News

June 14 brought the long-anticipated news – Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom will lead the construction of Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant (NPP), according to the country’s Agency for Atomic Energy (AAE).

China’s bid

Rosatom was selected from a shortlist of four international technology providers, which also included China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and France’s Électricité de France (EDF).

Kazakhstan conducted an integrated assessment of proposed reactor technologies and vendor proposals using a methodology co-developed by the AAE and Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants (KNPP) – an entity...

Xcalibur Smart Mapping, a Madrid-based global leader in the airborne and mapping geophysics industry, offers Kazakhstan the opportunity to conduct large-scale mapping of its territory. According to Xcalibur CEO Andres Blanco, the process could take up to six years, providing exploration companies with up-to-date data.

In Kazakhstan, the head of Xcalibur believes the project’s potential budget could be around $250 million. In this case, the company may use 10 of its aircraft and complete the project within 5 to 6 years. As a result, Kazakhstan would receive geophysical mapping data comparable to that of Australia, one of the global leaders...

According to Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country has opened its border crossings to allow the safe transit of foreign diplomats, their families, and other citizens currently in Iran.

«As of today, around 120 people from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Romania, and other countries have crossed the state border of Turkmenistan through official checkpoints,» the ministry said in a statement.

The evacuees have been provided with transportation, food, accommodation, and essential supplies. Turkmenistan’s authorized agencies are working closely with foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations to ensure the process runs smoothly.

In early June...

BCC Invest, a Kazakhstani brokerage company, has raised its valuation of KazMunayGas (KMG) shares following the company’s Q1 2025 financial results. Analysts set a new target price at approximately $35 per share.

BCC Invest’s projection increased by more than 9%, compared to its previous forecast from April 2025. As a result, the broker has issued a buy recommendation.

Currently, KMG’s common shares are trading at around $31. Thus, BCC Invest anticipates a potential upside of 14.5% or roughly $4. During the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) trading session on June 13, the share price reported a 3.32% increase.

The KMG stock...

Kazakhstani startup Metaclinic, which provides online medical consultations, has closed a $150,000 funding round at a $2 million valuation, Digitalbusiness.kz reported. The investment came from a multi-specialty clinic chain.

The Metaclinic team plans to allocate the raised funds toward further developing and scaling the service through B2B partnerships. While the startup will focus primarily on operations in Kazakhstan, it doesn’t rule out expanding into other countries in the future.

According to Metaclinic founder and CEO Nurali Ismagulov, the startup has seen more than a tenfold increase in revenue in under a year. He added that a patient seeking medical...

Vladimir Lenin’s body remains on display in the mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow. However, his monuments are not preserved across all of Russia, let alone in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, where the process of de-Sovietization is unfolding at an uneven pace.

According to the Leninstatues.ru portal, a digital archive of Lenin statues across the former Soviet Union, a total of 14,290 Lenin monuments had been erected in the USSR by 1991. Of those, 7,194 are still standing today.

On the night of June 7, 2025, a monument to Lenin was dismantled in Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second...

On June 16, Shymbulak, a well-known ski resort in Almaty, is launching a special promotional offer:  people are invited to hike up to the resort on foot before 11 a.m. each morning until June 30 in exchange for a discounted cable descend ticket and a free cup of flavored tea or coffee.

An early morning hike is a great opportunity to enjoy the mountain landscape and breathe fresh air without crowds of tourists. It’s also a healthy cardio workout.

How to reach Shymbulak

The starting point is the Medeu Ice Rink.

You can reach it by bus No. 12, which...

Central Asia — and Kazakhstan in particular — is quickly gaining popularity among travelers from both the West and Asia. But like any destination, Kazakhstan has its quirks that might feel unusual or even a bit surprising to first-time visitors.

Dim evening lighting

Some travelers, especially those who visited Almaty (Kazakhstan’s largest city), have remarked that the streets can feel quite dark at night. While that doesn’t mean the city is pitch-black, the lack of strong street lighting can make evening strolls feel a little unfamiliar. That said, many locals are perfectly used to it, and some visitors barely notice...

Kazakhstan reported the discovery of 38 new deposits of copper, nickel, coal, gold and rare earth metals in the first quarter of 2025, according to a government statement.

The discoveries followed extensive geological studies, including aerial photograph analysis, route surveys, drilling, geochemical testing, radiation and water sampling, and desk research.

The newly identified deposits are estimated to contain:

The total area of geological and geophysical exploration in Kazakhstan is expected to expand to 2.2 million square...

Ay Yola, an ethnic music band from the Republic of Bashkortostan — a republic within the Russian Federation — has released a music video for their song «Yola,» a portion of which was filmed in Kazakhstan.

The band revealed that the video was filmed across three countries; however, fans have recognized landscapes from Kazakhstan and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

«‘Yola’ means traditions on which the world rests. This song was the starting point for us and has become the heart of our trio,» Ay Yola shared on social media.

Kazakhstani viewers spotted many familiar...

In 15 years, the Kyrgyz may begin speaking and writing in Kazakh, warned Kyrgyz Wikipedian Chorobek Saadanbekov, as reported by the Qaz365.kz news portal.

Sister languages

According to Saadanbekov, when users make requests in the Kyrgyz language on ChatGPT, the system sometimes inserts Kazakh words in its responses. This happens because the ChatGPT training database contains significantly more text and vocabulary in Kazakh than in Kyrgyz. As a result, when the system cannot find the necessary data in Kyrgyz, it automatically substitutes Kazakh words.

«If we don’t pay enough attention to developing the Kyrgyz language...

On June 11, the U.K. government announced it would allocate up to £750 million (approximately $1 billion) toward a supercomputing project based in Edinburgh, Scotland, as part of the latest Spending Review. The move marks a turnaround from last August, when an £800 million initiative proposed by the then-governing Conservatives was dismissed by the current Labour administration, citing a lack of allocated funding, Sky News reported.

According to the document, the project’s goal is to build the most powerful supercomputer in the U.K. The government press release stated that the new machine will be integrated into the...

Roca Group, a Barcelona-based global company specializing in bathroom space solutions, will build a sanitaryware manufacturing facility in the Kyzylorda region of Kazakhstan. The company plans to invest €70 million in the project over the next two years.

Once fully operational, the plant will have a capacity of 500,000 sanitaryware pieces per year, serving both the domestic market and neighboring Central Asian countries. The project, located in the Ondiris industrial zone, is expected to create 300 new jobs.

Roca Group is one of the world’s leading companies in the industry. It operates 78 plants worldwide and employs over 20,000 people...

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has expressed his condolences to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the air crash in Ahmedabad.

According to his press service, the president sent his words of support to the victims’ families and wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the crash.

On June 12, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operated by Air India, carrying 242 people, crashed a few minutes after takeoff while en route from Ahmedabad Airport to London. Preliminary reports indicate that the aircraft crashed into a doctors’ hostel near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

A flight operated by Air India has crashed near Ahmedabad airport on June 12 with a death toll of at least 133 lives, as reported by News18.com.
 
The aircraft crashed into a doctors’ hostel shortly after takeoff, while en route to London, local media reported.
 
Authorities stated that Air traffic control at Ahmedabad Airport received a “Mayday” call from the aircraft, indicating an emergency, but there was no further communication later.
 
There were 242 people on board, including two pilots and 12 flight attendants. The passengers comprised 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
 
Indian authorities have not yet released...

German automotive giant Volkswagen has announced plans to begin car production in Uzbekistan in partnership with UzAvtosanoat, the state-owned holding company that oversees the country’s car manufacturing sector. The news was shared by Martin Sander, a member of Volkswagen’s management board responsible for sales and service, via his LinkedIn page.

Sander noted that rising incomes in Uzbekistan have made the country ripe for growth in the automotive industry. He said the Volkswagen brand is particularly appealing to middle-class consumers seeking high-quality, reliable vehicles. As part of the plan, the company also intends to establish vehicle deliveries from China.

SpaceX, the company that developed and operates the Starlink satellite internet constellation, has signed an agreement with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, promising to comply with local legislation when providing satellite internet.

Beginning in the third quarter of 2025, Kazakhstanis will be able to purchase Starlink terminals officially. According to Digital Minister Zhaslan Madiyev, the project will provide high-speed internet to users in remote regions, including rural schools and medical institutions.

«Kazakhstan is a country with a large territory and a dispersed population. To provide high-quality internet to all segments of the...

After a successful streak of four victories in the group stage of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Nations Cup in Hanoi, Vietnam, Kazakhstan’s national women’s volleyball team was swept by the Philippines with a 0-3 scoreline (21-25, 15-25, 19-25).

Yesterday, the Kazakh team performed well in a match against Iran (winning 3-1), securing a spot in the semifinals before the end of the group stage — but losing the team’s leader Sana Anarkulova to injury.

Even though Kazakhstani athletes did their best, it wasn’t enough to win a single set. As in the previous match, Tatyana Nikitina delivered the most...

A neural network-generated reimagining of the «Harry Potter» saga has surfaced, offering a fresh perspective on what the characters might look like if they were Kazakh. The images have sparked buzz online, with some commenters saying the new cast looks even better than the original movie characters.

The project gained traction after Kazakh blogger Damir Murzagulov shared a video on Instagram featuring AI-rendered versions of the beloved characters. While Murzagulov is no stranger to experimenting with neural networks, this particular video quickly went viral, racking up more than 120,000 views in a single day.

Dmitry Dubovitsky, a popular Kazakhstani blogger and owner of the «Chto po dengam?» (What about the money?) podcast, recently explored why some Kazakhstanis like current U.S. President Donald Trump, whether he might run for a third term and what the potential consequences of that move could be.

Together with his guest economist Eldar Shamsutdinov, he broke down Trump’s domestic and international policy and the kind of impact it could have on Kazakhstan. The podcasters suggested that the U.S. president has earned respect among some Kazakhstanis, especially those born and raised in the Soviet Union, who often believe that charismatic...

British singer Robbie Williams, the headliner on the first day of the Park Live Almaty 2025 festival, addressed his Kazakh audience in a short video. The artist shared that he’s looking forward to performing in Kazakhstan this fall.

«Salam, Kazakhstan! Robbie Williams here. I can’t wait to entertain you in Kazakhstan on September 4th. And, strictly between us, I think, when I’m there, I might try kumis,» said Williams, who released his album “Britpop” and the single “Rocket” this year.

The recently concluded U.S.-China trade talks, which resumed on June 9 in London, focused on easing tensions over rare earth elements and advanced technology. These developments could place Kazakhstan and Ukraine at the forefront of the search for alternative sources of critical minerals.

President Donald Trump has authorized his trade team, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to relax certain export restrictions on U.S. goods to China that were originally imposed over national security concerns. In exchange for easing or halting some of those restrictions, the U.S. wants China to release high volumes of rare earth materials, as...

The new World Bank (WB) forecast for Kazakhstan’s GDP growth is 0.2 percentage points lower than the January estimate. The decline was the most significant among Central Asian countries, according to the organization’s report. More generally, the WB expects Kazakhstan’s GDP growth in 2025 to reach 4.5%.

Nevertheless, expectations for GDP growth this year increased by 0.1 percentage points, reaching 3.6%. In 2027, the WB expects the country’s key economic indicator to grow by 3.5%. The bank’s estimates for 2027 were published for the first time.

On the other hand, the 2025 GDP forecast for Uzbekistan increased by 0.1 percentage...

Kazakhstan’s UrbanTech company Qala AI has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nippon Koei, a prominent Japanese engineering consulting firm, to collaborate on the development and introduction of digital solutions for sustainable urban development. The partnership includes a focus on seismic risk analysis of Almaty’s infrastructure, as reported by Digitalbusiness.kz.

«This collaboration marks a strategic step toward developing and implementing digital solutions for smart city planning and seismic risk analysis in Almaty. As the city faces growing seismic risks, our joint efforts will focus on enhancing urban resilience and sustainable infrastructure development,» Dana Shukirbayeva, co-founder...