The Astana Police Department has refused to initiate a criminal case following a complaint by agricultural expert and founder of the FBRC Kirill Pavlov against the Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov, according to media reports. The expert accused the official of spreading false information about Kazakhstan's full self-sufficiency in dairy products.
The complaint was filed in September with the Yessil District Police Department. Pavlov also appealed to the Presidential Administration asking for the situation to be brought under control.
"Regarding the dissemination of deliberately false information about 100% self-sufficiency in dairy products in Kazakhstan, I have filed a complaint against Minister of Agriculture Saparov with the Astana Police Department," the statement reads.
In support of his claims, the expert cited data from official statistics and international databases, according to which Kazakhstan imported 183 thousand tonnes of milk and dairy products worth $410.7 million (222.4 billion tenge) in 2024.
He noted that the import share in the cheese and cottage cheese market is 48%, and for butter and milk-fat products — 15%.
Recently, Pavlov submitted an addition to his complaint — a video recording of a discussion in which the Director of Agricultural-Food Markets and Agricultural Product Processing at the Ministry of Agriculture, Shaimerden Akhmetov, officially acknowledges that the country does not provide for itself in dairy products.
The expert called this "100% proof" of his arguments and asked for the materials to be added to the previously filed complaint.
However, according to the Telegram channel "They've already come for us", the police reported that no criminal case would be opened.
"Based on the results of the inspection, it was established that the arguments set out in the appeal do not contain signs of a criminal offence as defined by the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the inspection materials have been left unregistered in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations," the response from the Astana Police Department states.
Despite this, the official data and confirmations from representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture provided by Pavlov point to the validity of his complaint. The expert has effectively drawn attention to discrepancies between the ministry's official statements and the actual situation on the market, calling into question the reliability of reporting in the agricultural sector.