Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that the withdrawal of the CSTO peacekeeping contingent from the country will begin in two days.
"In general, the acute phase of the counter-terrorist operation has passed. The situation in all regions is stable. In this regard, I declare that the main mission of the CSTO peacekeeping forces has been successfully completed. The gradual withdrawal of the CSTO joint peacekeeping contingent will begin in two days. The withdrawal process will not take more than 10 days", Tokayev said, speaking in the Majilis, parliament's lower house.
He noted that coup attempts in Kazakhstan have failed. "The coup attempts and attempts on the integrity of the country have failed. Together, as a united nation, we have defended Almaty and other regional centers. They will be restored as soon as possible," the head of state said.
Tokayev noted that not all law enforcement agencies were faithful to their duty. "In a number of cities, the heads of departments of the National Security Committee, despite having sufficient ammunition, left the office building without engaging in combat, leaving weapons and secret documentation behind," said the president.
According to Tokayev, the cohesion of our society was methodically undermined and the National Security Committee did not see the threat.
"Our society was methodically undermined including by means of protest actions according to professionally developed scenarios. The preparation of specific executors of radical measures was carried out secretly. The National Security Committee, as an authorized body, was unable and unwilling to give a clear assessment of this subversive work.
Tokayev noted that the plan of attack on Kazakhstan was comprehensive, with professionals working on it. "The plan of attack on Kazakhstan included a number of different aspects - military, political, ideological, disinformation and others. Professionals worked on the preparation of the seizure of power," explained the president of Kazakhstan. The militants intended to seize power in the country, he said.
National security scheme
The country needs to reformat its national security scheme, Tokayev said.
"I especially want to dwell on such a strategic task as a cardinal reorganization of the entire system of national security. The work of our armed forces, law enforcement structures, national security bodies and foreign intelligence must be restructured. All of them must work coherently for one objective: to protect our citizens, constitutional order and sovereignty as effectively as possible under any threat of any nature or scale," the President said in the Majilis (lower house of parliament) on Tuesday. According to him, new National Guard units will be formed in the country and the existing ones will be reinforced. The number of special units of the Interior Ministry will increase. In addition, the operating principles of the Border Guard Service will be reviewed.
Tokayev also ordered law enforcement agencies to prevent religious extremism and criminality from coalescing in the country. "In the near future, we will hold a meeting of the Security Council to consider concrete ways of implementing all of these tasks," the president said.
Tokayev instructed the government to bring order to the customs border, primarily with China.
"A significant potential for increasing budget revenues lies in bringing order to customs, especially on the border with China. The real mess going on there is well known. Cars are not inspected, taxes and duties are not paid. The discrepancies in mirror statistics with the customs authorities in China amount to billions of dollars," he said. According to him, there are some authorized operators with untouchable status. In this case, the country loses tens of billions of tenge in taxes.
Problem of social inequality
In addition, Tokayev said that the problem of social inequality has become more acute in the country, and the availability of social support measures raises questions.
"There has been a noticeable detachment of some executive bodies from the difficult realities and needs of citizens. Representatives of power structures have formed a distorted view of people's lives, their aspirations and needs. The problem of inequality has become more acute. It has been aggravated from year to year although the average income of the population seems to be growing, at least on paper," he said. The president also noted that "the procedures for granting state support measures remain non-transparent and ineffective. According to him, "often the level of [state] support for a region depends on the "weight" of a particular akim (head of local government-TASS), rather than on the real needs of residents. Tokayev stressed that "this leads to an imbalance in development and citizen dissatisfaction".
The Kazakh authorities will adopt a program to increase the population's income within the next two months, Tokayev said.
"A program for increasing people's incomes should be developed. The work should be precise and targeted. Specific indicators of poverty reduction should be set at each management level. The real number of citizens in need of employment should be identified," said the head of state.
Tokayev instructed the government, together with the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Atameken, to "within two months adopt a program to increase incomes".
National currency stability
Tokayev instructed the National Bank and the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market to ensure the stability of the national currency.
"Against the background of the events that occurred [during the] state of emergency regime, there are serious risks of speculative pressure on the national currency. I charge the National Bank and the Agency for Regulation and Development of Financial Market to ensure the stability of the currency market until the full restoration of confidence in the tenge on the part of internal and external market participants", he said.
The head of the republic stressed that sustainable economic growth is not possible without ensuring stability in the foreign exchange market.
Kazakh authorities will develop a set of measures to keep inflation under control.
"The government together with the National Bank and the Chamber [of Entrepreneurs] Atameken will develop a set of measures to control inflation. It should include measures to reduce import dependence, reduce excessive mediation and monetary policy instruments," the head of state said.
Earlier, the work of all banks, except for the national one, as well as the Stock Exchange was temporarily suspended in Kazakhstan. The National Bank suspended the work of exchange offices for security purposes.
Obligations to foreign investors
The government will fulfill all its obligations to foreign investors, Tokayev said.
"Kazakhstan has created all conditions to attract foreign direct investment. We are interested in preserving a favorable investment climate. I can assure that the state will take all necessary measures to restore the confidence of domestic and foreign investors. All obligations and guarantees of the state will be executed in full," he said. The president noted that "we need a new concept of an investment policy".
According to him, due to the introduction of the state of emergency, "there is a high risk of withdrawal of capital of some financial and industrial groups abroad, including through sham deals". According to Tokayev, "movements on individuals' accounts" have already been registered and therefore he instructed the National Bank to check and control "all transactions and individuals, unreasonably withdrawing funds from the country". In addition, the president noted that in "Kazakhstan there is a sharp increase in the incidence" of covid. Fighting the coronavirus pandemic, he said, should be another "key task of the new government".
Tokayev also instructed the government to restructure the republic's Development Bank to channel its funds to support small and medium-sized businesses. "The Development Bank of Kazakhstan, in fact, has turned into a personal bank for a select circle of individuals representing financial-industrial and construction groups. We know everyone by name. Using the access to the high offices, they get privileged conditions for the realization of their projects. These projects divert state resources, which could have been used precisely for the development of small and medium-sized businesses," said the president.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS