Kostanay Mayor Marat Zhundubayev has again publicly criticized the police's work with dishonest entrepreneurs and demanded they stop limiting themselves to warnings. This is not the first such statement by the city head — he made similar demands in winter and repeated them in subsequent months. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
On July 13, 2026, at a staff meeting, Zhundubayev expressed outrage that entrepreneurs in the city have become accustomed to illegally occupying land and connecting to utilities without any permits. His words were quoted by colleagues from "Nash Kostanay."
"People can fence themselves off, stepping back a meter. Land grabbing is not out of the ordinary here; it happens constantly. They set up a kiosk, connect to electricity, and start demanding their rights," the mayor said.
He sharply noted that a person who has not obtained a single permit behaves as if everyone owes them.
The mayor was particularly outraged by police statistics. Only 43 fines were issued for violations, while warnings exceeded three thousand. According to him, this imbalance shows that the police are afraid to apply real measures and limit themselves to formal remarks.
"I am not calling for fining everyone; I am calling for order. A person will know they will be fined and will not break the law. We cannot allow chaos in the city," he stated.
The mayor's press service explained that this is not about punitive measures for the sake of fines, but about strengthening preventive work. If an entrepreneur does not respond appropriately to the first warning, then they should be fined.
They also clarified that staff meetings at the akimat are not broadcast or recorded.
It is worth noting that the Kostanay mayor regularly makes such demands. Back in winter, a video circulated on social media where he asked in a similar tone how long they could talk to violators instead of punishing them. After one such instruction, the media reported that the city indeed began fining businesses more actively for landscaping violations. However, judging by the mayor's new speech, months later, the situation with the actual application of fines, by his own assessment, has changed little.