistics sector.
In 2014, the new Zhezkazgan –
Beineu and Arkalyk – Shubarkol
lines will be commissioned. This
of international transport corridors
in the east, West, North and South
and will reduce the Dostyk – Aktau route by 750 kilometres.
cargo sea company will be established by the end of the year.
Private companies will fully modernise the nation’s airport over the
course of two years and will build
a fully formed network of class A
and B logistics centres.
A network of transport and logistics complexes, including facilities
for the consolidation and distribufor the promotion of Kazakhstan’s
exports are also being built outside
the country.
The Common economic Space’s
key project is the creation of an
integrated transport and logistics
company. The railway administration of Kazakhstan, Russia and
Belarus will provide integrated
services based on the principles
of the “single window,” which are
streamlined technology, standards
of quality and price policy. Technological parameters for the infrastructure corridors that feed the
main terminal will be developed
later.
Kazakhstan’s location also allows the country access to the
Trans-Caspian route. Kazakhstan
today does not have its own dry
from Aktau via foreign vessels.
That’s why KTZ is looking to ac2020. The company’s 20 vessels
will make up more than 50 perImplementation of the “own cargo
will foster effective Trans-Caspian
freight transportation.
Before the end of this year, a feasibility study for the construction
of transport and logistics centres in
Kazakhstan will be developed.
The transport and logistics complex is expected to drive economic
growth. The overall effect of the
gross added value from the improvements to the transport and lobillion; the average effect on GDP
growth will be around 1 percent,
the head of the KTZ national company said.
Summing up the discussion, the
prime minister stressed the importance and reach of the programme:
of public and private investments
will be used.
Development of both transit and
logistics facilities, said Akhmetov,
is unthinkable without the appropriate supporting infrastructure.
Therefore, the main task of the
programme that was adopted is the
development and construction of
transportation infrastructure.
In this regard, Akhmetov instructed the Ministry of Transport
and Communications and the KTZ
project to continue on with its
comprehensive action plan for the
Kazakhstan: A New Silk Road project. The prime minister also instructed local authorities and concerned state bodies to speed up the
creation of an airport management
over the commissioning of major
road and rail corridors. He stressed
that timeliness is key. Among
these major roads and railways
are the Western europe – Western
China Road, the North – South
Road, the North – east Road, the
North - West Road and the Beyneu
– Zheskazgan and Arkalyk – Shubarkol railways.
spaIId project
providing
power to southern
Kazakhstan
By asset Kalymov
One of the largest facilities of the
State Programme of Accelerated
Industrial and Innovative Development, the Moinak Hydropower
Plant (HPP), has reached full ca-
the southern regions of Kazakhstan.
economy
news In BRIef
contribution to the energy supply of the southern regions of the
country.
The Moinak plant was built in
late 2011 in the remote Raiymbek
district in Zhetisu, Almaty oblast,
and is using the principle of height
difference to generate the rotating movement of rotors churning
out electricity. It has two hydraulic units, each with a capacity of
150 megawatts. The second unit
was put into operation in May of
last year by President Nursultan
Nazarbayev. According to General
Director of Moinak HPP Bakytbek Zhanabayev, the power plant
has generated 1.3 billion kilowatthours of electricity since its launch.
The plant fully covers daily peaks
in the energy system of Kazakhstan’s southern regions.
The project, part of the country’s
Industrialisation Map, was implemented under the management of
Samruk energo and involved the
work of local companies in building power and communication
lines, access roads and other sup-
porting infrastructure. China International Water and Power Corporation laid the diversion tunnels,
erected the plant’s main building
and installed basic equipment.
Chairman of the Board of Moinak HPP Stakhan Belgozhayev said
the Chinese company was chosen
to build the main plant because of
that country’s experience in building hydropower facilities: 80 percent of all hydroelectric plants built
in recent years have been built in
China. The Chinese experts took
into account all technical and seismic safety parameters and worked
with the Kazakhstan Ministry of
environmental Protection and Water Resources regarding the preservation of the Charyn River and the
ash grove near the plant, he said.
The plant has had a positive impact on the economy of the region:
800 local residents were involved
in its construction and 114 people
are now employed there. A new village with a kindergarten and communications connections was built
in the district that houses the plant.
Belgozhayev also said that a
new project, Four Cascades, was
recently developed to use more of
the Charyn River’s hydropower
potential. The planned capacity of
the future green facility, which will
be built next to the Moinak plant,
is 220 MW.
In regards to taxes on cars, a rate on
cars with an engine capacity between
4,000 to 5,000 cubic centimetres will
be raised to 130 Monthly Calculated
Indices (MCI), for car engine volume
larger than 5,000 cubic centimetres to
200 MCIs. New tax rates will apply
to vehicles that were purchased on
or after January 1, 2014. Previously
purchased cars will retain their old
tax rates.
An assembly-and-testing facility for space vehicles set to open
the assembly of satellites and their
components, Novosti-Kazakhstan
reported on Dec. 3, citing Vice
Chairman of the National Space
Agency Meirbek Moldabekov. “Kazakhstan-made parts and labour will
account for 55 percent of satellite
production […] if a satellite is estiwill produce parts and labour worth
[…] the factory will be producing
satellites not only for Kazakhstan,
some of them will be sold to other
nations,” he elaborated. According
to him, the project consists of an asand will enable the design of satellites, the production of certain satellite components, satellite assembly
and satellite testing.
Kazakhstan has entered the top 20
foreign investments, Tengri News
reported, citing Kairat Karmanov,
vice chairman of the Kaznex Invest
(National Agency for exports and
Investments) Board. According to
ference on trade and development,
Kazakhstan was ranked 19th in FDI
nations of foreign investments are
FDI into processing industries made
than the same period of 2012,” he
said at a press conference. According
FDI to Kazakhstan reached a record
metal production sphere grew by 16
in the production of foodstuffs,
drinks and tobacco products reached
Speaking at a Dec. 6 media briefing at the CCS, Akim (Governor) of
North Kazakhstan Samat Yeskendirov discussed the condition of the
region’s highways. “This year, 4.5
allocated for the repair of secondary
roads, which is two times more than
in the previous year. Of that amount,
was drawn from the local budget.
million) was spent on reconstruction,
maintenance, highway repair and
secondary roads in 2013,” the akim
informed. According to Yeskendirov,
improving the state of roads is a regional development priority. “A sum
lion) was allocated to the reconstruction, maintenance and repair of roads
covered by the employment Road
Map 2020. These funds were used to
repair and reconstruct district roads,”
he stated.
A5
BUSINESS
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
BUsIness
news In BRIef
Kazakhstan plans to deliver
10,000 tons of grain by the year’s
end to China, the press service of
Kazagro reported. Prodkorporation, a Kazagro subsidiary, as part
of a contract with a Chinese state
company, has begun supplying
wheat to China. At the end of Noto China took place. Prodkorporation’s contract with the largest
Chinese grain trader calls for the
delivery of 10,000 tons of grain by
the end of 2013. After the delivery
is complete, further negotiations
with the Chinese party on export
volume increases of Kazakh wheat
will be held.
There are 31 projects totalling
a net value of 41.5 billion tenge
of the Industrialisation Map in the
North Kazakhstan region. About
2,000 people are expected to be
employed at these facilities after
they are launched. Presently, 26
projects totalling 26 billion tenge
completed. Over 800 new jobs
were created. Seventeen industrial and agricultural facilities have
been built. Nine enterprises have
been modernised. One of the most
projects is the oil industry modernisation efforts at Munaimash.
As a result, 12 pieces of advanced
foreign equipment were set up. In
terms of productivity, they do the
work of 68 old machines. Now, 70
percent of all content is local. The
plant now operates in three shifts.
Thanks to these modernisation efforts, salaries at the plant have increased and now exceed regional
averages by twofold. The biggest
plant in Central Asia, Molprodukt
was built and equipped with modern milk and juice production
technology. The plant’s capacity is
year. Of this amount, 70 percent
of it is exported. Zinchenko and
Co is expected to put a new milk
plant into operation. It will employ advanced technologies and
will be functional by the end of the
year. Overall production output
will reach 10,000 tons per year.
In total, over 300 industrial enterprises, including 229 enterprises in
the processing industry are presently operating in the region. Oil
and gas production, as well as
railway and energy sector goods
have great potential. Thanks to
state support, enterprises in these
The Petropavlovsk Heavy Machine Building Plant will launch
a new factory after modernisation
is complete. Modernisation and
expansion of the production line
at the Kirov plant will help meet
Ministry of Defence demands for
modern mobile radio stations.
This year, 77.1 billion tenge
the North Kazakhstan region, the
regional Akim (Governor), Samat
Yeskendirov said at a CCS media
ed into the regional economy this
year; 80 percent of this money is
privately invested. Private investment growth has remained stagnant over the past three years. Our
region is open to all investors. Our
Centre for Investor Support offers a
wide range of services, everything
needed to invest in the region is
made available,” the governor said.
mat Yeskendirov, the akim (governor) of the North Kazakhstan
region said: “We increased the
volume of housing construction almost twofold, or by 48 percent this
year. Construction generated 24.4
over the past ten months. This is
a 105 percent increase against the
corresponding period of 2012.”
“In total, 113,000 square metres
of housing was commissioned in
the region as part of the Affordable Housing 2020 Programme in
2013. Presently, 600 families have
already moved,” Yeskendirov said.
According to the region’s chief executive, the average annual volume
of housing being commissioned in
the region over the past 10 years is
122,000 square metres. This is 2.8
times more compared to 2003. In
2020, this indicator is expected to
be 1.4 million square metres.
forum in Kyzylorda focuses on Region’s
economic potential
By yuri lee
KYZYlORDA – The second
“Baikonur” investment forum took
place in mid-November in the Aral
Sea region aimed at unlocking the
tential in a variety of industries, including metallurgy, energy, transport logistics and agriculture.
The event was attended by Minister of environment and Water
Resources Nurlan Kapparov, representatives of other ministries
and departments, international and
national development institutions
and heads of foreign diplomatic
missions and business structures.
By tradition, forum participants
visited the Bastau business centre,
where an exhibition of industrial
and infrastructure projects implemented under the State Programme
of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development (SPAIID) had
been organised.
Along with already-commissioned industrial complexes, the
region presented projects recently
included in the Industrialisation
Map. For example, the Balausa
company has introduced a unique
method of autoclave processing
of black shale on the Bala Sauyskandyk deposit of vanadium ore.
Investments in the project from
2013-2018 will reach nearly 35
million). The new technology will
allow the company to produce one
quarter of the total world production of vanadium in 2020 and become a world leader.
In the near future, Samruk Kazyna Invest, with its Chinese partner, will build a plant in the city of
Kyzylorda worth 18.8 billion tenge
glass. The infrastructure for the
future industrial giant, which is
expected to fully meet the demand
for construction glass in the domestic market and in neighbouring states, is now being created. In
addition, this year construction is
planned to begin on factories for
producing cement and lime, plastic
pipes and the semi-knocked down
assembly of electro-loading units.
Projects contending for inclu-
sion on the Industrialisation Map
include Zhanakorgan energy,
which intends to build a solar
power plant worth 14.4 billion
capacity of 65 million kilowatt
hours per year. The Ocean energy
Company is ready to invest 14.3
a gas turbine power station with a
capacity of 652.5 million kWh per
year. Shalkiya Zinc, which in 2014
plans to resume work on Kazakhstan’s largest lead and zinc deposit,
tivity and build a processing plant,
also has a good chance to become
part of the map, which brings with
it measures of state support. Investment in this integrated development project is estimated at an
enormous amount: 90 billion tenge
Forum participants were interested in the concept of a metallurgical cluster and numerous
projects for tourism development.
The plenary and breakout sessions
gave a clear signal to investors that
the regional authorities are ready
to provide comfortable conditions
for the effective investment of capital and productive work.
Akim (Governor) of the Kyzylorda oblast Krymbek Kusherbayev noted the major efforts by
the country to create a favourable
investment climate. He emphasised the low tax burden on business, which in Kazakhstan is one
of the lowest in the world, at about
29 percent, while in european and
Central Asian countries it exceeds
40 percent.
The governor quoted the following facts about the region’s
main socio-economic indicators:
the region is a leader in attracting
investment in the real economy.
Actively developing infrastructure
has spurred production growth,
especially in the manufacturing
industry, which is up 15 percent
compared with 2012. Tax revenues
The governor expressed concern,
however, about the structure of
the economy, in which the mining
industry and the production of hydrocarbons and uranium dominate.
Biofuel Increasingly Replacing
coal in almaty Region
By asset Kalymov
Boilers and furnaces that use biofuel will be installed in 26 educational institutions in the Almaty region as the result of an agreement
between the regional administration and the new Kazakh-German
joint venture, Torch ltd.
Torch, established in the Koksu
district, manufactures fuel pellets
made from agricultural waste, including straw, hay, rice and soy
waste products. The pellets emit a
minimal amount of harmful substances when burned and can replace coal, oil and diesel fuel for
heating. The pellets are cheaper
than diesel fuel: two tons of pellets provides the same heating
power as one ton of diesel fuel,
but the price of two tons of pellets
while a ton of diesel is currently
Ivan Girchenko, a Torch repre-
sentative, said the project will address a number of topical issues
related to energy security, environmental protection and frugality.
The investment in construction,
procuring equipment and commissioning the work was just over
pects to pay off soon. Torch can
produce more than half a ton of
pellets in an hour.
The plant is also expected to
ny has already concluded contracts
to supply raw materials to several
farming partnerships. Straw pellets
can be used not only as fuel but
also as livestock feed.
Torch plans to expand their production and create new jobs in the
community. In the future, local authorities intend to establish similar
mini-factories in several districts,
eventually producing enough pellets to heat all of the Zhetisu district’s public buildings with biofuel.
Torch ltd, a Kazakh-German joint venture established in the Koksu district,
manufactures fuel pellets made from agricultural waste.
The second “Baikonur” Investment forum discussed future investment plans.
The region’s development priority, he stressed, is diversifying its
economy, adding that in consultation with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the region plans to create
a number of metallurgical plants.
Having
already
developed
deposits of uranium and vanadium, lead and zinc, copper, molybdenum, zirconium, titanium,
germanium, silver, gold and
other precious metals, opening
labour- and capital-intensive industry with high export potential.
dence that the creation of a metallurgical cluster could provide prosperity for the region in the future.
Another key theme of the report
was the high industrial-innovative
and tourist potential of the Baikonur space complex, which is
included on the list of the sites to
be visited during the eXPO 2017
international exhibition. The governor discussed the region’s many
historical and cultural monuments,
including ancient settlements. He
also reported on the implementation of major transport infrastructure projects, including the intercontinental mega-corridor, the
Western europe-Western China
highway, and the new BeyneuSaksaulsk-Zheskazgan
railway
line. Much attention was paid to
the development of basic agricultural industries like rice farming,
Participants also showed great
interest in Kapparov’s report. The
minister presented the Concept of
Kazakhstan’s Transition to a Green
economy and its main directions.
He paid special attention to the
country’s water security, which is
relatively stable today but is exlion cubic metres by 2030. To avert
a crisis, water-saving technologies
are to be introduced, agricultural
public utilities. The share of electric power generated by alternative
and renewable energy sources in
the concept is planned to increase
by 2030 up to 30 percent and reach
50 percent by 2050. The green
economy is expected to contribute
to the emergence of new industries, create 500,000 jobs and generally improve the nation’s quality
of life.
Kapparov praised the efforts of
local executive bodies to ensure
the region’s energy independence
and promised the support of the
ministry, taking into account the
big plans for industrial-innovative
cient southern region.
Forum sessions were also devoted to such topical issues as the
prospects of metallurgical and machine-building clusters, the transit
potential of the region, the development of the rice industry and
cattle breeding.
Following the forum, a number
of memoranda of cooperation in
companies, institutes of development and the executive bodies of
the oblast.
A6
EDITORIAL&OPINIONS
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
a year of Hard work education Is Key area of
I
t is that time of the year again. People
around the world start looking back at the
passing year, trying to assess their achievements and successes, and looking into the
coming one, planning to do what has not yet
been done and nurturing hopes that the new
year will be better and kinder to them, their families,
their countries and the world.
In Kazakhstan, New Year’s celebrations almost
coincide with a string of national holidays beginning
with the Day of the First President on Dec. 1 and
Independence Day on Dec. 16, giving us another
its results.
On Dec. 16, Kazakhstan will turn 22. As they
say, Kazakhstan is a young country with a long
history. Its most recent history, however, is being
crafted at such a pace that just highlighting some
of its progress in economic, social, political and
foreign policy areas creates a snapshot of a country
changing fast, deep and wide, seeking to improve its
citizens’ quality of life while being a good neighbour
to the world at large.
This year marked the beginning of the implementation of the new Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy unveiled
by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in December
2012. Its most succinct goal is to bring Kazakhstan
into the world’s 30 most developed countries by
2050. Competitiveness rankings currently peg Kazakhstan at around number 50.
economic fundamentals and 2013’s results show
that Kazakhstan can expect to be on the way to its
stated goal. The country’s gross domestic product is
expected to grow 6 percent year-on-year in 2013, a
commendable result in a world of sluggish economic
development.
The launch of commercial production at the superin the second half of the year but was then delayed
due to technical problems, is surely expected to play
a major part in the country’s growing economic
fortunes.
The State Programme of Accelerated Industrial
and Innovative Development (SPAIID) for 20102014 has already directed billions of dollars in
investment into major projects outside the extracting industries and will continue to do so as its next
phase for 2015-2018 is being charted.
earlier in 2013, the Government found another
way to expand budget revenues and stimulate
growth as it pushed through much-debated pension
system reform. Key provisions of the reform include
the gradual raising of the retirement age for women
to equal that for men – 63 years of age – and the
National Pension Fund. At the end of 2013, another
important economic decision took place as the
President signed into law amendments hiking taxes
for luxury items such as expensive housing and cars,
as well as liquor and tobacco. The tenge celebrated
20 years as the national currency in November 2013,
drawing praise for both its stability in turbulent
times and its design.
The National Chamber of entrepreneurs was
created over the summer and is quickly becoming
one of the key forces driving the business-friendly
reform agenda within the Government and the Parliament.
The People’s IPO programme, launched in No10 percent of shares of KazTransOil, while further
planned initial public offerings by other national
companies such as the Kazakhstan electric Grid
Operating Company have been delayed.
The Government has continued to press on with
the employment 2020 programme, seeing some
success and creating jobs and professional retraining
opportunities for up to 100,000 people. One of the
top state priorities continues to be the promotion of
working class values under the theme of the Society
The Bolashak presidential scholarship celebrated
its 20th anniversary in November. The programme
has now provided fully paid state scholarships to
10,000 young Kazakhs to study abroad. Coming back
to work in the private sector or the Government, they
bring with them high quality education and a good
understanding of the ways of the modern world.
The continuing maturity of Kazakhstan’s society
has been clearly demonstrated during the year, as
more and more public and civil initiatives, including
the National Movement Kazakhstan 2050 launched
by young professionals, sprouted, as did new online
media outlets. In the meantime, discussions on the
future steps in the human rights and democracy
development areas continued between representatives of the Government, non-governmental organisations and legal experts on the basis of the Foreign
Ministry moderated Dialogue Platform on Human
Dimension.
In the political arena, the Nur Otan party continued to dominate the landscape. Its congress this
autumn approved a new doctrine and a new shorter
name, further drawing attention to the ruling party.
two smaller parties, Rukhaniyat and Adilet, was set
up over the year, but it remains to be seen if it will
gain much traction with voters.
earlier this year, administrative reform took place,
creating the Corps A of top-level administrative civil
servants and providing for indirect elections of 2,457
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akims (mayors) of auls (villages), towns and districts in
August, a step towards greater decentralization of power.
legislative and legal branches, with Kassym-Jomart
Tokayev returning in October from his two-year
neva to again chair the Senate of the Parliament of
Kazakhstan, and Kairat Mami returning to chair
the Supreme Court. In October, Kairat Kelimbetov
replaced the long-serving Grigory Marchenko as
chairman of the National Bank. In August, Aslan
Sarinzhipov, a 39-year-old economist and educator,
was appointed Minister of education and Science,
while in November, in a major development for
women’s issues, Gulshara Abdykalikova became a
Deputy Prime Minister and was given responsibility for the entire block of social issues, from social
protection to health care to education.
In the foreign policy arena, of particular note are
the expanding ties between Kazakhstan and the
rent head of British government, and to london by
President Nazarbayev over the summer. Similarly,
By Rt Hon david willetts mp
celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the President’s Bolashak
Scholarship Programme. It was
particularly special for me to be
the only representative of a foreign
government invited to speak at the
role as a leading partner for Kazakhstan in education. I am proud
-
year to negotiate over the new enhanced Partnership
new quality of the relationship and set the framework for its further expansion.
Relations with Russia have also seen progress, as
a new Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness and Alliance
in the 21st Century was signed by Presidents Nazarbayev and Vladimir Putin in October. The issue
of the Baikonur Cosmodrome was also near the top
cussed its future within a high-level intergovernmental commission and then, after a Proton rocket crash
in July, dealt with the environmental cleanup and the
compensation for it. In the meantime, Kazakhstan,
Russia and Belarus, the three current members of
drafting a treaty on the establishment of the eurasian
to engage in this process too.
Kazakhstan’s relations with China saw a major
step forward with the September visit to Astana
by the new Chinese president, Xi Jinping, which
witnessed the signing of dozens of new agreements
expanding burgeoning bilateral trade ties. As a step
in increasing mutual understanding, Xi Jinping also
announced China would provide 30,000 government scholarships to SCO member states and invite
10,000 teachers and students from Confucius institutions to study in China. He also invited 200 faculty
to attend summer camp activities in China next year.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Countries in latin America and Africa, traditionally outside the perimeter of
Astana’s focus, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile,
South Africa and ethiopia, are increasingly coming
into this focus as Minister of Foreign Affairs erlan
Idrissov and his deputies visited those in the passing
year. Afghanistan’s post-2014 future continued to
draw the attention of policymakers in Kazakhstan,
which hosted a special meeting of the Istanbul
Process in the spring in Almaty. Almaty also hosted
country’s nuclear programme, which, by various
accounts, were helpful in laying the groundwork for
the breakthrough in negotiations achieved in Geneva
in November.
Kazakhstan also continued to negotiate with
the International Atomic energy Agency (IAeA)
over the so called host country agreement on the
controlled bank of low enriched uranium fuel, which
is seen as an important element in assuring nuclear
fuel supply for the international markets.
Preparations for eXPO 2017 continue to be a
focus of Astana’s agenda. Now that the design of
the new eXPO City by American company Adrian
Smith+Gordon Gill Architecture has been approved,
the task is to have the registration dossier approved
by the Paris-based Bureau International des expositions (BIe) by the summer of 2014. In fact, next
year will be critical for the launch of the construction of the eXPO’s main facilities and for starting to
secure commitments by foreign countries to participate in the three-month-long event in 2017.
The year of 2013 also saw such notable steps as
Council seat in 2017-18 and continuing to press its
Almaty. Astana also continued to promote President
Nazarbayev’s global nuclear disarmament initiative,
The ATOM Project, which has already drawn the
attention and support from people in more than 100
countries. And Almaty was put forward as a candidate city to host Winter Olympics in 2022.
When President Nazarbayev takes centre stage to
deliver his major Independence Day address on Dec.
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Editor-in-Chief: Roman Vassilenko
Managing Editor: Tatiana Kostina
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our countries. Along with science
and innovation, education is an important strand of the new Intergovernmental Commission launched
in October 2013 which will build
on our economic cooperation.
During my visit to Astana, I was
struck by the enthusiasm of your
young people to grow their skills
and experience through international study and cooperation, so as
to contribute to Kazakhstan’s future
development. I am delighted that
so many of them wish to come to
I was honoured to receive an invitation from the Government of
Kazakhstan to visit your country
promoting economic and political ties. Kazakhstan
he will set for the country for the coming year and
beyond. Given past history, it is likely that the goals
will be ambitious and far reaching.
British-Kazakh cooperation
destination of study for Bolashak
scholars, with more than 4,000 of
the 10,000 young people from Kazakhstan awarded Bolashak scholarships, so far, choosing to come to
Kazakhstan has set out an ambitious national education programme for 2011 to 2020, with
clear goals for the internationalisation of its education system at all
levels, as a major contributor to the
longer – term goals of the country’s
2050 strategy. Your government
has set an admirable target that
20 per cent of the population will
tor is committed to supporting Ka-
zakhstan’s education goals through
greater partnership and cooperation between our two countries.
Our relationship has been growing steadily over the last few years.
The successful partnerships that
Cambridge, and the active work of
the British Council in Kazakhstan
since 1994 are real evidence of this.
When the British Prime Minister visited Kazakhstan earlier this
key area for cooperation between
bonds and relationships developed
during international study can last
a lifetime, and that such people-topeople connections are what underpin the most successful political and
economic links between nations.
I was interested also to hear, during my visit, about your Government’s plans for eXPO 2017 and
perience of planning and delivering
such large-scale world events, particularly following the huge success of the london 2012 Olympics.
The author is member of parliament and minister of state for
Universities and science of the
United Kingdom.
we should all Be working Together,
astronaut williams says
By Tatiana Braun
Sunita Williams is a renowned
as head of the NASA department
at the Yuri Gagarin Center for Cosmonaut Preparation near Moscow.
She holds the records for long-
and familiarity of our atmosphere
and the vast unknown of space. It
is an incredible feeling that really
puts life in perspective. There is so
much out there we don’t know –
but we have to be adventurous and
brave and take these steps so we
can go further.
(195 days), total spacewalks by a
woman (seven), and most spacewalk time for a woman (50 hours,
40 minutes). She spoke to The
Astana Times about her life story,
the meaning of space exploration
and the work of the International
Space Station, as well as about her
impressions of Kazakhstan.
ber of spacewalks and hold the
I feel very lucky to be in the
right place at the right time to do
the spacewalks we did. Sure, some
of it was very physically demanding – the suit weighs over 300
lbs and it is not easy to maneuver
yourself – but the most demanding part was probably the mental
aspect of being out in space. That
is also the best part of spacewalks
as well. It is certainly work, but I
found I had to stop now and then
and look out – to see really where
I was – in between the comfort
When you enrolled in the 17th
cal projects were you involved?
For my entire career as an astronaut we have been working on the
International Space Station. Most
of it was planned out before our
class started in 1998, but of course
changes along the way. The beginning of the construction started
shortly after we arrived with the
the middle of the construction of
the station as we changed temporary power and thermal control
systems to the permanent ones
You hold the record for the
ing of life or just hard work?
Space means so much to me.
We are so lucky to have the opportunity to actually go to space
to look back on our planet and
see our planet from that perspective. It easily displays to us how
fragile our world is and how we
really should take care of it, not
only for our sake but for the sake
of every lucky living creature on
our planet. It also makes it entirely
clear that we as humans are really
all the same and should treat each
other with respect and interest.
everyone is living together on this
planet – there is nowhere else we
could live that we know of. We
should all be working together.
to reinforce how important it is to
work together for a common goal.
Your father is an Indian, and
the construction and the emphasis
changed to performing science in
the world class laboratories we
have in space now. It is an amazing project of international cooperation, engineering mastering
effects of Hurricane Andrew in
1992.
In the words of great friend,
I feel like I am a citizen of the
universe. I am so happy to have
parents from very different backgrounds because that gave me the
stand what compassion, understanding, tolerance and love is all
about – even between very different cultures. In my professional
years I have had the opportunity
to travel all over the world, and
do many things from protecting
our people to lending a helping
hand when people are in devastating situations, like after a natural
disaster. learning from these differences renewed my awareness
that people are really just people
– we are all here on this planet together. Working together is something that will make us a better,
smarter species. Together we all
have a vested interest in helping
our planet. Going to space with
an international crew helps again
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made to “The Astana Times”.
The Astana Times is printed at “Media Holding “ERNUR” LLP, 30 Sileti
Street, Astana.
east of the town of Arkalyk. Hosof world space exploration. What
Working with the International
Space Station, I have been to Kazakhstan many times. It is truly a
we come back to earth from space
and land in Kazakhstan, even
though it is thousands of miles
from our home towns, we all
know, astronauts and cosmonauts,
that we are home. That is an amazing feeling. We know that landing
on this planet means so much to
each of us – the family and friends
we have, the pets and animals that
live on this planet, the weather,
however different from one place
to another, it is all part of our
home – earth. So, coming to Kazakhstan after being in space, all
humans feel they are home.
The interview is printed here
in a shorter version. for the full
version, please visit our website.
The Astana Times is registered by the Ministry of Communications and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the registration number N 11208-G
of 1 November 2010.
The newspaper is typed and made into pages at the computer centre of “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda”. Published biweekly, the size of 8 pages.
ORDER: 646
A7
OPINIONS
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
Regional Integration Is the ‘Key’ to stabilising afghanistan
frequently expressed Cassandra
view that chaos and violence inevitably await Afghanistan after
the withdrawal of the International
Security Assistance Force in 2014.
This sort of prognosis is danger-
By erlan Idrissov
“The coming weeks and months
provide an important opportunity
to increase the level of regional cooperation and coordination ahead
of the transfer of security control
in Afghanistan from international
to Afghan security forces in 2014.
Kazakhstan disagrees with the
prophecy by making us all think
that there is no hope for Afghanistan.
Instead, we are optimistic that
with the right level of assistance
from its friends and neighbours
and through the creation of a
peaceful environment in its immediate neighbourhood, Afghanistan
can overcome its historical isolation and take its rightful place in
the “Heart of Asia”.
We strongly support the development of transportation links to
facilitate trade within the region.
from the creation of the “New Silk
Road”, bringing together eurasia
and South Asia via new road, rail
and energy corridors.
As the largest land-locked country in the world, Kazakhstan has a
strong interest in having the best
possible access to global markets,
including to its south.
The stabilisation of Afghanistan
and its pursuit of harmonious relations with its neighbours are an
important part of that process. So
too is the normalisation of Iran’s
relations with the international
community.
Integrating Afghanistan into
its neighbourhood should create
a “win win” situation for all the
countries in the region and for
the international community as a
whole. We have to work steadily
to establish the conditions for the
solutions that can unite the country and provide the leadership for
long-term renewal.
There are no magic solutions
to Afghanistan’s problems and
we must accept the fact that only
Afghans can decide the country’s
way forward. The international
community should limit its efforts
to promoting the social and economic rehabilitation of Afghanistan and stay out of politics.
In Afghanistan, Kazakhstan is
putting its efforts into developing
agriculture, education and infrastructure, providing in all cases a
nancial support.
Afghanistan’s population is 7080% rural and we believe that encouraging Afghans back into productive employment on the land
can have a major economic impact
and improve the security situation.
We are training Afghan agricultural specialists and have also provided large volumes of seed.
-
astana’s Green Trajectory
By Victor Kiyanskiy
The results of the international
architectural competition for the
best design for the eXPO 2017
exhibition complex were summarised in Astana in late October.
The winning company, Adrian
Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
designed a huge sphere with a diameter of 150 metres that represents the sustainable development
of our country and our nation’s
concern for nature.
every incarnation of the World
Fair is a unique event and opportunity not only for participating
countries, but also for the organizers to demonstrate their advances
in technology, achievements in
culture and architecture and historical development. From this point
of view, not only the fair grounds,
but the entire left bank of Astana
is an excellent platform to showcase and promote the deep history
of Kazakhstan as an important part
of the history of eurasia and global
civilisation.
Mazhilis deputies in early No-
vember adopted a package of
amendments to existing codes
and laws for the successful organisation and hosting of the international specialised exhibition
eXPO 2017. Together with earlier
introduced amendments to the environmental code, tax legislation
and technical regulations, they
represent a solid legal base for the
successful holding of this international forum and the introduction of alternative energy clusters.
However, much work needs to be
done for all parties to successfully
execute this law.
Now, broad public and expert
discussions on how to upgrade
existing facilities outside the fair
grounds through the prism of
the fair’s “energy of the Future”
theme while including business,
volunteers and ordinary citizens
jects should be considered through
the prism of change that should be
made to emphasise the priority of
the green development of the city.
For example, in london, in
preparation for the 2012 Olympics. the roof of the Victorian age
Blackfriar Bridge (erected in 1884
over the River Thames) was built
from 4,400 photovoltaic panels which produce 900 thousand
kilowatt hours of energy per year.
This bridge became the longest
“sun bridge” in the world. Such
approaches to saving energy, recycling waste and re-using materials for construction at other sports
facilities, enabled the international
community to recognise the 2012
Olympic Games as the greenest
games in history.
All these standards will be used
in preparation for eXPO 2017.
The exhibition in Astana should
become the greenest event in history and a step in the formation of
environmental design and landscape architecture which takes into
account all historical, geographical
and natural features of eurasia.
The left bank of Astana has inherited ancient eastern traditions.
As in the ancient settlement of
Arkaim, the cities of Kyoto and
Nara in Japan, the cities of Xian
and luoyang in China and the
ancient capital of Mandalay in
Burma, the architectural masterpieces of Astana are planned according to the cardinal directions,
which like compass points, allow
one to orient themselves at any
time of day. It is therefore logical
that the whole architectural style
of the left bank is intimately connected to the course of the Sun. As
known, the ancient nomads worsymbolised the day, weather, time,
numbers and life. The coordinate
for curious residents of our capital.
Therefore, the environmental elements arising from draft ideas for
the World expo can incorporate
Astana’s special relationship with
the sun.
Now, with the Water-Green
Boulevard under reconstruction,
modernise the system of night
lighting with solar lamps, which
are already commercially available, and use accumulated rainwater and drip irrigation for watering
regions of Kazakhstan can learn
from the new and green technology used at eXPO 2017. Simul-
taneously, the widespread use of
domestically manufactured solar
costs. Modernisation should be
in sync with the general development plan of the capital and serve
the aspirations of the Kazakhstan
2050 strategy.
We should skillfully and harmoniously select economical and
ecologically friendly approaches
in balance with new and traditional forms of energy which complement each other. Astana, as a
young city, has much greater potential than older towns in regards
to effective modernisation. We
should take into account the fact
that we are in the third industrial
key areas of development: transition to renewable energy sources,
building electricity generating
buildings, the introduction of energy storage technologies, the creation of an “energy Internet” and
the transition to electric and hybrid
vehicles.
No less important is the fact that
we have information on the most
successful foreign case studies
and advanced practices of other
countries which have histories
of successful water and renewable energy use. The Water-Green
Boulevard can become an unobtrusive showcase of clean technologies. This requires thought out
interactions between designers, architects and engineers at all levels.
The strategic goal for Astana is
making it the center of the country;
it will be a center of green technology, landscape architecture and
cultural innovation. This destiny
was given to the city by President
gress in recent years, Afghanistan
still has a heavy legacy to overcome in education. As part of a
is providing professional training
for 1,000 Afghan students in its
higher education institutions in
areas ranging from engineering to
medicine.
Development of infrastructure to
promote trade within Afghanistan
remains an urgent priority. Karepair of a 77km road in the north
million.
Afghanistan remains the undisputed global leader in production
and supply of illicit heroin and
opium to the global market. The
criminalization of Afghanistan’s
economy is creating serious problems in many countries along the
main export routes for these products, including in Kazakhstan.
Nursultan Nazarbayev. Today,
the city is home to unique “smart
houses,” institutions that use renewable energy sources and green
oases on the banks of the Yessil
River.
Such approaches are the essence
of the President’s “Green Bridge,”
“Green economy,” and “Green
Development” projects and the
concept behind The ATOM Project. The man-made “Green Belt”
of over 40 hectares around the
on the microclimate of the city and
In addition, new parks, squares,
alleys and recreation zones are
being built in Astana. Today, the
standards of “smart” or “open” cities, based on criteria such as safety, ecological friendliness and economic considerations are added to
these factors. The Smart Astana
concept approved in 2011 has its
roots in european experience in
implementing similar projects corresponding to six principal areas of
development – the “smart economy,” “smart management,” “smart
life,” “ smart mobility,” “smart
people” and “smart environment.”
In 2013, at the third Smart Astana international conference, participants discussed the concept’s
“road map.” Before eXPO 2017,
the Smart Astana project, where
“smart environment,” which entails the creation of automatic
environmental monitoring of the
city’s atmosphere in real time
and the introduction of the “green
neighbourhood” to implement intainable urban development and
economical use of energy will be
launched. Astana will become the
starting point for the introduction
of smart technology throughout
Kazakhstan.
The name of our capital, Astana,
The only reliable way to combat
it is to develop an economy that
supports other types of legal activity. At present, opium poppy production is the only social safety net
for many farmers.
Solutions to many of Afghanistan’s problems are obvious. What
is usually much less clear is how to
create an environment that is conducive to applying them.
As Afghanistan’s government
takes over responsibility for the
country’s security, its relations with
neighboring countries are already
taking on increased prominence.
As neighbours, we must live up
to our responsibilities and make
the most of this opportunity.”
The author is minister of foreign affairs of Kazakhstan.
is also rife with eurasian symbolism. Archaeologists and historians
agree that it is one of the oldest settlements and a busy camp on the
route from Asia to europe.
Astana is the continuation of
the Kazakh tradition of Zhasyl el,
which was restored by the Presiof the el (country). Astana is not
only geographically and geopolitically in the center of eurasia, but
also a phenomenal historical place.
Its location between major sacred
places in eurasia and the ongoing
revival of the Silk Road allows
the Kazakh capital to be a modern
day common ground for discussing all religious, inter-ethnic, trade
and political issues, let alone any
issue that requires deep dialogue
between east and West. The third
industrial revolution is also going
on in Astana in conjunction with
these trends.
The plan is to make the city the
centre of the country’s “biosphere
valley” with a centre for biosphere
research which will become a funeration in forming an industrial-innovative paradigm of development
in the 21st century. All this greatly
increases interest in our capital,
where innovation is carefully
woven into Kazakh tradition and
where every monumental structure
is located. Astana is likely what
foreigners associate the Kazakhstan people and their country with.
A new stage of development of the
capital related to eXPO 2017 will
make Astana and Kazakhstan even
more visible and respected around
the world.
The author is a member of
the mazhilis and member of the
committee on ecology and nature.
solar a smart alternative for Kazakhstan
By Bolat mukhashev
Kazatomprom plans to start
producing high-purity silicon and
reach a full production cycle of
solar panels by 2015.
Today, Kazakhstan is not only
developing renewable energy,
but also creating a vertically integrated production process, from
quartz raw materials to hightech products: solar cells. This
work has been done in just three
years. It actually started in October 2010, when, during a visit
to France, President Nursultan
Nazarbayev signed an agreement
on the KazPV project to develop
silicon solar energy in Kazakhstan. I think the fact that Kazakh-
stan won the bid to host eXPO
2017, the key theme of which is
the development of renewable
energy, is the best evidence of the
recognition of our success in this
sphere.
lar panels, will be assembled at
Astana Solar. The base material
for them, the solar cells, will be
nogorsk plant.
Producing solar-grade silicon
is a high-tech process. The term
“high-tech” even emerged out
of the microelectronics industry, from silicon technologies.
Solar cells and solar panels can
be produced from solar silicon,
the purity of which is 99.9999
percent.
The metallurgical silicon produced at the Kazsilikon Metallurgical Company has a purity
of 98-99 percent; 1-2 percent of
different impurities are removed
afterward. As of now, the technology for producing silicon metal has been mastered. In March
2012, we launched the stable production of metallurgical silicon
(MS) with all the required characteristics.
At the same time, I believe that
upgrading our technology should
not be too expensive. It must be
effective in terms of sales and
marketing, and the output value
of solar-grade silicon should be
We have already considered
several technologies, including
the plasma cleaning that is used
mostly in France and the oxide
slag cleaning used in producing
solar silicon in Norway. It should
be noted that in that country,
there are large deposits of very
pure crystal quartz.
Having considered both types
of MS cleaning, we concluded
that the Norwegian technology
than chemical, chlorosilan technologies used in the production
of silicon in Germany. The cost
of building and commissioning a
plant to manufacture 1,000 tons is
also six times less.
No less important is the fact
that this technology is ecologically safe.
According to our estimates, all
preparatory work will be completed by October 2014. In 2015,
we plan to launch domestic production of solar silicon.
KazPV is a joint project with
France. According to the terms
of the project contract, France
to sell our product. But as far as
I know, there is already an order
for 250 megawatts worth of solar
panels from Algeria. And this is
after four years of work! I think
that mass demand for this product in Kazakhstan is a matter of
time, especially as our legislators
are taking measures, including
tax breaks, to make solar energy
a more attractive option for private homes and buildings. There
are good examples of how tariffs
and state programmes stimulate
the development of renewable
lion) for the development of solar
The difference is that in these
countries, the state budget comof the money spent on installing
solar units. Moreover, the state
buys the energy produced by
solar panels at a price 10 times
higher than the market price, and
also offers tax breaks and subsidies to producers. All this has
led to the fact that currently in
Germany, solar batteries can be
installed anywhere within a few
helped eliminate carbon dioxide
emissions equivalent to taking
850,000 cars off the road.
I think this experience will be
useful to us because in Kazakhstan, individual construction is
encouraged. As for the potential
of solar radiation in Kazakhstan,
kilowatt-hours per square metre per year. This will make it a
country.
Of course, today solar energy
is rather expensive, but solar batteries work for 20-25 years. According to the most pessimistic
estimates, the panels will fully
pay for themselves within 7-8
years. And the economic effect
is obvious: for the remaining 1317 years, the owner of the panels
would receive free energy. We
should also take into account the
continually increasing cost of traditional electricity from the grid,
which will make the economic
impact even greater.
The entire world, even resource-rich states, is paying attention to solar energy now. First,
they were concerned about the
depletion of hydrocarbons. But
now, despite the opening of new
deposits of coal and hydrocar-
bons, people are realising that the
problem is not in their exhaustion,
but in their disastrous impact on
the environment. This pollution
doesn’t respect state boundaries;
it is becoming one of the most
pressing global problems.
The total amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the
earth each year exceeds by many
times the energy potential of the
world’s reserves of oil, gas, coal,
uranium and other resources, and
is 10,000 times greater than modern energy consumption levels.
Possessing the knowledge, experience and technologies to harness it, it would be disastrous for
humanity not use it.
The author is a professor and
an academician of the national
academy of sciences and has
been studying the properties of
silicon for more than 40 years.
a renowned scientist, he has
won the state prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the
al-Harezmi International prize.
from 2009-2011, he participated in the development of KazpV project and since 2012 he
has been the co-director of the
nIIoKR KazpV project.
A8
EURASIA&WORLD
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
parliamentarians support aTom project’s
efforts to Ban nuclear Testing
continued from page a1
called on all states to take efforts
to strengthen the regime of nuclear
non-proliferation and disarmament,
including through ensuring the uniall obligations contained in it.
nised “the aspiration of the Republic of Kazakhstan to give an
additional impetus to the process
of reduction and limitation of nuclear weapons through the adopDeclaration of a Nuclear-Weapons
Free World.”
The document noted the importance of the 2010 treaty between
ing and limiting strategic offensive
armaments and called on countries
possessing nuclear weapons to follow their example.
Participants also welcomed the
initiatives to activate meaningful
Disarmament in Geneva which has
been all but stalled since 1996. Recently, one such initiative was the
ed Working Group on taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations which presented
sembly in September 2013.
The participants of the confer-
ence in Saint Petersburg further
called on all states to prevent the
acquisition of nuclear materials
and technoligies by terrorists, and
noted the importance of continued
implementation of the Global Initiative to Combat the Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.
The conference also welcomed
initiatives and practical steps to
establish and expand of zones free
from nuclear weapons across the
world, and called for the early convocation of a Conference on the
establishment in the Middle east
of a zone free from nuclear and
other types of weapons of mass destruction. The participants called
on all states of the Middle east to
take the most active and constructive participation in the preparation and conduct of this important
event prescribed by the decisions
of the NPT Review Conference in
2010.
Turning towards the activity of
the Interparliamentary Assembly
of the CIS, they pledged to continue to work towards creating a
model legislative base aimed at
ensuring the control over radiation materials, chemical and biological security and at countering
nuclear terrorism. Finally, the participants called on parliamentarians of all states to join efforts and
become one of the driving forces
in the process of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
out as coming from someone who
brought a different point of view
from the CIS. Amadi stressed the
relevance of the conference coming
on the heels of recent agreement regarding Iranian nuclear programme
and said: “No issue poses such a
threat to human kind as the threat
of nuclear annihilitation.”
cision in 2009 urging various
parliaments to urge their governments to support the fiveGeneral. He also recalled the
Palindaba agreement creating
a nuclear weapons free zone in
Africa, which has entered into
force and has now been ratified
by 28 countries, out of 53 in the
delivering the keynote address at the st. petersburg conference on nov. 29, speaker of the mazhilis nurlan nigmatulin
read out a welcoming message by president nazarbayev who stressed the importance of redoubling international efforts
to promote global nuclear disarmament in modern circumstances.
“Parliamentarians can be a formidable agent for change,” Anda
director for member parliaments
and external relations, told the
conference. “More and more, we
are witnessing frank and open
debates in parliament – includ-
ing in some of the nuclear weapons states – breaking old taboos
and questioning the rationale for
the exorbitant military spending, scrutinising nuclear weapon
doctrines, and asking why such
destructive and unusable weapons should even exist… More and
more, there is the sense among
legislators that ridding the world
of nuclear weapons is not only
their duty, but that it is actually an
achievable goal.”
Among speeches at the event the
one by Betel Amadi, Chairman of
the Pan-African Parliament, stood
“Opinion polls across the world
show overwhelming support for the
total ban of nuclear weapons globally, even in the many nuclear weapon
states,” Amadi said urging more active global efforts to build a nuclear
weapons free world are needed.
During the conference, an exhibition was put up showing the
history of Kazakhstan’s nuclear
disarmament as well as featuring a
video and an information packs of
the ATOM Project.
Valentina Matvienko, Speaker
of Russia’s Federation Council
(upper house), along with other
parliamentary leaders, toured the
exhibit and praised the Project’s
efforts and those of its honorary
ambassador and armless artist,
nuclear disarmament.
“It is remarkable that people
have such strong will,” she noted.
German experts call The aTom project Timely, Relevant
By George d. Gleboff
BeRlIN – Kazakhstan’s efforts
to advance global nuclear disarthrough The ATOM Project were
in focus of German politicians and
experts who came together for a
Dec. 3 conference here at one of
this country’s most respected institutions.
The conference, titled “Kazakhstan’s Role in Global Action
against Nuclear Weapons,” took
place at the Academy of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and also
featured a photo and art exhibition detailing the consequences of
Soviet-era nuclear tests at Kazakhstan’s now-closed Semipalatinsk
nuclear test site.
Members of the German Bundestag, representatives of ministries and government departments,
members of Germany’s socio-poNGOs and the media attended the
event organised jointly by the embassy of Kazakhstan in Germany
and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Ambassador of Kazakhstan
to Germany Nurlan Onzhanov,
Ambassador-at-large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Roman
Vassilenko, as well as The ATOM
Project Honorary Ambassador and
renowned Kazakh painter Karipbek Kuyukov presented the vision
and the steps Astana has been pursuing in this arena.
The conference was well received by the German public and
political circles, as well as antinuclear organisations, which expressed broad support for The
ATOM Project, an initiative of
President Nursultan Nazarbayev,
as well as Kazakhstan’s nuclear
disarmament and nonproliferation
efforts as a whole. Nazarbayev an-
ambassador of Kazakhstan to Germany nurlan onzhanov spoke of the global
semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
nounced the launch of The ATOM
project in a speech at an international parliamentary conference
in Astana on Aug. 29, 2012 as a
mechanism to generate global pubble ban on nuclear weapons testing
and for the ultimate eradication of
nuclear weapons.
Before the start of the Dec. 3 conference in Berlin, a video produced
by The ATOM Project was shown
detailing Kazakhstan’s nuclear
weapons legacy inherited from the
testing in Kazakhstan, which adversely affected the health and fate
of more than one and a half million
people in the region.
In his remarks to the conference,
Frank Priess, director for european and International Cooperation
at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, praised Kazakhstan’s role in
global nuclear disarmament and
stressed the timeliness and practical goals of The ATOM Project
Günter Knabe (l) tells Karipbek Kuyukov (r): “we are so grateful to your
parents for their decision to let you live and inspire us with your life example.”
in the international anti-nuclear
weapons effort.
Ambassador Onzhanov remarked on the global and historiarbayev’s decision to close the
Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and
unilaterally disarm what was then
the world’s fourth largest nuclear
arsenal. The Kazakh diplomat also
drew attention to the harmful humanitarian, economic and environmental effects of nuclear testing in
Kazakhstan.
Ambassador-at-large Vassilenko
presented The ATOM Project at
the event, noting the consistent
growth in broad international support for this initiative. According
to Vassilenko, people from more
than 100 countries have already
signed its online petition calling
for world leaders to end nuclear
testing and bring the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT) into force.
Support from the international
community for Kazakhstan’s efforts can also be seen in the unaniGeneral Assembly, on the initiative of Kazakhstan, of a resolution
declaring Aug. 29, the day of the
closure of the Semipalatinsk test
site in 1991, the International Day
Against Nuclear Tests.
Vassilenko also noted that the
example of nuclear disarmament
President Nazarbayev has set is of
particular relevance to the modern
world which is still under threat
from the further spread of nuclear
weapons and their acquisition by
terrorist organisations.
During a panel discussion at
the conference, German Deputy
Commissioner for Disarmament
and Arms Control, Ambassador
Christoph eichhorn, noted the
similarity of views the foreign
ministries of the two countries
share on this issue and stressed
the importance of building multilateral efforts toward global nuclear disarmament. The German
diplomat praised the outcome of
an international conference in
Astana in 2012, in which German
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle participated.
Bundestag
Deputy
Jürgen
Klimke, in warmly welcoming the
Kazakh delegation on behalf of the
German parliament, praised Kazakhstan’s steps in promoting the
idea of global nuclear nonproliferation. He noted that Kazakhstan
takes active and concrete actions
according to the “do good things
and speak about them” principle.
Noting the dynamic and progressive development of economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and
Germany, Klimke also stressed the
importance of further joint efforts
and close cooperation between the
two states in the international arena in nuclear disarmament.
At the end of the event, ATOM
Project Honorary Ambassador
Kuyukov presented his paintings
and reminded the audience of the
tragic consequences of nuclear
testing, which have impacted the
lives of people in Kazakhstan, including his family. He urged support for The ATOM Project and
Kazakhstan’s efforts to permanently end nuclear weapons testing and to free the world from all
nuclear weapons.
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is the largest political institution in Germany and adheres
closely to the views and spirit of
the ruling Christian Democratic
ence at such an authoritative political organisation indicated broad
support for the anti-nuclear initiatives of Kazakhstan by the German
civil and political circles and created a solid foundation for the two
countries to continue cooperative
efforts in this sphere.
During the discussion at the
event, key issues related to the
nuclear disarmament agenda were
covered, including the future of
stationed in Germany, security
concerns of european nations and
those of Russia, the future of the
settlement of the Iranian nuclear
programme, as well as efforts to
help the survivors of nuclear testing in Kazakhstan.
“We all remember the famous
Reagan-Gorbachev era expression, ‘Trust but Verify,’” Vassilenko said during the discussion moderated by one of Germany’s most
respected and experienced reporters, Günter Knabe. “In modern
circumstances, however, it would
be perhaps more appropriate to
say, ‘Verify but Trust,’ as it is obvious that the lack of trust, regionally and globally, is continuing to
be the biggest factor hampering
further meaningful steps along the
road of global nuclear disarmament. As President Nazarbayev
has said on numerous occasions,
what is needed now more than
ever is more trust among nations
and peoples.”
“That is why we call and will
continue to call for ‘vertrauen,
vertrauen und vertrauen’,” Vassilenko said, meaning “trust, trust,
and trust.”
B
Nation&Capital
WeDNeSDAY, DeCeMBeR 11, 2013
B2
B3
B7
young Violinist says eager to come new smartphone app
could Help connect
to astana opera to perform
PEOPLE
CULTURE
SPORTS
New Monument to 19th Century Folk
Heroes Erected
Historical Series Bauyrzhan
Momyshuly Previews in Astana
Undefeated Astana Arlans Dominate
Mexico Guerreros, 4-1
Hearing Impaired with
emergency services
By michelle witte
ASTANA – A new smart phone
Kazakhstan to help the hearing impaired contact emergency services
will be presented at the Dec. 12
session of the Coordination Council on Social Protection of Persons
with Disabilities. The session will
be attended by representatives
from the Ministry of emergency
Situations and the Ministry of
Healthcare, other decision-makers
and persons with disabilities.
The application, which was
developed in coordination with
AziaDevelop, an Almaty-based
software development company, is
intended to be a simple, direct way
for people with hearing impairments to connect with emergency
dress and phone number, as well
as key medical information. Then,
by pressing a button on their smart
Violinist yerzhan Kulibayev (left) and director Vladimir Kirajiyev (right) rehearse for the astana opera concert.
By alina Usmanova
ASTANA – Young violinist
Yerzhan Kulibayev has already
won five prizes in international
competitions in Russia, Germany, Portugal and Argentina. The
musician, who lives in Spain,
spoke to The Astana Times
about his work and his philosophy.
It’s a funny story: I have three
sisters and the second oldest,
when she was a child, wanted to
have a small piano. She wrote on
a piece of paper, ‘I want piano.’
After the seventh note she wrote,
my parents bought her a piano,
and when she got older she went
to music school. [That sister, Altynay Kulibayeva, is now a pianist.]
Then my parents sent my second
sister to piano classes, and when
my turn came – we were living in
Kazakh and U.s. writers
ASTANA – Host Kanat Omar, a
Kazakh poet, read his own original
works to art and poetry lovers at
ing at the Black Duck restaurant on
its kind in the poetry marathon that
has been going on since March.
The event was broadcasted via
a Skype conference call to Saint
States to people Omar met during
the transatlantic visit he made after
winning the Artslink Residencies
Programme, an international literature competition.
The event started with a brief intro“I am very grateful to Mary laurita and Joachim Faust who invited
me to Saint louis, helped me with
many issues and introduced me to
many wonderful people. I would
like to give a special thanks to Tamalyn Miller, the CeC Artslink
Residencies Programme director,
who initially contacted the Centre
for the Humanities in the summer of 2013 about hosting me and
Arts link programme coordinator,
Maxim Tumenev,” Omar said in
his opening speech.
cited english translations of my
poems to a New York panel that
were crafted by American poet
and translator Tomas Campbell
two years ago. I also demonstrated translations of other modern
Kazakh poets and medieval poetcavaliers, Assan Kaigy, Kaztugan
Zhyrau, Atamberdy Zhyrau as well
as others. This work will result in
zakh-American Contemporary and
Medieval Poetry,” he said.
travelled from New York to Saint
louis and then back to New York.
During the visit, he met writers
who are little known in eurasia.
His project was of great interest
to poets and translators, as well as
several professors at Washington
“The most notable thing was that
I had the opportunity to start translating there,” he added.
Omar read his poems and short
stories at the event. The audience
had the opportunity to listen to
American works via Skype. They
were very interested in the event,
held in Kazakhstan.
The event drew poets, journalists
and many other people interested
in the arts. Honorary Ambassador
of The ATOM Project, Karipbek
Kuyukov, himself a famed painter,
was in attendance as well. He told
the audience about the project, the
consequences of the nuclear tests
at Semipalatinsk and the challenges he has faced during his lifetime.
“I am very grateful to my father
who didn’t hide me from the rest of
the world like many parents do with
children suffering from the consequences of nuclear testing. My
father gave me an opportunity to
study and to see the world,” Kuyukov, who was born armless, said.
He also mentioned that he has
started writing his own book, another testament to his creative spirit.
Overall, guests enjoyed the event
and the works of Omar.
“The event was really a Cablegram evening – as the telegram
from Astana was transferred via a
Almaty then – I went to Kulyash
Baisseitova Music School. The
man responsible for gathering students, who knew our family, said
two pianists were enough for one
family, let Yerzhan be a violinist.
And that’s how I happened to become a violinist.
continued on page B2
cable of fellowship to New York.
The event created the groundwork
for future, long term literary exchange. The ‘live bridge’ experi-
has worked for seventeen years in
television as a director, journalist,
television host and producer. He
has won awards for his documentaries. He also teaches poetry seminars at the Open literature School
in Astana. Omar hopes to discover
new American authors and cooperate on translating their works into
Russian and translating the works
of Kazakh poets into english.
emergency services’ location. The
application has options for Kazakh
or Russian languages.
In addition to the emergency button, the application contains legal
information pertaining to people
with disabilities and contact information for mediation organisations.
The idea for the application
proposals for innovative ways to
use information technology to increase engagement among hardto-reach social groups, said Maral
Sheshembekova, manager of the
to improve the country’s social
protection system in line with inRegional Centre in Bratislava has
supported the development of the
application.
continued on page B5
eighth-Grader’s device
draws american attention
By Julia Rutz
PeTROPAVlOVSK – A student’s invention exhibited during
the international science and technology forum “How Children See
eXPO 2017” has drawn the attention of an American company.
Oleg lilo, an eighth-grade student from the North Kazakhstan
rum’s aerospace engineering, aviation and astronautics category with
his homemade model of a scienThe Moon.
also develops culture,” Dinara Butobayeva, head of the Association
of Creative Personalities’ Dialogue
public foundation said.
Omar has authored four poetry
collections, he has won numerous
competitions including the Shabyt
International Festival in Astana. His
poems have been published widely
in literary magazines throughout
Russia and Kazakhstan. With a de-
phones, users can send a signal to
the emergency services in their location. The signal will bring up the
“This is a remote-controlled device which is able to move along
a surface of any degree of complexity while scanning rocks and
making a video. It is equipped with
sensors and a laser security system.
In short, it is a complete model of
the spacecraft. The main innovation I used is a laser used to collect
and transmit information, unlike
the usual radio used on modern
devices. The range of radio transmitting sets is tightly packed, but
for the laser this is not a problem,”
explained lilo.
continued on page B2
THINGS TO WATCH
DECEMBER
ASTANA OPERA HOUSE
December 16 at 19:00
Attila by Giuseppe Verdi
SARYARKA CYCLING TRACK
December 24 at 20:00
Tarkan solo concert
M. GORKY RUSSIAN
DRAMA THEATRE
December 13 at 18.30
December 16 at 18.00
America for Russia
by Nikolai Kolyada
The last communion
by Oralhan Bokey
CONGRESS HALL ASTANA
December 18-22 at 10.00
New Year’s Fair
“Winter Fairytale 2014”
KERUEN SHOPPING MALL
World Press Photo 2013 exhibition
dedicated to Human Rights Day
December 10-26
PALACE OF INDEPENDENCE
December 20–February
23 at 10.00
“Napoleon Bonaparte:
the life, the legend” exhibition
DUSHES CAFÉ
December 22 at 12.00
Handmade Christmas presents fair
B2
NATION&CAPITAL
PEOPLE
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
young Violinist says eager eighth-Grader’s device
to come to astana opera draws american attention
to perform
continued from page B1
Does chance play a big role in
your life?
Yes, all the twists and turns in
my life are random. Sometimes I
think that everything could be different.
“I think the astana
opera theatre will
be one of the three
in the world.” –
yerzhan Kulibayev
If you could change profesself to a hobby, what would you
choose?
I like to do new things. I
would write a book, I would invent something that has not been
invented. I like professions in
which you can make something
that didn’t exist before. My hobby
is related to the violin: I do arrangements for violin solos, most
recently in Argentina I was very
worried about how the Argentine
public would respond to my arrangement of “Adiós Nonino” by
Astor Piazzolla. When I played,
the audience gave me a standing
ovation and I realised I had the hit
of the season...
According to your biography,
you are involved in a lot of con-
each an end in and of itself?
Contests are sport for musicians. … They help me keep
myself in shape and I learn a
great deal; for example, moderation. They’re character forming:
they’re not fun, they include tension, stress. I participate in contests a lot to learn endurance.
take special pride in the fact that
I was honoured twice to receive
an honorary diploma from the
hands of the Queen of Spain, a
mark of distinction the board of
professors presents to the student
who has the best results.
What is being a violinist for
you, work or talent?
Both. every violinist will say
that there are moments when you
are pleased that you chose this
profession and then you regret it,
and such moments bring a lot of
emotions. But when a concert is
a success and the public likes it that makes up for everything.
question… we have one planet and
I live on it, I have not left. Nowatoday, and tomorrow I may be in
Australia. leaving, you can always
come back here. … If there is an
opportunity to play concerts, I’ll
always be here. My motherland is
the planet. Nature is not divisible:
spreads and destroys everything.
Nature has no politics… for me
there are no boundaries.
Tell us about your future plans.
I have participated in many contests and I have become superstitious, so I prefer not to talk about
future plans. Of course, I plan to
work a lot, I have a lot of ideas. I
want to play concerts with musicians.
the architecture of Astana Opera?
It is an ambitious project, a lovely building. [It has] great architec-
continued from page B1
detail inspires great optimism.
Have you had failures in your
life?
Yes, and again, they are related
to contests. It is very disappointing
if something does not work, but
I’ll go to another contest and win
and everything will be good again.
but you now live in Spain. Do
Do you plan to continue to cooperate with Astana Opera?
I’ve been cooperating with
a theatre represented by Abzal
Mukhitdinov [since] I was 12
years old, and we’ve played a lot
since then. I am glad that he is the
musical director of Astana Opera.
I think that this theatre will be one
back to your native land, especially now that Astana Opera has
opened in the capital?
For me it is a philosophical
the world. I would like to thank
the management of the theatre for
the concert and I’ll be happy to
play here again.
new monument to 19th
century folk Heroes erected
By asset Kalymov
AlMATY ReGION – A monument to Kazakh heroes Suranshi
and Sauryk has been opened in
the Zhambyl district of the Almaty
oblast.
Suranshi and Sauryk, descendants of the great Karasai Batyr,
fought for Kazakhstan’s freedom
and independence in the 19th
century. Having led a major uprising against the Kokand khans,
they drove the enemy forces beyond Zhetisu and also freed Taraz,
Merke and Shu. The famous akyns
Suyunbai and Zhambyl sang about
Suranshi and Sauryk’s heroic
deeds.
Members of Parliament, prominent historians, philosophers and
guests at the opening ceremony for
the monument. The celebrations
began with a theatrical performance by the actors of the Almaty
Oblast Drama Theatre, who recre-
The moon.
ated the heroes and their famous
battles.
In their welcoming addresses,
tov and Akim (Governor) of Almaty Oblast Ansar Mussakhanov
stressed the importance of studying history deeply and preserving
the country’s spiritual past.
Professor Seit Kaskabasov presented biographies of the two warriors. He noted that the new monument was a tribute to the heroes
independence of their native land
and to win peace and freedom for
future generations.
Suranshi, who is also known as
Suranshi Akynbekuly, died in a
battle freeing the southern city of
Sairam. His cousin Sauryk was
mortally wounded in a battle in the
Kastek ravine, near present-day
Head of the Suranshi-Sauryk
Public Fund Askerbek Abayev pre-
sented a collection of articles and
research materials on the history of
Kazakhstan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, containing facts
On the eve of the event, an international aitys (sung poetry)
competition was held in the
Zhambyl House of Culture. Sarah Toktamyssova from Astana
won the two-day poetry marathon
and took home 1 million tenge
heroes, “Suranshi-Sauryk,” was
also shown as part of the opening
events. All the events, including
the actual construction of the monument, were organised and funded
with private money, about 200 milThe celebrations continued at
the Kokbastau racetrack with
equestrian competitions between
local horsemen and riders from
Zhambyl and Astana. Winners received cash prizes and new cars.
a recently opened monument to Kazakh heroes suranshi and sauryk in the Zhambyl district of the almaty oblast
According to the young inventor,
information is collected by the host
computer, which processes the data
and then transmits it to earth. The
mobile laboratory is equipped with a
generator that produces energy. After
a special receiver gets a laser signal
from earth, the device starts to heat
bringing the generator into action.
The device is designed for collecting comprehensive information about climate and atmospheric
conditions on the Moon as well as
its internal structure.
The invention attracted the at-
tention of one of the judges, a
design engineer representing an
American company at the forum.
He suggested that lilo sell the patent in order to create mobile toys.
“The Americans want to create
smart toys based on this device.
They believe they will be in huge
demand. However, the talks remained inconclusive, as the boy
has no patent on his invention yet,”
said Aleksei Zeiner, head of the
hobby group at Kolosovskaya High
School, where lilo is a student.
According to Zeiner, almost all
of lilo’s mobile laboratory was
made by the boy’s own hands. The
Moon is made of plastic, foam
The radio system it uses was purchased through the sponsorship of
the Novotroitskoe company.
With the help of his teacher, lilo
is going to patent his innovation
and begin negotiations with the
Americans. Zeiner has headed the
Kolosovskaya High School hobby
group, which lilo is a member of,
for the past 10 years. His students
are frequent participants in various science and technology exhibitions. The Moon is the group’s
sixth victory at a national competition.
B3
NATION&CAPITAL
CULTURE
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
artist creates silk paintings with Ballpoint pen
By olga malakhova
AlMATY – Member of the
Orazbek Yessenbayev, whose personal exhibition “Kobyznama”
was recently displayed at the Central State Museum of Kazakhstan,
employs many artistic mediums –
drawing, graphic design, sculpting
and painting. This time, in November, the artist presented personal
works made in a lesser known
manner – silk painting – with a
ballpoint pen.
It turns out that the master artist can create beautiful works of
art with a simple pen. Art experts
are calling this the birth of a new
chapter in the history of Kazakh
graphic art. even more surprisingly, Yessenbayev is able to combine
the past, present and future into his
work.
The exhibition includes thirty
works of his such as “Tomiris,”
“Beybarys,” “Wounded Alexander the Great near the Syrdarya,”
“Kokpar” and “Shanyraq,” which
depict the rich world of Kazakh
ethnography and immerse viewers in the world of legendary historic characters. His pictures “Blue
Wolf”, “Kozy - Korpesh - Bayan
Sulu”, “Attila” and “Korkyt” educate and amaze with their unusual
styles.
Yessenbayev began his creative
development in a Kyzylorda studio. Now, he works at the Symbat
Academy of Design and Technology. His unique vision of the Kazakh culture, love for his native
land and the history of his people
are transferred from his works
to his students. His new method
of silk painting clearly says that
Yessenbayev, who participates in
many international, national and
regional exhibitions and whose
works are found in museums and
private collections alike, is not
resting on his laurels, but rather
remaining active in his creative
journey.
Silk painting with ballpoint pens
requires strong skills, plasticity,
precision and expert knowledge
of detail, which are all manifested
in his work. The exhibition interested not only the public and his
colleagues, but also publishers interested in using these images in
books.
The exhibition of ballpoint pen silk paintings drew many interested visitors.
Hung song Korean Theatre’s legend Historical series
of arirang Is on Tour in Kazakhstan
By Raushan shulembayeva
AlMATY – The Korean theatre has brought to Kazakhstan a
musical-poetic drama, legend of
Arirang. The performance with
a minimum of scenery, costumes
and cast (only six actors) has a
deep philosophical content. The
music in it is piano compositions
echoing Korean traditional throat
singing, pansori. The amazing
plasticity of the actors, their beautiful voices, touching songs and
graceful dances made up for the
scarcity of scenery. There was
nothing to distract the audience
from the main action.
The song Arirang is a hymn to
Koreans, to mother’s love, bitterness of parting with her dearly
beloved son, and the pain of loss.
Mother symbolises the home
country, and her son is the people.
“The song brings about the associations with a high mountain
that man wants to conquer in order to reach spiritual maturity.
There are many ethnic Koreans in
Kazakhstan, and we are pleased
that they remember their roots.
For this reason we feel a special
responsibility in showing the performance,” said director, actress
of Hung Song theatre Kim Soo
Min.
According to the director of Kazakhstan’s State Korean Theatre
of Musical Comedy lyubov Ni,
they prioritise cooperation with
the Republic of Korea’s theatre
and every year take part in the
International Theatre Festival in
Korea, whose artists in turn come
with performances and concerts
to Almaty. It helps strengthen the
bilateral relations in culture, she
believes.
previews in astana
ASTANA – The Keruen Mall
cinema hosted a preview of the
historical four part movie
on Dec. 4. It was
tor Akan Satayev.
the Board of Khabar, and actors
who performed the leading roles
Yerkebulan Daiyrov (Bauyrzhan
Momyshuly) and Assel Sagatova
(Zhamal – wife of Bauyrzhan)
took the opportunity to address
the public. The series’ premiere is
scheduled for Dec. 17 on Khabar
TV channel.
The idea for this historic promyshuly came from the Khabar
Agency team. They trusted Satayev to restore the pages of recent
Talgar (Almaty region) and Minsk
(Belarus).
The plot was based on the famed
book Volokolamsk Highway by
Alexander Bek, which depict the
battles of November and December 1941 near Moscow. The authors claim they will provide the
viewers with as much truth as
possible from Momyshuly’s origins to the moment he met Gen-
a musical-poetic drama, legend of arirang, was brought by the Korean theatre to Kazakhstan.
ambassadors’ club showcases
Traditional Kazakh carpets
pert, told the heads of diplomatic
ASTANA – An exhibition of carpets woven in traditional Kazakh designs was held Nov. 26 at the Rixos
Hotel to help showcase Kazakh culture to the diplomatic community.
Carpets from the 18th and 19th
centuries were presented from the
personal collections and antique
shop of Berik Alibay.
Serik Babirov, owner of a private handmade carpet shop, and
-
embassies about the arts and crafts
of Kazakhstan.
The event was sponsored by the
Ambassadors’ Club, which was
established by the Kulanshi Contemporary Art Centre in 2009 and
consists of the heads of diplomatic
missions and the diplomats of embassies accredited in Astana. The
club’s main task is to create an
opportunity for unhindered contact between foreign diplomatic
missions and representatives of
the political, cultural and business
elite of Kazakhstan.
each of the club’s meetings has
a different theme meant to showcase the culture and traditions of
the Kazakh people, such as unique
elements of jewelry design or traditional yurt ornamentation.
Stefano Capaccetti, general
manager of Rixos Astana, and
leyla Mahat, head of the Kulanshi
Centre, gave opening remarks at
the event.
Division, and became a battalion
commander in 1941. Momyshuly
heroically fought during the Great
Patriotic War against the Nazis and
later served in the army before retiring in 1955. Momyshuly, who
was born in 1910 and died in 1982,
was awarded numerous high-level
awards during the war as well as
ion posthumously in 1990.
When Daiyrov of Auezov Aca-
demic Drama Theatre auditioned
for the series, the crew immediately noticed his similarities with
the legendary commander. Actress
Assel Sagatova said that for her, it
was a great honour to play the wife
of such a complex and extraordinary man.
“There is very little information
about the hero’s relationship with
his family. The book of Zeinep
Akhmetova, daughter in law of
Momyshuly, who wrote about
the days she spent with the hero,
helped me a lot,” Sagatova said.
“It is a great honour to play the
role of Momyshuly. In my opinion, courage and the inclination to
defend the motherland and those
close to them are in the blood of
the Kazakh people. This is why
our people should be proud of
achievements of heroes such as
Momyshuly. I hope that this series will help the younger generation appreciate the exploits of our
warrior. Yes, he was a complex
character, perhaps even biting. I
tried to explore him as much as
possible, how he looked, in which
hand he held a cigarette and how
he walked. I investigated a variety of materials, largely thanks to
help from my fellow colleagues.
I am very pleased that the Khabar
Agency bet on such a project and
Satayev made it a reality. Filming
in Minsk was successful thanks
to the work of our well-organised
team. It was felt that the land was
soaked with the blood of those
who gave their lives for our freewill interest the people of Kazakhstan,” Daiyrov said.
Victor Ashanin. lieutenant Kassenov was played by Sayat Issembayev.
B4
NATION&CAPITAL
COUNTRY
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
president Visits new Building of nazarbayev centre
ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited the new
building of the Nazarbayev Centre on Dec. 1, which is the Day of
the First President of Kazakhstan.
The Nazarbayev Centre is a public
cal, humanitarian and educational
institution.
During the visit, Nazarbayev familiarised himself with the building and the purpose it serves.
He congratulated the people
of Kazakhstan on the occasion
and said that the Day of the First
President is celebrated in other
and various european and Asian
states.
“The Mazhilis of Kazakhstan set
the holiday on this date. This day
begins a string of important holidays in Kazakhstan; Independence
2017, was launched in the capital.
The service aims to improve the
environmental situation in Astana,
we will bring what we learned to
Almaty and other cities,” Nazarbayev said.
The President also stressed that
the centrally located building is a
new unique addition to the capital.
“This building is the work of
world-renowned architect Norman Foster. Such centres are being built in many cities around
the world. The concept behind
the Nazarbayev Centre is not too
different than that of the presidenDay, which is the country’s most
important holiday, is among them.
All these events are interrelated.
I declared our nation’s independence after receiving the support of
the people, which is the ultimate
mandate. We celebrate this day as
one of transition to a path of de-
velopment and prosperity. Today,
Astana and the regions are able
to provide the country’s citizens
with housing and new public fapopulation and future generations.
in an early preparation for eXPO
Presidents. This building will be a
venue for conducting research on
the history of our independence,
the world economy and politics.
Youth will acquire new knowledge about national history and
learn languages here. The building
represents a huge eye looking up
presidential film festival Took
place in astana
By manshuk Bekentayeva
menov said about Nazarbayev.
He also told attendees about his
diplomatic service and the work
of the minister of foreign affairs.
ASTANA – The Tungysh (Kazakh for “The First”) week of
the celebration of the Day of the
First President took place in Astana from Nov. 26 through Dec. 1.
festival, eight documentaries
about the life and work of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan
Nazarbayev were shown. each
day was dedicated to different
stages in the history of independent Kazakhstan and the role of
Nazarbayev in the country’s development. Head of the Chancery
of the President and acting director of the Nazarbayev Centre
Makhmud Kassymbekov opened
the festival.
The festival opened with “el
Anasy” (“Mother of the Naleagues”). Toleutai Suleimenov,
former minister of foreign affairs
several movies representing different stages in the history of independent Ka-
and a close colleague of Nazarbayev’s from as far back as their
days working at the Karaganda
metallurgical plant, came to the
evening session of the opening
day and took questions from the
audience which included mostly
students.
“He is simple and, at the same
time, very charismatic. This is a
man who changed history; a phenomenon. This man is friends
with the presidents of great nations. He is hard working. For you
young people sitting in the audience, he is an example,” Sulei-
prizes including signed copies of
the President’s books and disks
with movies about the President
to top students.
“I am very happy to be at this
event. Here, I learned a lot about
our president; many facts from
his personal biography that were
previously unknown to me. The
life of our President is an example for all of us. Thanks to his
policies, our country prospers,
and youth have many opportunities for self-realisation. I was
awarded a book by the president
today and this is a great honour
for me,” Akimzhan Baltabekov,
third year student at the College
of economy, Technologies and
Standardisation of Food Production, said.
exhibition promotes exchange of
Ideas and experience
to the sky. I came here to thank the
designers and sponsors who participated in the facility’s construction. The centre was built not with
state funds, but rather through
private means. Congratulations
to all, I wish you prosperity and
I wish success to every family in
Kazakhstan,” he concluded.
During the visit, Nazarbayev
viewed a special design that incorporates historical presidential decrees that have had a major impact
on the formation and development
of modern Kazakhstan.
That same day, the Nazarbayev
Centre hosted a presentation
of Nazarbayev’s book, “Yerkin
Future of a Free Country.) The
pocket sized book was published
in three languages – Kazakh, Russian and english. The collection
includes popular quotes of the
President on unity, human values,
By Julia polonskaya
essence of Kazakhstan’s G-Global
ASTANA – At the second National exhibition MeDIA eXPO
2013, the book by President Nursultan Nazarbayev “G-Global –
the world of the 21st Century” was
presented to the public at large.
The book about global challenges
was issued by the Business World
publishing house in Kazakh, Russian and english languages. each
chapter of the book discloses the
evolution and rejection of revolutionary changes in politics; justice,
equality, consensus; global tolerance and trust; transparency; and
constructive multiplicity.
Processes to overcome the global crisis and the path to sustainable
development can be traced through
the dialogue of cultures and religions, “green” energy, scrapping
of nuclear weapons. The book
came out in 3,000 copies and is
meant for public at large.
The Second National exhibition MeDIA eXPO 2013 brought
together representatives of more
than a hundred print media, TV
channels, news agencies and radio
stations. The venue of the meeting
was Astana’s “Kazmedia centre.”
According to the editors Club,
who organised the meeting in team
with the Ministry of Culture and
Information, the dialogue on this
venue should foster a closer interaction between the media and
the general public and develop a
healthy competitive environment
in the information space.
This exhibition was part of the
pre-arrangements for the December public holidays in the country, the Day of the First President
and the Independence Day. In the
frames of the MeDIA eXPO 2013
master classes were given by journalists with experience.
The library is designed to hold
460,000 items, including up to
200,000 items in special, limited
access funds.
expo 2017 to Be
By Julia Rutz
ASTANA – Chairman of the
Board of Astana eXPO 2017 company Talgat ermegiyaev reported
on the preparations for the exhibition and summarised the achievements of the year during a press
conference held on Dec. 5 at the
Rixos President Hotel in Astana.
Ten departments responsible for
preparing for eXPO 2017 have
been created within the company
this year. A department for infrastructure development and the
construction of eXPO 2017 facilities is now operating within the
Astana eXPO 2017 company being created on the bases of the former Directorate on the preparation
and holding of the International
specialised exhibition eXPO 2017
JSC. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and New Technologies is
responsible for developing renewable energy resources, attracting
investment and developing tourism.
“A working group on developing foreign participation has been
created to improve the image of
Kazakhstan, develop the tourism
sphere, attract local and foreign
exhibitors and visitors and then
continue working with them during their stay in Kazakhstan,” said
First Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs and eXPO 2017 Commissioner Rapil Zhoshybayev.
Zhoshybayev has visited a number of countries as part of his mission as commissioner of eXPO
2017, including Austria, China, Germany, Italy, latvia, South Korea,
preliminary talks on the exhibition.
During the press conference,
ermegiyaev stressed that construction work on eXPO 2017
facilities will begin next spring.
Of the greatest interest, of course,
will be the Sphere, a unique building to be constructed in the middle of eXPO City as the symbol
of the exhibition. The building,
which will be 24,000 square metres, will be built over the next
three years.
“We understand the responsibility, as eXPO 2017 is a nationalscale event. In this case, the active
participation of the citizens of Kazakhstan is the key to its success.
From our side, we will do every-
more than a hundred print media, TV channels, news agencies and radio stations gathered for medIa expo 2013.
patriotism, the state, globalisation,
politics and the economy, civilisation and culture. This collection
is intended to serve as a guide for
young people working to make the
Kazakhstan 2050 strategy a reality.
Twenty thousand copies of the
book have been published. It is
also available for free download to
all users of modern internet compatible mobile devices.
During the event, audiobooks of
Nazarbayev’s Oi Bolistim Halqymen (Kazakh for: I Will Share My
Thoughts with the People) were
presented on all popular internet
shops and mobile applications.
The multifunctional building,
with an area of over 28,000 square
thing possible to present eXPO
2017 to the world at the highest
level,” said ermegiyaev.
According to ermegiyaev, next
year will be crucial. Astana eXPO
2017 is going to start negotiations
on the registration dossier, as some
notes and comments for improvement may be submitted.
“After the registration dossier
is approved, probably in June of
a public relations campaign to attract participating countries and
corporate participants,” explained
ermegiyaev.
eXPO 2017 organisers are planning to expand the capacity of
Astana’s airport, build a new railway station and introduce new,
high-speed public transport in the
capital, as many foreign visitors
are expected to come for the event.
During the press conference,
ermagiyaev also assured listeners
for the country.
“We are currently working with
several companies that will count,
over the next two months, the ecobring to Kazakhstan. It is expected
that the 283 million euros that we
will spend on operating expenses
we will receive,” said ermegiyaev.
It is planned to construct a green
eXPO village in Astana. According to preliminary estimates, the
eXPO City is planned to be located in the Yessil district of the
capital, between Kabanbay Batyr,
Hussein bin Talal, Orynbor and
Ryskulov streets.
“My proposal is to let around
30-40 percent of the volume of
construction work be carried out
by an international company. This
applies to … the Sphere and the
international pavilions, where new
technologies will be applied,” ermegiyaev said.
The Astana eXPO 2017 company was established in January
this year. Currently, the company
employs more than 60 people and
is now planning to increase its
staff. During the year, the exhibition concept and plan have been
presented at various international
conferences, forums and tourism
fairs.
B5
NATION&CAPITAL
SOCIETY
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
Zhan shuak award ceremony Highlights
achievements of people with disabilities
ple socialise,” Omarbekova said.
The head of the Nur Otan Party
sized that helping those with disabilities is a written pillar of party
doctrine. He also awarded a cerwheelchairs for people learning to
wheelchair dance.
Hungarian Ambassador, Imre
laszlóczki attended the event as
a special guest. He expressed his
solidarity with the cause and said
that the movement is a great step
forward for Kazakhstan.
He also awarded a prize to Kaullina, who won a silver medal
during the recent Paralympic
Games in Canada.
awarded a prize.
By Julia Rutz
ASTANA – The 6th annual Zhan
Shuak award ceremony for people
with disabilities took place at the
Astana Music Hall on Dec. 3 as
part of Boundless Opportunities
2013, which is an international initiative. The ceremony was organised by the Confederacy of Disabled People and supported by the
Nur Otan Party.
Opening the event, the association’s president, Zhanat Omarbe-
kova reminded that in 1992, Dec. 3
Day of Persons with Disabilities,
which is why the award is given
then.
“This award is a symbol of our
society, a society of equal opportunity. Thanks to support from Nur
Otan, we can incorporate more
organisations into our activities.
According to the Kazakhstan 2050
national strategy, we must develop
mechanisms to help disabled peo-
Association, Bakhyt Zhumashev
won the Public Activity Prize.
Disabled singer, Sholpan Sharipova and a wheelchair dancer from
Moscow, Maxim Kisilev were also
awarded prizes. Medical and social
institutions for senior citizens and
people with disabilities won prizes
in arts and crafts. The Kazakhstan
TV channel received an award for
raising public awareness. The prizes were given by the vice president
of the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan and head of the TV Channel
KTK, Artur Platonov, who said
that people with disabilities are
symbols of moral courage, will
power and victory over destiny.
The last prize, the Patron Award,
was awarded to the Minister of
Transport and Communication of
Kazakhstan, Askar Zhumagaliyev.
The ceremony continued with a
concert given by Kazakhstan singers
Tamara Asar, Zhamilya Zharkim-
bayeva and Kydyrali Bolmanov, as
well as recipients of the Zhan Shuak
Prize, Sholpan Sharipova (singer),
Maxim Kisilev (wheelchair dancer)
and Sevda Aliyeva (pianist).
The Confederacy of Disabled
Omarbekov, who dedicated his life
to helping people with disabilities.
He initiated the construction of a
unique Kazakh-Chinese centre for
medical and social rehabilitation,
an apartment building equipped
specially for people with disabilities, as well as the Zhannat Sports
Centre for the rehabilitation of
disabled people and a mini-factory
for the production of wheelchairs.
Since Iran Omarbekov passed
away in 2010, his spouse, Zhanat
Omarbekova has been continuing
her husband’s mission.
Tamara asar, a renowned singer (left), awarded Zham shuak prize to sholpan sharipova (right) who won in the active
life position nomination.
new smartphone app could Help connect Hearing
Impaired with emergency services
continued from page B1
“We came together and said
‘What can we do with technology?’,” Sheshembekova said. She
and her colleagues, Communications Specialist Assel Tleof, Project
Assistant Nazym Zhussupova and
Project expert Olga Yugai, came
up with the idea together, she said.
“And of course, we started to
call our partners to discuss what
kind of problems they have, because this kind of information
ciary,” Sheshembekova said. They
called people with disabilities,
consulted with the Astana Society
of Deaf People and other organisations for the hearing impaired,
and learned that most hearing
impaired people rely on neighbours or family members to contact emergency services for them.
When they learned about the idea
for the application, Sheshembekova said, “They said, ‘Oh, that’s
a good idea!'”
Dzhangeldy Bekbotyrov, chairman of Astana Society of Deaf
People, is a fan of the idea, actre. “It is very relevant for us to
have this application. We’ve been
experiencing a lot of discomfort
associated with emergencies.
each of us has our own assistants,
so we had always to depend on
them. even if my kid had a night
fever, I had to contact my assistant, and wait for his help. We
believe this application will ease
that stress,” he said, as reported
by their website.
They tested the application with
hearing impaired persons, said
Zhussupova, and a database with
those users’ information has been
created. The development process took about a month, she said.
Though they originally planned to
create the application and create
the connection with emergency
services, Sheshembekova said,
funding limitations mean they have
only been able to fund the creation
of the user end of the application.
“We have a database of 20 people
with hearing disabilities, but it’s not
connected to any emergency centre
yet. But it could be, now. The application is ready. It can be tested.
It can be checked right now.”
The process of connecting their
application with Astana’s emergency services will not be expensive or complicated, Sheshem-
bekova said: just the cost of a
computer dedicated to receiving
the application’s signals, or dedicating a staff member to monitoring them, perhaps. “We’re hoping
when we present it to the Ministry
of emergency Situations, to this
coordination council, they’ll take
the idea and it can grow into a
very big project.”
lows hearing impaired people to
emergency services, and the Malaysian government launched
an application this year that will
transmit the location and other key
information of hearing-impaired
sponders. “This idea, over the past
year or two, has been in the air in
different ways,” Sheshembekova
said.
“Of course, there are many ideas
about optioning it, customising it,
making it less simple, but the idea
button and the emergency systems
come. … The idea is simple, and
it’s really useful. So we created
this pilot,” Zhussupova said.
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In December of that year, Kazakhstan
signed this convention, meaning
the country agrees with the principles and is preparing to ratify it by
working with their internal, state
bodies, Sheshembekova said.
to work on the issue and we’ve
lately gotten funding from the
British embassy, which supports
us in this project.” They work
with decision makers like members of parliament, the Ministry of
labour and Social Protection, the
Human Rights Commission and
others, she said.
Kazakhstan’s government has
created the National Action Plan
to Improve the Quality of life for
People with Disabilities in Kazakhstan for 2012-2018, which
works step by step toward a paradigm shift regarding the treatment
of people with disabilities away
from providing care and toward
their full integration into society.
According to that plan, measures
to develop disabled-accessible
emergency services are scheduled
for 2016, Sheshembekova said.
This simple idea, however, came
along early.
B6
NATION&CAPITAL
TOURISM
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
Unearthing steppe culture’s origins
By natalia Ryzhkova
that take into account the discoveries of the Karaganda archaeologists at Alat help map the origins
of steppe civilisation. According to
Siberian archaeologists, Sakas period artifacts found in eurasia indicate that Steppe Culture began in
the early Iron Age. What did steppe
culture branch off of then? Did it
come from the outside and migrate
from somewhere else or did it originate here in the steppe? – These
are the questions scholars have yet
to answer. Much is left to be explained about high Sakas culture.
Scholars want to piece together
KARAGANDA ReGION – The
soon-to-be-opened
Kazakhstan
Natural History Museum will be
home to a considerable number
of Karaganda exhibits. About 200
gold artifacts found in the Taldy-2
burial mound will make their way
to the display cases.
“Assuring the accuracy of historical information is everyone’s
responsibility: those unearthing,
describing and processing artifacts
are in fact taking a snapshot of
head of the primitive archeology
department of the Margulan Institute of Archaeology, who opened
the Taldy-2 mound said.
The Karaganda scholars by and
large attribute this unique discovlocal administration and its department of culture. In fact, the project
was launched by Prime Minister
Serik Akhmetov during his tenure
as Akim (Governor) of the region.
Beissenov believes that the Karaganda region will get the space and
representation it deserves in the
Natural History Museum.
Researchers at the Sary-Arka Institute of Archaeology under Karwho use the wonderful Bronze
Age pottery collection the most,
will contribute too. It should be
remembered that historians say it
takes years to collect these unique
articles. excavations are carried
out nationwide before discoveries
are made, which challenges past
beliefs.
The scholar compares the ancient history of the country to a
river, saying each drop is a piece
of evidence. All of these droplets
make a stream. Therefore, this
work requires the full dedication of
everyone involved – from academics to lab assistants.
season. Together with a group from
Two hundred gold artefacts were found in the Taldy-2 burial mound.
the Margulan Institute of Archaeology, he is engaged in two projects,
a grant project called the “Origins
of Steppe Civilisation” and one
called “Cultural Heritage”, and excavations all across the country.
A large team of experts is engaged in the “Origins of Steppe
Civilisation: A Comprehensive
Study of Stone Age, Bronze Age
and early Iron Age Monuments
in Kazakhstan,” thanks to a threeyear grant from the education and
Science Ministry. excavation at a
is being led by Olga Artyukhova, a
prominent Kazakh and eurasian
archaeologist who has discovered
many monuments.
The Bronze Age component is
being handled by another prominent scholar - Antonina Yermolayeva. excavations are ongoing in
tau district, which has been being
studied for quite some time. The
settlement used to be the residence
of ancient metal makers, which is
unique in itself.
Most recently, news came from
the Alat settlement in the outskirts
of ancient Kent in the Karkaraly
district, where Bronze Age furnaces once stood; around them, traces
of iron-melting works were found.
“Paradoxically, it turns out that
in central Kazakhstan, iron and
bronze were melted by people who
lived in the late Bronze Age, long
before the Iron Age. The site is
site, we infer that central Kazakhstan produced iron two or three
centuries before the Sakas, who
lived later in the Iron Age,” archaeologist Valery Yevdokimov said.
Indeed, in the Sakas’ culture,
iron knives and other sharp objects were used only as late as the
seventh century BC and iron was
originally only used by the rich and
military elite, due to its high cost
and complex crafting procedures.
Studies of the Bronze and early
Iron Ages by scientists from the
Margulan Archaeology Institute
glean evidence from the Begazy
– Dandybay culture – the Sakas’
forerunner. In this quest, every
minutia counts, the archaeologist
says. Kazakhstan was generally
considered a land of ancient cattle breeders, but these discoveries
prove that it is a country of ancient
steppe metal makers.
The two pillars of steppe culture
are the nomadic way of life and
cattle-breeding on one hand and developed metal making and village
the other. The two drastically different lifestyles complement each
other, scientists claim. Steppe civilisation is a turbulent stream of history that swept through the plains
of central Kazakhstan, exposing its
hidden layers, mixing the unmixable and surfacing the obvious. It’s
up to archaeologists to make sense
of the contents of this stream.
In the local history museum, objects from the Sakas that show the
groups classic animal designs are
on display amongst other relics.
artifacts from burial sites. These
man-made relics are evidence of
the colossal amounts of material,
human effort and skill that the
construction of the burial mounds
took. every large mound tells a
story that has yet to be told.
pre-expo
Tourism plan
By Rysty alibekova
ASTANA – Representatives of
the Tourism Industry Committee
of the Ministry of Industry and
New Technologies, the Kazakhstan Industry Development Institute and representatives of the
tourism industry at the end of
November discussed the master
plan currently under development for expanding tourism in
Astana in light of eXPO 2017.
International consulting company Horwart HTl and French
urban planning company Arte
Charpentier are also involved in
preparing the master plan.
“We have already developed
the financial, marketing and investment plans, a programme for
improving the competitiveness
of destinations, a model for their
management and an action plan.
The final version of the master
plan for tourism development
in the capital will be presented
at the end of December,” Kar-
lygash Altayeva, director of the
Centre for the Tourism Industry
of the Kazakhstan Industry Development Institute, said.
Director General of Horwart
HTl Miroslav Dragicevic said
because of the upcoming eXPO
2017, Astana should promote itself in the global tourism market
and increase its attractiveness
for visitors and residents. The
master plan includes key investment components for building a
water park in the city, a scientific and educational campus on
the Yessil River waterfront, an
ethnic and educational complex
about steppe civilisation and an
indoor market. The main idea is
to connect the old and new parts
of the city. Tourist areas, including Nursaya, Nurzhol, Waterfront, Old Town and the Museum Centre, have been defined.
Roza Assanbayeva, president
of the Kazakhstan Tourist Association, said developing tourism
in Astana will, in the near future, improve the quality of life
in the city, with more bridges,
galleries and walking and biking trails, and also make it more
convenient for residents.
The eXPO is expected to
spur the development of tourism and the continued use of
eXPO structures to attract tourists is of special importance.
Nearby attractions such as the
Korgalzhyn, Karkaralinsk and
Bayanaul national parks and the
Borovoye resort area are also
planned to be promoted and
used during eXPO 2017.
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NATION&CAPITAL
SPORTS
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
national Team Hopes to Improve olympic Results
By Julia Rutz
ASTANA – Government ofzakhstan’s preparations for participation in the upcoming 22nd
Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia
during a Dec. 5 meeting headed by
Kazakhstan Prime Minister Serik
Ahmetov.
Sports and Physical Culture
Agency Chairman Tantanbek
Kazakhstan will compete in six
sports, including cross-country
skiing, biathlon, freestyle mogul,
snowboarding. So far, Kazakh
athletes have claimed 10 Olympic
slots in skiing events, 11 in skating
and 10 in the biathlon.
Most of the Kazakhstan athletes
that will participate in the Olympics are from eastern Kazakhstan,
Akmola, Pavlodar, western Kazakhstan regions and the city of
Almaty. They will be trained by
17 renowned coaches invited from
abroad. Medical staff and physical
trainers have also been hired to attend to the athletes during the upcoming games, he said. The national
team’s uniforms will be supplied by
the Almaty-based Zebra company.
The sports agency chairman also
stressed that the goal of the national team is to improve upon its
results from the Vancouver Olympic Games, in which it placed 25th
overall, and that a special operations department had been created
to prepare Kazakhstan’s athletes
for the Sochi Games. Kazakhstan
is hoping to break the top 20 in
Sochi, he said.
Kazakh athletes have had a generally successful year in sports.
They have already won more
than 30 places in the 2014 Winter
Olympic Games and won many
prestigious competitions in 2013.
Most successful have been skiers,
Figure skater Denis Ten earned the
right to represent Kazakhstan in
The feb. 7-13, 2014 sochi olympic Games are expected to attract more than 5,000 athletes from 80 countries who will
compete for 98 sets of metals in 15 sports.
Sochi after winning a silver medal
at the World Championships in
Canada this year.
Kazakhstan’s national speed
skating team also competed in
World Cup events in Calgary,
and members of that squad have
been chosen to represent Kazakhstan in Sochi. Among those
will be world champion Denis
Kuzin, who finished fourth in
the 1,000 metre distance in Cal-
Undefeated astana arlans
dominate mexico
Guerreros, 4-1
gary, setting a new national record.
“As for the other speed skaters,
met international requirements and
were put on the list of participants
for the Olympic Games,” said
speed skating national team coach
Vadim Sautin.
Summing up the meeting, the
prime minister noted that positive
results in the Olympic Games are
the image of the nation and that
Kazakhstan needs to work to ensure that its athletes are properly
prepared. Akhmetov also said it
was important for the nation’s
press to cover the events and for
the public to support Kazakhstan’s
athletes.
The Feb. 7-13 Sochi Olympic
Games are expected to attract more
than 5,000 athletes from 80 countries who will compete for 98 sets
of metals in 15 sports.
Kazakhstan athletes Ready
for winter Universiade 2013
By Jane Rivers
stan’s strongest athletes have been
chosen to compete in the 26th Wintino, Italy.
The event is expected to draw
more than 3,500 athletes from 60
countries to compete in biathlon,
skating, jumping race, skiing race,
snowboarding, freestyle, short track
and hockey.
Kazakhstan will be represented
Denis Ten and Abzal Rakimgaliyev
Skiers evgenyi Velichko, Gennadyi
Matvienko and the Malyshev brothers, Alexey and Sergey, will represent the men’s team. Teammates
Marina Matrosova and Victoria
lanchikova are the female part of
the national ski team.
Kazakhstan’s ice hockey team
headed by the successful coach
of Kaztsink-Torpedo Vladimir
Pluchev will compete in group C.
Forwards evgenyi Rymarev, Alex-
ander Shin, Alexander Kaznacheev,
Konstantin Savenkov and goalkeeper Andrey Yankov and their teammates will compete against teams
The A group will be represented by
Sweden and latvia. Hockey players
from Russia, Slovakia, Great Britain and Czechia are going to compete in group B.
ered by many athletes as a warm-up
event for the upcoming Olympic
Games in Sochi, Russia.
Team Kazakhstan Takes first place
at world Jiujitsu championships
By christina miller
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s naeighth World Jiujitsu Championships held in Jaworzno, Poland
from Nov. 23-26. The championship was held under the aegis of
the International Sports Jiujitsu
By Jan furst
AlMATY – The Astana Arlans
remain undefeated in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) after dominating Mexico Guerreros, 4-1,
in Almaty on Dec. 7. The Arlans
previously bested Russian Boxing
Team and the Azerbaijani Baku
Fires.
The Guerreros have been struggling all season long, losing both
their previous series 0-5, and presented a completely new roster for
the series against the Arlans. The
Guerreros’ head coach, Francisco
Bonilla, explained that they needed
to change something urgently, so
they started experimenting. His
experiments won the Guerreros
one bout in the series, but weren’t
enough to topple the Arlans team.
The evening started with a win in
the 49 kg division by Kazakhstan’s
23-year-old debutant Mardan
Berikbayev, who took out Jose Alberto Reyes Zaleta in a unanimous
decision.
In the second bout, at 56 kg,
Meirbolat Toitov outclassed opponent Sergio Chirino Sanchez.
Toitov managed to knock Sanchez
down in round three, and the outcome of the bout was clear from
that point.
Sergey Derevyanchenko beat
Diego De Jesus Merono Amador
with a technical knockout in round
four. It was his second consecutive
TKO in less than a month, as he delivered one against the Baku Fires’
Mikalai Vesialou on Nov. 15.
The 91 kg bout was decided in
three rounds, after Vasily levit
devastated Christian Dema with a
few precise blows and the Mexican
corner threw in the towel.
“[levit] had an unpredictable debut,” said the Arlans’ head coach
Sergey Korchinsky. “He needs to
gain more experience. One can
feel that he is uncomfortable in the
ring, in this atmosphere. He tried
to apply corrections throughout the
tried to change things. I think comgressed,” the coach said.
The Arlans’ only loss came in
the 64 kg division, when Zhanibek
Azhibai lost to Christian Bielma.
gave him instructions in the corner,
but he didn’t execute them,” said
Korchinsky. “We need to work more
[with him]. Zhanibek had everything he needed to win the bout, but
he let it go himself.” In their next
series, the Arlans will face Cuba Domadores on Dec. 13 in Almaty.
gold medal in the tournament.
Association (ISJA). Kazakhstan’s
athletes won seven gold and four
silver medals.
Kazakhstan’s gold medal winTezekbayev (65 kg), Temirlan
Aisadilov (70 kg), Kanat Zhakigbayev (77 kg), Nurlan Tleumbetov (85 kg) and Tchingiz Kasi-
mov (100 kg), and two women:
Albina Dzhakupova (57 kg) and
Akzharkin Baiturbayeva (70 kg).
The event, which was attended
by more than 300 athletes from
21 countries, ended up a major
ers, as they won almost every
gold medal in the tournament.
B8
NATION&CAPITAL
CAPITAL
Wednesday, december 11, 2013
christmas charity Bazaar Held in
Radisson astana
By Julia Rutz
ASTANA – The sixth Annual
Christmas Charity Bazaar, held
this year on Dec. 1 at the Radisson
Hotel, has become a philanthropic
ritual in Astana. All proceeds from
the bazaar go to helping underprivileged children in the capital.
The Annual Charity Bazaar is
one of the capital’s major fundraising events and involves the international and diplomatic communities
from about 50 foreign embassies
and diplomatic missions in Astana.
In addition to its charity mission,
the event is also an opportunity
for Astana’s diplomatic corps to
showcase the culture, food and
traditional and modern handicrafts
of their home countries. Visitors
to the bazaar could taste and purchase food and drink from restaurants and shops in Kazakhstan and
from around the globe, as well as
pick up items of clothing, jewellery, toys, souvenirs, cosmetics and
more. The bazaar presents a world
of food within wintertime Astana. A
choir sung carols in a variety of languages and other entertainment for
children and adults was presented.
The Bazaar this year was also
the inclusion of a stall from Hai-
astana’s development
needs special attention,
says president
continued from page a1
leybury School who were using
the event to help teach their Year
8 students about Business and
entrepreneurship. The Young enterprise activity involved around
20 students working in groups,
setting up different companies to
make money for charity by selling
goods. They each had a start up of
10,000 tenge and then had to see
They would meet once a week to
develop their business plans and
velop their ideas. The students
decided what they would sell and
this ranged from cakes and sweets
to Christmas gifts and one group
who set up an ‘art dealership’ selling the works of artist on a sale
or return basis. Colin Callaghan,
the headmaster at Haileybury
Astana, said that “this is a great
way for our pupils to learn new
skills,while at the same time contributing to such a great community event.’
The idea was led by three teachers from the school Claire McCarthy, Gareth Stamp and Anuar
Sharipov. The students had a great
day and raised over 100,000 tenge
Tickets to the bazaar cost 200
gifts that included trips, hotel stays
and restaurant meals as well as
annual christmas charity Bazaar is a philanthropic ritual in astana to help underprivileged children in the capital.
clubs.
Citizens are really taking advantage of their right to ten acres
of land. However, these lots can
only be given if and once they are
connected to utilities. If the lots
are not prepared, they cannot be
made available for use. We must
reign in the chaos here. Therefore, I declare a moratorium on
land grants within a 30 kilometre
radius of Astana,” the President
said.
Nazarbayev also instructed the
Akim (Governor) of the Akmola
region, Kosman Aitmukhametov
to adjust the master plans of all settlements located around the capital and General Prosecutor Askhat
Daulbaev to analyse crime levels
and increase crime prevention
measures in Astana.
The President also drew attention
to the analysis of data on housing
prices in the report given to him.
“On average, the price per square
metre exceeds the initial cost 2-3fold. For example, in the “europe
Palace” residential complex, apartthousand per square metre. In the
Highvill complex, the initial cost
are sky-high prices. The building
company europe Palace paid only
gions of the country. Relevant government agencies must pay careful
attention,” he said.
years of the active development of
the city, many buildings were built
and renovated with poor quality
materials. This is what led the President to order builders to pay attention to the city’s aesthetics.
is also getting worse. Nazarbayev
noted that there have been negotiations with French companies
regarding the launch of light rail
transport in the capital.
“Their price was high, more than
which does not suit us. Therefore,
the akimat proposed that lanes be
reserved strictly for city buses. The
much less money and therefore, it
was chosen,” Nazarbayev said.
At the meeting, Akim (Mayor)
of Astana, Imangali Tasmagambetov reported on the development of
smart transport systems. One will
be introduced in 2016 and will allow for the automatic regulation
Tasmagambetov also reported on
the reconstruction of TPP-1 and
the construction of TPP-3.
Aitmukhametov briefed on efforts to create a “food belt” around
Astana.
Following the meeting, the head
taxes,” Nazarbayev underlined.
He stressed that a comprehensive approach is needed in solving
this issue.
“There is a cement company cartel that raised prices. These com-
for the further development of the
capital, the improvement of the
city and proper protocol for the
heating season.
The meeting was attended by
Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov,
head of the Presidential Administration, Karim Massimov, Chairman of the Board of Samruk-Ka-
they should be bringing in. Nobody monitors this. On this issue,
we must look not only in Astana
for violations, but also in other re-
Head of the Presidential Administration Gabidulla Abdrakhimov,
General Prosecutor Askhat Daulbayev, as well as the akims of
Astana and of the Akmola region.
Int’l art exhibition celebrating Bata opens in astana
By michelle witte
ASTANA – The international
art exhibition, “Bata – For Tomorrow Without losing Your Roots,”
showcasing the work of famous
Kazakh and international artists as
well as students, opened on Dec.
5 in the Palace of Independence.
The exhibition, curated by Marzhan Abildina, displays a variety
of painting, sculpture, pottery and
weaving.
The exhibition is an exploration
of bata, a Kazakh form of blessing. “Bata is the link between the
past, present, and future of the
Kazakh people,” said a statement
issued about the event’s opening.
“Through the exhibition, artists let
the public judge what is the place
of bata and one’s roots in modern
life in the multi-ethnic country and
in particular in the fast-growing
capital of Kazakhstan, Astana.”
The artwork displayed was chosen to create a direct emotional
connection between artist and
viewer and contribute to the discussion about the place of Kazakh
cultural codes in modern Kazakhstan.
“Bata is a blessing,” said Abildina at the press conference that preceded the opening. “In the Kazakh
nation, it means a blessing from an
elder person to a younger person.
It is very important for us to keep
this.”
Other artists echoed this, explaining the meaning and offering their own blessing. “I’d like
to say that artists don’t talk much.
We paint, that’s what we are, that’s
what we’re here for,” said painter
Saule Suleimenova. “Here, the
meaning of this exhibition is to ask
for a blessing for you all for the
arts.”
International artists taking part
in the exhibition spoke about the
importance of art and art education. French artist Martine Rivasi-
Offant and British educator and
photographer Gareth Stamp both
mentioned the need for more gallery space and more support for
the arts and art education in Kazakhstan.
“Art and education go together,”
said Rivasi-Offant, who has three
paintings on display in the exhibition. “Art is one of the tools for
opening students, artists and people to universality. Art is a miracle,
a unique language to work peace
and harmony between people
in this violent world. … It’s really important to exhibit artists,
because this language opens the
mind.”
“Bata is a blessing.”
– marzhan abildina
“Kazakhstan, I believe, is undergoing a Renaissance in its art
and design,” said Stamp, whose
portraits are part of the exhibition. “Traditional arts and crafts
blending with modern ideas and
technologies are giving a really
exciting buzz to the arts scene in
Kazakhstan. As this grows, so too
must the provision for arts in Kazakhstan, both in education and in
exhibition.”
Stamp also suggested that Astana should have a museum of modern design, and said he has started
working with sponsors and other
interested parties to make that idea
a reality.
Speaking about her paintings,
Rivasi-Offant said she was fascinated by the neutral landscape
presented by the steppe. “It’s
very interesting for a painter, because feeling and imagination can
be projected onto this landscape,
because there is no anecdote, no
topic. … The work of a painter is
to project his own feeling on the
landscape.” She has found in the
Kazakh landscape not picturesque
things, she said, but a landscape in
which feelings can be shown powerfully.
Astrid Banjav of Germany, who
displayed works of pottery, has
lived in Kazakhstan for one and
a half years and was also inspired
by the country’s landscape. “One
[piece] is inspired by winter –
Kazakhstan in winter is white,
like a snowball with some dark
dots, because you still have some
places where there isn’t much
snow.” Kazakh motifs and the
her work, she said. In the press
conference before the opening,
Banjav said that she works with
clay because, as it comes directly
out of the ground, it keeps her
rooted. “I think, when working
with clay, it is very easy to do
what bata is expecting, that you
keep to your roots, because you
are working with a material that
nature gives you,” she said.
British Ambassador to Kazakhstan Carolyn Browne, among others, spoke at the opening event,
which also included traditional
music and dance performances.
art event organised by the Global
Art Fund.
Artists participating in the exhibition include Khassen Abayev,
Saule Suleimenova, Bakhytnur
Burdesbekov, Gulmira Telgoziyeva, Tokhtar Yermekov, Zamzegul
Oralbayeva, Zhenis Kakenuly,
Aktoty Kolke, Valeriy Pirozhkov,
Dinara Nuger, Stanislav Bachin,
Yessengali Sadyrbayev, Murat
Sydykov, Kaliolla and Raikul
Akhmetzhan, Faniya Isslamova,
Serik Yermekov, Raushan Aspandiyarova and Khadzhimurat
Boshtayev of Kazakhstan, RivasiOffant of France, Stamp of the