KZBlog

An American expat living in Astana, Kazakhstan

Tag archive for ‘Astana’

  • A new Holding Company will Soar!

    From the Kazakhstan Embassy in the US comes the announcement that a new holding company will be established. Samgao (which means ‘to soar’, I think!) National Science and Technology Holding is charged with improving management in these areas. This follows from comments made by the President and more recently, his Address to the People, in […]

    4/15/07 • (Comments Off on A new Holding Company will Soar!)

  • 2007 Address to the People of Kazakhstan

    On the 28th of February, the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev, gave his annual Address to the People of Kazakhstan, the speech where he gives the government its tasks and strategies for the year. You can go to Akorda.kz for the full text of the speech. Overall the speech focused on improving social protection […]

    3/01/07 • (3)

  • Po Kazakhskii

    Today as I walked through the old square of Astana, I saw something going on at the Ministry of Education. Cars and trucks parked everywhere, hundreds of kids running around carrying boxes and Chinese bags, men and women standing over them barking orders. I asked one of the kids what was going on. “The Ministry […]

    2/15/07 • (Comments Off on Po Kazakhskii)

  • Kazakhstan 2021

    I was asked to participate in a cross-blog survey with New Eurasia to predict what Central Asia will look like in 15 years. You can check out the other posts here. And my little dichotomious view is below. I couldn’t come to any solid and concrete conclusions so I ended up with perhaps more of […]

    12/21/06 • (1)

  • Religious and Ethnic Tolerance

    On the 22nd of November, outside Almaty, local authorities destroyed the only Hare Krishna commune in the CIS, a total of eleven houses on 48 acres. The group apparently was not prepared because: The group apparently was not prepared because there is currently a state special commission – appointed to investigate allegations of religious harassment […]

    11/23/06 • (3)

  • Of Salons and Socialism

    I went to get my haircut this weekend at, I might note, a fairly expensive (but conveniently located) salon. There was a sign on the door that said “Veterans of the Great Patriotic War will get free haircuts, and pensioners get discounted haircuts on Tuesday and Thursday from 10am – 2pm” We asked about this […]

    11/06/06 • (Comments Off on Of Salons and Socialism)

  • SBCs

    Two weeks ago, there was a government assembly and the Prime Minister presented new projects for the government. As Kazakhstan Today reports, Social Business Coportations were on the list. “Sara Arka” will be the first, to be established in Karaganda (because the akim there was on the ball, they say). By the end of the […]

    10/30/06 • (Comments Off on SBCs)

  • Astana, two sides

    Two articles came out last week about Astana. Both focus on the Palace of World Peace and Unity—the new pyramid designed by Lord Foster, a well-known British architect. The pyramid was designed to host the second World Congress for Religious Tolerance, a conference of religious figures and political leaders which attempts to bring together religious […]

    10/26/06 • (Comments Off on Astana, two sides)

  • What it’s really like

    From Chris Merriman, a British expat also suffering through bad customer service in Astana, a clip from an episode of The West Wing, the American show about the Presidency: It starts snowing in Astana… EDIT: Transcript of the episode this is from. The Kazakhstan scenario is that the President has been assasinated, there’s an election […]

    10/17/06 • (Comments Off on What it’s really like)

  • Shakeups, Rumors and Scandals

    Registan.net reports on the HIV crisis in Kazakhstan. Yesterday the Minister of Health and the akim of South Kazakhstan oblast

    9/21/06 • (Comments Off on Shakeups, Rumors and Scandals)