Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Last week's re-election of Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev will likely solidify Astana's efforts to balance out its geopolitical reliance on Moscow, and may boost the Central Asian country's plans to launch a civil nuclear power program. Tokayev picked up more than 81% of the vote in a snap ballot he called in September, and now has a seven-year mandate to push through economic reforms, including the privatization of more state assets, and dismantle the toxic legacy left by his long-serving predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The 69-year-old former foreign minister and prime minister also favors greater foreign investment in nuclear energy as part of Kazakhstan’s decarbonization drive, and is laying the groundwork for the construction of a nuclear power plant.
