25 December 2025, 11:40
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov chaired a meeting of the Interagency Commission on Crime Prevention. The agenda covered safety measures during the holiday period, implementation of the provisions of updated sectoral legislation, as well as the results achieved under the President’s “Law and Order” concept and the action plan for 2026.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Emergency Situations Chingis Arinov, Minister of Education Zhuldyz Suleimenova, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Svetlana Zhakupova, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Lepekha, as well as representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Security Committee, and the Agency for Financial Monitoring. Reports were also heard from the leadership of the Turkestan Region and the city of Astana akimats.
During the holiday period, Kazakhstan will strengthen public order protection and fire safety control, with reserve forces placed on high alert. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Lepekha reported an increase in police patrol density on the streets and the organization of round-the-clock duty at strategic facilities and in places of mass gathering of citizens.
More than 1,000 mass events are planned across the regions of the country, most of which will involve children. In this regard, the Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, jointly with the Ministry for Emergency Situations, to take all necessary measures to ensure the safe conduct of planned events and to organize round-the-clock patrolling and duty by personnel.
“Our task is to ensure preventive work against offenses and crimes at event venues. It is necessary to build an effective system for preventing crimes on streets and in public places. Organize visual monitoring of the operational situation, including through the use of video cameras. If necessary, ensure prompt response to incidents. Also, take a comprehensive set of preventive measures to avert terrorist attacks at facilities with large numbers of people. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry for Emergency Situations are to switch to an enhanced duty regime,” the Prime Minister instructed.
Special attention was paid to ensuring fire safety during the holiday period. Most events will be held at facilities with large numbers of people, in entertainment venues and public spaces, including with the use of pyrotechnic products. To date, more than 700 units and 97 boxes of uncertified pyrotechnics have been seized from circulation. Ahead of the holidays, it was instructed to once again conduct the preventive campaign “Law and Order,” within which raids will be organized at storage and retail locations of pyrotechnic products.
Emphasis was placed on ensuring an adequate level of fire safety. The Ministry for Emergency Situations has conducted inspections of more than 7,000 facilities with mass attendance and eliminated identified fire safety violations. Venues for New Year events have been inspected and approved for operation. Installation of fire alarm sensors continues in residential buildings of socially vulnerable population categories. To date, more than 36,000 protective devices have been installed.
The Prime Minister instructed to ensure safety at all involved facilities, conduct inspections in advance, and organize briefings and training sessions for facility personnel. In addition, the operability of fire extinguishing equipment and hydrants must be checked. Regardless of weather conditions, access to facilities with mass gatherings of people must be ensured around the clock. The Ministry for Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are to take the necessary measures and practice actions for emergency evacuation of people. If required, additional drills should be conducted.
Special control has been established over the situation on highways, as vehicle traffic increases during the holiday period both within cities and on outbound routes. Rescue services are prepared for potential deterioration in weather conditions: warming points have been set up on highways, and special equipment and aviation have been switched to operational response mode. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, jointly with the Ministry of Transport, was instructed to enhance road safety measures, strengthen control over compliance with traffic rules, road conditions, and the organization of safe traffic on heavily loaded routes, including tourist destinations. In the regions, group trips of children outside populated areas must be accompanied by police officers without exception. Akimats were instructed to take this issue under special control.
Ensuring meaningful leisure activities for school-age children during winter holidays and New Year celebrations is also important. The Ministry of Education was instructed to hold additional parent meetings to communicate safety measures to parents, including those relevant to the winter period. Together with interested government bodies, broad public awareness campaigns on safety measures during the holiday period are to be organized.
“I instruct regional akimats to take a comprehensive set of preventive measures to ensure the safe conduct of the upcoming holidays. The Ministry of Energy, jointly with akimats, is to ensure safety at energy facilities and their accident-free operation. All parameters of heating and water supply systems must be maintained. Duty schedules for repair teams should be established to enable prompt response. Overall, all government bodies and structures must take exhaustive measures to ensure a safe and calm holiday period,” Olzhas Bektenov emphasized.
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During the meeting, attention was also paid to the implementation of the new unified Law “On Crime Prevention” adopted by Parliament, which consolidated provisions on combating domestic violence, child neglect, and repeat offending.
“Existing effective prevention mechanisms have been preserved, and new approaches have been introduced. All of this is aimed at ensuring the principle of ‘Law and Order’ outlined by the Head of State. One of the innovations of the law is the involvement of citizens and local communities in crime prevention efforts and their encouragement. In other words, prevention should and will be everyone’s responsibility. This experience is effectively applied in many countries, and we need to move in this direction. New approaches are also предусмотрены for the upbringing of the younger generation. The use of artificial intelligence will make it possible to forecast risks in advance and develop measures to prevent offenses,” the Prime Minister noted.
The law provides for provisions on the prevention of repeat crime, as well as establishes general competence for all government bodies. It was emphasized that prevention is not solely the task of law enforcement agencies, but of the entire state apparatus. All structures must work to reduce the number of offenses.
Government bodies were instructed to accelerate the development and adoption of all regulatory legal acts aimed at implementing the law. Akims must ensure the creation and functioning of a crime prevention system at the local level and pay special attention to the legal education of citizens.
The Prime Minister issued a number of instructions aimed at reducing the number of offenses committed by minors. The Ministry of Internal Affairs was instructed, within the framework of night patrols and raids, to suppress cases of minors being outside without adult supervision. Regional akims were instructed to expand the coverage of children’s leisure activities, especially for those registered with internal affairs bodies.
Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Svetlana Zhakupova reported that social assistance is directly linked to the prevention of social dependency and offenses. A total of 153 family support centers operate under a “one-stop-shop” principle. Since the beginning of the current year, they have provided more than 111,000 services to 76,000 citizens, confirming the effectiveness of comprehensive support for families in difficult life situations.
In addition, measures to prevent crimes committed by previously convicted persons were considered. The new law introduces administrative supervision for all released individuals, with restrictions on visiting entertainment venues and nighttime activities. Currently, there are only 27 social adaptation centers in the country with a total capacity of 2,402 beds. Proposals were submitted to expand the network and to incentivize employers to hire individuals from this category. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population is already carrying out work through the Digital Family Map and the FSM Social platform to proactively provide services and facilitate employment.
This year, at the instruction of the Head of State, authorized government bodies conducted an analysis of the work of regional commissions. Akimats were instructed to reformat the procedures of these commissions taking into account the new approaches.
Following the meeting, the Work Plan of the Interagency Commission for 2026 was approved, including issues related to the implementation of the Public Safety Assurance Concept, the migration situation, and others.
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