In Shymkent, a pre-trial investigation is under way amid reports of the detention of the head and deputy head of the city territorial inspection of the Committee for Veterinary Control and Supervision. The inspection issues veterinary certificates and monitors trade in products of animal origin. This is not the first corruption case at the agency.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE DETENTION
Sources told FBRK about the detention of the head of the territorial inspection for the city of Shymkent of the Committee for Veterinary Control and Supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), his deputy and, presumably, the head of one of the departments.
According to the source, the case concerns repeated bribe-taking by a group of individuals. It is also reported that the detainees have admitted guilt and the case may be heard under a simplified procedure. This information has not been officially confirmed.
WHAT THE NSC AND AFM SAID
To verify the information, FBRK sent requests to the Anti-Corruption Service of the National Security Committee (ACS of the NSC) and the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM).
The NSC confirmed that a pre-trial investigation is under way. Other information is not subject to disclosure under Part 1 of Article 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The agency did not specify who has been detained, under which article the case is being conducted, or what sum is involved.
The AFM said that the agency has no pre-trial investigations in respect of the head and deputy head of the inspection. Thus, the case is being handled by the NSC's anti-corruption service.
NOT THE FIRST CASE AT THE INSPECTION
In 2019, the anti-corruption service uncovered a bribe of KZT 120,000 that the acting head of the inspection had received for issuing six veterinary certificates through an intermediary from the city veterinary service. In the same year, a court sentenced I. S. Nakypbekov to a fine of KZT 3 million and banned him for life from holding positions in the civil service.
Later, a state veterinary inspector of the same inspection, B. A. Arapov, received 6 years' imprisonment for systematically extorting money from meat traders at the Upper Market in Shymkent.
The inspection handles a large volume of applications. According to media reports, in just eight months of 2026 it provided 2,117 public services, drew up 210 administrative protocols and imposed fines totalling KZT 9.4 million. Each of these procedures depends on the decision of an individual inspector.
VETERINARY DOCUMENTS IN QUESTION
The problem of transparency in veterinary control is not limited to Shymkent. FBRK previously wrote that, according to the editorial team's sources, in Zhambyl Region veterinary documents for the export of livestock can be bought from veterinarians, and Russian certificates are sold near the Kordai checkpoint.
