Owners of cafés and shashlik restaurants in Almaty have been reminded of the ban on charcoal-fired mangals and tandirs in residential buildings. One establishment was fined, and in total, since the start of the year, fines totalling 1.2 million tenge have been issued in the city for violations of landscaping rules.
WHICH ESTABLISHMENTS WERE INSPECTED
According to the Almaty Department of Ecology and Environment, staff of Eco Almaty LLP visited cafés, shashlik restaurants, shops and other commercial premises in the Turksib district as part of the “Almaty — Clean Air” campaign.
Business owners were reminded of the need to move away from coal and firewood in favour of gas or electric equipment. The reason is air pollution from smoke, soot and harmful substances produced by burning solid fuel.
WHAT REQUIREMENTS APPLY TO SHASHLIK RESTAURANTS
Under sanitary rules, catering establishments located in residential and other buildings are prohibited from using mangals and tandirs fuelled by solid fuel.
Gas and electric equipment, as well as extraction systems with smoke and odour filtration, are to be used for cooking.
Additional restrictions are set out in the Atmospheric Air Protection Rules approved by the Almaty maslikhat on 30 December 2025.
They provide for abandoning solid and liquid fuel for production needs in gas-supplied areas of low-emission zones (LEZ).
The relevant provisions come into force in January 2027, while the LEZ requirements will take effect after the akimat's resolution is approved and the permanent boundaries of the zone are defined.
Business owners have been recommended to switch to natural gas by the end of 2026.
HOW MANY FINES WERE ISSUED
Specialists drew up an administrative protocol against one of the cafés under Article 505 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“Violation of the rules for the improvement of the territories of cities and settlements”). The fine amounted to 20 MCI (86,500 tenge).
As of 10 November 2026, 11 administrative protocols had been drawn up in Almaty for violations of landscaping rules, totalling 1,211,000 tenge.
Violations were identified not only in catering establishments but also in organisations in other sectors of activity.
