A worker on a square in AlmatyNUR-SULTAN, Jan 18At a meeting on Tuesday, the Government of Kazakhstan approved an operational action plan to stabilize the socio-economic situation in the country after the riots, it follows from the broadcast on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers. The President of Kazakhstan instructed the Cabinet to develop and adopt an action plan with operational and short-term measures aimed at security and comprehensive support for citizens and businesses, as well as for the prompt stabilization of the socio-economic situation in the republic. «In general, the implementation of this plan will ensure the prompt restoration of the socio-economic situation in the country after the January events in the short term,» Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov said at the meeting. According to him, first of all, they will help the families of the dead and injured. «Employees of law enforcement agencies and civil protection agencies are also provided with proper state support. All points of the plan regarding the Ministry of Internal Affairs are very important and must be implemented efficiently and promptly,» he said. Smailov explained that citizens and legal entities affected by the riots are given a deferment to repay bank loans and microcredits until the end of the state of emergency in the regions. In addition, as the prime minister said, in order to reduce the burden on business, tax and customs checks, as well as issuing notifications for cameral control. Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the first days of 2022 — residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed the doubling of prices for liquefied gas. Later, the protests spread to other cities, including Alma-Ata, the old capital and the largest city of the republic: looting began there, militants attacked state institutions, took away weapons. In response, the authorities declared a state of emergency throughout the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation. According to the country's Prosecutor General's Office, 4,578 people were injured as a result of the riots, 225 were killed, including 19 security officials. On the morning of January 5, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismissed the government and headed the Security Council. At the first meeting of the Security Council under his leadership, he described the situation in Kazakhstan as undermining the integrity of the state and said that he had asked for help from the CSTO «in overcoming the terrorist threat.» The Collective Security Council of the CSTO sent a collective peacekeeping force to Kazakhstan to normalize the situation in the country. On January 7, Tokayev said that terrorists, including those who had arrived from abroad, continued to resist, and promised to destroy those who did not lay down their arms. In addition, the president noted that all the demands of citizens, expressed in peaceful forms, were heard. On Thursday, January 13, the successful completion of the CSTO mission was announced, now the peacekeepers are returning from Kazakhstan.
