"‘The State is Not a Store’: Lawmaker Against Controversial Law on Public Services"

At the last meeting of the Jogorku Kenesh, a draft law concerning amendments to the Law "On State and Municipal Services" was discussed. Some deputies expressed their disagreement with the proposed amendments.

Kamila Talieva emphasized the point related to optimizing the requirements for the standards of state and municipal services. She noted: "You talk about creating reserves to improve technical services. However, the state is not a commercial store, and its goal should not be to profit from social services. The principle of operation should be based on covering expenses," she added.

She stressed: "This draft law merges state services and business, which negatively affects citizens. I am against such an underdeveloped document. It is necessary to form a working group of professionals for its refinement as soon as possible."

Choro Seitov, Deputy Minister of Economy, clarified the situation: "We do not plan to implement paid services in all state institutions. Tariff increases are only possible in some state institutions that operate on a self-financing basis. These institutions, including joint-stock companies, incur additional expenses. We do not intend to profit from this. All funds will be directed towards improving the material and technical base," he stated.