In Kazakhstan, damage from corruption is over $54 million since the beginning of the year
The damage to the budget of Kazakhstan from economic crimes since the beginning of the year amounted to $54.9 million. This was announced by the chairman of the National movement against corruption “Zhanaru” (in Kazakh language renewal) Oralbay Abdykarimov at the round table “Actual issues of combating corruption at the present stage: interaction of the state and society” in Uralsk.
“The President gave specific instructions aimed at creating a zero tolerance for any corruption acts in society,” Abdykarimov noted in his speech. “At the same time, citizens of Kazakhstan, public organizations cannot be fully satisfied with the actual situation in the field. The facts of nepotism in staff appointments are still noted, the state order instead of competition, in fact, turned into a purchase from a “single source”, the administrative press on the entrepreneur did not decrease, the budget of some unscrupulous people turned into a source of personal enrichment. The negative impact of corruption extends to the formation of the political elite, the electoral process, the activities of government bodies and civil society institutions.”
According to the chairman of the Anti-Corruption movement, more than 2000 corruption crimes are registered annually in Kazakhstan, and an average of more than 1000 people are held accountable for corruption offenses.
“According to the Anti-Corruption Agency, from the beginning of the year, the amount of established damage in completed criminal cases has doubled – from $25.6 to $54.9 million, of which 95% or $52.3 million has been reimbursed to the state’s revenue,” Abdykarimov said. “As you can see, the appetites of corrupt officials are growing. So, the introduction of the institution of publicity of income’s declarations, property and expenses of heads (district heads and higher positions), as well as its accessibility to citizens, in our opinion will significantly reduce the circle of people who want to profit by state.
The chairman of the movement noted that in order to fight corruption, it is necessary to legislatively approve the responsibility of the first head of the department for crimes in the field of corruption among his subordinates. He also expressed the proposal to create a fund in the country for legal education of the population.
“In this regard, we are counting on state grants that are allocated for anti-corruption propaganda. A lot of funds are allocated from the state budget to support the non-governmental sector in the form of grants. It’s about billions. However, in the last two years, the anti-corruption topic has completely disappeared from the list of grant financing. This is happening against the backdrop of the call of the Head of state on the need to strengthen the anti-corruption policy,” he said.
In addition, a proposal was made at the round table to oblige officials to finally disclose information about their income and expenses.
Recall that the universal declaration of income in Kazakhstan is introduced from January 1, 2021. The first to publicize their financial movements will be civil servants and their spouses, as well as persons equated to them.
Employees of state enterprises will join the universal declaration in January 2023. From 2024, managers and founders of legal entities and their spouses, individual entrepreneurs and their spouses will begin to submit declarations without fail. And since 2025, all the other citizens of the country will have to submit the declaration.
