Serik Nyghmetuly Akhmetov has served as the Minister of Transportation in the Government of Kazakhstan

Government of Kazakhstan

The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan oversees a presidential republic. The President of Kazakhstan, currently Nursultan Nazarbayev, is head of state and nominates the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government...

 since President Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the nation received its independence in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union...

 appointed him on 25 September 2006. Minister Akhmetov previously served as Deputy Governor of Astana

Astana

Astana , formerly known as Akmola , Tselinograd and Akmolinsk , is the capital and second largest city of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 708,794 as of 1 August 2010...

. He has served as Chairman of the Board of the Atameken National Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers of Kazakhstan since 2005.

Russia

Akhmetov met with Igor Levitin

Igor Levitin

Igor Yevgeniyevich Levitin is a Russian political figure who has been Minister of Transport since March 9, 2004.Between 1973 and 1980 Levitin served in the Soviet armed forces in Odessa and then with the Armies Southern Division...

, the Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Transport Minister, on 25 October 2006. Akhmetov proposed building a transport corridor using preexisting roads from southern Kazakhstan through Kazan

Kazan

Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...

 and Orenburg

Orenburg

Orenburg is a city on the Ural River and the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies southeast of Moscow, very close to the border with Kazakhstan. Population: 546,987 ; 549,361 ; Highest point: 154.4 m...

 to St. Petersburg. Minister Levitin said the Russian Government would consider the proposal, but that it wanted the corridor to go through Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...

. They discussed the "transit of planes from Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

" and transportation through the Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

. Levitin plans on making a working trip to Aqtau to further discuss sea transportation. On 9 November Akhmetov and Levitin met in Aqtau, signing an agreement creating a train and ferry link between Aqtau and Makhachkala ports. The first ferry will carry 52 freight cars of grain and oil products on 10 November.

China

He traveled with Deputy Prime Minister Karim Masimov, Finance Minister Natalya Korzhova

Natalya Korzhova

-Gambling restrictions:The Security Council of Kazakhstan ruled on 13 November 2006 to restrict organized gambling in Kazakhstan to Kapchagai and Shchuchinsk after 1 January 2007...

, and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Baktykozha Izmukhambetov to Beijing, China from 16–17 November 2006 to boost bilateral relations.

External links

• Kazakhstan Works On Railroad Passenger Program To 2010
• Kazakhstan Removes Key Barriers To Leasing With Support Of IFC And USAID
• Kazakhstan Launches its First Communications Satellite
• Mazhilis: Kazakhstan’s air space sovereignty aspects
• Kazakh Premier visited Minsk scientific-production associations
• Railway in Kazakhstan: transport minister speaks out about vital Asian rail commodity turnover
• Heads of Iran-Kazakhstan joint commission meet
• HK, Kazakhstan sign Air Services Agreement
• Kazakhstan, HK sign air-services pact