President tasks to enhance diversification of East Kazakhstan region’s economy
Images | Akorda
Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has received today the governor of the East Kazakhstan region, Nurymbet Saktaganov, Kazinform News Agency learned from the Akorda press service.
According to the governor, over 400,000 square meters of housing were commissioned in the region and 46 new productions facilities were opened.
18 healthcare facilities were opened and another six were overhauled under the "Rural Healthcare Modernization" national project.
Five schools were commissioned under the Comfortable School national project, with seven more to be built to address the shortage of school places.
Together with the Otbasy Bank a regional preferential mortgage program has been launched to support the representatives of working professions.
By the end of 2026, the region plans to completely solve the problem of drinking water. Eight water supply projects worth 14 billion tenge will be implemented for this purpose.
In the nearest two years, local authorities plan to attract at least 1.5 trillion tenge of investment, to build 700 thousand square meters of housing, 28 social facilities and repair more than 600 kilometers of roads.
The President set a task to enhance the work in diversification of the region’s economy, expand the export of processed products and attract investment.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted that priority attention should be given to tackling ecological problems and improvement of transport infrastructure.
Earlier, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set a number of tasks to Ulytau region's governor Dastan Ryspekov, regarding transport and logistics capacity expansion, infrastructure modernization, quality provision of medical services, ensuring the safety of people's drinking water and addressing environmental issues.
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Ministry of Energy plans to overhaul 10 power units, 63 boilers, 39 turbines at TPPs
Large-scale maintenance works were carried out across the country, including repairs on 10 power units, 55 boilers, and 45 turbines last year. All works were completed in line with the approved schedule, Kazinform News Agency reports.
The repair works allowed to reduce the average wear level of heat sources from 65% to 61%, which has positively impacted the reliability of energy supply," said Kazakh Vice Minister of Energy Sungat Yessimkhanov at a briefing at the Central Communications Service.
Additionally, the ministry reported a 9.7% decrease in technical disruptions over the year-from 2,026 to 1,829 cases compared to 2023.
To strengthen energy security and system stability, 771 MW of new capacity was commissioned in 2024. This included the restoration of Unit No. 1 (500 MW) at Ekibastuz GRES-1, replacement of Turbine No. 6 (65 MW) at Atyrau TPP, and modernization of boiler No. 8 at Zhezkazgan TPP, adding 43 MW in total. Additionally, renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 163.35 MW were commissioned," told Sungat Yessimkhanov.
The Ministry of Energy introduced several measures to prepare for the heating season and boost energy reliability. These included adjustments to the electricity price caps, an increase in tariffs, and approval of an annual limit for return on investments.
As a result, funding for repair work in 2024 rose to 327 billion tenge, which is 44% more than in the previous year. This enabled energy enterprises to successfully get through the heating season.
To prepare for the next heating period, the Ministry of Energy plans to overhaul 10 power units, 63 boilers, and 39 turbines at the country's thermal power plants. 3 power units, 12 boilers, and 4 turbines are being repaired now.
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The future of news and AI: Key insights from the II Central Asian Media Forum
Images | gov.kz
At the II Central Asian Media Forum session titled "Digital Transformation of Media in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data" prominent experts in media gathered to discuss the impact of AI on journalism and media regulations, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Iain McDonald, creative director at CNN, described the ongoing evolution of the media landscape as both long-running and rapidly accelerating.
Transformation is a huge word in the media. I feel like we have been undergoing it for at least 20 years, but the rate of change, particularly brought about by AI, has really increased over the past four, five, six years," said the creative director at CNN.
McDonald, who works across creative and tech teams, highlighted the growing influence of generative AI, particularly in advertising and content production. However, he stressed the need to separate assistive AI from generative AI when discussing news. He warned that removing the human touch risks damaging trust and authenticity - key values in journalism.
Building on the conversation around technology and responsibility, media law expert Dr. Venkat Iyer turned the spotlight to the legal and ethical challenges of regulating digital platforms.
Dr. Venkat stressed that while regulation is necessary, it must not come at the cost of fundamental freedoms. "If you over-regulate, you may damage certain important key interests - most notably, freedom of expression," he said.
The media law expert cautioned against reactionary legislation, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach.
The trick is to get the correct balance, and that has not always happened for a variety of reasons. The reasons may be political, they may be ideological, they may sometimes be economic, and, of course, nowadays there is also the challenge of technology," says Dr. Venkat.
Dr. Iyer also highlighted the limited effectiveness of international regulation, emphasizing that most regulatory power remains at the national level due to the principle of sovereignty. He noted that few countries are willing to let international law dictate their internal policies. However, he stressed that international dialogue and cooperation are still possible - though only on a voluntary basis.
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Global economic situation urges preparedness for any scenarios of its development, Kazakh President
Images | Akorda
The Head of State, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, held a working meeting of the Kazakh Security Council, Kazinform News Agency learnt from the Akorda press service.
Those present debated the action plan amid the changes of the situation in the global markets following tariff-related conflicts.
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzash Bektenov, Chairman of the National Bank Timur Suleimenov and others attended the meeting.
The Head of State noted the current global economic situation is unstable and urges preparedness for any scenarios of its development.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev defined the main directions for the work ahead.
The President said the goal of the Government is to prevent a decrease in people’s welfare, economic growth rates and volume of tarted investments.
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Kazakhstan spends nearly KZT6bln on national sports development
Kazakhstan spent 4.8 billion tenge from local budgets and 1.2 billion tenge from the national budget for the development of national sports in 2024, Kazinform News Agency quotes Vice Minister of Tourism and Sport Serik Zharasbayev as saying.
According to him, 11 national sports have been officially registered in the country.
Statistical data shows that around 700,000 people in Kazakhstan have been engaged in national sports by the end of 2024, with 1,700 coaches training them. Some 1,000 coaches are employed in rural areas. 17 specialized sports clubs, 15 sports schools, and one national directorate are operating across the country.
The Association of National Sports of Kazakhstan, which unites 10 federations, supports the development of national sports at the republican level," noted Serik Zharasbayev.
He also reminded that Yerkebulan Iliyassov had been appointed as the president of the Association.
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Olzhas Bektenov instructs to continue monitoring and be ready for prompt measures
Images | Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan
At the Government session chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, the issue of flood situation in the country was considered, primeminister.kz reports.
In general, Kazakhstan has a stable passage of the flood period. Thus, timely measures taken in Aktobe, Atyrau, West Kazakhstan and Kostanay regions allowed to prevent flooding of houses and damage to the population of these regions. At the same time, the water level is forecast to rise on the Esil River in North Kazakhstan region. In mountainous areas of East Kazakhstan region there are snow reserves about 50%.
In Akmola region in early April over 100 residential houses were flooded. Today the situation is recognised as not critical, the peak has passed. Inadequate engineering works on protection of settlements, poor planning and implementation of flood control measures were named as the causes of waterlogging. For example, in the village of Stary Koluton, works on cleaning, bank reinforcement and dredging of the Koluton River were carried out only on a 3 kilometre stretch, while the project envisaged works on 11 kilometres. As a result, houses were flooded due to the river overflow. In addition, the town of Makinsk was flooded.
It should be noted that the same settlements are subjected to waterlogging every year in the region. It means that the measures taken in Akmola region are not effective enough. Marat Muratovich, revise your plans and do all the necessary work this year. Provide the necessary assistance and help to people whose houses and plots have been flooded. I instruct the Ministry for Emergency Situations together with interested state agencies to continue round-the-clock monitoring of the flood situation. Forces and means should always be ready for prompt response," Olzhas Bektenov stressed.
Following the results of the Government meeting Prime Minister gave a number of instructions to the relevant ministries and regional akimats:
- Akimats of Akmola, Abay, East Kazakhstan and North Kazakhstan regions should take all measures to prevent complication of the flood situation, responsibly and promptly respond, inform the authorised state bodies and the leadership of the country. It is also necessary to establish clear feedback with the population and immediately respond to their appeals for help.
- The Ministry of Water Resources and akimats have been instructed to keep special control over the filling of reservoirs and water bodies, especially those located in the northern and eastern regions of the country. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the safety of hydraulic structures.
- Ministries for Emergency Situations, Internal Affairs and regional akimats should ensure control over the situation in case of complication of the situation. In case of necessity to transfer forces and means.
- The Ministry of Transport together with regional Akimats should take measures to restore the damaged road infrastructure. It is necessary to ensure constant monitoring of the condition of roads and bridges.
- The Ministry of Ecology, when receiving information about the deterioration of the weather forecast, should promptly bring storm warnings to the concerned state bodies.
- The Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry should continue work on flood forecasting and modelling, and finalise the Tasqyn information system.
- Taking into account last year's floods, within a week to complete the work on updating all normative legal acts on emergency response and assistance to the population.
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