On October 8th local authorities in Petropavlovsk, the administrative center of North Kazakhstan Oblast, announced that President Nazarbayev and his entourage would be flying in to on the following day to proclaim a new akim.

This followed another surprise announcement in NKO: namely, that a new akim was needed. Though observers had expected a change some time in late 2007, Tair Mansurov’s announced departure on the Friday before Teachers’ Day (October 6th this year), came without immediate warning for the majority of the population.

Mansurov has become known as something of a narcissist, constantly appearing on the akimat-controlled television station, and gracing the cover of nearly every issue of the local paper. Moreover, though the economy has expanded under his watch– as it has nearly everywhere in Kazkahstan– Mansurov never achieved the status or reputation as a problem solver as Daniyal Akhmetov, the popular NKO akim who went on to become Prime Minister.

Mansurov is now off to Moscow, to become General Secretary of the Eurasian Economic Community, where he will replace Grigory Rapota. “EurAsEC” as the trade bloc is known, aims to create a customs union and common market between Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and recent addition Uzbekistan.

The whole series of events came as a surprise to many in NKO. “I didn’t know about it until today,” Alexei, a businessman living in Petropavlvosk, stated on October 8th.

“That does explain why they have been repainting the roads this week”, a friend in Petropavlovsk wryly observed.

Then October 9th arrived… but no President. Apparently the local authorities jumped the gun, even closing some schools on October 9th to mass students for greeting Nazarbayev.

Eventually, Prime Minister Massimov arrived, and presented NKO with its new akim: Serik Belyalov (Серик Белялов). According to KazAgroMarketing, Belyalov was chief of the Regional Department of Agriculture in North Kazakhstan before his promotion. Apparently, he met with Massimov in May of 2007, to take the PM on a tour of an industrial complex. He must have made a good impression.

On October 10th, KazInform mentioned the transition and posted a short biography:

Serik Biyalov was born on April 5, 1958, in Sartomar village of the North Kazakhstan oblast. He graduated from the Tselinograd Agriculture Institute (1983) and Economy and Statistics Institute of Almaty (1998).

Further comments and information on this new akim are welcomed.