10 main events of 2022 according to KazTAG agency

Almaty. December 29. KazTAG - The KazTAG International News Agency has made a list of 10 most important events in Kazakhstan in 2022.

1. January events

On January 4, protests began in Kazakhstan against the increase in gas prices, which grew into riots. Almaty faced severe damages. Later it was stated that on the Republic Square on January 4-7 there were about 20 thousand terrorists, including foreign ones. The buildings of the city akimat, the presidential residence, two TV channels were burned, attacks were made on the department and district police departments, weapons stores were looted. Looting began in the city. CSTO forces arrived in Almaty to protect critical life support facilities. On August 16, the General Prosecutor's Office of Kazakhstan published a list of 238 casualties, including several children. On November 2, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law on amnesty for participants in the January events who did not commit serious crimes.

2. Cancellation of special status of Nazarbayev

Ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev lost his lifelong status as chairman of the Security Council and the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan on January 5.
On May 5, Kazakhstan's parliament approved the removal of Nazarbayev's status from the Constitution.
On September 29, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the law "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Cinematography, Culture and Holidays." The day of the first president was deprived of the status of a public holiday, October 25 became a national holiday again - The Republic Day, and December 16 - the day of memory of national heroes.
On September 17, Tokayev signed a separate decree on renaming Nur-Sultan to Astana.
In a number of cities, including Almaty, the public has taken the initiative to rename streets after Nazarbayev.

3. Criminal cases against Karim Massimov, Kairat Satybaldy and other former influential persons

After mass protests in January that escalated into unrest in Kazakhstan, detentions of high-ranking security officials started. First, Karim Massimov was removed from the post of NSC head and detained on suspicion of high treason, Ermek Sagimbayev was appointed in his place. Also, the deputies of the head of the NSC - Anuar Sadykulov and Daulet Yergozhin - were removed from their posts. On January 13, it became known that Massimov was also suspected of actions aimed at the violent seizure of power and abuse of power. It also discovered about the detention of Sadykulov and Yergozhin. Later it turned out that Massimov and Sadykulov were arrested by the court, and the case was classified as “top secret”. On February 7, Yergozhin was also taken into custody with the sanction of the court.
On March 10, the NSC reported that new charges against Massimov were added to the previously made ones - in taking a bribe in the amount of $ 2 million from representatives of a foreign state under one of the closed contracts when he was the head of the committee, as well as in illegally obtaining the above-mentioned elite guest house and a land plot in Nur-Sultan from one of the business structures. Large amounts of cash in foreign currency, luxury items and other valuables were found in the house.
On March 13, it was reported that Kairat Satybaldy, nephew of ex-president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, was detained in Almaty and placed in a temporary detention center on the facts of abuse of official powers and embezzlement of funds of Kazakhtelecom JSC on an especially large scale.

4. Deprivation of positions of Nazarbayev's relatives and people close to his clan

After the January events, the relatives of ex-president Nazarbayev lost their posts. On January 15, two of Nazarbayev's sons-in-law, Dimash Dosanov, Chairman of the Board of KazTransOil JSC and Kairat Sharipbayev, Chairman of the Board of KazTransGas National Company JSC, were dismissed from their positions. Dosanov is the husband of the youngest daughter of the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Aliya Nazarbayeva, and Sharipbayev is a husband the eldest daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva. On January 17, another son-in-law of Nazarbayev, Timur Kulibayev, who was married to Dinara, the middle daughter of the first president, resigned as head of the Atameken. Also on January 17, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev removed Nazarbayev's nephew, Samat Abish, from the post of first deputy chairman of the NSC. On January 18, KazTAG received confirmation from an informed source that Alzhan Imashev, the son of the ex-head of the CEC of Kazakhstan, Berik Imashev, vacated the post of top manager of KTZ - Freight Transportation. Berik Imashev, who is Dariga Nazarbayeva's matchmaker, was removed from his post on January 25.
On February 24, the eldest daughter of the ex-president herself, Dariga Nazarbayeva, resigned as a deputy of the Majilis.
On February 1, Nurlan Nigmatulin, who was considered one of Nazarbayev's associates, left the post of speaker of the Majilis and lost his deputy mandate.

5. Demonopolization of the economy

On January 21, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev named the de-oligopolization of the economy among the priorities of the new model of socio-economic development. On March 24, a commission for the demonopolization of the economy was created under the government of Kazakhstan.
The commission included the first heads of agencies for combating corruption, financial monitoring, protection and development of competition, members of the government, representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office and Samruk-Kazyna JSC.


6. War in Ukraine

In the early morning of February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his decision to conduct a special military operation in Ukraine. He called Russia's actions "a forced measure." The invasion of Ukraine began even before the end of his speech on the Russian television. Martial law was introduced in Ukraine, and President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the Ukrainian military to inflict maximum damage on Russian troops.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan evacuated citizens of Kazakhstan from Ukraine. According to the Foreign Ministry, over 1,600 Kazakhstanis were on temporary and permanent consular records in Ukraine.

7. Creation of three new regions and  renaming of Kapshagay into Konayev

On March 16, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, addressing to the people of Kazakhstan, proposed to form three new regions in Kazakhstan: in the Semey region, the Abay region with the regional center - the city of Semey; the Ulytau region with the center in the city of Zhezkazgan, and also instructed to divide the Almaty region into Zhetysu and Almaty regions.
The center of the new Almaty region was the city of Kapshagay, which on May 3 was officially renamed into Konayev. The administrative center of the Zhetysu region is located in Taldykorgan.


8. Unprecedented rise in food prices

This year was remembered for the rapid rise in prices, primarily for socially important food products. It got to the point that on July 14, the head of state reprimanded Bakhyt Sultanov, who was then Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration, in connection with the shortage of sugar in Kazakhstan, and a month later, on August 14, he completely removed him from his post. Since the beginning of the year, food prices have increased by an average of 22.3% in Kazakhstan, while in the leading inflation anti-rating regions - Astana and the Ulytau region - by 25% and 31.4%, respectively.

9. Early presidential elections

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced early presidential elections on September 1. At the same time, he proposed limiting the president's mandate to a single term of seven years without the possibility of re-election.

10. Accident at Ekibastuz thermal power plant

On the night of November 27, Ekibastuz in the Pavlodar region was left without heat in a 30-degree frost due to the shutdown of boilers at the thermal power plant. On November 28, a state of emergency was introduced in Ekibastuz. On the same day, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, instructed to consider the return of troubled energy assets to state ownership. An investigation has been launched into the accident at the thermal power plant. It was decided to transfer specialists from Astana and three other cities to eliminate the accident. A criminal case has been opened on the fact of the accident at the thermal power plant.