Meeting of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan with the Akim of Karaganda Region E. K. Bulekpaev

22 November 2025. Karaganda. A meeting was held at the Akimat of the Karaganda Region between Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan and the head of the region, Ermaganbet Kabdulovich Bulekpaev.

The meeting was attended by: Archbishop Sevastian of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk; Archpriest Dimitry Patrikeev, Secretary of the Karaganda Diocese; I. E. Yatsenko, assistant to the Metropolitan; and from the civil authorities, the Akim of Karaganda, M. M. Kozhukhov, and Zh. A. Sektai, head of the Regional Department for Religious Affairs.

The regional Akim warmly welcomed Metropolitan Alexander and expressed gratitude to the Head of the Metropolitan District for his special attention to the spiritual life of the mining region.

The Metropolitan informed E. K. Bulekpaev that this year Orthodox believers of the region are marking an important date – the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Karaganda Diocese.

Metropolitan Alexander told the regional executive leader about the life of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, the central event of which was the visit of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ to Astana. The archpastor reported that, in addition to participating in the Eighth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church consecrated the newly built St. Sergius Church and blessed the continued development of the spiritual and educational center in honor of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Land of Kazakhstan; and in the Assumption Cathedral, in the presence of a vast number of believers, he offered a prayer service to the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Church of Christ.

In the shared opinion of both parties, an event of significant public importance, which received a positive public response, was the meeting between the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym–Jomart Kemelevich Tokayev, and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, during which, for his contribution to strengthening spiritual ties between peoples and as a sign of special respect, the head of state awarded him the nation’s highest honor – the Order «Altyn Qyran» («Golden Eagle»). The Metropolitan emphasized that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill became the first religious leader ever to receive this order since its establishment.

The parties gave a high assessment of the peacemaking efforts of the President of the country, K.–Zh. K. Tokayev, at whose initiative the development of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions continues – a major international forum held on a permanent basis in the capital of the country.

Metropolitan Alexander informed the regional Akim that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill had sent a letter of gratitude to the head of state, noting that the Congress once again demonstrated the solidarity of representatives of major religious communities of the world and their aspiration to achieve greater mutual understanding among nations.

Ermaganbet Kabdulovich told the Head of the Metropolitan District about the life of this important industrial region of the Republic and about state–religious relations in the region.

Both sides noted the special role of the traditional religions of the country in preserving and multiplying Kazakhstan’s principal treasure – mutual respect and good neighborliness among representatives of various peoples and followers of various confessions.

The meeting included a discussion of a wide range of matters of mutual interest.

In remembrance of the meeting, Metropolitan Alexander presented E. K. Bulekpaev with his scholarly work, the book «Christianity in Central Asia in the Middle Ages», as well as the Metropolitan District calendar for 2026. For his part, Ermaganbet Kabdulovich presented the hierarch with a commemorative plaque bearing the symbols of the Mining Region.