The post Kazakhstan secures bronze at ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>Kazakh women’s team won a bronze medal at the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating 2024 in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland, Kazinform News Agency cites the Kazakh National Olympic Committee.
Anastasia Belovodova, Arina Iliyashchenko and Alyona Lifatova defended the country’s colors at the event.
Germany took gold at the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating 2024, followed by Norway.
As earlier reported, Kazakh boxer Dulat Bekbauov won the first match in the men’s 67 kg bout at the ASBC Asian Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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]]>The post Cryptocurrency making inroads in Central Asia and Caucasus appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>Cryptocurrency ownership is gaining popularity across Central Asia and the Caucasus, according to a report prepared by a group of financial services companies. Uzbekistan has the highest adoption rate for crypto assets in the regions and ranks 33rd globally.
The Russian-language report, titled Digital Assets in Central Asia and the Caucasus, shows that almost 1.5 percent of Uzbekistan’s population, or roughly 512,000 individuals, owns cryptocurrency. The 15 licensed cryptocurrency exchanges and outlets operating in Uzbekistan handled over $1 billion worth of transactions in 2024, the report adds.
Just two years ago, Uzbekistan ranked 87th in global crypto adoption. In 2023, the country shot up to 25th in the world rankings before falling back to 33rd this year. Despite slipping, Uzbekistan still outpaces its Central Asian neighbors when it comes to crypto asset adoption. Kazakhstan ranked 57th in the world and Kyrgyzstan 76th, according to the report. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were not ranked.
Kazakhstan’s ranking might be much higher, if not for a far-reaching government regulatory initiative covering cryptocurrency production and usage. No official data on crypto assets is available for Kazakhstan, but some independent estimates indicate 8 percent of the population may hold cryptocurrency.
In 2021, Kazakhstan emerged as a leading center for cryptocurrency mining following a crackdown in China on the practice, which requires immense amounts of electricity. By the fall of that year, Kazakhstan’s global Bitcoin hashrate, an indicator of the amount of power being used to produce cryptocurrency, was over 27 percent. During the same period, the country experienced power outages as the electricity grid buckled under the rising demand.
The Kazakh government in following years introduced measures to hinder crypto mining, including the introduction of steep tariffs for intensive power usage. As a result, the country’s Bitcoin hashrate fell to 4 percent in May 2023.
The number of mining operations in Kazakhstan likewise plummeted between 2021 and mid-2023, going from 330 to 26. But over the past 15 months, the number of mining outfits have risen to 51, the report states. At the same time the government took steps to hinder mining, it introduced regulatory changes to enable officials to better monitor crypto transactions. In late 2023, Kazakhstan also introduced a digital currency under Central Bank supervision that is designed to compete with cryptocurrencies.
In the Caucasus, Georgia has the highest global ranking in crypto asset adoption, coming in at 54th. That position, however, is 17 spots lower than Tbilisi’s ranking in 2022. Armenia was 77th and Azerbaijan came in at 92nd, according to the report, which was sponsored by a variety of financial services entities, including Mastercard, KPMG and the National Payment Corporation of Kazakhstan.
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]]>The post Kazakhstan and China partner for Sany wind turbine plant appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>The plant will produce nacelles, hubs and towers for wind power projects.
Kazakhstan’s Samruk-Kazyna state fund and China’s SANY Renewable Energy (SANY RE) have begun construction of a $114 million wind turbine component manufacturing plant in the Zhambyl region, marking a step in the country’s renewable energy sector.
The plant, which is set to begin operations in late 2025, will produce essential components such as nacelles, hubs and towers for wind power plants. The project is a key initiative in Kazakhstan’s strategy to boost renewable energy production and reduce dependence on traditional energy sources.
Nurlan Zhakupov, chairman of the board of Samruk-Kazyna, stressed the importance of the initiative:
“This [involves] attracting $114 million in foreign direct investment. The project will be implemented without additional loans from Kazakhstan’s development institutions. The level of localization will be at least 30%. To support this, SANY RE plans to establish a new R&D center.”
Samruk-Kazyna aims to put 6 GW of renewable energy sources into operation by 2030 in collaboration with its partners, addressing Kazakhstan’s growing energy demands while promoting sustainable development.
SANY Renewable Energy is a division of SANY Group, a leading Chinese engineering and manufacturing company. The company’s expertise in renewable energy technology aligns with Kazakhstan’s drive for cleaner energy solutions.
Founded in 2008, Samruk-Kazyna manages key strategic assets in Kazakhstan, including major corporations such as Air Astana, Kazatomprom and KazMunayGas, which play a vital role in the nation’s economic development.
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]]>The post China, Kazakhstan committed to further cooperation appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday met with Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu in the city of Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, with both sides expressing willingness to further promote cooperation.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, pointed out that comprehensively deepening bilateral cooperation serves the common interests of the two countries and the common expectations of the two peoples.
Noting both countries are at a critical stage of development and revitalization, Wang said that the two sides should fully implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and consolidate political mutual trust, firmly supporting each other.
He also urged efforts to promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road cooperation and the building of a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future.
Nurtleu, who is in Chengdu to attend the fifth China-Central Asia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, said the Kazakh side regards China as a reliable and permanent comprehensive strategic partner and a diplomatic priority.
Kazakhstan is willing to strengthen the docking of development strategies with China, implement the important consensus of the two heads of state and build a new “golden 30 years” of bilateral relations, he added.
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]]>The post Transport, energy co-op between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan enhances appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>This was discussed during a meeting between Uzbekistan’s Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov and his Kazakh counterpart, Alikhan Smailov.
The delegation of Uzbekistan, headed by Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov arrived in Almaty (Kazakhstan) to participate in the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council and Digital Forum.
At the meeting, the sides noted the rapid development of strategic partnerships and alliances between the two countries in the spirit of friendship, good neighborliness, and mutual respect, and representatives of both countries defined specific tasks for further development of multilateral relations.
They also emphasized positive growth dynamics between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in all directions.
In particular, the volume of trade has more than doubled over the past 7 years, important joint projects are being implemented in various sectors of the economy, and interregional and cultural-humanitarian cooperation is expanding.
At the meeting, the parties exchanged views on these and other topical issues on the agenda.
Meanwhile, trade turnover volume between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan amounted to $4.3 billion.
Source: Trend
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]]>The post Kazakhstan intends to digitalize industrial sector, minister says appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>He made the remark during the Digital Almaty 2024 forum.
“This year, the forum is dedicated to the digitalization of industrial sectors of the economy. Our industry must be digitized. This is not a tribute to a trend; this is necessary for competitiveness. The Environmental Code stipulates that enterprises that release ozone-depleting substances into the atmosphere must install certain sensors,” he said.
According to the minister, these sensors transmit information in real time to a central database.
“That is, we must ensure control of the entire environmental situation at all industrial enterprises. Today, this system has already been created, and enterprises are gradually connecting. Today, about 20 enterprises are already connected,” Bagdat Musin said.
As he added, these sensors are being developed in Kazakhstan.
“We also have experience in creating SCADA systems. Previously, we purchased these systems from abroad; today, there are already several Kazakhstani solutions. Kazakh designs are being installed throughout our entire energy system. And there are many such examples. We also focus on robotization. Industrial sectors of the economy must rely heavily on robots. Therefore, we have created a center for the development of industrial robots, which will help accelerate and scale robotization in industrial sectors of the economy,” the minister noted.
Source: Trend
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]]>The post Four Ministers replaced in new government of Kazakhstan appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>President Kassym-Joomart Tokayev approved the new government of Kazakhstan under the leadership of Olzhas Bektenov. The names of the ministers were published on primeminister.kz.
Most of the ministers remained from the old government.
Four ministers were replaced: Nurlan Baibazarov was appointed Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Economy instead of Alibek Kuantyrov, Madi Takiyev became Minister of Finance instead of Erulan Zhamaubaev, Akmaral Alnazarova was appointed Minister of Healthcare instead of Azhar Giniyat, and Chingis Arinov became the new Minister for Emergency Situations instead of Syrym Shariphanov.
Members of the government who remained in their positions included First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar, Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu, Chief of Staff of the Government Galymzhan Koishybayev, Deputy Prime Minister Tamara Duisenova, Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin, Minister of Defense Ruslan Zhaksylykov, Minister of Internal Affairs Yerzhan Sadenov, Minister of Justice Azamat Yeskarayev, Minister of Energy Almassadam Satkaliyev, Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov, Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Bagdat Mussin, Minister of Education Gani Beisembayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Yerlan Nyssanbayev, Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva, Minister of Tourism and Sports Yermek Marzhikpayev, Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Population Svetlana Zhakupova, Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapaev, and Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev.
There are currently 26 members of the government. The composition was renewed for 16%. There are six deputy prime ministers left. 16% remained women.
President Kassym-Joomart Tokayev decided to resign the government of Kazakhstan on February 5. The duties of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan were temporarily assigned to Roman Sklyar. The next day, the president said the government’s resignation was aimed at providing new impetus and meeting public expectations. In addition, the president promised that the new government will use new approaches.
The head of the Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan, Olzhas Bektenov, headed the government of Kazakhstan on February 6. His candidacy was proposed by the Amanat party, it was supported by the president, the majority of factions of political parties in the Parliament agreed to the appointment. Olzhas Bektenov replaced Alikhan Smailov, who had headed the Cabinet of Ministers since January 2022.
Source: Akipress
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]]>The post ‘Private’ Meeting With Putin, Public Appearances Stir Talk Of Nazarbaev Comeback appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Friends who are old faces and friends in high places: Kazakhstan’s former leader Nursultan Nazarbaev has proven in recent months that he still has both.
Does that mean the 83-year-old is mulling a political comeback?
Kazakh officials loyal to his successor, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, are keen to dispel the notion. But the very fact that they are feeling the need to comment on the idea is indicative of the interest — and, in some quarters, alarm — sparked by the ex-president’s recent return to the national news cycle.
The first week of January will mark the second anniversary of the Bloody January unrest that exposed fractures in the elite and, for many, definitively marked the end of the long Nazarbaev era in Kazakhstan.
Since ceding all his remaining positions and titles in the aftermath of the violence that left at least 238 people dead, Kazakhstan’s first president has mostly shunned the limelight.
But in the final months of 2023, Nazarbaev’s name is once more on everybody’s lips.
One public appearance in November was perhaps unavoidable, after his controversial younger brother, Bolat Nazarbaev, passed away. But even then, the grand, elite-packed memorial for a former plumber who grew fabulously rich during the reign of his older sibling turned out to be more like an homage to that same older sibling.
After that appearance came the release of Nazarbaev’s autobiography: My Life: From Dependence To Freedom. The book was not his first, but proved sensational in that the author acknowledged for the first time that he fathered children — sons, no less — by a woman other than his official wife, Sara Nazarbaeva.
Later this month, Nazarbaev addressed the seventh meeting of the Astana Club, his own geopolitical talking-shop initiative that included former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and ex-Afghan President Hamid Karzai among the speakers.
But it was his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, likely in Moscow on December 19 — which Putin’s press spokesman Dmitry Peskov described as “absolutely private” — that really set tongues wagging and provided the context for comments by Yerlan Koshanov, chairman of the lower house of parliament, on December 27.
“Dual power does not exist today and cannot exist. Today, all decisions are made by the head of state, Toqaev, elected by the overwhelming majority of the people,” said Koshanov, who told journalists that people had “no reason for concern” over Nazarbaev’s activities as a “private citizen.”
Fulfilling Allah’s Task
Toqaev made similar comments about “dual power” in 2019, just months after he stepped into the presidential hot seat as Nazarbaev’s hand-picked, loyalist successor.
Nobody believed him then, and with good reason.
At that time, Nazarbaev was serving as the “lifelong” chairman of the Security Council — a role that raised questions about which of the two was commander in chief. And the former president also chaired the ruling party and enjoyed extensive perks and protections thanks to his constitutionally enshrined status as “elbasy,” or leader of the nation.
Subsequent “de-Nazarbaevification” was seemingly driven by two factors.
Firstly, protesters had signaled right before the January 2022 unrest turned deadly that they had had enough of the authoritarian who dominated Kazakh politics for more than three decades, beginning in Soviet times.
And Toqaev, having been constrained by his predecessor for the best part of three years, probably felt the same, not least because of the way the “dual power” situation had paralyzed the security apparatus, dividing loyalties in the process.
After the deadly January events, the power struggle was laid bare.
In addition to transferring his remaining power to Toqaev, Nazarbaev’s relatives and allies lost powerful and lucrative positions. At least three members of the president’s extended family were jailed on corruption charges. The capital, Astana, also got its old name back after spending three years as Nur-Sultan in Nazarbaev’s honor.
In public, the former president has said only positive things about Toqaev and his policies. But it can be assumed that in private he is less than happy — and probably worried for his family’s future. Notable then was the guest list at the closed-doors memorial for Nazarbaev’s brother, Bolat.
The younger Nazarbaev had been buried four days earlier in the family’s home village of Shamalgan in the Almaty region, more than 1,000 kilometers away.
And if Toqaev’s government was represented at the funeral by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov — presumably as a courtesy to Nazarbaev — then the faces captured in footage from the Astana memorial luncheon were former officials: ex-police chiefs, prosecutors, defense and education ministers, as well as his ex-lawmaker daughter, Darigha Nazarbaeva.
“It was not easy for us to establish independence,” the former president told his appreciative audience after thanking Toqaev, “a number of heads of state,” officials, and ordinary citizens for their condolences.
“When the Soviet government fell in 1992, 1,500 manufacturing plants were shut down, leaving 2 million people unemployed,” Nazarbaev said. “The store shelves were empty, salaries and pensions were not paid. At a time when there was the question, ‘Will we be a country or not?’ [We] colleagues and comrades came together to lift up the country. In this way, I believe that I fulfilled the task assigned to me by Allah.”
Meet My Other Family
Even some of Nazarbaev’s critics give him credit for dealing with the manifold challenges of early independence.
Opinion is more divided over the subsequent repression that included the killing of opposition figures, the elbasy cult, and the excesses of relatives like Bolat, who allegedly acquired huge tracts of valuable land around the country’s largest city, Almaty, at little or no cost and had millions of dollars in luxury properties around the world.
After Bloody January, some of Bolat Nazarbaev’s businesses and land were returned to the state, while he was also named and shamed by the authorities as a participant in an illegal cryptomining venture. Yet despite strong public demands, he was not brought to justice before his death.
As November became December, Kazakhs were already discussing another family of the former president, which had been an open secret but was only officially revealed in Nazarbaev’s autobiography. His description of falling in love with Asel Qurmanbaeva (then Asel Isabaeva) — a woman some 40 years younger than him — certainly made for awkward reading.
His only legal wife, Sara Nazarbaeva, responded to her husband’s decision to tie the knot with Qurmanbaeva in an Islamic ceremony, “with nobility,” Nazarbaev wrote, adding that the pair’s three daughters — Darigha, Dinara, and Alia — had also understood.
Qurmanbaeva bore him two sons, his only confirmed male heirs. In an interview with RFE/RL, former diplomat Talgat Kaliev said that Nazarbaev’s book reveal was a bid to publicly legitimize the two boys “[so] it is officially possible to leave something to them…. Otherwise, their destiny would be very challenging.”
Qurmanbaeva — Miss Kazakhstan in 1999 — and Nazarbaev began their relationship when the former was just 19, and she is most often referred to as Nazarbaev’s third wife, with former air stewardess Gulnara Rakisheva reportedly bearing the president two more daughters.
And the elder of Nazarbaev’s two sons, 18-year-old Tauman Nursultan, has already been romantically linked to the daughter of Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliev.
Responding to rumors that the young pair had married, the Energy Ministry published a statement in April calling the information “inaccurate,” stressing that the minister “does not have and did not previously have any family ties with the first president.”
The ministry’s press department was pressed into action once more last month to deny reports that Satkaliev was among the guests at Bolat Nazarbaev’s memorial.
Putin Meeting
One person who might be sympathetic to Nazarbaev’s complicated situation is divorced Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin, after all, is rumored to have fathered at least two children with Alina Kabayeva, a retired Olympic gymnast who was placed under sanctions by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
But there was no shortage of suspicion that the two men were talking about things other than family when they met in Moscow earlier this month.
This was not the first time the two have met since Nazarbaev formally retired from politics, famously declaring himself “just a pensioner.” They had previously met in June 2022, almost immediately after a constitutional referendum promoted by Toqaev that, among other things, removed all the basic law’s references to Nazarbaev as elbasy, a move that, in theory, made him more vulnerable to prosecution.
At the time, Russia’s Nezavisimaya gazeta speculated that Nazarbaev was seeking “assurances for himself and his capital,” and referred to “various estimations” of the octogenarian’s net worth at around $200 billion.
Before that, in late December 2021 — weeks before the unrest in Kazakhstan and two months before Russia launched its full-scale aggression against Ukraine — Nazarbaev and Toqaev held talks with Putin in St. Petersburg with Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka along for the ride.
It was undoubtedly Toqaev, not Nazarbaev, who benefited from the CSTO peacekeeping intervention. But public figures and politicians close to the Kremlin were soon complaining that Toqaev had failed to show gratitude for the mission, after Astana chose to remain neutral in the Ukraine war.
In this light, Nazarbaev’s sudden return to prominence looks like something of a “cliffhanger” for Kazakhstan.
Source: RFERL
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]]>The post A Group of Young People Suspected of Hooliganism Were Detained in Dushanbe appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>The capital’s police officers detained a group of young people suspected of hooliganism, reports the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan.
According to the source, a 43-year-old local resident contacted department 1 in the Sino district of Dushanbe with a statement that on November 29, 2023, at approximately 19:15 in the evening, not far from the “Khalovat” store, located on the territory of the Giprozem mahalla capital, an unknown group of young people who, out of hooligan motives, beat his 23-year-old son, stabbed him in the stomach and fled the scene.
As a result, the victim was seriously injured. During operational search activities, police officers detained 21, 24, 21 and 27-year-old residents of Dushanbe on suspicion of hooliganism. An investigation into this fact is underway.
Source: Avesta TJ
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]]>The post Seequent Expands Subsurface Software Presence in Central Asia With Kazakhstan Hub appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.
]]>Seequent, The Bentley Subsurface Company, has announced the establishment of a regional hub in Kazakhstan, expanding its presence in Central Asia.
Staffed by a dedicated local team, the strategic move demonstrates Seequent’s commitment to providing cutting-edge subsurface software solutions to the rapidly growing local market and wider Central Asia region, it says.
Seequent shared the news last week at an event in Almaty, which brought together partners, stakeholders and leading industry representatives. Seequent has supported the Central Asian business community since 2011, and major companies in the region are already using Seequent’s earth-modelling, analysis, data management and collaboration software, the company says. These applications help users understand the underground in the mining, energy, civil infrastructure and environment industries.
Colin Hay, EMEA, Executive Vice President, EMEA with Seequent (pictured on the left with Inna Shalovenkova, Regional Sales Director, Mining and Minerals on the right), said: “Seequent’s expansion into Central Asia marks a significant milestone in our global strategy. Kazakhstan, situated in the heart of Central Asia, serves as an ideal hub for the region. With a robust economy, rich metal reserves, advantageous location and a focus on attracting foreign investment, Kazakhstan stands out as a key market for Seequent’s solutions.”
Hay added: “We are seeing a growing demand for our solutions that support the evolving needs of industries in this market seeking digital innovation to drive efficiency and value in their operations. We will continue to hire locally as our Central Asia operations expand.”
Seequent offers software solutions for geoprofessionals including geologists, geophysicists, geochemists, geotechnical and geomechanical engineers, hydrogeologists, ecologists, as well as builders, designers of structures, quarries and underground mine workers. Products include the geological 3D modelling solution Leapfrog and Oasis montaj for working with geophysical data.
Source: IM Mining
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