Kazakhstan names Assel Zhanassova Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister

Under the presidential decree, Assel Zhanassova has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan. She was relieved of her previous post.

By a prior decree, Nurlan Sauranbayev was removed from his post as Minister of Transport.

Assel Zhanassova was born in 1987 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

She graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2010 with a degree in Computer Science under Kazakhstan’s Bolashak Presidential Scholarship. In 2014, she completed Executive Management master’s programs at the University of Cambridge and Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Career

2010–2014: IT Specialist, IT Department Manager, and Cybersecurity Department Director at an international firm in London.

2014–2016: Deputy Director of the Digital Technologies Department at the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

2016–2017: Chairperson of the Management Board at Zerde National Managing Holding.

2017–2018: Advisor to the Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).

2018–2020: Managing Director for Digital Technologies at the AIFC.

2020–2022: Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

2022–2025: Chairperson of the Management Board at Kazpost JSC.

On June 8, 2025, she was appointed Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

On December 10, 2025, by a presidential decree, Assel Zhanassova was appointed Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Honors and recognition

She has been awarded the Jubilee medal "30 Years of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan" (2021)
and the Order of Qurmet (2025).

Her recognitions include selection as a WEF Young Global Leader in 2025 and a Global Women Asia Fellow in 2024.

Earlier, Qazinform reported that the Head of State signed decrees to appoint ambassadors to Morocco and Cuba