Our People > Dmitry Pokidaev

Dmitry Pokidaev

Journalist

Dmitry Pokidaev is a journalist based in Astana, Kazakhstan, with experience at some of the country's top media outlets. Before his career in journalism, Pokidaev worked as an academic, teaching Russian language and literature.

Articles

Artificial intelligence

AI E-Government in Kazakhstan Expands Into Jobs and Benefits

Kazakhstan is preparing a deeper overhaul of its e-government system, with artificial intelligence expected to identify which service citizens need, match unemployed people with vacancies, and assist officials in identifying potential recipients of social assistance. The plans were outlined at a government meeting on August 11 by Minister of AI and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev and Minister of Labor and Social Protection Askarbek Yertayev. Several are expected to expand nationwide by the end of 2026. eGov GPT, which the government was testing earlier this year, currently works with 50 of the most frequently used public services. According to Madiyev, these account for around 30% of citizens’ requests. The government plans to increase that share to 70% by the end of the year. Madiyev said the assistant was used more than 150,000 times during its first four months. An official government description of the system says it can identify the appropriate public service from a user's request and help complete it online. The idea is for users to simply describe their situation in ordinary language, for example, “I need to register my address” or “My child is starting school this year.” eGov GPT identifies the relevant procedure, helps prepare the application, and guides it through the government system. Kazakhstan began building its e-government system in the 2000s, long before the current boom in generative AI. In the latest UN E-Government Survey, the country ranked 24th among 193 states, the highest position in Central Asia. The index assesses countries' online public services alongside the infrastructure and human capacity needed to use them. What is changing now is the way citizens interact with the state. Previously, digitizing a service meant that instead of travelling to a Public Service Centre, Kazakhstan’s equivalent of a government service centre, a citizen could fill in the required form online. The new model is intended to remove part of that work as well. According to Madiyev, the number of requests handled directly by Public Service Centre staff has already fallen by around 30%. The authorities plan gradually to transform the centres into what they call AI offices. Visitors will be able to submit a request through eGov GPT, apply for an identity card, passport, or driving licence through a terminal, and collect the finished document from a parcel locker, including at weekends. The government has not said what the shift will mean for staffing levels at the centres. Nevertheless, authorities plan to go considerably further in the labor market. A new Digital Employment Service will compare government-held information on an unemployed person’s occupation, qualifications, and skills with employers’ requirements. The Labor Ministry describes the idea as moving towards a model in which “the person does not look for a job, but the job finds the person”. When a match is found, the citizen will receive an offer through eGov, the state employment portal Enbek.kz, or an SMS from the 1414 service number. The system will also be able to recommend training or retraining, or suggest relocation if a...

2 weeks ago

Land Degradation

Kazakh Environmental Group Proposes Trials of Chinese Land-Restoration Technologies

Around 29 million hectares of land in Kazakhstan are affected by erosion, while 27.1 million hectares of pastureland are degraded. Kazakhstan’s environmental association ECOJER is proposing trials of Chinese technologies to retain soil moisture, reduce pesticide use, and restore land in the country’s arid regions. ECOJER representatives studied these technologies during a visit to China’s Hunan province. The association was particularly interested in biological fertilizers, targeted spraying, specialized seed treatment, and methods for restoring pastureland. According to ECOJER, targeted spraying can reduce the use of chemical pesticides by 30-50%. For degraded pastures, Chinese specialists use bio-organic additives and ground-cover crops. These stabilize the topsoil and help retain moisture. According to data presented to the association, the soil’s moisture-retention capacity could increase by 20-30%. These figures have not yet been tested in Kazakhstan. Another area concerns carbon farming. ECOJER proposes creating a digital map of organic carbon content in the country’s soils and assessing the amount of CO₂ absorbed by agricultural land after soil conservation technologies are introduced. The association estimates the potential additional absorption at 15-30 million tonnes of CO₂ a year. There is currently no independent confirmation of this estimate. “For Kazakhstan, the key task is to model the carbon content of soils and assess their exact sequestration potential. This will make it possible to determine the environmental contribution of our land to decarbonization while also providing an economic benefit for farmers through additional returns from climate projects,” said ECOJER CEO Rustem Kabzhanov. Kazakhstan has already begun research in this area. In 2025, the KAZ AGRO CARBON agroclimatic carbon testing site opened in the Akmola region. Soil carbon content and greenhouse gas fluxes are measured at the site. Following the visit, ECOJER also proposed establishing a joint Chinese-Kazakh center for carbon farming. The center is intended to test drought-resistant varieties and soil restoration technologies. For now, the project remains at the proposal stage. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that ECOJER had been granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC.

3 weeks ago

Urban Air Mobility

Kazakhstan Advances Air Taxi Plans After First Passenger Flight

Kazakhstan has taken another step toward launching autonomous air taxis after completing the country's first passenger flight aboard a pilotless electric aircraft. The demonstration flight of the Chinese-built EH216-S took place in Astana during the Games of the Future 2026. Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev became the first passenger to fly aboard the aircraft in Kazakhstan, later describing the experience as "not frightening at all." The demonstration marks the beginning of preparations for the practical deployment of urban air mobility. Initially, the aircraft are expected to operate short sightseeing flights lasting between five and 30 minutes. Their role could later expand to include emergency medical response, the delivery of medicines, wildfire support and other emergency services. Infrastructure for the new transport system is planned in Astana, Almaty and Alatau City. According to the Ministry of Transport, Kazakhstan has already adopted the core regulatory framework governing eVTOL aircraft and vertiports. Rules for unmanned air traffic management are also in place. Developed by China's Guangzhou EHang Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd., the two-seat EH216-S electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft can reach speeds of up to 130 km/h and fly as far as 35 kilometers on a single charge. During the demonstration, it was operated remotely from a ground control station. Sauranbayev said confidence in the technology was reinforced by the aircraft's operational experience in China. Alongside the flight demonstrations, EHang is discussing the possible localization of aircraft production in Kazakhstan. According to the company's sales director, Darren Xiao, potential manufacturing partners include Kazakh vehicle producers Allur and QazTehna. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Alatau City, currently under construction near Almaty, is expected to become one of the first locations in Kazakhstan to introduce regular air taxi services as part of a new urban transport network.

3 weeks ago

Wheat

Kazakhstan Flour Exports Surge as Afghanistan Drives Demand

Kazakhstan is heading for its strongest wheat flour export season in years, reviving an industry that once made the country the world's largest flour exporter. Exports are forecast to reach 2.12 million tonnes in the 2025/26 marketing year, according to Yevgeny Karabanov, chairman of the Analytics Committee of the Grain Union of Kazakhstan. Shipments had already reached 1.87 million tonnes after ten months, up 18.3% from a year earlier. That is a substantial volume by global standards. Kazakhstan exported 1.88 million tonnes of wheat flour in 2024, making it the world's second-largest exporter by volume after Turkey. The country has been an even bigger player in the past: around 15 years ago, Kazakhstan was the world's leading flour exporter, although its share of the market subsequently declined as competitors expanded their own milling industries. Afghanistan is central to the current recovery. In 2024, it bought about 1.23 million tonnes of Kazakh flour, roughly two-thirds of Kazakhstan's total exports, and Karabanov said shipments increased by a further 21.5% during the first ten months of the current season. Wheat flour is simply wheat that has been milled into the powder used to make bread and other foods, but the distinction matters for Kazakhstan. Exporting flour allows Kazakh companies to carry out the processing – and retain more of the value – before the product crosses the border. Exporting raw wheat leaves that business to mills in the importing country. That shift is already visible in Uzbekistan. Its purchases of Kazakh flour fell 15.8% during the period cited by Karabanov, while its imports of Kazakh wheat rose by 35%, as more grain is processed domestically. Afghanistan may eventually move in the same direction: its government has raised the tariff on imported flour while lowering duties on wheat in an effort to support domestic mills. Wheat imports subsequently jumped sharply in March and April. For now, however, Afghanistan remains heavily dependent on its neighbors for basic food supplies. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated its cereal import requirement at 3.7 million tonnes in 2025/26, mostly wheat flour, citing limited domestic milling capacity. Dry conditions have also affected Afghan wheat production. Meanwhile, Pakistan closed its main Torkham and Chaman border crossings after clashes in October, disrupting another important Afghan trade route. Kazakhstan's flour revival forms part of a wider increase in agricultural exports. From September 2025 to July 30, 2026, the country exported 13.9 million tonnes of grain and flour in grain equivalent, up 12.6% year-on-year, with Uzbekistan and Afghanistan among the main destinations. The growth also fits Kazakhstan's broader attempt to make more money from its grain before exporting it. Earlier, The Times of Central Asia reported that the country plans to increase its grain deep-processing capacity nearly tenfold by 2028, targeting products with greater added value than raw grain.

3 weeks ago

Games of the Future

Peru’s PlayTime Wins Dota 2 Title at Astana Games of the Future

Peruvian team PlayTime won the $1 million Dota 2 tournament at the Games of the Future 2026 in Astana, defeating China's Yakult Brothers 3-0 in the grand final. The 16-team competition included clubs from China, Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, and Kazakhstan. PlayTime received $350,000, while Yakult Brothers earned $160,000 as runners-up. China's Team Resilience claimed third place after defeating Kazakhstan's Rune Eaters 2-0. Team Resilience collected $120,000, while Rune Eaters received $70,000 for finishing fourth. Team Resilience player Kongbo "Niu" Li said the team gained confidence after the opening map and maintained control throughout the series, according to the official Games of the Future website. For Rune Eaters, the highlight was a quarterfinal victory over China's LGD.Pinghu. Alim "aik" Bespayev said the win was the emotional high point of the team's campaign, while the semifinal defeat affected its preparation for the third-place match. Rune Eaters finished fourth after reaching the semifinals. The Games of the Future run from July 29 to August 9, bringing together more than 800 athletes representing over 50 nationalities across eight phygital and esports disciplines. The updated total prize pool is $4.65 million. The Games began in Kazan in 2024 and were held in Abu Dhabi in 2025. Astana is the first Central Asian city to host the tournament. Kazakhstan was selected over Peru and Chile after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed bringing the Games to the country during the inaugural event in Kazan. Earlier, The Times of Central Asia reported that China's 17 Gaming became the first champions of the Astana Games after winning the PUBG: Battlegrounds tournament.

3 weeks ago

International Olympiad

Astana Hosts Largest International AI Olympiad to Date

More than 500 high school students from 106 countries have gathered in Astana for the third International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence, making it the largest edition in the event’s three-year history. The competition runs from August 2 to 8. The Olympiad is being held under UNESCO patronage. Astana was selected in March after developments in the Middle East led organizers to relocate the event from Abu Dhabi. The IOAI cited safety, ease of travel, government support, and the experience of the local organizing team among the reasons for choosing Kazakhstan. The main individual competition consists of two six-hour rounds. The first, held on August 4, developed themes introduced in preparatory work completed before the event. A second round on August 6 will present three new problems. Contestants work in Python and primarily use Jupyter Notebook, with medals decided by their combined scores across the two rounds. Before arriving in Astana, students were given a month to work through three educational tasks that did not count toward the final results. One asked them to train a model to guide a delivery robot to a package and then take it to the correct destination while avoiding obstacles. Another was an AI version of Twenty Questions, requiring contestants to identify a hidden animal from roughly 1,400 possibilities using no more than 15 yes-or-no questions. There is also a team robotics competition. After an opening simulation round, the ten highest-scoring teams moved to Alem.ai to adapt and debug their programs ahead of a live final using Galbot robots on August 7. The format tests whether code developed in a simulated environment can work on physical machines. This year’s program also includes a separate AI Models Track. Research laboratories and technology companies can enter AI systems that attempt the same type of machine-learning problems as the students. The systems compete remotely in two six-hour sessions and must write and submit their solutions without human assistance beyond starting or restarting the process. The Olympiad has grown quickly. Its inaugural edition in Burgas, Bulgaria brought together nearly 200 students in 2024. The following year, 310 students from 63 countries and territories competed in Beijing. The Astana field is more than 60% larger than last year’s. Kazakhstan enters the competition with a strong record of its own. Its students won three gold, one silver, and three bronze medals in Beijing last year. The local host is the Competitive Programming Federation of Kazakhstan, which has previously staged the ICPC World Finals and international science olympiads. Opening the event, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the participants’ work could lead to new solutions in medicine, education, environmental protection, and other fields. He linked the Olympiad to his goal of turning Kazakhstan into a fully digital state within three years and to the designation of 2026 as the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. He also acknowledged that the country was only at the beginning of that process. Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan ranks 24th among 193 countries in the United Nations E-Government Development...

3 weeks ago

Football

PSG Academy Kazakhstan to Open in Astana

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has announced the opening of its first football academy in Kazakhstan, extending the club's global youth development network into Central Asia. The training center is due to begin operating in Astana in September. According to PSG, Kazakhstan becomes the 24th country to join the PSG Academy network. Up to 300 boys and girls aged between six and 14 will begin training in September at the Air Arena indoor sports complex, which has an artificial pitch meeting FIFA standards. Local coaches will also undergo training based on the club's development program and receive continuing support from PSG’s technical staff in Paris. According to Almaz Alsenov, the founder of PSG Academy Kazakhstan, the organizers intend to expand beyond the capital by opening regional academies across the country. However, no locations or timetable for this expansion have been announced. The PSG Academy network includes more than 200 training centers across what the club describes as 24 countries, providing football education to over 50,000 children each year. Unlike PSG’s selective professional youth academy, its international academies operate as franchised football schools and accept children of all ability levels. Comparable PSG Academy programs in other countries charge participation fees. The Astana academy has not published its prices or announced a scholarship scheme, making it difficult to assess how accessible it will be to lower-income families. In 2025, Kazakhstan became one of the first countries to sign an agreement to join FIFA Arena, a global initiative under which FIFA is funding 100 mini-football pitches at Kazakh schools, primarily in smaller towns and rural areas. The program is due to be completed by 2027. According to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Tourism and Sports, football is the country's most widely played sport, with more than 1.1 million regular participants and over 40,000 young players training at 242 youth sports schools. Dastan Satpayev’s move to Chelsea has also raised the international profile of Kazakh football. On July 28, the Kazakhstan international scored in his first appearance for Chelsea during a 6-4 pre-season victory over Western Sydney Wanderers. His transfer from Kairat is due to take effect when he turns 18 on August 12.

3 weeks ago

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Kazakhstan Considers Oilseed-Based Aviation Fuel Project with Hong Kong Investor

Kazakhstan is considering a plant in Alatau City to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from industrial oilseeds in cooperation with Hong Kong investment firm Full Vision Capital. Deputy Agriculture Minister Azat Sultanov said at a government meeting on August 4 that the proposal was under consideration. Alatau City is a new city near Almaty operating under a special legal regime. An industry analysis published on June 18 said Kazakhstan's three refineries produced about 750,000-760,000 metric tons of aviation kerosene in 2025, while total demand was estimated at 1.2 million tons. The analysis, citing Ministry of Energy data, said domestic production covered the needs of domestic airlines, but international carriers and transit or cargo operations left an overall shortfall of roughly 450,000 tons. Russia has traditionally supplied much of the balance. Ukrainian drone attacks have disrupted Russian refineries in 2026, affecting fuel exports to Central Asia. Jet fuel exports by rail to Central Asia and Afghanistan fell by more than 92% in June from May, while Russia restricted exports of jet fuel and other refined products, Reuters reported. Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Sultanov said the government was expanding support for agricultural processing projects that produce higher-value goods. "To expand exports, including to more distant markets, we are developing deeper processing industries," Sultanov said. "Alongside major projects producing starches, amino acids, gluten, feed additives and other value-added products, the administration of Alatau City, together with Full Vision Capital, is also considering a project to produce aviation fuel from oilseed crops." The August 4 remarks followed discussions held in July. Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov met company representatives on July 9 to discuss SAF production from industrial oilseeds, with agricultural and food waste considered as additional feedstock. A day earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev met a delegation from Towngas and Full Vision Capital to discuss a possible SAF plant using EcoCeres technology in Alatau City. Full Vision Capital is the family office of Hong Kong businessman Peter Lee. Its portfolio includes EcoCeres, which produces SAF and hydrotreated vegetable oil. Officials in Kazakhstan have identified Alatau City as a priority location for the proposed plant, which remains under discussion. The proposal would add a domestic source of aviation fuel if it proceeds. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan is also considering processing Russian crude at its refineries, with part of the output sold domestically and part returned to Russia.

3 weeks ago

Games of the Future

China’s 17 Gaming Wins PUBG: Battlegrounds Title at Kazakhstan’s Games of the Future

China’s 17 Gaming became the first champion crowned at the Games of the Future 2026 in Astana after winning the three-day PUBG: Battlegrounds competition. Sixteen teams played 15 matches for shares of a $1 million prize fund. 17 Gaming received $300,000 for first place. This was DIGA Esports’ first tournament of this scale. The Kazakhstani team finished 14th with 59 points and received $15,000. It won the eighth match in front of the home crowd at Beeline Arena. “The first day was about adapting to the tournament. It became easier on the second day, and I think we performed well on the third,” DIGA Esports player Sanzhar Kaliyev said in comments published by the Games of the Future. “Some of our players had never even competed in major European tournaments before, while here we were facing world champions. So finishing 14th against teams of this caliber is not a bad result for newcomers.” Kazakhstan approved a government esports development strategy in June 2025. The document estimated that around 3.5 million people in the country were interested in esports and online gaming in 2024. The strategy calls for leagues in schools and universities. It also proposes regional competitions and at least one national or international esports tournament each year. A Central Asian esports hub is listed as a long-term goal. Kazakhstan has also hosted other major competitions. In 2025, Astana staged PGL Astana 2025, a Counter-Strike 2 tournament organized by the Bucharest-based esports company PGL. Almaty hosted the PUBG Mobile Super League Central & South Asia. The sector has also received increased government support and investment. Phygital basketball is the next discipline to conclude, with its champion due to be decided on August 3. Running until August 9, the tournament features more than 800 competitors representing over 50 nationalities across eight disciplines and has a total prize fund of $4.65 million. Competitions include esports and phygital disciplines held in both digital and physical stages.

4 weeks ago

Robot Delivery

Kazakhstan Tests Yandex Robot Couriers in Astana

Astana has begun testing robot couriers for grocery deliveries in selected areas of the capital, allowing some residents to receive orders from Yandex Lavka without a human courier. Under the pilot project, customers within the service zone can select robot delivery when ordering through the Yandex Go app. The small autonomous vehicles travel along pavements before stopping outside the customer’s address, where the storage compartment can be opened using the app. The project is being run by Yandex Qazaqstan with the Astana city administration, the city police department and the municipal technology company Astana Innovations, according to an announcement by the Astana authorities. The robots use cameras and other sensors to identify pedestrians and obstacles, and travel at around 6 kilometers per hour. Initial street testing began on July 15, before the service was opened to regular Yandex Lavka customers later in the month. In a statement issued by the Astana city administration, Gizat Amirgali, chairman of Astana Innovations, said the trial would be used to assess the safety and reliability of autonomous deliveries in ordinary urban conditions, as well as customer responses to the service. Yandex has operated robot couriers in Russian cities for several years and is expanding their use. In March, the company said its robots had completed more than one million deliveries and traveled over two million kilometers in Russia, although the Astana project remains a small and geographically limited trial. The launch comes as Kazakhstan experiments with several forms of automated delivery and transport. A separate drone-delivery pilot, planned for Almaty, is intended to test the transport of food, medicines and everyday goods over short urban routes.

4 weeks ago

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