Astana Mayor appointed Defence Minister of Kazakhstan

Imangali Tasmagambetov has been appointed Kazakhstan’s Minister of Defence, Tengrinews reports citing the press-service of Akorda.

Today, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev introduced the new Defence Minister to the Ministry’s personnel.

Imangali Tasmagambetov replaced Serik Akhmetov as the country's Defence Minister.

Speaking at the meeting, the President confirmed that he accepted the resignation of Serik Akhmetov. He emphasised that the Defence Ministry was an important link in the public administration chain and called to continued upgrading the country's armed forces and reequipping them.

Before the appointment, Imangali Tasmagambetov served as the Mayor of Kazakhstan’s capital Astana from April 2008.

He was born in 1956 in Atyrau Oblast in western Kazakhstan. He graduated from Uralsk Pedagogical Institute named after Pushkin with a degree in the natural geography. He holds a Ph.D in Political Science.

In 1990s he worked as Chairman of Kazakhstan’s National Youth Committee, Assistant to Kazakhstan’s President, Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Education and Culture. He was also Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration.

In 2002, Imangali Tasmagambetov was appointed Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister. Two years later, he became Kazakhstan’s State Secretary.

In 2004, he headed the Presidential Administration, whereupon he served as the Mayor of Almaty till April 2008.

Writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina