Aqorda Press Secretary

The position of Press Secretary was established in the early 1990s, shortly after the creation of the presidency in the Kazakh SSR. First Aqorda Press Secretary, Gadilbek Shalakhmetov, recalls that the institution of the presidency was only just taking shape at the time, with no one entirely clear on what the role of "press secretary" would entail.^[1]

The Press Secretary of the president covers the president's activities and events involving him, while also preparing and supporting foreign visits and working trips for the media. In addition, it organizes the work of accredited journalists and conducts press conferences, briefings, interviews, and meetings of the president with domestic and foreign media. Key responsibilities include providing professional photo and video coverage of the president and his events, editing texts of speeches, interviews, articles, and other presidential materials, as well as preparing drafts of speeches, interviews, and publications that explain the president's position on domestic and foreign policy issues. The Press Service maintains and develops the president's official website (www.akorda.kz) by updating its design and implementing new technologies; it supplies media outlets with information and materials about the president's activities, coordinates the work of the Presidential Television and Radio Complex during televised coverage of his events, and organizes the commission for awarding presidential prizes and grants in the field of media.^[14]