Kazakhstan reclaimed assets totalling KZT 325bn ($684.6mn) in 1H24, as reported by Prosecutor General Berik Asylov on July 31. The Asset Recovery Committee confiscated 513,000 hectares of land that were illegally acquired. The court has fully upheld the committee’s claim for unexplained wealth valued at KZT 5.5bn ($11.5mn) and has returned jewellery and cultural valuables worth KZT 400mn ($842,625).

The reclaimed assets are being directed towards the country’s social and economic development. Transferring properties to state ownership has eliminated monopolies in certain sectors, including the transport and logistics centre in the Zhetysu Region. This transfer has enhanced service quality for entrepreneurs on the Kazakh-Chinese border and increased the capacity of a key storage warehouse sixfold.

Confiscated lands in the Almaty, Akmola, and Turkistan Regions have been repurposed for livestock grazing and farming, addressing pasture shortages.

A variety of properties, such as hotels, office buildings, restaurants, business centres, land plots in elite urban areas, markets, railway infrastructure, expensive jewellery, and other high-value assets, have been returned to state ownership. Despite these successes, the Prosecutor General’s office continues its efforts.

“The Asset Recovery Committee is currently analyzing hundreds of movable and immovable properties in Kazakhstan and abroad. The origins of securities worth millions of dollars, over 200,000 suspicious banking transactions, and contracts for numerous large deposits are under scrutiny. The legality of asset sources for specific enterprises and properties is being investigated with the support of international organizations,” Asylov stated.

Kazakhstan has joined the global anti-corruption network GlobE and established a communication channel through Threema for information exchange. In February, an agreement with Presight, part of the G-42 corporation, was signed to develop an analytical platform to identify illicit asset withdrawals.