Bio labs in Kazakhstan are involved in the research and development of drugs against highly contagious infections and are financed from the state budget, according to Akhylbek Kurishbayev, member of the Senate, the upper house of the parliament in Kazakhstan.
As the senator noted, none of these labs are recipients of foreign grants or act as a workplace for foreign specialists.
These laboratories are developing diagnosis and preventive drugs against highly contagious strains of second and third categories. That means that they do not work with highly dangerous viruses from the first category.
None of these laboratories are secret or abandoned; they are transparent to any inspections by international experts, Kurishbayev said.
The construction of the biosafety level three type (BLS-3) scientific laboratories was conducted by Kazakhstani specialists under the control of the government, although Kazakhstan relied on US experts to make sure that these new bio labs are safe and meet the best international practices.
The senator added that Kazakhstan is a responsible member of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and their Destruction.
«In the light of statements by some foreign politicians, who are saying that these bio labs in Kazakhstan are capable to develop biological weapons under the control of foreign states, is simply not true,» said the official.
There are two BLS-3 type laboratories in Kazakhstan. The first one is Central Reference Laboratory which has been working in Almaty since 2016. The second one is operated in Otar.
The statement by Kurishbayev followed the adoption of a draft law on biosafety in the Republic of Kazakhstan by the parliament.
