Kazakhstan, Astana, April 11 / Trend D. Mukhtarov /
The budget of the capital of Kazakhstan in 2011 amounted to 353 billion tenge ($2.39 billion), President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Wednesday, speaking at a meeting on the further development of the city of Astana.
"This is comparable with the level of the city of Prague in per capita terms," said Nazarbayev. He added the figure is 1.5 times higher than the budget of Kyiv and 2.5 times that of Minsk.
In general, according to the President, Astana is one of the most successful cities in the world.
"The prestigious National Geographic magazine refers to our capital city as being attractive for the search for success," he said.
As an example, Nazarbayev gave the following figures. As many as 100,000 people from 77 countries worldwide live in the capital of Kazakhstan.
The president believes it is the capital that today should be an example in the provision of public services, life comfort and investments. He stressed Astana is making a significant contribution to the state treasury.
"The volume of contributions to the budget amounted to 434 billion tenge ($ 1 - 147.7 tenge) which is 40 per cent more than in 2010," said Nazarbayev.