The Government of Kazakhstan is committed to addressing corruption as a strategic priority to fulfil national ambitions to build a “New Kazakhstan” in the wake of the mass protests in January 2022, in which concerns over corruption played an important role. Kazakhstan’s 2022-2026 Anti-Corruption Policy Concept is a strategic tool for supporting reforms under this agenda. Three years on, this OECD Integrity Review takes stock of progress in Kazakhstan’s integrity system with a view to ensuring sustained impact of anti‑corruption reforms beyond the 2022-2026 Policy Concept. It aims to help the Government of Kazakhstan deliver on its development ambitions by building a comprehensive and coherent integrity system.
The Review builds on the insights from the 2017 OECD Integrity Scan of Kazakhstan and analyses key elements of Kazakhstan’s integrity system, namely the anti-corruption strategy, integrity standards, risk management, a whole-of-society approach against corruption, internal control and risk management, and transparency and integrity in decision making. It provides recommendations in line with international good practices and the 2017 OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity. This includes strengthening the asset and interest declaration system as well as internal control and risk management practices, expanding access to information and the protection of whistleblowers, and improving the regulatory framework for interactions between the public and private sectors.
The Review was prepared at the request of the Government of Kazakhstan as part of a project implemented in co-operation with the Anti-Corruption Service of Kazakhstan since 2021. The OECD Secretariat collected information through desk research and a questionnaire submitted to the Kazakh authorities. The report is further enriched by information gathered from two fact-finding missions to Astana undertaken in November 2022 and April 2024, including meetings with government officials and non‑governmental stakeholders, as well as a series of practical workshops. It should be noted that since the time of writing, the National Anti-Corruption Service was restructured, with its functions moved to the National Security Committee and the Agency for Civil Service Affairs.
This publication is the work of the OECD Directorate for Public Governance (GOV), under the leadership of Elsa Pilichowski, Director. It was prepared by GOV’s Anti-Corruption and Integrity in Government Division, under the direction of Nejla Saula, Head of Division, Jesper Johnsøn, Deputy Head of Division and Elena Konceviciute, Head of Country Projects. Pauline Bertrand, Petra Burai, Laura Córdoba Reyes, Sangyeon Han, Oksana Huss, Damla Karakaya, Shana Krishnan, Craig Matasick, Elisabeth de Vega Alavedra, Laura Völker and Santiago Wortman Jofre contributed to the drafting of the report. Eleonore Morena provided editorial support and prepared the report for publication.
The Review was approved by the OECD Working Party on Public Integrity and Anti-Corruption (PIAC) on 21 July 2025 and declassified by the Public Governance Committee on 25 August 2025.