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Bankrupt people won’t be able to leave Kazakhstan for three years

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Zhanbolat Mamyshev
Zhanbolat Mamyshev
Special correspondent of the "News" department
Central Asia kazakhstan
Those people who have been determined by the court as bankrupt people will be not able to leave the country over the three years after that procedure. They will also be severed from loans throughout five years, according to the draft law on reestablishing debtor solvency and bankruptcy of citizens in Kazakhstan.

As the Vice Minister of Finance Marat Sultangaziyev noted, bankrupt people would be able to travel abroad if they need medical assistance or they have to accompany their relatives on a trip for medical treatment abroad or to attend a relative’s funeral. If a person is determined bankrupt, he won’t be able to repeat this procedure until the seven-year period is over.

The official noted that more than one million people in Kazakhstan have lapsed on loans and may reestablish their solvency or declare bankruptcy. For example, if a debtor has a steady income and his loan issuer doesn’t object he can repay a debt (if bigger than $11,685) by installment over five years.

Those who have no source of steady income they can lean on may declare bankruptcy out of court. This category of debtors includes people with overdue payments that last more than five years.

This option is also available for those who haven’t paid a debt of $700 during the last 12 months and have no property to sell and pay that debt. Another group of people who can apply for bankruptcy is those, who have a debt of $11,685 that they haven’t paid for six months in a row. An application for out-court bankruptcy might be filled in through the official website of the e-government or specialized application for taxpayers.

The authorities are going to create a separate module for that purpose. Once the system gets an application it checks all the uploaded documents regarding the absence of property, non-performing loans, etc. Debtors with unpaid debt above the threshold of $11,685 might be adjudged bankrupt through judicial procedure.

During this procedure, a debtor’s property would be sold on auction to repay money to loan issuers. If there is more than just one debt these debts would be repaid in a first-come-first-served manner. If a debtor’s house is collateral for a loan, that property might be sold only after official judicial procedure. If that house is not linked to a loan no one from loan issuers can take it away from a debtor.

MARAT SULTANGAZIYEV, FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF FINANCE

This process may last about six months, he added.

If there are no signs of wrongdoing, the rest of the debts should be written off except those debts linked to child-support payments or compensatory payments for damages to the life and health of another person.

The concept of the draft law has been developing since 2011. On February 4, the document was presented to the interagency commission on legislative work.

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