A seminar on the bankruptcy of individuals was held in the West Kazakhstan region

On February 10, 2023, an open seminar–meeting was held in the assembly hall of the Amanat party with the participation of citizens of the West Kazakhstan region to explain the new Law "On the restoration of Solvency and Bankruptcy of Citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan" with the participation of representatives of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan: Aibol Amanov - Deputy Head of the Department for Work with Debt and Insolvent Debtors of the Department Audit, Yerzhana Kades - Chief expert of the Department for Work with Debts and Insolvent Debtors of the Audit Department and Zhanna Islyamova - acting Head of the Department of Advanced Training and Professional Training of the Educational and Methodological Center of the SRC.
The main purpose of the seminar is a detailed explanation of the main provisions of the Law to the population with problem loans, taking into account the social significance.
The law will take effect 60 days after its official publication. This means that citizens with debts will be able to file for bankruptcy in March 2023.
The law provides for 3 types of procedures - out-of-court bankruptcy, judicial bankruptcy and restoration of solvency.
All three procedures are initiated only by the debtor himself, that is, the creditor does not have the right to file for bankruptcy of the debtor.
The first procedure: Out-of-court bankruptcy can be applied exclusively for debts to banks, MFOs and collection agencies.
Out-of-court bankruptcy, citizens will be able to apply under the following conditions:
- debt to Banks, microfinance organizations and collectors does not exceed 5.5 million tenge (1600 MCI);
- there is no repayment for obligations to banks, microfinance organizations, collectors within 12 consecutive months as of the date of filing the application;
- there is no registered property, including property that is in common ownership;
- settlement of overdue debts with the bank has been carried out;
- bankruptcy has not been applied for 7 years.
In addition, the bill provides special conditions for:
- TSA recipients within 6 months;
- citizens whose debt has not been repaid for more than five years.
Out-of-court bankruptcy will begin on the e-government web portal. Then, through the information system, an automatic reconciliation will be carried out with the data of interested state and other bodies for the debtor's compliance with the input criteria.
For debts over 5.5 million tenge and for other types of debts, citizens will be able to apply for judicial bankruptcy.
The purpose of judicial bankruptcy is the maximum satisfaction of creditors' claims at the expense of the bankrupt's estate.
If the only housing is the subject of collateral, then the creditor will have the right to withdraw it during the bankruptcy proceedings.
If the only housing is not a pledge, creditors will not be able to claim it.
The remaining outstanding amount is subject to write-off, provided that there are no signs of dishonesty of the debtor (concealment of property or information about it, provision of false information, etc.).
The bankruptcy procedure is carried out by financial managers, which have the right to enter:
- Administrators who carry out the bankruptcy procedure of legal entities and sole proprietors;
- Professional accountants;
- Legal consultants;
- Auditors.
Taking into account that not all debtors will be able to pay for the services of financial managers, the bill provides for payment at the expense of the state to persons belonging to socially vulnerable segments of the population who do not have property.
The third procedure – restoration of solvency, provides for the possibility of obtaining installments in court to pay debts (up to 5 years), if there is a stable income.
The recovery plan is developed jointly with the financial manager and approved in court.
The advantage of this procedure is that after it a person does not acquire the status of "bankrupt", therefore, the consequences provided for a bankrupt do not apply to him.
Consequences after declaring a citizen bankrupt:
1) a ban on obtaining loans and credits for 5 years (except for obtaining micro-loans from pawnshops);
2) repeated bankruptcy is possible only after 7 years;
3) the financial condition of the bankrupt will be monitored for 3 years after the bankruptcy.
Alimony debts, compensation for damage caused to the life and health of another person, as well as compensation for damage caused by criminal offenses are not subject to write-off.
We draw the attention of citizens that a bankruptcy application can be filed from March 2023.
In January – February, the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Digital Development, conducts organizational and technical work in stages.
In particular, a List (Register) of financial managers will be formed, which will include current bankrupt managers, auditors, legal consultants and professional accountants.
A prototype of the information system has already been developed, its testing and refinement are being carried out.
The speakers drew particular attention to the fact that:
"Recently, in social networks (TikTok, Instagram and others), cases of posting publications about the provision of paid services for the bankruptcy of citizens by fraudsters have become more frequent, stating the need to pay 10-20% of the amount subject to bankruptcy."
It was noted that one should not trust such sources, since the procedure of out-of-court bankruptcy (for debts of no more than 5.5 million tenge) is an absolutely free procedure.
Starting from March 2023, this service can be obtained through the E-gov website and the mobile application "e-Salyq Azamat".
The event was held in the format of questions and answers with the active participation of citizens. Various situational aspects of filing applications were considered, as well as all aspects of the bankruptcy process were disclosed. During the constructive dialogue, exhaustive answers were given to all citizens' questions.