Kazakhstan may introduce new transparency requirements for subsoil users, as lawmakers call for stricter disclosure of financial and production data across the mining and oil and gas sectors.
Mazhilis deputy Yerlan Barlybayev has proposed legislative changes requiring all major subsoil users to publicly report their revenues and extraction volumes. Citing the constitutional principle that subsoil resources belong to the people, he argued that the state must ensure full transparency in how these resources are utilised and how related revenues are managed.
Currently, disclosure requirements vary depending on corporate structure. While joint-stock companies are legally required to publish financial statements, many of Kazakhstan’s largest subsoil users, including Tengizchevroil, Kazakhmys Corporation and Kazzinc, operate as limited liability partnerships. As a result, they report only to their founders rather than the public. In addition, some major operators are registered in foreign jurisdictions or within the Astana International Financial Centre, further limiting public access to information.
Barlybayev noted that this lack of uniform transparency prevents society from objectively assessing how national resources are being exploited. He proposed introducing mandatory public reporting standards for all large subsoil users, aligned with disclosure requirements applied to publicly listed companies under securities market legislation.
As a longer-term measure, the deputy suggested that new legal entities seeking rights to develop strategic deposits should be required to register exclusively as joint-stock companies. According to him, this approach would not affect existing investors but would gradually improve transparency across the sector.
At the same time, Barlybayev emphasised that the core issue lies not in corporate structure itself, but in the absence of unified transparency standards for major resource operators.
The proposal follows the signing of Kazakhstan’s new Constitution on 18 March, which reinforces state ownership of subsoil resources and has prompted renewed debate over governance and accountability in the extractive industries.
