SEPT. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Atyrau, near Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea coast, began the trial of nine people for allegedly plotting attacks and being members of a banned Islamic extremist organisation, media reported. Kazakhstan has been combating a rise in attacks linked to militant Islamic groups since 2010.
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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)
SEPT. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan is successfully rejuvenating the northern section of the dried up Aral Sea, media quoted the governor of the southwest Kazakhstan region of Kyzylorda, Krymbek Kusherbayev, as saying. He added that the Aral Sea’s water is now only 17km from the town of Aral. It had retreated 74km away.
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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)
SEPT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Bulat Abilov, a relatively high-profile opposition leader in Kazakhstan, announced that he was retiring from politics. His decision is a blow to the increasingly marginalised opposition. Mr Abilov, a wealthy businessman, was considered a moderate.
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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)
SEPT. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — From summer 2014 Kazakhstan will drop visa requirements for tourists from some EU countries, media quoted Kazakh deputy foreign minister Rapil Zhoshybayev as saying. Mr Zhoshybayev said visa-free regulations were likely to cover countries, such as Croatia, where Kazakh citizens can travel to without a visa.
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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)
SEPT. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction Corp has won a $1.4b contract to build the second phase of a petrochemical plant in Kazakhstan, it said. The contract was awarded by Kazakhstan LG Poly Ethylene, a joint venture between SAT & Co and LG Chem ltd.
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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)
SEPT. 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has introduced extra tests and is buying new equipment to increase the competency of its medical professionals, media reported.
Analysts have said that the quality of health care in Kazakhstan has not kept pace with economic development in the country over the past decade. Last year, government officials said that many medial staff in rural parts of Kazakhstan had never received formal training.
Now, according to the Tengrinews website, the government has introduced a series of tests for health carers. It reported that since Sept. 2, 300 doctors and nurses in Astana and Almaty have been sitting a 3-1/2 hour theory test followed by an hour-long practical exam.
This is part of a nationwide strategy to improve the level of healthcare in the country.
In its 2013 report on global competitiveness, the World Economic Forum generally rated Kazakhstan highly. The big exception was the quality of its healthcare which the report said was poor.
Kazakhstan’s minister of health, Salidat Kairbekova, admitted that too. Answering a question at a parliamentary committee meeting he said that some medical staff didn’t even know how to use a computer mouse properly.
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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)
SEPT. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nine national teams from Mongolia, Afghanistan, Turkey, China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan convened on Astana to compete in what was touted as the first Asian kokpar championships.
Kokpar, also known as Buzkashi in Afghanistan where it is popular, is not for the feint hearted. Described as a mixture of rugby and polo, four horsemen on each team have to hustle, bustle and muscle the torso of a headless goat into the opposition’s goal.
The best players have to be tough, determined and extremely skilful horsemen.
Kokpar’s historical heartland has been the steppe and mountains of Central Asia, Afghanistan and Mongolia where nomadic horsemen still roam with their livestock. The game reflects the simplicity and hardiness of the nomad’s lives.
Watching European Champions League football on satellite television may now be the favourite sporting pastime of most urban Kazakhs but skilled horsemen and the nomadic lifestyle are still venerated in Kazakhstan.
The Soviet Union banned kokpar but a confident and proud Kazakhstan looking to promote its national identity has been eager to revive it.
Fittingly, in the tournament in Astana, the Kazakhstan team beat Kyrgyzstan in the final. Third place was Tajikistan. Kazakhstan will have a chance to defend their title in Turkey in two years time.
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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)
SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s parliament will debate a proposal to ban homosexual nightclubs and gay rights marches, local media quoted MPs as saying. The proposal follows a law brought in by Russia earlier this year that bans homosexual “propaganda”. Russia’s ban triggered an international outcry and accusations of homophobia.
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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)
SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — As part of a joint Kazakh-Chinese investment programme, construction will begin on a new potash fertiliser plant in western Kazakhstan, Kazakh deputy industry minister Nurlan Sauranbayev said. Mr Sauranbayev said the initial cost of the plant would be about $1b.
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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)
SEPT. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — After years of delay and billions of dollars of cost overruns, the consortium developing the Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea celebrated its first oil. Kashagan is considered vital to Kazakhstan’s ambition to become a major global oil supplier.
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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)