A Government Hour was held in the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the issue of forest fire prevention and control. Public figure and founder of FBRK Kirill Pavlov spoke as an invited expert with a report on the dynamics of forest fires in Kazakhstan.
The key issue raised by the public figure is the draft order on introducing a ban on logging fir plantations within the forest fund of the East Kazakhstan region. It was put up for discussion on the Open NPA portal.
He is particularly concerned by a remark in the text of the order – "except for the logging of burnt areas", since it is precisely the measures for so-called "clearing of burnt areas" after fires that have often been the target of various corruption schemes.
As Pavlov stated, corruption in the forestry management system has reached such incredible proportions that it has become predictable. The public figure cited the example of "Ertis Ormany" - shortly before the fire that occurred there, the FBRK editorial office had just published an investigation into the familial and corrupt ties in that reserve.
He also recalled the corruption schemes in GLPR "Semey ormany", traces of which led to the Ministry of Ecology. Among other things, Pavlov noted that the fire on the territory of the "Semey ormany" reserve revealed a startling fact.
It turns out that the National Company "Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary" "sells data to regions and departments that are freely available", and during the fire in the aforementioned reserve, it even managed to provide the Ministry of Emergency Situations with incorrect satellite data, which led to the well-known tragic consequences. As is known, people ultimately died.
Recall that throughout 2023, the FBRK editorial office wrote about the activities of JSC "NC "Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary", which, while receiving budget funding for full-fledged operations, nevertheless buys up space images from foreign suppliers for subsequent resale to Kazakhstani state bodies.
Based on all the above facts of corruption violations and the publication of the discussed draft on introducing a ban on sanitary logging in fir plantations of the East Kazakhstan region, Kirill Pavlov made an expert assumption that the nearest forest fire will be precisely in Eastern Kazakhstan.
"If the Ministry of Ecology so badly wants to clear burnt forest, then let them turn their attention to the forests of Auliekol. About 48 thousand hectares of forest burned in the Kostanay region, however, according to official data from the authorities, as of July 1, 2023, only 1200 hectares had been cleared, which is about 2.5% of the burned area", proposed the public figure.
He noted that a similar situation arose due to the loss of markets in Central Asia. As a result, small businesses that undertook the clearing of the burned forest in the Kostanay region cannot sell it at a profitable price and are forced to refuse the work.
At the end of his speech, Kirill Pavlov strongly recommended rejecting such ambiguous orders, and putting any work on eliminating the consequences of forest fires up for discussion by commissions with the participation of deputies and the public.
"Regarding the forests of Auliekol - it is necessary to hold a fair auction to speed up the clearing of the burned area, understanding that the environmental damage may be more important than the economic one. Systemically - it is necessary to overall revise the structure and mechanisms of forestry management. <…>
It is necessary to introduce a methodology for forecasting fires and assessing risk zones, based on international standards. It is necessary to stipulate the responsibility of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the national data operator for the untimely detection of fire sources or too great a delay. And most importantly - it is necessary to work tirelessly to reduce corruption risks in this industry", concluded the expert.