Deputy Prime Minister Tamara Duissenova stated at a government meeting that she is ready to listen to the arguments of Kazakh MPs regarding changing the country's time zone.
According to Kazinform News Agency, Duissenova promised to consider this issue together with the heads of the relevant state bodies. According to her, there have been no sharp changes in the healthcare system due to the time change.
It will be recalled that in the autumn of 2023, during a plenary session, Mazhilis deputy Yerkin Abil proposed switching Kazakhstan to a single time zone. On 19 January, changes were made to the government decree, according to which, from 1 March, a single time zone, UTC +5, came into effect across the country.
Later, some Kazakh citizens began to advocate for the return of the previous time, and a petition against the single time zone in Kazakhstan gathered 50,000 signatures. One of the reasons for collecting signatures was citizens' concerns about a possible increase in electricity costs during the winter period.
In early September, Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakaliyev stated that the authorities could consider time change options only after research, which could take 3 years.