Unofficial translation

      This Law determines legal, economic and organisational regulatory frameworks of social relations in the sphere of gas and gas supply in the Republic of Kazakhstan and aimed at provision of conditions to meet the internal necessities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in gas, as well as for effective, reliable and safe operation of objects of gas supply systems.

Chapter 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Basic definitions used in this Law

      The following basic definitions shall be used in this Law:

      1) a filling station – a technological complex intended for storage and retail trade of the liquefied petroleum gas to vehicle owners, using it as fuel;

      2) a gas-filling compressor station – a technological complex intended for compressing, storage and retail trade of commercial gas to vehicle owners, using it as fuel;

      4) a retail trade – entrepreneurial activity on the sale of commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas to customers in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan for own needs without the purposes of further sales;

      5) a single right of way – a hookup of main gas pipelines (or divisions) and gas pipelines systems (including with different pressure), ensuring the transporting of commercial gas in a single direction (transportation flow), laid in a parallel on one route;

      6) gas –raw, commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas;

      7) gas supply – an activity in the sphere of production, transporting (transportation), storage and sales of commercial, liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas;

      8) a protective zone of objects of gas supply systems – a territory with the special use conditions, that shall be established all-around the objects of gas supply systems in order to secure safe operation conditions and eliminate a risk of their damaging;

      9) a gas supply system – a set of technologically connected objects, intended for production, transporting (transportation), storage, sales and consumption of commercial or liquefied petroleum gas;

      10) gasification – a set of actions aimed at usage of the commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas as fuel on objects of municipal housing economy, industrial, agricultural and other objects;

      11) gas facilities – technical products of the full operational compatibility, used as component elements of gas pipelines (expansion joints, condensate gathering tanks, safety valve, stop valve), as well as gas-burning appliances (gas appliance, ovens and stoves);

      12) a partnership in the sphere of gas and gas supply – a form of interaction of the state and investor on the mutually beneficial conditions for solution of strategic and social objectives on securing advanced processing of associated gas belonged to the Republic of Kazakhstan and manufacturing of products with the high added value;

      14) a gas pipeline –a construction that consists of pipes with the stop valves, connected together and designed for transporting of gas in gaseous or two phase state;

      15) a gas-distribution system – a set of technologically connected constructions that consists of gas pipelines (line pipes) and objects associated with them, designed for transporting of commercial gas from a main gas pipeline to gas-consuming systems;

      16) a gas-distribution organisation – a legal entity that carries out transporting of commercial gas on a gas-distribution system, technical operation of a gas-distribution system, as well as wholesale and retail trade of commercial gas on conditions, established by this Law;

      17) a gas transportation organisation – a legal entity that renders services on transporting of commercial gas in connecting, main gas pipelines and (or) storage of commercial gas in commercial gas storages on conditions, established by this Law;

      18) a gas-filling item – an engineering construction designed for storage, discharge and filling of the liquefied petroleum gas to domestic bottles;

      19) a gas-filling station – a set of technologically connected production and other objects, designed for storage, discharge and filling of the liquefied petroleum gas to railway tanks, liquefied gas carriers, domestic bottles, as well as repair and utilization of domestic bottles;

      20) a gas-consuming system – a set of gas pipelines (line pipe) and gas facilities, designed for intake of commercial gas from gas-distribution system or liquefied petroleum gas from grouped tank installation, as well as their usage in as fuel and (or) raw materials;

      21) metering instruments –measuring tools and other technical equipment, that fulfil the following functions: measuring, accumulation, storage, display of information on expenses, volume, temperature, pressure of the gas and operating hours of the instruments;

      22) a connecting gas pipeline – a gas pipeline designed for transporting of the raw gas from the contract area to a gas processing plant or business customer of the raw gas or for transporting of commercial gas from a gas processing plant to main gas pipeline;

      23) a flow gas pipeline – a gas pipeline designed for transporting of the gas within the contract area;

      24) a municipal consumer – an individual or legal entity that acquires commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas for public living needs during entrepreneurial, non-commercial or other activity without the purposes of its following sales;

      26) wholesale trade – an entrepreneurial activity on the sale of commercial, liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas on the domestic market for the purposes of further sale or outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as in cases of gas sale by a gas distribution organization for regulatory technical losses and to the consumers included into the list of power stations;

      27) internal necessities of the Republic of Kazakhstan – volumes of commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas, required for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      28) a main gas pipeline – an engineering construction that consists of one or several gas pipelines (line pipe) and objects, associated with them, securing increase and reduction of pressure of the transportable gas, remote operations, communication and other communication facilities, designed for transporting of commercial gas. Composition of objects of main gas pipeline shall be determined by design documentation and requirements of technical regulations;

      28-1) petrochemical products - products obtained on the basis of hydrocarbon raw materials (oil and gas) by carrying out chemical processes and used both as finished products (with the exception of fuels and lubricants) and as raw materials for subsequent chemical transformations;

      29) a producer – a legal entity that carries out manufacturing of commercial, liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas;

      30) a business customer – a legal entity that acquires gas for using as fuel and (or) raw materials in industrial production;

      30-1) an industrial consumer-investor - a legal entity, purchasing commercial gas for the use as fuel and (or) raw materials in industrial production in order to implement investment projects for the production of petrochemical products and included in the list, approved by the authorized body, as well as a legal entity purchasing commercial gas for the production of compressed and (or) liquefied natural gas for further sale to the consumers;

      31) a liquefied petroleum gas – a mixture of light hydrocarbons (propane-butane fraction, propane, butane) transformed into liquid state for the purpose of transporting and storage, satisfying requirements of technical regulations and national standard on quality and quantitative content of components;

      32) a liquefied natural gas – a multicomponent mixture of hydrocarbons with predominant content of methane transformed into liquid state for the purpose of transporting and storage, that is a product of processing of the raw gas and satisfying requirements of technical regulations and national standard on quality and quantitative content of components;

      33) transporting – an operating procedure of transfer of the raw or commercial gas through pipelines;

      34) a commercial gas – a multicomponent mixture of hydrocarbons with predominant content of methane in the gaseous state, that is a product of processing of the raw gas and satisfying requirements of technical regulations and national standard on quality and quantitative content of components;

      35) a commercial gas storage – a set of technologically connected production and other objects, designed for commercial gas storage;

      36) group reservoir plant - an engineering structure consisting of a group of tanks, safety shut-off and control valves, gas pipelines and intended for storage and supply of liquefied petroleum gas to gas consuming systems, the operation of which is classified as a natural monopoly in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on natural monopolies;

      36-1) accounting system for household cylinders - a set of technical devices and software designed for automated collection, processing, storage and transmission of information on the turnover of household cylinders and volumes of liquefied petroleum gas sold in household cylinders;

      37) a domestic customer – an individual who acquires commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas for domestic needs with no intend to use in entrepreneurial activity and its following sales;

      38) a consumption rate – a rated quantity for domestic customers who do not have the metering instruments, reflecting average monthly amount of commercial or liquefied petroleum gas, used by them;

      39) consumer – household, utility, industrial consumer, industrial consumer-investor or consumer included in the list of power plants, major commercial consumer, a person engaged in digital mining;

      40) an authorized body - a central executive body, carrying out state regulation of production, transportation (movement), storage and wholesale of gas, as well as retail sale and consumption of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas;

      40-1) the information system of the authorized body - the “Unified State System of Subsoil Use Management of the Republic of Kazakhstan” integrated information system designed to collect, store, analyze and process information in the field of subsoil use;

      41) the national operator - a legal entity, whose controlling stake (interest) belongs to the state or a national managing holding, a national company or a company belonging to the National Welfare Fund group, assigned by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and operating in the field of gas and gas supply to meet the domestic needs of the Republic of Kazakhstan for commercial gas;

      42) crude gas - any hydrocarbon, irrespective of its specific gravity, extracted from the subsoil in a gaseous state at normal atmospheric temperature and pressure, including raw natural gas, associated gas, shale gas, coal-bed methane, as well as non-hydrocarbon gases in their composition;

      42-1) major commercial consumer – a legal entity, with the exception of an industrial consumer-investor and a consumer included in the list of power plants, purchasing commercial gas for use in its activities, meeting the criteria set out in paragraph 4-1 of Article 8 of this Law;

      44) a consumer, included in the list of power stations - a legal entity, included in the list of power stations in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Electric Power Industry”, which uses or will use commercial gas as fuel for the production of electrical energy.

Article 2. Legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on gas and gas supply

      1. The legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on gas and gas supply shall be based on the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan and consists of this Law and other regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      2. If an international agreement, ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan establishes the other rules, than those, containing in this Law, the rules of international agreement shall be applied.

Article 3. The scope of application of this Law

      1. This Law shall extend to relations in the sphere of gas and gas supply.

      2. The provisions of this Law shall not apply to the relations:

      1) arising from the sale of liquefied petroleum gas in cylinders with a capacity of less than one kilogram;

      2) in the production and turnover of gas produced and used by petroleum product producers for technological needs.

Article 4. Main objectives, principles and goals of state regulation in the sphere of gas and gas supply

      1. The provision of energy and ecological security, improvement of social and economic conditions of population of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the objectives of state regulation in the sphere of gas and gas supply.

      2. The state regulation in the sphere of gas and gas supply shall be based on the following principles:

      1) security and reliability of gas supply;

      2) rational use of gas resources;

      3) priority of meeting the internal necessities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in commercial and liquefied petroleum gas, manufactured in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      4) priority in gasification of the objects, located in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) balance of a pricing policy in the sphere of gas and gas supply.

      3. The goals of state regulation in the sphere of gas and gas supply shall be:

      1) establishment of unified commercial gas supply system;

      2) arrangement of conditions for uninterrupted supply of internal necessities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in commercial and liquefied petroleum gas;

      3) increase of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas ratio in the common volume of consumed fuel and energy resources in the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      4) creation of conditions for development of petrochemical industry.

Chapter 2. COMPETENCE OF BODIES OF STATE ADMINISTRATION IN THE SPHERE OF GAS AND GAS SUPPLY

Article 5.Competence of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan

      The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall:

      1) develops the main directions of state policy in the field of gas and gas supply, as well as the petrochemical industry;

      2) determine a national operator;

      3) approve the procedure for preparation of general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      4) approve the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      17) regulate export of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas;

      18) decide on construction of export and (or) transit gas pipelines;

      19) fulfil other functions, assigned on it by the Constitution, this Law, other Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan and acts of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Article 6.Competence of authorised body

      An authorised body shall:

      1) ensures the implementation of the state policy in the field of gas and gas supply, as well as the petrochemical industry;

      2) develop and approve the regulatory legal acts, governing relations in the sphere of gas and gas supply within its competence;

      3) develop the procedure for preparation of the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      4) develop the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) control over implementation of the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      6) develops and approves the rules for determining the prices of raw and commercial gas purchased by the national operator within the framework of the pre-emptive right of the state;

      7) approves the marginal prices for the wholesale sales of commercial gas in the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the marginal prices for liquefied petroleum gas sold as part of the plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan outside commodity exchanges, as well as the rules for their determination;

      7-1) develop and approve the rules for formation of a list of investment projects on production of petrochemical products;

      7-2) develops and approves a list of investment projects for production of petrochemical products in agreement with the authorized body in the field of state stimulation of industry, the authorized body exercising leadership in the relevant areas of natural monopolies, and local executive bodies of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital;

      8) develop and approve the procedure and conditions for the transfer of associated gas to investors in the framework of partnership in the field of gas and gas supply;

      9) coordinate the alienation of objects of unified commercial gas supply system, that is a property of national operator or gas transportation and (or) gas-distribution organisations, where fifty and more percent of voting shares (partnership shares) belong to a national operator;

      10) organise the balancing of production, sales and consumption of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas;

      11) develop and approve the procedure for the centralized operational dispatch management of operating modes of objects of unified commercial gas supply system;

      12) develop and approve standard contracts for the retail sale of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas, as well as maintenance of gas consuming systems and gas equipment for municipal and domestic consumers;

      13) develop and approve the procedure for submitting information on the monitoring of production, transportation (carriage), storage, shipment and sale of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas;

      14) develop and approve the procedure for retail sale and use of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas;

      15) develop technical regulations in the sphere of gas and gas supply;

      16) develop and approve regulatory and technical documents in the sphere of gas and gas supply;

      18) develop and approve the rules for the formation of a plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      18-2) form a plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      18-3) develop and approve the regulation on the commission for the formation of a plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      18-4) develop and approve the rules for calculating and approving consumption standards for commercial and liquefied petroleum gas;

      18-5) develop and approve the model regulation on the commission for the formation of consolidated requests for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas;

      18-6) develops and approves the rules for identifying household cylinders and functioning of accounting systems for household cylinders;

      22) carry out other powers, provided by the Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, acts of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Article 7. Competence of other authorised state bodies in the sphere of gas and gas supply

      1. Excluded by Law of the RK No. 297-VI of 30.12.2019 (shall be enacted ten calendar days after the date of its first official publication).

      2. The authorized body in the field of industrial safety shall:

      2) develop and approve requirements for the safety of gas supply system facilities;

      2-1) carry out state control in the sphere of gas and gas supply in terms of compliance with the requirements for the safe operation of household cylinders and objects of gas supply systems, with the exception of gas-consuming systems and gas equipment for household and municipal consumers;

      3) carry out other powers, provided by this Law, other Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, acts of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      4. The authorised body in charge of the relevant areas of natural monopolies shall:

      1) agrees on the marginal prices for the wholesale sales of commercial gas in the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the marginal prices for liquefied petroleum gas sold as part of the plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan outside commodity exchanges;

      1-1) approve a list of investment projects for the production of petrochemicals;

      2) carry out other powers, provided by this Law, other Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, acts of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      4-1. Authorized body in the field of state stimulation of industry:

      1) approve a list of investment projects for the production of petrochemicals;

      2) exercise other powers stipulated by this Law, other laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, acts of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      5. Local executive bodies of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital city, districts (cities of regional significance) shall:

      1) carry out state control over compliance with the requirements for the safe operation of gas-consuming systems and gas equipment for household and municipal consumers;

      1-1) within their competence, monitor the turnover of liquefied petroleum gas sold as part of the plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      1-2) form and send to the authorized body consolidated requests for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to a region, city of republican significance, the capital;

      1-3) set up commissions for the formation of consolidated requests for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas;

      2) participate in implementation of general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      3) submit the consumption forecast of liquefied petroleum gas to the authorised body in the territory of region, city of republican significance, capital;

      4) submit information on sales and consumption of liquefied petroleum gas to authorised body in the territory of region, city of republican significance, capital;

      5) reserve the land plots, on which the construction of objects of gas supply systems are provided by the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the manner, prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      6) provide the land plots in the manner, prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan for construction of objects of gas supply systems;

      6-1) carry out state control over compliance with the requirements for the safe operation of household cylinders and objects of gas supply systems for household and municipal consumers within the boundaries of the settlement;

      6-2) approve the norms of consumption of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas;

      6-3) agree on a list of investment projects for the production of petrochemicals;

      7) carry out other powers, assigned on the local executive bodies by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in behalf of the local state administration.

Chapter 3. FUNCTIONING AND DEVELOPMENT OF GAS SUPPLY SYSTEMS

Article 8. Unified commercial gas supply system

      1. Unified commercial gas supply system shall be established in the Republic of Kazakhstan for the purpose of uninterrupted securing of internal necessities in commercial gas, safety operation of objects of gas supply systems, organisations of continuous supervisory control of transporting, storage of commercial gas and establishment of its single accounting system in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      2. Unified commercial gas supply system shall include connecting, main gas pipelines, storage structures of commercial gas, gas-distribution and gas-consuming systems, gas filling compressor stations and other technological facilities, designed for production, transporting, storage, sales and consumption of commercial gas.

      Unified commercial gas supply system shall not include flow gas pipelines, gas-consuming systems of domestic and municipal customers, technological facilities designed for production and re-gasification of liquefied natural gas, as well as for transporting, storage, sales and consumption of liquefied petroleum gas.

      3. Objects of unified commercial gas supply system may be in the state or private property.

      4. Subjects of unified commercial gas supply system shall be:

      1) a national operator;

      2) producers of commercial gas;

      3) subsoil users that are the owners of commercial gas, manufactured during processing of the raw gas produced by them;

      4) owners of commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) owners of commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the raw gas, produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the basis of international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      6) gas transportation and gas-distribution organisations;

      7) owners of gas filling compressor stations;

      8) business customers of commercial gas.

      9) industrial consumer-investors;

      10) consumers, included in the list of power stations;

      11) major commercial consumers;

      12) persons engaged in digital mining.

      4-1. Major commercial consumers are legal entities, regardless of the amount of gas-consuming equipment, purchasing commercial gas in the amount of 10 million cubic meters or more per year.

      5. An authorised body shall keep record and publish on the website a list of producers of commercial gas, subsoil users that are the owners of commercial gas manufactured during processing of the raw gas produced by them, owners of commercial gas manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, owners of commercial gas manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the raw gas produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the basis of international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan, gas transportation and gas-distribution organisations.

      6. For the purpose of effective operation of unified commercial gas supply system, producers of commercial gas, gas transportation and gas-distribution organisations shall comply with established operating conditions regimes of objects of unified commercial gas supply system.

Article 9. A national operator

      1. A national operator shall carry out the following functions:

      1) participate in implementation of a state policy in the sphere of gas and gas supply;

      2) participate in development and implementation of general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      3) carry out preferential right of the state on acquisition of raw and commercial gas in accordance with this Law;

      4) carry out priority right of the state on acquisition of objects of unified commercial gas supply system, shares in the right of common property on objects of unified commercial gas supply system and block of stocks (participation shares) of legal entities that are owners of objects of unified commercial gas supply system in accordance with this Law;

      5) secure uninterrupted transporting and storage of commercial gas, as well as by conclusion of agreements with gas transportation and gas-distribution organisations;

      6) carry out the wholesale trade of commercial gas;

      7) secure the centralized operational dispatch management by operating regimes of objects of unified commercial gas supply system;

      8) provide information to authorised body on transporting, storage and sales of commercial gas in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on acquisition of raw and commercial gas within the state preferential right, as well as the forecast of internal necessities in commercial gas of the Republic of Kazakhstan for a forthcoming calendar year;

      9) secure cooperation with gas transmission systems of neighbouring states on management and securing of the constancy of transporting regime of commercial gas;

      10) secure establishment and functioning of automated commercial gas fiscal metering system, that is in the unified commercial gas supply system;

      11) carry out exploration and production or production of hydrocarbons in gas and gas condensate fields.

      2. A national operator shall:

      1) provide customers, jointed to objects of unified commercial gas supply system with uninterrupted commercial gas supply, on conditions, established by this Law;

      2) secure construction, operation, modernization and (or) reconstruction of objects of unified commercial gas supply system in accordance with the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      3) secure use of energy efficiency and clean technologies and equipment on objects of unified commercial gas supply system, that are in possession of national operator.

      3. Objects of unified commercial gas supply system, that are at the property of national operator or gas transportation and (or) gas-distribution organisations, where fifty and more percent of voting shares (partnership shares) belong to national operator, may be alienated as may be agreed with an authorised body.

Article 10. Liquefied petroleum gas supply systems

      1. Liquefied petroleum gas supply systems shall be presented as the set of gas-filling stations, gas filling items, grouped tank installations, gas-consuming systems, filling stations and other production facilities, intended for transportation, storage, sales and consumption of liquefied petroleum gas.

      2. Objects of liquefied petroleum gas supply systems may be in the state or private property.

      3. Subjects of liquefied petroleum gas supply systems shall be:

      1) producers of liquefied petroleum gas;

      2) owners of liquefied petroleum gas, manufactured during processing of raw hydrocarbons, belonged to them as property and on other reasonable grounds;

      3) owners of liquefied petroleum gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) owners of gas filling stations, gas filling points, group tank installations and gas filling stations;

      6) business customers of liquefied petroleum gas.

      4. The authorized body keeps records and publishes on the Internet resource a list of subjects of liquefied petroleum gas supply systems.

Article 11. A general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan

      1. A gasification of the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be carried out in accordance with the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      2. A general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be developed in recognition with priority of meeting the internal necessities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in commercial and liquefied petroleum gas on the basis of budgeted balance sheet of production, sales and consumption of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas.

      3. A general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall include the allocation scheme of objects of gas supply systems, list and specifications of objects of gas supply systems planned for construction, modernization and (or) reconstruction, required financial resources and their sources, prospective resources of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas, as well as the gas shipment scheme on existent and planning for construction objects of gas supply systems.

      4. A general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be developed in recognition with priority of using domestic and municipal customers of commercial gas, including the gas received during re-gasification of liquefied natural gas.

      5. The financing of implementation of general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be carried out at the expense of national operator’s income, budget sources and other sources that are not prohibited by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      6. Reservation of land plots for implementation of the general gasification scheme shall be carried out in the manner, prescribed by the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Article 12. Designing, construction, modernisation and (or) reconstruction of objects of gas supply systems

      1. Designs of construction, modernization and (or) reconstruction of main gas pipelines shall coordinate with authorised bodies and other state bodies in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on architectural, worn planning and building activity.

      3. Decision on construction of export and (or) transit gas pipelines shall be adopted by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      4. Specifications for connection to the main gas pipeline, gas distribution system or group tank installation are issued to the gas transmission or gas distribution organization operating such an object or the owner of the group tank installation. At the same time, the issued specifications are the basis for the design of newly built, modernized and (or) reconstructed objects of gas supply systems.

      5. Expenses, linked with connection of objects of gas supply systems to main pipeline, gas-distribution system or grouped tank installation shall be incurred at the expense of owners of connecting objects of gas supply systems.

      6. Reconnected and reconstructed gas facilities of consumers shall be exercised in accordance with technical regulations and standard technical documents, as well as shall be guaranteed by design documentation.

Article 13. Regulation of land use during construction and operation of objects of gas supply systems

      1. The lands granted for construction and operation of objects of gas supply systems shall conform to the town planning and ecological requirements, established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      2. An owner or land user shall provide the right of restricted intended use of a land plot, on which he (she) owns the right of property or land use to interested individuals and legal entities, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for access to objects of gas supply systems.

      3. The land plots shall be provided to the organisations operating the objects of gas supply systems for a temporary use in accordance with the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan for performance of works on a capital repair, provision of services, modernization and (or) reconstruction of these objects.

Chapter 4. LEGAL BASIS OF GAS SUPPLY

Article 14. Priority right of the state in the sphere of gas and gas supply

      1. The Republic of Kazakhstan shall have a priority right over other persons to acquire an alienated objects of unified commercial gas supply system, shares in the right of common property on objects of unified commercial gas supply system and block of shares (partnership shares) of legal entities that are owners of objects of unified commercial gas supply system (hereinafter –priority right of the state) in order to ensure the energy security and meet the internal necessities in commercial gas.

      2. The realization of priority right of the state in respect of the objects, referred to strategic objects in accordance with the civil legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, shall be carried out in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan On state-owned property.

      3. The realization of priority right of the state in respect of the objects, not referred to strategic objects in accordance with the civil legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, shall be carried out through a national operator in the manner prescribed by paragraphs 4-6 of this Article.

      4. A person, intended to alienate an object of unified commercial gas supply system, shares in the right of common property on object of unified commercial gas supply system and (or) block of shares (participation shares) of legal entity that is an owner of object of unified commercial gas supply system shall direct the commercial proposal with indication of price and other conditions of this allocation to a national operator.

      5. A national operator shall adopt decision on realization of priority right of the state or on its waiver and notify a person, directed commercial proposal on adopted decision in a written form within one month from the date of receipt of commercial proposal.

      6. In case if a national operator waived the realization of priority right of the state in a written form or has not directed the written notification on intension of its realization within one month, a person, mentioned in paragraph 4 of this Article shall have the right to carry out the allocation of object of unified commercial gas supply system, shares in the right of common property on object of unified commercial gas supply system and (or) block of shares (participation shares) of legal entity that is an owner of object of unified commercial gas supply system to other persons. The conditions of allocation shall be as much as favourable for a person, mentioned in paragraph 4 of this Article, than conditions, suggested to national operator by him (her).

      7. Provisions of this Article shall not extend to the cases of:

      1) alienation of autogas-filling compressor stations and gas-consuming systems of industrial consumers and industrial consumer-investors;

      2) allocation of stocks traded on a regulated market of securities;

      3) transfer of objects of unified commercial gas supply system, shares in the right of common property on objects of unified commercial gas supply system and (or) stocks of shares (participation shares) of legal entities that are owners of objects of unified commercial gas supply system:

      to subsidiary, in which not less than ninety nine percent of participation share (block of stocks) directly or indirectly belongs to owner of unified commercial gas supply system;

      between legal entities, in each of which not less than ninety nine percent of participation shares (blocks of stocks) directly and indirectly belong to the same person;

      4) transfer of stocks (participation shares) in a legal entity that is an owner of object of unified commercial gas supply system, if in the result of this transfer, a person acquires the right to directly or indirectly (through the third parties) disposition of less than 0.1 percent of participation share (block of stocks) in the charter capital of legal entity that is an owner of object of unified commercial gas supply system.

Article 15. Preferential right of the state in the sphere of gas and gas supply

      1. The Republic of Kazakhstan shall have a preferential right over other persons to acquire an alienated raw gas belonged to subsoil users in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on subsoil and subsoil use and subsoil use contracts, as well as a commercial gas manufactured by subsoil users during processing of the raw gas produced by them and belonged to them in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on subsoil and subsoil use and subsoil contracts (hereinafter – preferential right of the state) in order to ensure the energy security and meet the internal necessities in commercial gas.

      2. Realization of preferential right of the state shall be carried out through a national operator.

      3. The price of raw gas purchased by the national operator under the pre-emptive right of the state includes:

      1) expenses for the production of raw gas, determined on the basis of the production cost of extraction of a unit of volume of raw gas, calculated in accordance with international financial reporting standards and the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on accounting and financial reporting;

      2) expenses for the transportation of raw gas to the place of its sale to the national operator;

      3) the level of profitability not exceeding ten percent.

      4. The price of commercial gas purchased by a national operator under the pre-emptive right of the state, with the exception of the cases specified in paragraph 4-1 of this Article, includes:

      1) expenses for the production of raw gas, determined on the basis of the production cost of extraction of a unit of volume of raw gas, calculated in accordance with international financial reporting standards and the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on accounting and financial reporting;

      2) expenses for the production of commercial gas from raw gas;

      3) expenses for the transportation of commercial gas to the place of its sale to the national operator;

      4) the level of profitability not exceeding ten percent.

      4-1. The price of commercial gas produced by subsoil users carrying out their activities under a subsurface use contract concluded after January 1, 2023, in respect of a subsurface area (s) on which raw gas production was not carried out under other subsurface use contracts (licenses) before the specified date, is determined taking into account the complexity of the exploration of the hydrocarbon deposits and raw gas processing, based on the arithmetic mean value of the marginal prices of wholesale sales of commercial gas and export prices of commercial gas, minus:

      1) expenses for transportation of commercial gas through the system of main gas pipelines from the intended place of sale of commercial gas to the national operator to the border of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      2) expenses for transportation of commercial gas from the subsoil user to the intended place of sale of commercial gas to the national operator;

      3) the profitability rates of the national operator in the amount of up to ten percent.

      The procedure for determining the price of commercial gas provided for in this paragraph also applies to the volumes of commercial gas produced by subsoil users operating under a contract (license) for subsoil use concluded (issued) before January 1, 2023, exceeding the arithmetic mean value of the annual volume of sales of commercial gas by such a subsoil user to the national operator for five consecutive calendar years preceding 2023.

      5. The price of raw and commercial gas purchased by the national operator under the pre-emptive right of the state is determined by the subsoil user in accordance with the rules approved by the authorized body, and is subject to examination and approval by the authorized body.

      6. Subsoil users who intend to alienate raw and (or) commercial gas, send for examination to the authorized body the calculations of the price of raw and (or) commercial gas purchased by the national operator under the pre-emptive right of the state, documented, no later than January 1 of the upcoming year.

      7. Based on the results of the examination of the calculations of the price of raw and (or) commercial gas purchased by the national operator within the framework of the state's pre-emptive right, the authorized body, no later than thirty calendar days from the date of receipt of the materials, annually approves, with the entry into force from July 1, the price of raw and (or) commercial gas purchased by the national operator within the framework of the pre-emptive right of the state, and sends a notification to the subsoil user on the approval of the price of raw and (or) commercial gas or a reasoned conclusion on the need to change it.

      8. Subsoil users are obliged to comply with the pre-emptive right of the state.

      9. Subsoil users, intending to alienate raw and (or) commercial gas, at least five months before the start of the planned period, shall send a commercial proposal to the national operator, indicating:

      1) volumes of alienated raw and (or) commercial gas;

      2) the approved price of the alienated raw and (or) commercial gas;

      3) a delivery point of the raw and (or) commercial gas.

      10. A national operator shall adopt decision on realization of preferential right of the state or its waiver within one month from the date of receipt of commercial proposal and shall notify a person, directed the commercial proposal about adopted decision in a written form within the same period.

      11. In case if a national operator waived the realization of preferential right of the state in a written form or has not directed the written notification on intension of its realization within one month, an owner of commercial gas, subsoil user shall have the right to carry out alienation of the raw and (or) commercial gas to other persons in accordance with requirements of this Law.

      12. Contracts between subsoil users and national operator, concluded during realizing the preferential right of the state by a national operator, may be concluded for the period more than one calendar year.

      13. Upon the parties' agreement the mentioned contracts may be amended, providing increase of the volume of alienated raw and (or) commercial gas and (or) extension of contract duration without complying with the procedures, provided by paragraphs 5-7, 9 and 10 of this Article.

      13-1. If next year the price for raw and (or) commercial gas purchased by the national operator under the state’s preferential right does not change by agreement of the parties, the contracts can be concluded without observing the procedures provided for in paragraphs 5-7, 9 and 10 of this article.

      14. Provisions of this Article shall not extent to the cases of alienation of:

      1) the raw gas, produced on gas and (or) gas-condensate fields;

      2) the commercial gas, manufactured from the raw gas, produced on gas and (or) gas-condensate fields;

      3) the liquefied natural gas and commercial gas, received during its re-gasification;

      4) the raw gas, sold in accordance with international agreements of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) the commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      6) the commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the raw gas, produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the basis of international agreements of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      7) the raw gas, manufactured on the basis of agreement, concluded within a partnership in the sphere of gas and gas supply;

      8) raw and (or) commercial gas produced (extracted) by a subsoil user under a production sharing agreement (contract), which is subject to the stable tax regime in accordance with Article 722 of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Taxes and Other Obligatory Payments to the Budget” (Tax Code), the provisions of which provide for the state’s preferential right to acquire alienated raw and (or) commercial gas.

Article 16. Regulation of relations, linked with associated gas

      1. The state shall own the associated gas:

      1) produced by subsoil user and belonged to the Republic of Kazakhstan in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on subsoil and subsoil use;

      2) transferred by subsoil users into state property, according to previously concluded subsoil use contracts, in which the property of subsoil user on produced associated gas is provided.

      2. By the decision of the authorized body, associated gas specified in paragraph 1 of this article shall be transferred in the amounts determined by them in accordance with the procedure and on conditions established by the authorized body to the property of the investor on the basis of a contract concluded within the framework of a partnership in the field of gas and gas supply.

      3. Subsoil users, manufactured commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas from the associated gas, belonged to Republic of Kazakhstan in accordance with legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on subsoil and subsoil use by decision of an authorised body shall transfer the commercial gas to a national operator or commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas to engaged investor for the following use within partnership in the sphere of gas and gas supply at the price, coordinated by the parties.

      4. A contract concluded by investor with an authorised body within the partnership in the sphere of gas and gas supply, shall also contain the following conditions:

      1) processing of the associated gas into commercial, liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas;

      2) delivery of the certain volumes of manufactured commercial, liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas in order to meet a high priority internal necessities of the Republic of Kazakhstan subject to the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Article 17. General conditions of sales of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas

      1. For the purpose of environmental protection and protection of public health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, customers may be delivered only by commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas, with the exception of sales of the raw gas to business customers for using as raw materials.

      2. Sales of commercial gas subject to requirements of this Law shall be allowed exceptionally to:

      1) national operator;

      2) producers of commercial gas;

      3) subsoil users, that are the owners of commercial gas, manufactured during processing of the raw gas produced by them;

      4) owners of commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) owners of commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the raw gas, produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the basis of international agreements of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      6) gas-distribution organisations;

      7) owners of gas filling compressor stations.

      3. Sales of liquefied natural gas shall be carried out by individuals and legal entities subject to priority of meeting the internal necessities of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the general gasification scheme of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      4. Sales of liquefied petroleum gas subject to requirements of this Law shall be allowed exceptionally to:

      1) producers of the liquefied petroleum gas;

      2) owners of the liquefied petroleum gas, manufactured during processing of the raw hydrocarbons belonged to them as property and on other reasonable grounds;

      3) owners of the liquefied petroleum gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) owners of gas filling stations, gas filling points, group tank installations and gas filling stations;

      6) owners of liquefied petroleum gas, legally purchased directly from the persons, specified in subparagraphs 1) and 2) of this paragraph, out of the plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan, if sold outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      5. Sales of commercial, liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas shall be carried out with mandatory reallocation through the control metering instruments, with the exception of cases, established by this Law.

      6. Contracts of wholesale trade of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas shall be concluded in accordance with the standard form contracts.

      Provision of this paragraph shall not extend to the cases of retail trade of:

      1) commercial and liquefied petroleum gas to household, industrial consumers, industrial consumers-investors and consumers included in the list of power plants, major commercial consumers, persons engaged in digital mining, persons engaged in the production of electric energy for digital mining, persons engaged in the supply of electric energy to persons engaged in digital mining;

      2) commercial gas by owners of gas filling compressor stations;

      3) liquefied petroleum gas by owners of filling stations;

      4) liquefied petroleum gas in domestic bottles.

      6-1. Contracts for the sale of commercial gas to consumers included in the list of power plants, major commercial consumers, persons engaged in digital mining, persons engaged in the production of electric energy for digital mining, persons engaged in the supply of electric energy to persons engaged in digital mining, provide for obligations:

      consumers included in the list of power plants for keeping separate records of the use of commercial gas for energy supply to the population, legal entities, persons engaged in digital mining;

      major commercial consumers to keep separate records of the use of commercial gas for the production of socially significant food products, as well as heat and (or) electric energy for the population and legal entities and other goods;

      persons engaged in digital mining, for keeping separate records of the use of commercial gas for digital mining and other activities;

      persons engaged in the production of electric energy, for keeping separate records of the use of commercial gas for the production of electric energy for persons engaged in digital mining, and other persons;

      persons engaged in the supply of electric energy to consumers, for keeping separate records of the volume of sales of electric energy to persons engaged in digital mining, and other persons.

      7. Domestic and municipal customers shall have the preferential right of use of commercial or liquefied petroleum gas.

      8. A gas transmission or gas distribution organization or the owner of group tank installations is obliged to ensure, on the conditions established by this Law, an uninterrupted supply of commercial or liquefied petroleum gas to consumers connected to the gas distribution system or group tank installation.

      9. The gas transmission or gas distribution organization or the owner of group tank installations has the right to unilaterally suspend the supply of commercial or liquefied petroleum gas to the consumer until the violations are eliminated in the following cases:

      1) violation by a customer of safety rules of the object of gas supply systems;

      2) technical failure of the objects of gas supply systems;

      3) unauthorised attachment to gas facilities by a customer;

      4) preventing representatives of a gas transmission or gas distribution organization or the owner of group tank installations from accessing gas pipelines, gas equipment and metering devices;

      5) existence of debtor indebtedness for supplied commercial and liquefied petroleum gas in accordance with contract on retail trade of commercial or liquefied petroleum gas;

      6) violations of the terms of the contract for keeping separate records of commercial gas provided for in paragraph 6-1 of this article.

Article 18. Accreditation of gas-network organisations

      Footnote. Article 18 is excluded by Law of the RK No. 173-VI of 04.07.2018 (shall be enacted on 01.01.2022).

Article 19. Operation of gas-consuming systems and gas facilities of customers

      1. Owners of gas-consuming systems and gas facilities shall ensure their proper technical condition and safety.

      2. Industrial consumers, industrial consumers-investors and consumers included in the list of power plants, major commercial consumers, persons engaged in digital mining, persons engaged in the production of electric energy for digital mining, are required to have qualified personnel for the maintenance of gas-consuming systems belonging to them, as well as a person responsible for the safe operation of gas-consuming systems, or to conclude a contract for the maintenance of gas-consuming systems belonging to them with a specialized organization, carrying out maintenance of gas-consuming systems, certified in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of industrial safety for the right to work in the field of industrial safety.

      3. Municipal and household consumers are obliged to conclude a contract for maintenance of their gas consuming systems with a gas distribution organization or the owner of group tank installations that supply commercial or liquefied petroleum gas, or with an independent specialized organization that performs maintenance of gas consuming systems, certified in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of industrial safety for the right to perform work in the field of industrial safety.

      4. Municipal and household consumers using liquefied petroleum gas in household cylinders are required to conclude an agreement for the maintenance of their gas equipment with the owner of a gas filling station that retails liquefied petroleum gas in household cylinders.

      5. Operation of gas-consuming systems and gas facilities of municipal and domestic customers without conclusion of a contract on their technical service shall be prohibited.

      6. Organisation that carries out the technical service of gas-consuming systems, gas facilities of municipal and domestic customers shall ensure their proper technical condition.

Article 20. Article 20. Pricing of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas

      Footnote. The title of Article 20 is in the wording of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 30.12.2022 No. 177-VII (shall be enforced ten calendar days after the date of its first official publication).

      1. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, the state regulation of prices is carried out for wholesale sales of commercial gas in the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan and prices for liquefied petroleum gas sold as part of the plan for supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the supply plan) outside commodity exchanges.

      2. The marginal prices of wholesale sales of commercial gas on the domestic market are set every five years, broken down by year and, if necessary, adjusted annually on July 1 in the manner determined by the authorized body, separately for each region, city of republican significance, capital, industrial consumers-investors who purchase commercial gas for production of compressed and (or) liquefied natural gas for further sale to consumers, taking into account the economic and social conditions of gas supply to the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      Adjustments are made no more than once a year on the basis of a request from the national operator to the authorized body in connection with changes in the purchase prices of commercial gas, the structure and (or) sources of commercial gas, and (or) tariffs subject to state regulation for transportation of commercial gas through main gas pipelines, storage of commercial gas in underground gas storage facilities.

      2-1. Marginal prices of wholesale sales of commercial gas on the domestic market for industrial consumers-investors who purchase commercial gas for use as fuel and (or) raw material in industrial production in order to implement investment projects for production of petrochemical products, are set every five years from the date of their commissioning, broken down by year and, if necessary, adjusted annually on July 1 in accordance with the procedure determined by the authorized body, separately for each region, city of republican significance, capital.

      Adjustments are made no more than once a year on the basis of a request from the national operator to the authorized body in connection with changes in the purchase prices of commercial gas, the structure and (or) sources of commercial gas, and (or) tariffs subject to the state regulation for transportation of commercial gas through main gas pipelines, storage of commercial gas in underground gas storage facilities..

      2-2. The marginal prices of wholesale sales of commercial gas on the domestic market for consumers included in the list of power plants are set separately for each consumer included in the list of power plants every five years, broken down by year and, if necessary, adjusted annually on July 1 in accordance with the procedure determined by the authorized body.

      Adjustments are made no more than once a year on the basis of a request from the national operator to the authorized body in connection with changes in the purchase prices of commercial gas, the structure and (or) sources of commercial gas, and (or) tariffs subject to the state regulation for transportation of commercial gas through main gas pipelines, storage of commercial gas in underground gas storage facilities.

      2-3. The marginal prices of wholesale sales of commercial gas on the domestic market intended for subsequent sale to major commercial consumers, persons engaged in digital mining, or persons producing electric energy for digital mining, are set annually on July 1 separately for each region, city of republican significance, capital in accordance with paragraph 3-3 of this article.

      2-4. The marginal prices set for major commercial consumers do not apply to the relations on the sale of commercial gas necessary for production of:

      socially significant food products;

      thermal and (or) electric energy for population and legal entities, except for persons engaged in digital mining.

      3. The authorized body, in agreement with the authorized body, carrying out leadership in the relevant spheres of natural monopolies, no later than May 15^th, shall approve the marginal prices for wholesale trade of commercial gas in the domestic market for the coming year.

      3-1. The authorized body, in coordination with the authorized body exercising management in the relevant areas of natural monopolies, approves the marginal prices of wholesale sales of commercial gas on the domestic market for an industrial consumer- investor purchasing commercial gas for use as fuel and (or) raw material in industrial production in order to implement an investment project for production of petrochemical products, no later than thirty working days before the date of its commissioning, followed by approval for a five-year period from July 1 and, if necessary, adjusts annually on July 1 in accordance with the procedure determined by the authorized body.

      Adjustments are made no more than once a year on the basis of a request from the national operator to the authorized body in connection with changes in the purchase prices of commercial gas, the structure and (or) sources of commercial gas, and (or) tariffs subject to the state regulation for transportation of commercial gas through main gas pipelines, storage of commercial gas in underground gas storage facilities.

      3-2. The authorized body, in agreement with the authorized body, carrying out leadership in the relevant spheres of natural monopolies, shall approve the marginal prices for wholesale trade of commercial gas in the domestic market for a consumer, included in the list of power stations no later than thirty working days before the date of commissioning of new electrical facilities.

      3-3. The authorized body, in coordination with the authorized body exercising management in the relevant areas of natural monopolies, annually, no later than May 15, approves the marginal prices of wholesale sales of commercial gas on the domestic market for the coming year, intended for subsequent sale to:

      major commercial consumers;

      persons engaged in digital mining, or persons producing electrical energy for digital mining.

      5. The marginal price of liquefied petroleum gas sold as part of a supply plan outside commodity exchanges is set annually with entry into force from July 1 and is valid throughout the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      8. Persons engaged in the wholesale sale of marketable gas on the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan or the sale of liquefied petroleum gas within the framework of the supply plan outside commodity exchanges in the territory of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital are obliged not to exceed the established marginal prices.

      9. Limit prices of the wholesale trade of commercial gas on a local market, established by this Article shall not extend to relations on the sales of commercial gas:

      1) to national operator within the frame of preferential right of the state;

      2) to national operator by the owners of commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the raw gas, produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the basis of international agreements of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      3) received in a result of re-gasification of the liquefied natural gas;

      4) extracted (produced) by a subsoil user under a production sharing agreement (contract), which is subject to the stable tax regime in accordance with Article 722 of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Taxes and Other Obligatory Payments to the Budget” (Tax Code), the provisions of which provide for the state’s preferential right to acquire alienated raw and (or) commercial gas.

Article 21. The monitoring of production, transportation (carriage), storage, shipment and sale of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas

      Footnote. The heading of Article 21 as amended by Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 173-VI as of 04.07.2018 (shall be enforced ten calendar days after its first official publication).

      1. The authorized body conducts the monitoring of production, transportation (carriage), storage, shipment and sale of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas, which includes:

      1) the monitoring of production volumes of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas;

      2) the monitoring of volumes of transportation (carriage) and storage of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas;

      3) the monitoring of sales volumes, including exportation outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and importation into the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas;

      4) the monitoring of wholesale and retail prices for commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas sold in the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) the monitoring of volumes of shipment of liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas by region of the Republic of Kazakhstan and outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan by country of destination;

      6) the monitoring of domestic needs of the Republic of Kazakhstan for commercial and liquefied petroleum gas.

      2. Persons who carry out wholesale and (or) retail trade of commercial gas shall monthly submit to an authorised body the information about the sales of commercial gas, including gas, imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan not later than the twentieth day of the month, next to the accounting month.

      3. Gas transportation, gas-distribution organisations shall monthly submit to a national operator the information about the volumes of transporting and storage of commercial gas, not later than the fifth day of the month, next to the accounting month.

      4. A national operator shall submit the following information to an authorised body:

      1) information about commercial gas transporting volumes through the main gas pipelines and its storage in the storage structures of commercial gas, on a monthly basis, not later than the twentieth day of the month, next to the accounting month;

      2) annually, no later than February 1st of the year following the reporting year, information on the volumes of purchased raw and commercial gas;

      3) forecast of internal necessities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in commercial gas for the forthcoming calendar year, annually, not later than three months before beginning of the planned period.

      5. Producers shall submit the following information to an authorised body:

      1) monthly, on or before the fifth day of a month following a reporting one, information on the production of commercial and liquefied natural gas;

      2) estimated production volume of commercial, liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas for the forthcoming five years, annually, not later than three months before beginning of the planned period.

      5-1. Liquefied petroleum gas producers, on a monthly basis, on or before the fifth day of a month following a reporting one, shall submit to the authorized body:

      1) information on volumes of production of own liquefied petroleum gas;

      2) information on the volumes of production of liquefied petroleum gas from hydrocarbon raw materials belonging to other persons on the basis of the right of ownership or other legal bases;

      3) information on the shipment and (or) sale of liquefied petroleum gas as part of the supply plan;

      4) information on the shipment and (or) sale of liquefied petroleum gas out of the supply plan.

      5-2. The owners of liquefied petroleum gas produced during the processing of hydrocarbon raw materials owned by them on the basis of the right of ownership or other legal bases, monthly, on or before the fifth day of a month following a reporting one, shall submit to the authorized body information on the shipment and (or) sale of liquefied petroleum gas under the supply plan.

      6. Persons who carry out the wholesale and (or) retail trade of the liquefied petroleum gas shall submit information on the sales of liquefied petroleum gas, including the gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan to local executive bodies of regions, cities of republican significance and capital, in the territory of which the sales are carried out, on a monthly basis, not later than the fifth day of the month, next to the accounting month.

      7. Local executive bodies of region, city of republican significance, capital shall submit the following information to an authorised body:

      1) monthly, on or before the fifteenth day of a month following a reporting one:

      information on the sale and consumption of liquefied petroleum gas in a region, city of republican significance, the capital;

      information on wholesale and retail prices for liquefied petroleum gas in a region, city of republican significance, the capital;

      2) consumption forecast of the liquefied petroleum gas for the forthcoming calendar year, in the territory of region, city of republican significance, capital, annually, not later than three months before beginning of the planned period.

      8. Persons who carry out the wholesale trade of the liquefied natural gas shall submit information about sales of the liquefied petroleum gas, including the gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan to an authorised body, on a monthly basis, not later than the fifth day of the month, next to the accounting month.

      9. The information, specified in paragraphs 2-5, 5-1, 5-2 and 6-8 of this article, shall be provided through the information system of the authorized body.

      10. The authorized body for customs affairs shall monthly, on or before the fifteenth day of a month following a reporting one, submit to the authorized body information on:

      1) transportation of commercial gas by pipeline out of the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      2) the exportation out of the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and importation into the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan of liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas by rail, road, pipeline, sea and inland water transport.

      11. An authorised body shall compose the budgeted balance sheet of manufacturing, sales and consumption of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the forthcoming calendar year on the basis of monitoring data.

Chapter 5. STATE REGULATION OF TRANSPORTING, STORAGE, SALES AND ACCOUNTING OF COMMERCIAL GAS

Article 22. Transporting and storage of commercial gas

      1. Gas transportation organisations shall render the services of commercial gas transporting through the connecting, main gas pipelines, as well as the services on the storage of commercial gas.

      2. Operation of the same connecting, main gas pipelines and storages of commercial gas by two and more gas transportation organisations shall be prohibited.

      3. Gas transportation organisations shall have the right to render the transporting services of commercial gas through the main gas pipelines beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, exceptionally to:

      1) a national operator;

      2) producers of commercial gas;

      3) subsoil users, that are the owners of commercial gas, manufactured during processing of the raw gas, produced by them;

      4) owners of commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, intended to carry out its transporting through the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      4. Gas transportation, gas-distribution organisations shall:

      1) subject to the restrictions provided for in paragraph 3 of this article, provide owners of marketable gas on equal terms with access to the capacities of the main gas pipeline, storage of commodity gas or the gas distribution system in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on natural monopolies;

      2) provide information about existence of available main gas pipeline powers, commercial gas storage, gas-distribution system, as well as their use program upon request of an authorised body;

      3) inform owners of commercial gas and (or) customers about planning repair and maintenance works, that have an effect on execution of obligations on the transporting, storage and (or) retail trade of commercial gas.

      5. Gas transportation organisation shall deny transporting and (or) storage of commercial gas to owner of commercial gas, in cases of:

      1) non-compliance of commercial gas with requirements of technical regulations and national standards;

      2) failure to give the written refusal of a national operator by subsoil user from preferential right of the state to acquire the commercial gas volumes, planned for transporting, or the documents, confirming receipt by a national operator of commercial proposal on alienation of commercial gas volumes the month ahead of appeal by subsoil user to the gas transportation organisation.

      6. Gas transportation organisations shall bear a liability for unjustified refusal of transporting and storage of commercial gas in the manner, prescribed by the Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan and agreement on provision of services on transporting and storage of commercial gas.

Article 23.Wholesale trade of commercial gas

      1. Wholesale trade of commercial gas may be carried out by:

      1) a national operator;

      2) producers of commercial gas;

      3) subsoil users, that are the owners of commercial gas, produced during processing of the raw gas produced by them;

      4) owners of commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      5) owners of commercial gas, manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the raw gas, produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the basis of international agreements of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the cases of sale of commercial gas to a national operator and (or) beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      6) gas-distribution organisations in the cases of sales of commercial gas to a national operator and (or) owners of the gas filling compressor stations.

      Other persons shall have no right to carry out the wholesale trade of commercial gas.

      2. A person, acquiring commercial gas from persons, mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be prohibited to carry out its wholesale trade, with the exception of cases of its wholesale trade to national operator and (or) owners of gas filling compressor stations by gas-distribution organisations.

      Provision of this paragraph shall not extend to a national operator.

Article 24. Retail trade of commercial gas

      1. Retail trade of commercial gas shall be carried out by:

      1) gas-distribution organisations;

      2) owners of the gas filling compressor stations;

      4) producers of commercial gas, subsoil users that are the owners of commercial gas manufactured during processing of the raw gas produced by them, owners of commercial gas manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the case of retail trade of commercial gas to business customers, the gas-consuming systems of which are directly connected to the main or connecting gas pipelines.

      Other persons shall have no rights to carry out retail trade of commercial gas.

      2. Connection of gas facilities of individuals and legal entities to the gas-distribution system, the modernization and (or) reconstruction of the objects of gas supply systems, required for cover of additional loads of connected customers in the case of absence of free powers, as well as change of technical diagram of this connection shall be carried out by a gas-distribution organisation at the expense of these customers.

      3. Gas feeding to the gas-consuming system of customers shall be carried out by a gas transportation or gas-distribution organisation.

Article 25. Accounting of commercial gas

      1. Transporting, storage and sales of commercial gas without accounting of its volume shall not be allowed.

      2. Accounting of commercial gas volume, transported through the main gas pipelines shall be carried out by a gas transportation organisation at the gas measuring stations on the gas metering instruments with a permanent data confirmation on commercial gas metering instruments, established on receiving (transfer) point of commercial gas. Gas transportation organisations shall ensure the data transfer on accounting of transportable commercial gas to a national operator.

      3. Accounting of commercial gas volume, transported through the gas-distribution systems shall be carried out by gas-distribution organisations on the metering instruments. Gas-distribution organisations shall ensure the data transfer on accounting of sold commercial gas to a national operator.

      4. Accounting of commercial gas volume, used by business and municipal customers shall be carried out:

      1) on the metering instruments, established on receiving (transfer) points of commercial gas;

      2) on the power of gas-consuming equipment – in the absence of metering instruments, their failure or non-compliance with gas facility conditions.

      4-1. Accounting of the volume of commercial gas used by industrial consumers-investors, consumers included in the list of power plants, major commercial consumers, persons engaged in digital mining, or persons producing electric energy for digital mining is carried out using metering devices installed at points of reception (transmission) of commercial gas.

      5. Accounting of commercial gas volume, used by domestic customers shall be carried out:

      1) on individual metering instruments;

      2) on collective metering instruments in apartment buildings;

      3) on collective metering instruments in individual residential houses, established on the cabinet of regulatory or gas regulating units;

      4) according to consumption norms approved by local executive bodies of oblasts, cities of republican significance and the capital - in the absence of individual or collective meters, their malfunction or non-compliance with the parameters of gas equipment.

      6. Metering instruments of commercial gas shall conform to requirements of technical regulations and national standards.

Chapter 6. STATE REGULATION OF TRANSPORTATION, STORAGE, SALES AND ACCOUNTING OF THE LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM AND LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS

Article 26. Transportation of the liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas by railway, highway, marine and inland water transport

      1. Transportation of the liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas by railway, highway, marine and inland water transport shall be allowed via specially equipped and eligible transport for transportation in accordance with requirements, imposed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the transportation of dangerous goods.

      2. Transportation of the liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas by railway, highway, marine and inland water transport beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, independently or with engaging of persons, rendering services on transportation of the liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas, may be carried out by:

      1) producers of the liquefied petroleum and liquefied natural gas;

      2) owners of the liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas, manufactured during the processing of raw hydrocarbons, belonged to them as property and on other legal grounds;

      3) owners of the liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas manufactured beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, intended to carry out its transportation through the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      4) owners of liquefied petroleum gas legally purchased directly from the persons, specified in subparagraphs 1) and 2) of this paragraph, out of the supply plan.

      3. Persons, rendering services on transportation of the liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas beyond the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall have the right to render this services only to persons, mentioned in paragraph 2 of this Article.

      4. Documents, linked with transportation of the liquefied petroleum and (or) liquefied natural gas by railway, highway, marine and inland water transport shall conform to requirements, established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan for transportation of dangerous goods for each type of transport.

      5. Construction and operation conditions of the storage and transport means of the liquefied petroleum or liquefied natural gas by railway, highway, marine and inland water transport shall conform to requirements of the technical regulations.

Article 27. Wholesale trade of liquefied petroleum gas

      1. The right to the wholesale trade of liquefied petroleum gas is granted to:

      1) producers of liquefied petroleum gas;

      2) owners of liquefied petroleum gas produced during the processing of hydrocarbon raw materials belonging to them on the basis of the right of ownership or other legal bases;

      3) owners of liquefied petroleum gas produced outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption into the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      4-1) owners of gas filling stations – in case of sale of liquefied petroleum gas purchased legally, to owners of group tank installations, gas filling stations and (or) LPG dispensers;

      5) owners of liquefied petroleum gas legally purchased directly from the persons, specified in subparagraphs 1) and 2) of part one of this paragraph, out of the supply plan, if sold outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      Other persons have no right to wholesale the liquefied petroleum gas.

      3. The right to sell liquefied petroleum gas outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan is exclusively reserved for:

      1) producers of liquefied petroleum gas;

      2) owners of liquefied petroleum gas produced during the processing of hydrocarbon raw materials belonging to them on the basis of the right of ownership or other legal bases;

      3) owners of liquefied petroleum gas legally purchased from persons, specified in subparagraphs 1) and 2) of part one of this paragraph, out of the supply plan.

      Other persons have no right to sell liquefied petroleum gas outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Article 27-1. Sale of liquefied petroleum gas on the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan as part of the supply plan

      1. In order to meet the needs of the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan in liquefied petroleum gas, the authorized body quarterly forms a supply plan.

      2. The supply plan is formed on the basis of consolidated applications sent to the authorized body by local executive bodies of regions, cities of republican significance, the capital no later than twenty-five calendar days before the beginning of the month preceding the planned quarter.

      3. A consolidated application for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas outside commodity exchanges is formed on the basis of applications from the persons specified in part one of paragraph 11 of this article, sent to the relevant local executive body of the region, cities of republican significance and the capital, no later than thirty-five calendar days prior to the beginning of the month preceding the planned quarter.

      4. A consolidated application for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas through commodity exchanges is formed on the basis of applications from bidders for liquefied petroleum gas sent to the relevant local executive body of the region, city of republican significance, the capital no later than thirty-five calendar days before the beginning of the month, preceding the planned quarter.

      5. The amount of the share of liquefied petroleum gas declared for supply through commodity exchanges, which must be set in a consolidated application, is established by the authorized body in agreement with the antimonopoly body and posted on the official Internet resource of the authorized body no later than forty calendar days before the beginning of the month preceding the planned quarter.

      6. Commissions for the formation of consolidated requests for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas are set up by local executive bodies of regions, cities of republican significance, the capital from among the representatives of the relevant local executive body and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      At the discretion of local executive bodies of regions, cities of republican significance, the capital, other persons may be included in the commissions.

      7. The consolidated request is prepared in accordance with the rules for the formation of a plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan and is approved by the relevant local executive body of a region, city of republican significance, the capital on the basis of a decision of the commission for the formation of consolidated requests for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas.

      8. The supply plan is formed on the basis of a decision of the commission for the formation of the supply plan, which is set up by the authorized body from among the representatives of such a body and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      At the discretion of the authorized body, other persons may be included in the commission.

      9. The decision of the commission on the formation of the supply plan is made no later than fifteen calendar days before the beginning of the month preceding the planned quarter.

      Based on the data from the monitoring of production, transportation (carriage), storage, shipment and sale of liquefied petroleum gas, the commission has the right to make a reasoned decision to amend the consolidated request and notify the relevant local executive body of a region, city of republican significance, the capital thereof before the deadline specified in part one of this paragraph.

      In this case, the consolidated request shall be adjusted within five calendar days by the appropriate commission for the formation of consolidated requests for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas and sent by the local executive body of a region, the city of republican significance, the capital to the authorized body.

      If the local executive body of a region, city of republican significance, the capital fails to send the adjusted consolidated request to the authorized body by the deadline specified in part three of this paragraph, the commission for the formation of the supply plan, by its decision, makes proportional change in the volume of supply of liquefied petroleum gas for all the recipients specified in such a consolidated request.

      10. The supply plan, no later than five calendar days before the beginning of the month preceding the planned quarter, is sent by the authorized body to producers, owners of liquefied petroleum gas produced in the process of processing of hydrocarbon raw materials owned by them on the basis of the right of ownership or on other legal grounds.

      11. The right to purchase the liquefied petroleum gas sold as part of a supply plan outside commodity exchanges belongs to:

      1) industrial consumers using liquefied petroleum gas as a raw material for production of petrochemical products;

      2) owners of group tank installations in volumes subject to subsequent retail sale to household and municipal consumers through group tank installations;

      3) owners of gas filling stations in volumes subject to subsequent retail sale to household and municipal consumers in household cylinders having unique codes assigned by household cylinder accounting systems.

      The list of industrial consumers specified in subparagraph 1) of part one of this paragraph is approved by the authorized body in accordance with the rules for formation of a plan for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      13. Persons who purchased liquefied petroleum gas under the supply plan for its subsequent sale are required to sell the purchased liquefied petroleum gas exclusively on the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan in accordance with the requirements of this Law.

      14. Producers, owners of liquefied petroleum gas produced during the processing of hydrocarbon raw materials belonging to them on the basis of the right of ownership or other legal bases, are obliged to fulfill the supply plan.

      The provision of part one of this paragraph does not apply to owners of liquefied petroleum gas:

      1) produced outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan from raw gas produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the basis of international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

      2) produced within the framework of a partnership in the field of gas and gas supply during the implementation of an investment project for processing of raw gas in accordance with the Entrepreneurial Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the payback period of the project specified in the relevant investment contract.

Article 28. Retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas

      1. Retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas is carried out by:

      1) owners of gas filling stations in the case of retail sale through filling storage tanks of liquefied petroleum gas to domestic, municipal and industrial consumers, as well as in the case of retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas to household and communal consumers in household cylinders;

      2) owners of gas filling stations in case of retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas to household and municipal consumers in household cylinders;

      3) owners of group tank installations in case of retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas to household and municipal consumers through group tank installations;

      4) owners of gas filling stations in the case of retail sales by filling motor vehicles with liquefied petroleum gas;

      5) producers, owners of liquefied petroleum gas produced in the process of processing of hydrocarbon raw materials owned by them or on other legal grounds, owners of liquefied petroleum gas produced outside the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and imported for consumption into the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in case of retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas to industrial consumers.

      2. Owners of group tank installations are obliged to ensure their safety and good technical condition.

      3. Connection of gas equipment of individuals and legal entities to the liquefied petroleum gas supply system, modernization and (or) reconstruction of the facilities of the liquefied petroleum gas supply system, as well as changes in the technological connection scheme are carried out by the owners of group tank installations at the expense of such persons.

      4. Retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas to consumers through group tank installations is carried out on the basis of an agreement for the retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas between the consumer and the owner of group tank installations.

      5. Retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas in household cylinders is carried out by the owners of gas filling stations, who are obliged to ensure the good technical condition of household cylinders.

      At the same time, refueling of household cylinders with liquefied petroleum gas is allowed at gas filling points.

      6. Owners of gas filling points are obliged to:

      1) carry out subscriber accounting of consumers purchasing liquefied petroleum gas in household cylinders;

      2) inspect filled household cylinders for technical serviceability;

      3) identify household cylinders with a unique code assigned by accounting systems for household cylinders, and (or) the trademark of the owner of the gas filling station;

      4) issue a quality guarantee certificate for each household cylinder sold to consumers;

      5) provide emergency and scheduled maintenance of gas-cylinder installations.

      7. It is forbidden:

      1) storage and (or) use of liquefied petroleum gas in household cylinders in residential multi-apartment buildings with more than two floors;

      2) use of the same gas filling stations simultaneously by two or more individuals and (or) legal entities;

      3) the use of gas filling points and gas filling stations for the sale of liquefied petroleum gas simultaneously by two or more individuals and (or) legal entities.

      8. Owners of group tank installations operating in-house gas equipment designed to supply liquefied petroleum gas to gas consuming systems of consumers are required to ensure its safety and good technical condition.

      The provision of part one of this paragraph does not apply to gas equipment located inside the housing.

Article 29. Accounting for liquefied petroleum gas

      1. The accounting of liquefied petroleum gas at filling stations, gas-filling stations, gas-filling items and group tank installations shall be carried out in accordance with the order for retail sales and use of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas, approved by the authorized body.

      2. Accounting of the liquefied petroleum gas, sold to customers shall be carried out on the metering instruments, with the exception of case, provided by subparagraph 2) of paragraph 3 of this Article.

      3. Accounting of the liquefied petroleum gas, sold to domestic customers through the grouped tank installations shall be carried out by volumetric method:

      1) on individual metering instruments;

      2) according to consumption norms approved by local executive bodies of oblasts, cities of republican significance and the capital - in the absence of individual meters, their malfunction or non-compliance with the parameters of gas equipment.

      4. Provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article shall not extend to the liquefied petroleum gas, sold to customers in domestic bottles.

      5. Rules for identification of household cylinders and functioning of accounting systems for household cylinders establish:

      1) requirements for accounting systems for household cylinders and procedure for confirming their compliance with such requirements;

      2) the grounds and procedure for recognizing household cylinder accounting systems as not complying with the established requirements;

      3) the procedure for synchronizing the accounting systems for household cylinders with the information system of the authorized body;

      4) requirements for household cylinders and the procedure for their identification;

      5) the conditions under which household cylinders are registered in the household cylinder accounting system;

      6) the procedure for accounting of household cylinders in the accounting system for household cylinders.

Chapter 7. SAFETY PROVISION OF THE GAS SUPPLY SYSTEMS

Article 30. Safety provision of the gas supply systems

      1. Safety provision of the gas supply systems shall be carried out in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of industrial, fire security, emergencies of natural and man-induced character and environmental legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      2. Owners of the objects of gas supply systems shall secure their safety operation and proper condition, perform maintenance activities or conclude agreement on the technical services of the objects, belonged to them.

      3. Individuals and legal entities, carrying out maintenance activities of the objects of gas supply systems shall secure their quality and timely execution.

      4. Owners of the chimney and air flues, sealing engineering services of the buildings, premises shall secure their proper technical condition.

      5. Gas transportation, gas distribution organizations and owners of group tank installations are required to have an emergency dispatch service with a round-the-clock operation, including weekends and holidays.

      6. Gas transportation, gas distribution organizations and owners of group tank installations have the right, on a contractual basis, to involve the emergency dispatch service of other organizations to eliminate emergency situations.

      7. Objects of gas supply systems shall be the objects of uninterrupted power supply. Organisations of power supply shall be prohibited to carry out performance measures on restriction of established limits of power consumption on the objects of gas supply systems without securing approval of organisations, operating the objects of gas supply systems.

      8. Operation of single right of way by two and more organisations shall be prohibited.

Article 31. State control in the field of gas and gas supply

      State control in the field of gas and gas supply is carried out in the form of an inspection and preventive control with a visit to the subject (object) of control in accordance with the Entrepreneurial Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Article 32. Protective zone of objects of gas supply system

      1. Protective zones shall be established for the purpose of public safety provision, prevention of environmental harm, as well as arrangement of conditions for the safe operation of the objects of gas supply systems in the territories, adjacent to them. One protective zone shall be established for the single right of way.

      2. The boundaries of protective zones’ of objects of gas supply systems shall be established in accordance with requirements of technical regulations.

      3. In the protective zone of objects of gas supply systems, the construction, erecting, ground, loading and unloading works, prospecting works, linked with installation of cased holes and surface holes, development of the sites, motor vehicle parks, locating a market, storage of materials, execution of obstacles and hoardings, discharge and draining of caustic corrosive and fuel and lubrication materials shall be prohibited without written permission, issued by an organisation, operating the objects of gas supply systems.

      4. Persons, carrying out economic activity without written permission of organisation, operating the objects of gas supply systems shall bear the liability for violations of safety requirements in the protective zone.

Chapter 8. FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Article 33. Liability for violation of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on gas and gas supply

      Violation of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on gas and gas supply shall entail liability, established by the Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Article 34. Transitional provisions

      1. This Law shall be applied to relations, arising after its enforcement, with the exception of cases, provided by paragraph 2 of this Article.

      2. In relation to the buy and sell agreement of the raw, commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas, as well as on the technical services of gas-consuming systems and gas facilities of municipal and domestic customers, concluded before enforcement of this Law for a period of more than one calendar year, a seller or performer shall carry out their renegotiation subject to provisions of this Law until 31 December 2012.

      Provision of this paragraph shall not extend to buy and sell agreements of the raw, commercial and (or) liquefied petroleum gas, concluded within the frame of implementation of international agreements of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

      3. Legal entities, carrying out operation of gas-filling station, grouped tank installations, as well as wholesale and retail trade of the liquefied petroleum gas in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall bring their activity into conformity with this Law and undergo the accreditation procedures for up to 1 July 2012 for continuation of mentioned activity as gas-network organisations.

      4. To establish that:

      1) paragraph 5 of Article 20 of this Law is valid from March 2, 2022 to July 1, 2022 in the following wording:

      "5. The marginal price of liquefied petroleum gas sold under the supply plan outside commodity exchanges is set quarterly and is valid throughout the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.";

      2) paragraph 11 of Article 27-1 of this Law is valid from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024 in the following wording:

      "11. The right to purchase liquefied petroleum gas sold within the framework of the supply plan belongs to:

      1) owners of gas filling stations;

      2) owners of group tank installations;

      3) owners of LPG dispensers;

      4) owners of gas stations;

      5) industrial consumers using liquefied petroleum gas as a raw material for production of petrochemical products.

      The list of industrial consumers specified in subparagraph 5) of part one of this paragraph is approved by the authorized body in accordance with the rules for formation of a plan for supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan.".

      5. To suspend from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024 the effect of paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 27-1 of this Law.

Article 35. The order of enforcement of this Law

      This Law shall enter into force upon expiry of ten calendar days after its first official publication, with the exception of:

      1) subparagraphs 3) and 4) of paragraph 1 of Article 9, Articles 14, 15, paragraph 3, subparagraph 2) of paragraph 5 of Article 22, paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 26 that shall be enforced from 1 April 2012;

      2) subparagraph 6) of Article 5, paragraphs 4 and 7 of Article 20 that shall be enforced from 1 June 2012;

      3) subparagraph 18) of Article 6, paragraph 2 and 4 of Article 17, paragraph 1 of Article 23, paragraph 1 of Article 24, paragraphs 1-3, 5-7 of Article 27, subparagraphs 2) and 3) of paragraph 7 of Article 28 that shall be enforced from 1 July 2012;

      4) subparagraph 1 of paragraph 7 of Article 28 that shall be enforced from 1 July 2013.