I relocated in Astana in January 2018. After Thailand and Hong Kong, it was a bit of a shock to land in cold place again. And by cold, I mean really cold. Last January the coldest day (well night really) was -38 C. What makes it even more fun is that Astana is located in the middle of nowhere and the wind that blows through doubles the coldness effect. Well, the temperature is more likely to stay around -20 C during the winter, and as long as you dress to the weather you’ll do just fine. In summer the place is beautiful.
Astana in nutshell
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan, which celebrated its 20th Birthday this year. With population of 1 million (and growing), it’s located on the banks of Ishim River, which divides the city into left and right banks. Left bank representing the new side, with most ministries and official buildings, and right bank is where the local population traditionally resides. Astana represents and offers opportunities for young driven professionals.
President Nazarbayev relocated the capital from Almaty to Astana in 1997, and the old city of Akmola was renamed to Astana.
The main religion is islam, but it’s not visible in every day life. The Russian heritage brought alcohol to the culture, although many choose not to drink.
The climate is cold, and in fact Astana is the second most cold capital after Mongolia’s Ulaanbataar. The Winter starts around December and lasts until early March. Spring and Autumn are fairly short, and the temperatures drop and go up fast to change from winter to summer, although summer this year was very mild and started late.
AIFC
So, what’s going on in Astana? In July 2018 Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) opened its doors officially. The opening event was quite a spectacle, and attended by heavy hitters from the global financial sector. President Nazarbayev, who signed a presidential decree to support AIFC is, was naturally in the spotlight along with the AIFC Governor Kairat Kelimbetov.
So, what is AIFC all about? Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is a financial hub for Central Asia, the Caucasus, EAEU, the Middle East, West China, Mongolia and Europe. The AIFC operates within a special legal regime based on Common Law, which regulates the legal relationships between AIFC participants and third parties and is aimed at the development of the financial market. Very similar to Dubai International Financial Centre, AIFC has its own rules and law and is technically like a country, within a country – but geared towards financial development and attracting foreign investment.
AIFC offers a great deal of attractions for foreign participants. Companies under AIFC enjoy 50 years of tax free corporate income, and foreigners relocating to Astana also get the same benefit for personal income. Also, applying Visa is somewhat straightforward process and Visa can be issued for 5 years for foreign participant and their family. AIFC operates under English Common Law, and has its own court system for any disputes. And finally, they launched a sandbox framework to support innovation and development of financial technologies to be tested in a controlled environment.
I opened a fintech company under AIFC beginning of this year to kick start a digital banking franchise to cover the Belt and Road region. It was really a no-brainer to say ‘yes’, when the opportunity came, and I have not (yet) have any regrets. I had the opportunity to visit Astana twice, in 2016 and 2017, as part of UN delegation before relocating there, so I had met AIFC leadership previously and sort of had an idea what I was stepping into. Although, the previous visits were conveniently during the summer.
Arrival & getting started
Arriving to Astana was like arriving to any other cold country in the winter. The city itself gets more justice for its modern architecture during the summer, but you could recognise the iconic buildings and landmarks in the left bank, such as the Presidential Palace, Khan Shatyr Mall, and the old KazMunaiGas buildings.
Finding an apartment in Astana is quite easy. There are plenty of available apartments for western standards, and the buildings have effective heating systems to survive the cold winter. I had the good fortune to have a friend and former business partner from previous ventures, to give first tips where to begin. He had relocated in Astana few months before me, coincidentally also to start his new business under AIFC. I found myself in a nice western style decorated apartment next door from Gastronom Supermarket on Saraishyk Street, a 10 minute walk from AIFC offices. The rent was about 900USD per month for 90SQM, the contract month by month, and no deposit. I afterwards found out that there are much better deals available, especially if you make a longer term contract, but it worked fine for me to get started.
Astana can be a lonely place in the winter, if you come alone, like I did. Over a decade in Thailand spoils you for smiles. It took me a while to get used to the fact that people in cold countries save their smiles for the summer. Just cultural differences. Overall the Kazakhs are very friendly and welcoming people. But when the temperature drops to minus double digits, you stay indoors, and when you go out you are there to get things done efficiently. Sure, there are shopping malls and things to do, but the outdoor life can get a bit brutal during the winter. We found shelter from Keruen Mall, and beers in Marrone Rosso, which seemed to bring in the odd foreign face every now and then.
In June, when the weather started to be enjoyable, my family from Thailand relocated to Astana, and we moved to a bigger apartment in Kunayev Street just across the Ministry of Finance and the Presidential Palace. In the summer a 10-minute walk from Keruen Mall.
Work Life
Finding staff in Astana is fairly easy for the usual positions; assistant, accountant, marketing, etc. There is a talent pool of fresh graduates, mainly provided by Nazarbayev University, and with little effort you can hire young enthusiastic team. Astana is a young city with a median age of 30. A lot of high official positions are held by young, brilliant people. Many of them were part of “Bolashak” program, which paid for their overseas education, with the caveat that they would return to Kazakhstan and work here after graduation.
Finding English speaking staff hasn’t been an issue so far. All my employees speak good English. Especially the young are fluent in English, and most don’t even have a foreign accent. Speaking Russian helps, but you can survive fine without in the office.
Starting a digital banking service, which as an industry is new, I found that getting talent pool for some specific positions such as Anti-Money Laundering Officer, are quite hard to find. Luckily we were able to overcome this issue with the help of local friends.
The work culture to me was a positive surprise. Been used to the South East Asian way, I quickly realised that despite the Soviet legacy, the work culture was very western in many ways, and people are motivated to work hard and deliver.
Hand shaking is a big part of Kazakh culture amongst men. Everybody shakes hands, all the time. Even when the police stops your car, the first thing is to… shake hands. This also applies to office. So, if you plan to hire a lof of male employees, prepare to shake everyone’s hand in the morning and when leaving office.
Birthdays are big deal in Kazakhstan, and in the office. I guess it’s the same everywhere, but I have never been that much into celebrating my own birthday, and I devastated my staff by being away on business trip on mine.
Family life
When my family relocated in Astana, my son was only few months old. He was born in Bangkok, and after getting his vaccinations, we relocated him here. Living in Astana with an infant is quite ok. I don’t really have a comparison point here, as he is our first born, so I base my opinion to the fact that he is still alive smiles a lot. There are quite a lot of activities for small babies available in Astana. He started swimming classes when he was about 5 months old, and learned to swim few months later. There are number of gymborees and other activities for kids all around the city. We were looking to find a nanny, but after a bad experience, we decided to manage on our own.
For a foreign family, to have a driver in Astana, is a must. Firstly, it’s affordable. Secondly, when the temperature drops in the winter, you will appreciate to have door to door delivery. Sure, you can survive with taxis, either stopping any car on the street or using the Yandex and Uber apps, but if you or your spouse are not fluent in Russian, it can get quite frustrating to wait for the driver in the snow (with or without the kids). My driver doesn’t speak English, but we manage with my elementary Russian, and Google Translate.
To find other foreign families and friends, there are facebook groups for expats, and some organizations that arrange activities for expats in Astana. We have not tried any of activities yet, as our son still needs all our free time at home. I follow the facebook groups time to time, and find them somewhat useful as they are quite active and you can get quick answers to almost any questions where to find some specific items in Astana.
A year goes past very fast, but I feel like Astana is a lot easier to grasp than any of the South East Asian cities I have lived in before. I took me several years to get a hold of Bangkok, not to even mention Beijing. If you have any questions or comments or experience to share about Astana, please leave a comment below.