The deputy chairman of the committee for road transport and transport control of the Ministry of Transport, Gani Salmaev, according to sources from FBRK, was subjected to searches on 26 August. According to preliminary data, Salmaev is charged under Articles 361 and 366 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SEARCHES
According to information from FBRK sources, the investigative actions took place at Gani Salmaev's place of residence. During the searches, 20 million tenge were allegedly discovered, which, according to sources, feature in the investigation materials as a suspected bribe.
Salmaev is charged under Article 361 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Abuse of official powers") and Article 366 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Accepting a bribe").
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT GANI SALMAEV
Gani Salmaev was born on 2 August 1987 in Aktobe. He graduated from the Kazakh Academy of Transport and Communications named after M. Tynyshpaev with a degree in "bachelor of engineering", as well as from the Aktobe Regional University named after K. Zhubanov with a degree in "law".
He began his career in 2009 at JSC "Passenger Transportation", where he worked until 2018. After that, he moved to the structure of the transport committee, where he held the positions of specialist and chief expert.
Later, Salmaev headed the directorate for road transport control of the committee for road transport. Since March 2026, he has held the position of deputy chairman of the committee for road transport and transport control of the Ministry of Transport.
IN WHICH PREVIOUS STATEMENT DID SALMAEV APPEAR
In October 2025, the anonymous FBRK bot received a statement from the chief specialist of the transport control inspectorate for Zhambyl region, Nursultan Bulatbekov, about a large-scale corruption scheme in the capital's transport control structures.
In his appeal, Bulatbekov mentioned Gani Salmaev, who at that time held the position of head of the directorate for road transport control. The complainant claimed that management may have shown favouritism towards certain carriers who violated weight limits.
CONTEXT
The topic of automated weighing stations (AWS) is not the first time it has become the subject of FBRK investigations, and in light of the current situation with the deputy chairman of the transport committee, the question naturally arises as to whether the systemic problems identified are linked to what happened under his leadership.
Previously, our editorial team noted that cameras capturing the rear state licence plate are not installed at all stations, which is critical for trailers and semi-trailers, where the overload does not always fall on the front section. Without the rear plate, it is impossible to correctly identify the owner of an overloaded vehicle; however, even the updated AWS operating rules adopted at the end of 2025 did not include this requirement.
There was also a loophole at the fine collection stage. According to official statistics, of the 3.4 billion tenge in fines imposed, only about 2 billion tenge were actually collected — that is, around 41% of the amounts imposed remained unpaid. Moreover, with the system's transition to a fully automatic violation recording mode in 2025, overload fines rose sharply. Over 10 months, their total increased threefold compared to the previous year, reaching 4.4 billion tenge.
Currently, FBRK sources report that at the entrance to Astana, asphalt is being removed and weighing equipment is being dismantled — it appears that the accounting system itself is being replaced.
