Those who are careless about the environment and cause damage to it will suffer losses - members of the Senate of the Kazakh Parliament approved a new environmental code that focuses on green technologies and clean production. In case of damage to the environment, nature resource users will have to restore it to its original state. Thus, the new law will improve the environmental situation by introducing advanced technologies at production facilities. Kazakhstan’s 50 large enterprises, which account for 80 percent of all pollution, will be switched to more sustainable solutions. They will be exempted for emission payments. Those who are not willing to compromise will have to pay up to 10 times more than before. The adopted document prescribes an average two times increase of fines on the various provisions. For example, the fine for illegal cutting down trees will increase fivefold.
“In case such offences are repeated or trees are cut down in specially protected natural areas, individuals will be fined up to 150 monthly calculated indexes (equivalent of 416,700 tenge or US$999), small enterprises will face a fine of 450 MCIs (equivalent of 1.2 million tenge or US$2,998) and large enterprises will have to pay up to 1,500 MCIs, which is nearly 4.375 million tenge (US$10,492). If the damage exceeds 100 MCIs, violators will be prosecuted”, said Maulen Ashimbayev, Chairperson of Senate, Upper House of Kazakh Parliament.
