KZBlog

Someone in the Kazakhstan government just got fired and blacklisted. Last week, the Parliament of Kazakhstan was to ratify the Customs Union between Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Russia which was agreed upon last year and will go into full effect this July. However the signing was delayed when it was discovered that someone mixed up Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko!

According to a Member of the Kazakhstan Parliament, the document read:

Signed for the Republic of Belarus – Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, for the Republic of Kazakhstan – President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, for the Russian Federation – President of Belarus Vladimir Putin

Given the tension between Russia and Belarus in recent years, one wonders if this was an honest mistake, a bit of satire, or a jab at both countries.

Those of us who live in Astana and have friends who work for the government will also suspect that the people who physically drafted, typed, printed and delivered these documents were forced to work overnight several nights in a row. So perhaps this is a call to ensure that the government gives its workers reasonable hours!