President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev yesterday formed a new government with which he plans to work.
There are 16 ministers in the new government, seven of them are new. The government was headed by Alihan Smailov.
The new premiere is 49 years old. He is a mathematician and has made a dizzying career success. Already at the age of 26, Smailov worked as a chief expert, and a little later as a head of a department in the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He was an assistant to President Nazarbayev, then became Minister of Finance. Since May 2020, he has been the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Kazakhstan. When Tokayev became president of the country, he introduced Smailov’s candidacy for the post of head of government, but then Elbasy, the leader of the nation, Nursultan Nazarbayev, did not support his candidacy.
Yesterday, speaking before the Majlis (parliament), the President of Kazakhstan Tokayev actually announced the beginning of perestroika in the country. The upcoming changes should affect the army and law enforcement agencies, as well as major changes in the economic and social spheres.
“Thanks to the first president, Elbasy, a group of very profitable companies and a layer of rich people, even by international standards, have appeared in the country. I believe that it has come to pay tribute to the people of Kazakhstan and help them on a systematic and regular basis,” Tokayev said.
According to his proposals, a public fund “To the People of Kazakhstan” will be created. The government will have to agree on a list of companies that will make contributions to it, and their size.
The Samruk-Kazyna investment fund, whose mission, Tokayev recalled, is to improve the national welfare of Kazakhstan, and all its structural divisions will be revised.
The head of state said that it is necessary to ensure accurate observation, verification and control of transactions of persons who unreasonably withdraw funds from the country.
The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) is being reformed. “DBK has essentially turned into a personal bank for a narrow circle of people representing financial, industrial and construction groups. We know everyone by surname,” Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev emphasized.
President of Kazakhstan Tokayev also instructed the government to take action against Operator ROP, a company that disposes of household waste in the country, which is believed to be affiliated with Aliya Nazarbayeva, the youngest daughter of Nursultan Nazarbayev. Tokayev pointed out that a state organization, like abroad, should deal with recycling payments.
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