Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's interim president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, called a snap presidential election for June 9 on April 9 and looked to be in pole position to continue ruling the oil-rich Central Asian nation.

At a joint meeting of the two chambers, Kazakhstan's parliament passed a law renaming the state capital Astana to Nursultan in honor of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, TASS reported.

The members of the Magglias (Lower House) and Senate (upper) unanimously voted in favor of the proposal. The law is considered adopted and is now due to be signed by the president.

Kazakhstan's parliament on March 20 voted to rename the country's capital in honor of long-time ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev, a day after he resigned as president.

The head of Kazakhstan's Senate was sworn in as interim president in a pomp-filled ceremony on March 20, and immediately proposed renaming the country's capital after his predecessor.

"I have decided to resign," he said, TASS reported.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, said yesterday that he was resigning as the oil-rich Central Asian nation's leader after three decades in power.

Local businesses in Dobrich are deepening cooperation and look at markets in Kazakhstan, Mayor Yordan Yordanov told Focus Radio after yesterday's meeting of the local government and businesses with Kazakhstan's Ambassador, Temirtay Izbastin. The aim was to present Kazakhstan as a potential new market to small, medium and major businesses in Dobrich.

Right now, in modern circumstances where there are heightened tensions among the global players, for Kazakhstan, the biggest challenge we see is to contribute to the reduction of these tensions among these key-players, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko told AGERPRES in an interview.

Vucic recalled that it is now difficult to get investments from Turkey because of the high inflation rate and the minimum wage of 210 euros in that country - much lower than in Serbia. "Why should somebody come to us from Turkey, when they can pay their workers less in their own country, and find as well-trained a workforce as we have.

This took place in the presence of President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Bakydzhan Sagintayev, the Serbian government announced.