REFERENCE: Astana city - brief characteristics

/IRBIS, based on conclusion of the KASE Listing commission, Dec 20, 01/ - The following information is published due to the admittance of third issue inscribed coupon bonds of local executive body of Astana city to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE). GENERAL INFORMATION Astana city was founded in 1832. Its current name the city received in 1998 (prior to 1961 the city was named Akmolinsk, from 1961 to 1992 - Tselinograd, from 1992 to 1998 - Akmola). The city is located on an area of 300 sq. km. Administrative function of the city - the capital of Kazakhstan (from 1939 to 1997 it was a regional center). Astana - is a major transportation joint that connects many regions of Kazakhstan, Russia and Central Asia. Airport of Astana is used by the airlines that connect major cities of CIS and other foreign countries. Now the population of the city is about 400 th., but the city is quickly developing, and soon the population growth (mainly due to migration) is expected to reach 500 th. As a result of an active growth of population, the need for housing is also increasing. In 2001 a total of 165 th. sq. meters of housing is to be put into exploitation, and of this number 80 th. sq. meters has been already used. Based on general development plan of the city, the building of Astana is conducted mostly on the left bank of Ishim river. The main emphasis for this year was placed first of all on the construction and development of transportation and engineering infrastructure. Therefore, particularly, the capital investments are required into existing water supply and sewage systems, as well as on the creation of these systems on the left bank of Ishim river. The economic structure of the city is represented by the enterprises of the following industries of the economy: processing of agriculture products, generation and distribution of electricity, gas and water, manufacturing of machinery and equipment, production of paper, cardboard, printing business, production of wood and wooden items, textile and clothing industry, construction, railroad, aviation and automobile transportation, communication and telecommunication. Now there are 17 major banks of Kazakhstan in Astana and their branches. On October 18, 2001 international rating agency Moody's assigned issuer's debt ratings in foreign and local currencies to Astana at "Ba3". The rating outlook is stable. INDUSTRY In 10 months of 2001 the volume of industrial output in Astana equaled KZT19.2bn in current prices, which exceeds similar figure of last year by 17.4%. The growth of production volume was achieved by the enterprises of processing industry where an improvement is observed throughout the industry. Within the industrial output the enterprises engaged in production and distribution of electricity, gas and water account for 37%, processing of agricultural products - 35%, production of non-metal minerals - 10%, other sectors of processing industry - 18%. The major factor that determined the growth of industrial output in 2000 was the increase in production and distribution of electricity by 15.0% and collection, cleaning and distribution of water - by 15.1%. The number of insolvent enterprises declined from 35 to 20. As a result of implementation of major projects in industry development, 442 workplaces were restored and created at industrial enterprises. To solve the problem of limited products sales market 11 companies of the city are actively engaged in imports substitution program. CONSTRUCTION COMPLEX There are 98 big and mid-sized construction-assembly and special organizations in Astana that participate in construction and remodeling of objects and other constructions. Besides, there are 315 small construction companies and partnerships engaged in construction works and remodeling in the city. In I half of 2001 the constructor used KZT18.8bn of capital investments, which is 188.6% growth against last year. The volume of construction- assembly works increased by 220.0% against last year, at KZT17.3bn. WATER SUPPLY AND WATER DRAINAGE The major source of drinking water and technical use water for the city is Vyacheslav water reservoir. The water is taken from the reservoir with the help of 1st level pumping station and supplied to the city through filter- pumping station through two waterways stretching for 51 km. The length of all city waterways is about 450 km. The city has a developed system of water drainage, sewage drainage from residential areas and industrial enterprises with the length of 230 km. There are also 15 district drainage system, technical and biological water purification facilities with the capacity of 136,000 cu meters a day. In order to improve the water supply system of the city in 1998 a number of new sections of the waterways were built, filter-pumping station was partially remodeled. Two drainage stations with high pressure pipes have been built with the plan of modernizing the sewage water drainage system, as well as city purification facilities have been remodeled. The development of the city requires capital investments into the reconstruction and construction of waterway and drainage network in old part of the city, as well as due to the transfer of the city's construction to the left bank of Ishim river water supply and drainage system should be built also. Therefore, among the high priority tasks of improving the water supply of the city a special attention was given to the project of the construction of the third branch of waterway from Vyacheslav water reservoir to Astana, which is entered into the list of projects of Regional Investment Program of the city for 2001. The main goal of the project is to increase the reliability and stability of water supply of the city, reduction of losses and increase in water supply due to a growth of water consumption. HEAT AND POWER SUPPLY OF THE CITY The main source of centralized heat and power supply of Astana is Astanaenergoservice OJSC. There are more than 130 autonomous and housing boilers with total capacity of more than 240 GCal/h. Production capacity of the heat and power station is 240 MW. RAILROAD TRANSPORTATION Railroad station of Astana is located on the crossroads of Kokshetau- Karagandy and Tobol-Esil-Ermeitau-Barnaul routes. More than 96% of cargo turnover of the joint is transit shipments. Several railroad and automobile routes pass through Astana such as: Central Asia - Western Siberia, Tumen, Ural, Eastern Siberia, Altai; North, Center, South of Russia; Caucasus, Ukraine. The exploitation length of the railroads is 2,096 km. AUTOMOBILE TRANSPORTATION The length of automobile roads of general purpose is 536 km in Astana. There are automobile exits with hard cover to Karagandy, Pavlodar, Kostanai and North-Kazakhstan regions. Within the city the length of the roads is 536 km, of this number only 216 km has asphalt cover and paved. Most of the passenger traffic is serviced by 6 bus, 11 taxi cab and Akmolagorelectrotrans JSC. In 2000 the automobile transportation companies carried over 68.1m passengers. The proportion of the buses and taxis is 88%, and trolley buses - 12%. AIRLINES The airport of Astana after the reconstruction of its runway that added 900 meters allows big planes with high cargo lifting capacities to land irrespective of weather conditions. It connects airlines that fly between major cities of CIS and other foreign countries. CONSUMER MARKET In 10 months of 2001 the volume of retail goods turnover through all sales channels equaled KZT28.0bn, which exceeded the volume of similar period of 2000 by 27.5%. Absolute growth of the goods turnover volume reached KZT7,756.6m against 2000. SMALL BUSINESS From the beginning of 2001 small business produced (rendered services, works) for a total of KZT32.9bn, or 111.5% more compared to similar period of 2000, and KZT2.1bn was paid to the budget (1.5 time growth). Within the goods production (rendering services, works) by the small business the biggest share is taken by the trade - 57.6%. Industrial production accounts for 16.2%, construction - 8.6%. The number of existing small businesses reached 14,803 as of November 1, 2001, including, 6,591 legal entities, 8,212 individual entrepreneurs, and the number of people working at these companies reached 41,206 or 19.8% of total number of active population. STATE ADMINISTRATION The state administration is carried out in the city by the akim of the city, who is a direct representative of the president of Kazakhstan. The akim has a control over independent executive bodies represented by the regional administrations (city, district, community) and departments and divisions (finance, economy and small business development, municipal, education, health etc). The administration of Astana city ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Position, Name duration Previous work place --------------------- ------------------------ ------------------------------ Djaksybekov Adilbek Akim of Astana from First deputy of akim of Ryskeldinovich December 1997 Akmola region Galimov Farit First deputy of akim of Chairman of the State Khabibrakhmanovich Astana from December commission of Kazakhstan on 1997 relocation of the highest and central state officials to Akmola Esilov Sansyzbai First deputy of akim of Head of administration of Seitjanovich Astana from August 2000 Akmola region akim Nigmatulin Nurlan Deputy of akim of Astana Deputy of head of Zairullaevich from February 1999 organizational-controlling deparment of Kazakhstani presidential administration Mukhamedjanov Tolegen Deputy of akim of Astana President of international Mukhamedjanovich from January 1998 public foundation "Congress of spiritual concord" Chentsov Anatolii Head of Astana akim Head of economic reforms Dmitrievich administration from department of Akmola region December 1997 akim -----------------------------------------------------------------------------