Kazakh lawmakers have unanimously approved Serik Akhmetov as the country's new prime minister. President Nursultan Nazarbaev immediately signed the appointment decree yesterday.  Nazarbaev nominated Akhmetov, who had served as first deputy prime minister since January, for the post after long-serving Prime Minister Karim Masimov and his cabinet resigned earlier in the day.
Akhmetov, a 54-year-old engineer by training, is from Nazarbaev's native Qaraghandy region and reportedly worked in the same factory where Nazarbaev once worked. He has previously worked in the presidential administration, served as transportation and communications minister, and was head of the Qaraghandy region from November 2009 until January 2012. Akhmetov was also once the chairman of Kazakhstan's Ata-Meken Union of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen.