In February of this year, the UN Security Council submitted letters regarding the breaches of the international arms embargo on Libya by the aircrafts with Kazakhstan registration.

The Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with law enforcement agencies investigated 3 airlines that breached the UN SC embargo by the aircraft with Kazakhstan registration (Azee Air, Sigma Airlines, Jenis Air).

The aircraft owners are foreign companies registered in the United Arab Emirates and the British Virgin Islands (AGANYA LTD (UAE), LTD Infinitive Seal Inc. (British Virgin Islands) and SPACE CARGO INC. (UAE).

The aircraft were operated in the Middle East region for the benefit of foreign customers.  The main base for the aircraft is the United Arab Emirates.

The flights to the country under UN Security Council sanctions were operated out of third countries.

According to international practice, cargo that is carried outside of Kazakhstan is not monitored by the state of the operator, i.e.  by the Kazakh side, but rather, controlled by the state bodies of foreign states, from where the flights are operated.

Based on the results of inspections for compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ICAO standards and recommended practices, the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan suspended the certificate of these 3 operators of civil aircraft, including the validity of the operator’s certificate of Sigma Airlines based on the order No. 167/1 issued on May 29, 2020 by the Director General of the Aviation Administration.

On June 5, 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan submitted the report of the UN Security Council Committee regarding the breaches of the international arms embargo on Libya.

The UN Security Council report contains a note of gratitude from the UN expert group for the transparency and cooperation of the Kazakh authorities and the Aviation Administration provided during the investigation.

In order to protect the image of our country from the actions of unfair foreign airlines involved in “opaque schemes” for the supply of weapons and military equipment to conflict zones or countries under UN Security Council sanctions, additional measures have been developed for the registration of cargo aircraft and their subsequent control. These additional measures have been introduced into the drafted Amendments to the Use of the Airspace Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

These norms are expected to be adopted by the end of 2020 as part of Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts for the Recovery of Economic Growth.

The work in this direction continues.