Kazakhstan improves its position in Corruption Perceptions Index after reclaiming illegally withdrawn assets
In 2023, Kazakhstan once again was included in the list of highly corrupted countries, although it managed to improve its position in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International. In the 2023 index, Kazakhstan was ranked 93rd out of 180 countries, scoring 39 points out of 100.
Last year, Kazakhstan was ranked 101st. Transparency International says that the country managed to improve its position due to the more active behavior of the public after the January events.
«We believe that the improvement of the country’s rank (+3 scores) compared to 2022 happened due to the more active stance of the civil society in Kazakhstan after the January events when state agencies were forced to adopt more anti-corruption practices, reclaim illegally withdrawn assets and detain some high-ranking officials and their relatives,» the fund said.
According to the ranking, countries that scored less than 50 points are considered highly corrupt. This is a barrier for both: economic development and the social well-being of its citizens.
«It’s important to remember that the CPI is an evaluation of our country, including our society because the government is just part of it. Last year, we saw some progress by state agencies, which of course was a reaction to the most outstanding requests from Kazakhstanis. The civil society is awakening,» Aidar Yegeubayev, head of Transparency International Kazakhstan, highlighted.
The context. In October 2023, Kazakhstan’s government established a new agency – the Committee for Asset Recovery under the General Prosecutor’s Office. This agency only has one job: to search and reclaim assets illegally withdrawn from the country.
In November 2023, the government said it managed to recover about $2.2 billion in illegally obtained assets.
According to the Anti-Corruption Agency, $80 million was reclaimed from Austria, $253 million from Liechtenstein, $13.6 million from the UAE and $550,106 from Turkey.
Part of these assets was controlled by Kairat Satybaldy, a nephew of Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the prosecutors said.
Another former tycoon Kairat Boranbayev, sentenced to several years in prison for violation of the law, has given up many of his assets, including Comfort Hotel Astana worth $3.1 million, Almaly, a trading and entertainment center in Almaty and Fitnation, a fitness club chain with headquarters in Almaty.
On top of that, Boranbayev donated $66.7 million to the Education Infrastructure Support Fund, and transferred 100% of shares of Phystech II, an oil company worth $70 million, to the government.
Also, in 2023, Kazakhstan managed to reclaim stocks of Jusan Bank from a foreign jurisdiction to Kazakhstan’s jurisdiction. Moreover, the country’s Ministry of Finance collected $222.6 million from several financial and industrial groups in taxes.
