On March 13, 2020, in Nur-Sultan, the Ombudsman for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan Rustam Zhursunov held an online conference "Results of the study of the opinions of entrepreneurs in the framework of the project "Special review of corruption in 2019".

The meeting with journalists was planned, but since the restriction measures against coronavirus spread in Kazakhstan, the Business Ombudsman decided to hold it live without any mass event, as a conference.

The meeting was also attended by the President of Strategy Center for Social and Political Studies PF  Gulmira Ileuova, director of the Department of Prevention of the Anti-Corruption  Agency  Anar Zharova, Chief of the Administrative Office of the Business Ombudsman Erbol Ustemirov.

The first issue on the agenda was the reasons why entrepreneurs get involved in corruption crimes.

Corruption in various areas of economic activity is manifested unevenly. For example, areas with higher corruption content are customs, construction and land relations.    

There is a stable market for corrupt services, which involves representatives of state authorities at managerial and grassroots levels, depending on the complexity of the "problem to be solved".

An interesting correlation has been revealed: in regions with low levels of corruption the size of bribes is higher and vice versa, in regions with high levels of corruption the size of bribes is lower. For example, the Karaganda region has one of the highest rates of bribery. In the North Kazakhstan and Turkestan regions, the size of bribes is minimal.

"As part of this sociological survey, we surveyed 5,891 respondents and 70 interviews in all regions and cities of national importance. I would like to note that the level of involvement of entrepreneurs in corruption has decreased for the last year by 16% - from 62% to 46%. Among the explanations for these changes we can emphasize the significant impact of digitalization, first of all, in the system of tax accounting, which regulates and makes more transparent the relationships between contractors," said Gulmira Ileuova.

And it is also interesting that an explanation for the reduction of corruption was given to the age factor: it is assumed that the young generation of entrepreneurs is less oriented to informal relations due to a higher level of financial, technological and legal literacy, thus changing the traditional attitudes and model of interaction between business and government agencies.

According to the results of the survey, 51% of the surveyed entrepreneurs believe that measures to reduce corruption in the provision of public services to businesses are more effective. The share of entrepreneurs demanding stricter punishment for corrupt officials remained at the level of 2018.  In different spheres, it ranges from 10 to 20%. At the same time, requirements to increase control over the work of specialized state bodies at the local level come in the first place.

"Entrepreneurs are willing to increase responsibility for corruption. The Agency is taking measures. At the moment we are working with government agencies on several amendments to criminal legislation, in particular, on increasing responsibility for corruption, such as abolishing prison sentences in colonies of settlements, limiting the use of parole, as well as limiting the application of multiple fines. These measures are now being worked out," said Anar Zharova.

The most resonant reasons for corruption remain the extortion of officials through red tape and demanding excessive documents. The state representative is the initiator of corruption on average in 49% of cases, while the entrepreneur - in 36% of cases.

At the same time, entrepreneurs found themselves in a corruption situation in the following spheres

- every fifth person in the tax and public procurement sector;

- one in three respondents in the areas of transport, construction, customs, and agriculture;

- every second respondent in the sphere of land relations and ecology.

"My main task is to protect entrepreneurs. We found out that an entrepreneur offers a bribe to speed up the procedure for legally solving issues, achieve better work on the part of an official. Because an employee of a state institution often deliberately delays the resolution of an issue," said Rustam Zhursunov.

As it turned out, bribery is the main form of informal resolution of issues. As for the size of bribes, the situation is as follows. Unfortunately, bribery remains the main form of informal resolution of issues. The average size of a bribe continues to increase and has reached KZT 205,000. The lowest size of a bribe (median) - in ecology (KZT 5,000-50,000), the highest - in construction and land relations (KZT 50,000-200,000).

"According to the Republican Corruption Map, the highest corruption risks are observed in the West Kazakhstan, Atyrau, Mangistau and Kyzylorda regions. The Aktobe, Turkestan, Zhambyl, Almaty, Pavlodar, Akmola and North Kazakhstan regions, Almaty and Shymkent are classified as having an average corruption rate. The lowest level of corruption is in the East Kazakhstan, Kostanay, Karaganda regions, and Nur-Sultan," said Erbol Ustemirov.

Remind that since 2019, the Special review of corruption is conducted under the guidance of the Ombudsman for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan. The main approaches to the preparation of the review have been reviewed and supported by the Anti-Corruption Agency of Kazakhstan.

The objectives of the survey were to determine the level and specificity of business involvement in corruption in terms of eight areas of activity and representing 15 government agencies at the central and local levels.