On 31 October 2022, the Economic Crime and Cooperation Division, organised a roundtable to present the findings of a recently finalised needs assessment of the asset recovery system of the Republic of Kazakhstan and discuss opportunities to increase its effectiveness.

The conducted review aimed to assess the policy, regulatory and operational needs regarding the asset recovery system of the Republic of Kazakhstan by reviewing its legislative framework, internal procedures and institutional set-up in the field of criminal asset recovery and benchmarking the legislative framework with the applicable international and Council of Europe standards.

Representatives of the General Prosecution Office and Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan attended the event and contributed to the discussions which focused on the need to undertake a mapping of the asset recovery system of the Republic of Kazakhstan and develop related policy documents as well as the development of standard operating procedures in this field. Separate focus was placed on the need to develop a framework for the management of seized and confiscated assets.

The Republic of Kazakhstan has undertaken several steps in order to improve its system for the recovery of criminal proceeds including the establishment of a Commission on the development of mechanisms for stimulating the return of capital from abroad to the Republic of Kazakhstan and strengthening measures to counteract the outflow of funds from the country.

Following this assessment, further support is envisaged to the law enforcement authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan (and the newly created Commission) to enhance asset recovery and asset management systems.

This activity was organised by the Action 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 Action is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan.