EBRD director for Kazakhstan announces FIC recommendations

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Country Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Kazakhstan Agris Preimanis made recommendations on the development of Kazakhstan's economy and attracting investors, Kazinform correspondent reports.

"Let me present the following recommendations: To continue work on improving the quality of human capital as per the Presidents State-of-the-Nation Address "The Third Modernization of Kazakhstan: Global Competitiveness", especially with regard to the professionalization of personnel work by using the world's best practices, " Mr. Preimanis said.

Secondly, according to him, it is necessary to develop a new environmental code and exempt those who paid penalties and taxes voluntarily from criminal liability.

"We recommend looking into the possibility of amending the criminal procedural legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in terms of exempting the officials, organizations which voluntarily paid their taxes, fines, and penalties charged, from criminal liability for tax evasion regardless of whether the violation was committed for the first time or not. We also recommend an alternative definition of ‘large-scale' and ‘particularly large-scale damage' for the application of Article 24.5 of the Criminal Code and improvement of the processes of administering and investigating tax criminal offenses," Agris Preimanis pointed out.

He also recommended considering the issue of maintaining the current regime of currency exchange regulation with regard to branches and representative offices of foreign legal entities under applicable laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan.