ASTANA (TCA) — At the meeting with Kazakhstan’s top prosecutors on April 25, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev emphasized the importance of clarification to citizens of new laws passed in the country, including the Land Code, the president’s press service reported.
On April 24, around 1,000 people staged a rare public protest in the city of Atyrau, rallying against the government’s decision to sell land in auctions.
Nazarbayev said that the Land Code says nothing about selling Kazakh land to foreigners. “Our task is to allow Kazakhstan citizens to privatize land, in order it has owners and properly used,” the president said.
The protest in the central square in Atyrau on April 24 came as public fears in the city had grown that changes in the Land Code could allow sales of land to foreigners, though the government has said this will not happen, RFE/RL reported.
Senior city and regional officials arrived at the scene and sought to disperse the rally by addressing the crowd and saying the Land Code did not threaten public interests. They also said that the rally was unsanctioned and protesters must disperse.
The amendments to the Land Code are set to take effect on July 1. They will allow the government to sell land to joint ventures, as long as they are controlled by Kazakh residents.
Kazakhstan continues to bar land sales to foreigners, but the amendments will extend the maximum term of land lease to foreigners from 15 years to 25 years.
