Since the crematorium in Almaty opened, more than 40 requests have been received from relatives of the deceased, but only six procedures have been successfully carried out. This is reported by the website infohub.kz.
According to the city's Public Health Department, six cremations were performed for four residents of the metropolis and two from Astana. Meanwhile, relatives of over 40 deceased submitted applications for the service. Among them were both Kazakh citizens and foreigners: three Chinese citizens, one British, two Russians, and one Uzbek.
However, cremation was not performed for foreigners because their relatives did not provide a document confirming the deceased's wish to be cremated.
Foreign citizens can use the crematorium's services in Almaty on the same terms as Kazakh citizens. The necessary documents are processed according to general rules.
"The crematorium operates under uniform regulatory, legal, and sanitary-epidemiological requirements for cremation, which apply to everyone without exception. The procedure is regulated by the Standard Rules for Burial and Organization of Grave Care in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the internal regulations of the Almaty crematorium," the department wrote.
The cost of cremation for foreigners is also no different from the rate for Kazakh citizens. There are no additional surcharges or increasing coefficients for non-residents, the department said. The price of cremation is 240,000 tenge.
After all six successful cremations in Almaty, relatives collected the urns with ashes for subsequent burial.
At the same time, the Public Health Department cannot build a columbarium in Almaty. As the department wrote, this issue is not within their competence. For now, relatives of the deceased can only keep the ashes at home.
After cremation, the ashes are given to relatives. If necessary, the urn can be left for temporary storage at the crematorium for a whole year.
Recall that the first crematorium in Kazakhstan opened in Almaty on April 30, 2026. Construction began in 2020 and was completed only four years later. Only then did they start developing rules for it. Details are in the Kursiv LifeStyle report from the opening.