Deadline until November 24: Tokayev demanded urgent measures from the government to reduce corruption

Tengrinews.kz — President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has instructed the Government and regulatory bodies to submit concrete proposals for a drastic reduction in corruption offenses, citing the Akorda press service.
During an operational meeting of the Security Council, the President emphasized that high office carries a constant and universal obligation of high responsibility.

"No one, regardless of their position, merit, or connections—including family ties—has the right to expect exceptions from the law; this is my principled position. Recently, we have reviewed certain agreements and contracts that, in my view, were signed in error. At the same time, the authorities do not intend to impose any restrictions on businesspeople. On the contrary, we are helping and will continue to help and support them in every way possible," he said.

The Head of State recalled his instruction to declare another three-year moratorium on inspections of small businesses starting January 1 of next year.
"This is the essence of the 'Law and Order' legal strategy: to support all people and enterprises in need, and to act in accordance with the principle of justice, in strict compliance with the Law."
"I want to emphasize that the operations of the Samruk-Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund and state-owned companies, including Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, have not stopped; they remain uninterrupted. All entities owned by state companies continue to operate as usual. This serious incident is no reason for disruptions in the work of the Fund or state companies. Moreover, I am confident that the fight against corruption will instead increase investor and creditor confidence in this institution, making its work more efficient, transparent, and productive," Tokayev continued.
The President noted that the Prosecutor General's Office has ensured the recovery of illegally acquired assets worth over 1.3 trillion tenge. These funds were used to finance the construction of 466 social and infrastructure projects. To date, 383 projects have been completed, including medical facilities, water supply systems, schools, and sports complexes.

"This work continues, and there are likely grounds to examine the quality of these facilities. We often see issues with the quality of various projects, primarily roads. However, as this egregious case has shown, corruption risks remain the Achilles' heel of state-owned companies. In this regard, the Government and regulatory bodies must present me with concrete proposals by November 24 of this year to drastically reduce corruption offenses and qualitatively improve the quasi-public sector companies and their personnel," he stated.

During the operational meeting of the Security Council, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev issued a statement regarding the detention of the heads of Samruk-Kazyna JSC and NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy JSC. He noted that yesterday, Kazakhstani media reported the detention of the leaders of the Samruk-Kazyna Fund and the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy company. According to him, this is an extremely serious signal of widespread corruption within state-owned companies..
Detentions at Samruk-Kazyna and KTZ
On November 12, the National Security Committee officially confirmed that the Anti-Corruption Service had detained Nurlan Zhakupov, Chairman of the Management Board of Samruk-Kazyna,, Elzhas Otynshiyev, head of KTZ, and several other individuals.
The NSC reported that the detainees are suspected of committing a corruption-related crime. Investigative actions are currently underway to establish all the circumstances of the case. The agency is not disclosing further information regarding the pre-trial investigation, citing Article 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code.