Qazaq Gazetteri

Qazaq Gazetteri LLP is Kazakhstan’s principal state newspaper and magazine publisher. It publishes 11 titles under the state information order, including the national dailies Egemen Qazaqstan in Kazakh, founded in 1919, and Kazakhstanskaya Pravda in Russian, founded in 1920. The company was assembled through a restructuring ordered by government decree in November 2020 and completed by January 2023.

Media assets

Newspapers: Egemen Qazaqstan, Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, Uygur Avazi, Ana tili, Druzhniye Rebyata and Ulan

Magazines: AQIQAT, Mysl, URKER, AQ JELKEN and BALDYRGAN

Ownership and governance

Qazaq Gazetteri is a state-owned limited liability partnership under the Ministry of Culture and Information. The ministry’s governing regulation lists the company among the entities within its sphere, and specifically among those legal entities over whose state participation share the ministry receives rights of possession and use.

The company was assembled in stages. Government decree No. 743 of 7 November 2020 prescribed three sequential reorganisations: the incorporation of Kazakhstanskaya Pravda JSC into Egemen Qazaqstan JSC; the conversion of Egemen Qazaqstan JSC into a limited liability partnership; and the incorporation of that partnership into Qazaq Gazetteri LLP. The first stage was publicly reported as implemented in May 2021, and the consolidated Qazaq Gazetteri structure was announced in January 2023.

Erzhan Baitles has been General Director since 31 August 2026, succeeding Dikhan Kamzabekuly, who became a member of the Kurultai. Immediately before his appointment Baitles was Deputy Press Secretary to the President, a post he had held since September 2023. He had previously worked in the Presidential Press Service and in the secretariat of the State Secretary, and earlier served as deputy chairman of a regional branch of Nur Otan.

Qazaq Gazetteri has a supervisory board, on which state officials serve. State Media Monitor identified no independent appointment channel, representation for audiences or journalists, or other governance arrangement that would insulate the company or its editorial operations from state control.

Source of funding and budget

Kazakhstan’s 2026 republican budget allocates KZT 2.431 billion to Qazaq Gazetteri LLP specifically for conducting state information policy through its eleven newspapers and magazines. The comparable adjusted allocation for 2025 was approximately KZT 2.46 billion.

The company files financial reporting with Kazakhstan’s Financial Statements Depository. Its 2024 annual non-consolidated financial statement was approved on 11 July 2025, and its electronic dossier contains five audit reports alongside multiple financial reports.

State Media Monitor could not establish from the material reviewed the share of the company’s total income represented by the state information order as against advertising, subscriptions, sales and other commercial revenue. Its titles carry advertising and are sold by subscription, so commercial income exists; its scale relative to the state allocation is not established.

Local experts interviewed by State Media Monitor in May 2024 and March 2025 said government-run print media are chiefly financed through state budget subsidies.

Editorial independence

Kazakhstan’s Mass Media Act formally guarantees freedom of speech and prohibits censorship. State Media Monitor identified no statutory or governance mechanism specific to Qazaq Gazetteri or its titles that structurally insulates editorial decision-making from the Ministry of Culture and Information.

The structural position is the significant factor. The republican budget expressly funds the company to conduct state information policy through its eleven publications. The Ministry of Culture and Information exercises the state’s rights over the company’s participation share. Its General Director moved directly from the position of Deputy Press Secretary to the President on 31 August 2026, having previously served in the Presidential Press Service and the secretariat of the State Secretary.

When the 2020 restructuring was announced, the responsible minister said the consolidation concerned optimisation of economic and administrative activity and would not affect the creative work of the newspapers, and that the Egemen Qazaqstan and Kazakhstanskaya Pravda brands would be retained. The ministry repeated that characterisation after the first stage of the merger in May 2021.

Local experts interviewed in May 2024 and March 2025 described government-run print media as operating in strict alignment with government policies and interests.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor could not identify a published Qazaq Gazetteri policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or audience disclosure, and could not establish the extent of adoption across its publications.

Classification rationale

Qazaq Gazetteri LLP is classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is state-owned and state-governed. Qazaq Gazetteri is a state-owned limited liability partnership under the Ministry of Culture and Information, which holds rights of possession and use over the state participation share. The company’s present form was created by government decree in 2020 and completed in 2023. A supervisory board exists, with state officials serving on it, but no independent appointment channel, audience or journalist representation, or comparable governance arrangement was identified.

It is state-funded. The 2026 republican budget allocates KZT 2.431 billion to the company specifically for conducting state information policy through its eleven publications, against approximately KZT 2.46 billion in 2025. Commercial income exists through advertising and subscriptions, but State Media Monitor could not establish its share of total income.

Its editorial agenda is directed by the state. The budget line funding the company defines its purpose as conducting state information policy. Its General Director was Deputy Press Secretary to the President until the day of his appointment. Interview evidence across two rounds describes government-run print media as operating in strict alignment with government policy, and no mechanism specific to the company protects editorial decision-making from the ministry.

August 2026