Lawyer Comments on Concerns About AIFC

Kazakh authorities have recently raised concerns about the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC). Majilis deputy Erlan Sairov referred to it as an “offshore paradise for domestic oligarchs,” while Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin stated that the state budget is losing billions due to tax loopholes at the AIFC, Orda.kz reports.

Lawyer Yevgeny Tikhonov commented on the situation on his Facebook page.

His full comment is below:

“It finally started to get through to.

Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin told the Senate that some Kazakhstan companies register at the AIFC to avoid taxes, and noted that ‘the government has questions for the management of the AIFC, where a preferential tax regime is in effect.’

Just a little bit more, and our government officials will realize that right under their noses is not just a center with a preferential tax regime, but a real enclave with its own legislation and its own independent court, which, by the way, is not part of the judicial system of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Well, if they think a little more, they will definitely understand what risks such organizations pose to the unity of the legal and fiscal system of Kazakhstan.

In general, this is very surprising. First, the government splashed out tens of billions of tenge on the creation of the AIFC, and now the government is complaining that the budget is missing out on hundreds of billions.”

Notably, one of the companies with AIFC residency status was founded by the wife of former Almaty Akim Yerbolat Dosayev.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny