FBRK.KZ

The proportion of smoking adults in Kazakhstan has fallen to 15.1%, reports the Bureau of National Statistics. At the same time, law enforcement agencies are recording an increase in cases of smuggled unmarked cigarettes, mainly from Kyrgyzstan.

The Department of Housing and Utilities and Housing Inspection of the Burabay District, without a tender, entered into a contract with the individual entrepreneur "Favorit" for the repair of an administrative building in Shchuchinsk for 26 million tenge. The basis was an order to eliminate breakdowns in engineering communications, however, part of the stipulated work is not related to this wording.

The company "SK Protein" from the North Kazakhstan region launched a project to process hides into feed protein, having received state support and investments. However, two years later, the project ended in legal disputes, a terminated investment agreement, an attempted bankruptcy, and the seizure of accounts. The editorial board of FBRK examined court documents to reconstruct the chronology of this story.

In the Akkol district, residents complained for several months about a strong smell coming from the 'Agro Protein' LLP plant, which processes hides, and about the construction of veterinary facilities on land without proper documentation. Inspections confirmed some of the violations: the plant has been fined and suspended, and the state authority is seeking through the courts to revoke the environmental permit that allowed it to operate.

In the social network Threads, a user posted an advert to buy electronic digital signatures (EDS) from people who travelled abroad from September 2025, for 25,000 tenge. Judging by the wording, the signature is needed for "phone verification" – a procedure introduced in Kazakhstan for smartphones brought in from abroad.