Tokayev accepted the resignation of the government of Kazakhstan and instructed to temporarily introduce state regulation of prices for liquefied gas, gasoline and diesel

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev accepted the resignation of the government. The decree was published on the website of the head of state.

Alikhan Smailov, the first deputy prime minister of the republic, became the interim prime minister. Tokayev also appointed his assistant Yerlan Karin as the Secretary of State of Kazakhstan, relieving Krymbek Kusherbayev from this post. Murat Nurtleu became the chairman of the National Security Committee of the republic – before that he held the chair of the deputy head of the presidential administration.

Against the background of the “gas” riots, Tokayev ordered to introduce temporary state regulation of prices for liquefied gas, as well as gasoline and diesel. This is reported in a statement following the meeting on the socio-economic situation in the country.

“I charge the antitrust authority <…> introduce temporary price regulation of prices for liquefied gas for a period of 180 calendar days. In the regions, the maximum prices for the population should not exceed the price level at the end of last year, ”the head of state said.

In addition, he instructed the government to postpone the full transition to the sale of liquefied gas through electronic trading platforms for a year.

The Prosecutor General’s Office and the Agency for the Protection of Competition were instructed to promptly investigate the price collusion and report the results within 20 days.

Protests in the country erupted after the price of automobile gas doubled on January 1: from 60 tenge (10.2 rubles) to 120 (20.4 rubles) per liter. On Tuesday Tokayev announced that the price for a liter of gas in the Mangistau region would be reduced to 50 tenge, but the unrest in the country continued. A state of emergency has been declared in Alma-Ata and Mangistau Oblast.