Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

EXPO-2017 delays start of university term in Kazakh capital

ALMATY, JAN. 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s ministry of education ordered universities in Astana to start their academic year for 2017/18 late because of EXPO- 2017 which is scheduled to run from June 10 to Sept. 10.

The education ministry has not explained why it needed students to begin their term late but long-term residents of Astana said it was likely to be to try and reduce pressure on the city’s public services and to reduce traffic on its streets.

Many students are unimpressed.

“Humanly, it is not normal,” saidGabit,a student at one of the medical universities in Astana. “It is inconvenient, for us and for the doctors who teach us since they have to work after shift. They were indignant at first butunfortunately the decree is already released.”

The education ministry was unavailable for the comments.

The organisers of EXPO-2017 have been planning the event for years. They expect thousands of visitors from all around the world to converge on Astana, the Kazakh capital that President Nursultan Nazarbayev built on the windswept steppe in the mid-1990s, for three months, testing its services to the limit.

They are also under extra pressure because Mr Nazarbayev, keen to promote Kazakhstan, has taken a personal interest in EXPO-2017.

Didar Sarsenov who lives in Astana said that he could see why the government wanted to delay tens of thousands of students from returning to the city for their studies.

“On the one side it is the right thing to do, from the other it is not,” he said. “They must cope with the flow of people. But proper organisation (of EXPO-2017) should mean that the study process starts on time.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Kazakhstan not to regulate telecome prices

JAN. 18 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Kazakhstan have decided not to dictate telecoms prices this year, the telecompaper.com website reported quoting Kazakh sources. The authorities had considered interfering in the competitive Kazakh market, which has been characterised by price drops. Telecompaper.com said that the decision would make Kazakh telecoms companies more competitive in the Eurasian Economic Union.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Kazakhstan not to regulate telecome prices

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Kazakh police arrest deputy head of pres. administration

ALMATY, JAN. 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Kazakhstan continued their purge of top tier officials with the arrest of Baglan Mailybayev, the deputy head of the Presidential Administration, for stealing state secrets.

The arrest of both Mr Mailybayev, 41, who had been deputy head of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration since 2011, and another senior official, follow the arrest of a former head of the National Security Committee on similar charges in December.

A former economy minister and a handful of senior executives at a state-run company have also been arrested for corruption.

Analysts said Mr Nazarbayev may be trying to clean out his administration of people he thought were under-performing.

Dosym Satpayev, director of the Risk Assessment Group, said: “To me, the president is showing frustration with young politicians who have made some serious mistakes in their new positions.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Kazakhstan delivers wheat to Vietnam

JAN. 19 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan delivered its first batch of wheat to Vietnam via train to a Chinese port and then by cargo ship to Ho Chi Minh city on Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, media reported quoting a Kazakh railway executive. The importance of the opening up of this route is the successful use of the Kazakhstan- China railway which can effectively link Kazakhstan to East Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Kazakhstan’s trade with EEU falls by 21%

JAN. 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s trade with the rest of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) fell by 21% last year, the Kazakh Security Committee said, highlighting a general contraction in the Kremlin-led block’s economy. Most of the decrease was linked to Russia. Last week, Kyrgyzstan also reported a drop in trade with EEU members.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Kazakhstan signs deal with DP World

JAN. 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The UAE’s DP World signed a deal to develop a special economic zone in Aktau, western Kazakhstan. The deal was signed during a trip to Dubai by Kazakh businessmen and government officials lead by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. DP World is one of the largest port operators in the world. Aktau is Kazakhstan’s main Caspian Sea port.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Kazakh delegation heads to UAE

JAN. 15/16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev led a high-level delegation to Dubai to meet with various UAE leaders. Mr Nazarbayev and the Kazakh government have increasingly said that they want to extend ties with the Gulf States. Various memorandums proclaiming strong bilateral relations were signed.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Trial for editor begins in Kazakhstan

JAN. 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The trial for extortion of Bigeldy Gabdullin, editor of the Central Asia Monitor newspaper, began in Astana. Mr Gabdullin has admitted to charges that he blackmailed officials into paying him bribes not to publish negative stories. His supporters have said that the confession was extracted under duress and that the 61-year-old was hoping that by agreeing to the confession he will be given a light sentence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Kazakhstan increases online monitoring

JAN. 19 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government wants to force people who leave comments on the internet to registered first using their real names, phone numbers and email address, a move that free speech activists said is just another way of cracking down on dissenters. The Eurasianet website quoted Mikhail Komissarov, deputy head of the communications and information technology committee, as saying that the new law was designed to improve transparency online.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)