Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry has appointed Zhanbolat Ussenov as its new official spokesperson.

Ussenov was born in 1983 in Kazakhstan’s Turkistan region and graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Qazinform News Agency reports.

He has built his career in Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry and served at the country’s diplomatic missions abroad.

Before taking the new position, Ussenov worked as managing director for corporate relations at Vernyi Kapital.

The appointment follows a change in the ministry’s information leadership. In January, Yerlan Zhetybayev was appointed chairman of the International Information Committee, a position that included serving as the Foreign Ministry’s official spokesperson.