Nursultan Nazarbayev instructs to restore order in land provision

The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov, the Head of the Presidential Administration Karim Massimov, the Chairman of the Board of "Samruk-Kazyna ''NWF'' JSC Umirzak Shukeev, the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Gabidulla Abdrahimov, Attorney General Ashat Daulbayev, the Akim of Astana Imangali Tasmagambetov and the Akim of Akmola region Kosman Aytmuhametov.

Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that during a recent visit to "Astanagenplan'' R&D Institute" LLP there have been considered the issues of the capital's development.

"The city's population increased and now equals to 900,000 although we plan to achieve this data in 2020-2030. In this regard housing development lags behind the dynamic growth of the population. Of course, we are working on the building-up of all cities in the state, but the capital should be given special attention. This spring I held a meeting and gave a number of instructions. I agree with the progress of their implementation but we face new challenges that require appropriate decisions", said the President of Kazakhstan.

The President also drew attention to the analysis of data on metropolitan housing prices.

"The average price per square meter costs more than 2-3 times. For example, in the residential complex "Europe Palace" original cost of 1 square meter is USD 1,000 but the apartments are sold at USD 3.5 thousand per square meter. "Highvill" residential complex cost of 1 square meters amounts to USD 1.5 thousand and the price reched USD 4-5 thousand. Though "Europe Palace" project developer paid taxes amounted to KZT 1.6 million", Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that in the first years of active development of the city, many buildings were faced with poor quality materials. In this regard, the President of Kazakhstan instructed to pay attention to the aesthetic design of the capital city.

Traffic congestion problem is topical for Astana. The Head of State noted that the French companies negotiated on launching light rail system in the capital.

"They offered very high cost - more than KZT 300 billion, which does not suit us. Therefore, the city administration proposes to consider an alternative in the form of lanes for bus rapid transit. The first phase of the project requires lower cost", Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

During the meeting the Akim of Astana Tasmagambetov informed on the development of intelligent transport systems. It will be introduced in 2016 and will allow to automatically regulate all the traffic flow in the city. The Akim also reported on the reconstruction of TPP-1 and construction process of TPP-3.

Aytmuhametov, the Akim of Akmola region, informed about the efforts to create "food belt" around Astana.

Following the meeting the Head of State gave some specific instructions for further development of the capital city beautification and proper conduct of the heating season.