· January, 2008

Stories about Kazakhstan from January, 2008

Kazakhstan: A Hidden Billionaire

Lena B-Va quotes the newly released Forbes’ report on the non-public billionaires “you never heard of” – and a Kazakh citizen mentioned in the report.

30 January 2008

Uzbekistan: Perpetuum Mobile?

Ibragim says that a teenager from the academic school in Samarqand, Uzbekistan, allegedly invented a “perpetual” car engine powered by a very unusual kind of fuel – air.

24 January 2008

Kazkahstan: IKEA Comes to Kazakhstan

Joshua Foust reports that IKEA, the discount Swedish retailer which furnished a swath of my apartment, is penetrating the Kazakhstani market with opening two giant stores in Kazakhstan—one in Astana,...

23 January 2008

Rakhat Aliyev Sentenced

Zhanna Zhukova reports on the decision, announced yesterday by the court in Almaty, Kazakhstan, sentencing Rakhat Aliyev, former presidential son-in-law, to 20 years in jail for organizing of a mafia-type...

18 January 2008

Kazkahstan: Surviving or Prospering?

Kazakhstan is a country of contrasts, with no exaggeration: desperate poverty neighbors with arrogant wealth, economic growth is accompanied by decline of social sphere and expansion of state control, and...

17 January 2008

Kazkahstan: Surviving in the Steppe

Scaliger says that the famous Kazakh hospitality is vanishing into the past and recounts how people are surviving in remote rural areas — extortionate profiteering and traps for strangers are...

17 January 2008

Kazakhstan: Ex-Diplomat Sentenced to jail

KZBlog reports that Rakhat Aliyev, former diplomat and president's son-in-law, was found guilty of kidnapping, organizing a criminal group, extortion, robbery, misappropriation of state property, and fraud, and sentenced him...

17 January 2008

Kazkahstan: Two Hours in Astana

Steve LeVine updates on the conflict between the Kazakhstani government and the consortium of transnational oil companies that run the supergiant Kashagan project. At 3 a.m. today in Astana, all...

15 January 2008

Kazakhstan: Fourth Capital

Arseny is reviewing a new project of building another brand new city in Kazakhstan — this time in Aktau, Western Kazakhstan — that is to become a tourist center and...

14 January 2008