On 4-5 July 2022, the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division organised an online event on the “International Cooperation in the Field of Recovery of Proceeds of Crime” for representatives of the General Prosecutor’s Office, Academy of Law Enforcement Agencies under the General Prosecutor’s Office, Anti-Corruption Agency as well as Financial Monitoring Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

More than 60 participants from the abovementioned institutions, could thus exchange on topics of interest, such as information sharing and cooperation at the national and international levels. Participating officials could also benefit from a presentation of existing instruments and channels for international exchange of information. Particular emphasis was also placed on the principles of dual criminality and asset seizure and confiscation.

The event was organised with the aim of supporting authorities in Kazakhstan in their efforts to strengthen the asset recovery system, in order to address the recommendations provided in the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) evaluation reports, both within their first and second Evaluation Rounds. In view of providing further assistance to the authorities of Kazakhstan to strengthen their asset recovery system, the project has also undertaken an assessment of the legislative framework, internal procedures and institutional set-up of Kazakhstan in the field of asset recovery of proceeds of crime. The results of the assessment will be presented and discussed with the relevant authorities of Kazakhstan in October 2022.

This activity was organised by the project on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime”, in the framework of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, which is a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The project is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan.