Imangali Tasmagambetov, former Kazakh ambassador to Russia, became the new secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on January 1. He will serve a three-year term as secretary general of the organization.

Tasmagambetov will replace Stanislav Zas, who has been secretary general of the CSTO since 2020, and before that he was state secretary of the Security Council of Belarus.

Imangali Tasmagambetov is 65 years old. He served as assistant to the president of Kazakhstan from 1993 to 1995, then two more years as deputy prime minister. In 1997-1998 he was deputy head of presidential administration, in 1998-1999 - first assistant to the head of the republic.

In 2002, he was appointed prime minister, and in 2003 he was appointed state secretary of Kazakhstan. He later served as Akim (head of administration) of Almaty (2004-2008) and Astana (2008-2014).