A delegation of 25 public officials representing 13 institutions from Kazakhstan participated in a workshop organised by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 21 June 2023. The aim of the workshop was to discuss the effective implementation of the recommendations issued by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) to Kazakhstan in the framework of the joint first and second evaluations rounds.

After Kazakhstan joined GRECO in 2020, the country has received its first evaluation report in 2022, which covered the first and second rounds, and included 27 specific recommendations.

Five Council of Europe experts, shared with participants related experiences and practices in the implementation of GRECO recommendations that were similar to those addressed to Kazakhstan.

Some of the topics covered during the sessions included the specialisation of national bodies in the prevention and fight against corruption, seizure and confiscation of corruption proceeds, non-conviction-based confiscation, the implementation of rules of conduct and systems for declarations of assets and interests in preventing corruption in public administration, the management of conflict of interest, anti-corruption awareness raising of public officials, integrity measures in public procurement processes, applicable prohibitions and limitations to carry out executive positions following corruption conviction, liability of legal persons and account offences. These issues of GRECO’s evaluation are very relevant in the context of the ongoing anti-corruption efforts in Kazakhstan.

All sessions resulted in very lively discussions between Kazakh authorities and the experts. During the exchanges, participants had the opportunity to present the planned or achieved progress, while the experts offered very targeted input on possible ways and considerations in implementing the GRECO recommendations for each topic.

This activity was organised by the Action “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.