PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV DECREES REORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT
A month after Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev made a speech to the Nation with an outline of the country’s new development strategy through 2050; he signed several decrees ordering the reorganization of the government. For the first time in Kazakhstani history, a special ministry in charge of regional development was created at the national level. This government structure already received extensive authorities to bridge the gap between Kazakhstan’s major urban centers, Astana and Almaty, and the provinces in terms of economic growth and employment opportunities. The new ministry’s organizational chart also includes three sectoral committees responsible for the implementation of such local policies as administrative support for small and medium businesses, land resource management as well as construction and housing.
Nazarbayev’s first deputy in the ruling NurOtan party, Bakhytzhan Sagintayev who served as the Minister of Economic Development and trade before his appointment to the party apparatus was chosen by the president to head the new ministry. This move reflects not only Nazarbayev’s personal trust in Sagintayev as an effective manager but also, in a broader sense, his increasingly strong bet on the younger generation of civil servants. Lately, such a trend was confirmed as a result of Serik Akhmetov’s appointment as Prime Minister last September, while Karim Massimov took charge of the presidential administration. Furthermore, another member of this emerging group of technocrats whose distinctive features are the absence of declared political ambitions, diverse professional experiences and, particularly in recent years, foreign education, is Yerbolat Dossayev, this time reappointed as the Minister of Economy.
While Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan-2050 program is practically aimed at sustaining the same high level of growth as in pre-crisis times, the role of planning and forecasting was further reinforced by the change of name of Dossayev’s ministry from “economic development and trade” to “economy and budget planning.” On the administrative front, this new government structure inherited several functions from other ministries, such as the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies, for instance as regards the state policy of investment support and strategic budgetary decisions.
In addition, it is expected to contribute to the development of the “green economy” agenda recently presented by Nazarbayev as a promising path for his country in the 21st century. Given the fact that the latest financial and debt crisis that struck the economies of major energy importers has considerably weakened global demand for oil and gas, the growth of non-extracting sectors is increasingly becoming a priority for the Kazakhstani Government. This also includes the introduction of renewable sources of energy and energy-saving schemes, which the Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning will now have to promote.
Apart from the redistribution of administrative responsibilities between various ministries and their committees, Nazarbayev appointed his long-time advisor Marat Tazhin, who had previously served in the capacity of the chairman of the Security Council, as State Secretary. His predecessor Mukhtar Kul-Mukhammed was transferred to the Ministry of Culture and Information. Back in 2010, this ministry was divided into two different bodies, one responsible for cultural and artistic issues and the other for information and communication technologies. However, with the government’s recent attempts to mildly increase its control of the media by elaborating a Code of journalism ethics and the perception of traditional and popular culture as a means of projecting Kazakhstan’s positive image to the outside world, the intersection between these two areas led to the reestablishment of a single government body.
Although the scope of the changes decided by Nazarbayev during the first three weeks of 2013 implies significant technical adjustments, they have been deprived so far of any politically sensitive implications. However, according to some foreign and domestic observers and unconfirmed reports published by the independent media, more cabinet reshuffles should be expected in the near future, especially with regard to such key ministries as those of justice and internal affairs as well as the speakership of Kazakhstan’s Senate.
Russian policy expert Andrey Grozin from the Moscow-based CIS Institute believes that Nazarbayev’s decisions have been widely anticipated and are primarily aimed at re-optimizing the system of central government through a more pragmatic distribution of policy functions. Moreover, Grozin says that Nazarbayev is limited in his choice of experienced and successful managers and prefers to reshuffle the all-too-known deck rather than confer ministerial portfolios on relatively unknown persons with potentially unorthodox views. As Kazakhstan moves into its 22nd year with Nazarbayev as the country’s president, the issue of succession will once again retain the attention of political experts and foreign companies operating on the Kazakhstani market throughout 2013.
