A man covers the broken window of the Nurbank office in Alma-Ata with fiberboardALMA-ATA, Jan 20 >The authorities of Alma-Ata will provide support to small and medium-sized businesses affected by the riots in the form of exemptions from utility and rent payments and concessional lending, the akim (mayor) of the city Bakytzhan Sagintayev said. , in the city, about 1.6 thousand business entities suffered from the riots, and the damage amounted to 67 billion tenge (155 million dollars), most of the victims belong to the category of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
The situation in Alma-Ata after the lifting of the state of emergency remains calm «The government commission has approved a mechanism for compensation for damage. Entrepreneurs must send applications with supporting documents … A regional commission is being created to consider applications for compensation, work will be carried out in close cooperation with the national chamber of entrepreneurs» Atameken «, professional associations,» the mayor said. The city administration, for its part, will additionally provide financial and non-financial support to the affected businesses. «We will release affected small and medium-sized businesses from utility costs for three months, we will release small and medium-sized businesses from renting communal facilities for a period of six months,» Sagintayev said.
In Alma-Ata, the cynologist was returned a service dog stolen during the protests. He also informed that the city authorities are currently negotiating with the owners of private shopping centers to provide rental benefits to affected entrepreneurs. «Most of the owners supported our appeal, confirmed their readiness to release the affected business from paying rent,» he added. According to Sagintayev, as part of the city's business support program, entrepreneurs will be offered loans in the amount of up to 10 million tenge ($23,000) to replenish working capital at 2% per annum for up to 12 months. In addition, entrepreneurs will be granted a deferral of principal repayment and exemption from fines and penalties for up to 180 days to state microfinance organizations. Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the early days of 2022 — residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed LPG prices. 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 UN, during the protests in Kazakhstan, about 1,000 people were injured. According to the country's Prosecutor General's Office, 4,578 people were injured as a result of the riots, 225 people died, including 19 security officials.
