Almaty has approved new Air Protection Rules that provide for a phased phase-out of solid fuel and fines for violators who continue to heat their homes with coal, firewood or diesel, infohub.kz reports.
The document will enter into force on December 30, but will only take full effect in 2027. Under the new requirements, heating bathhouses and premises with solid or liquid fuel will be banned in gasified low-emission zones. Gas will remain the only permitted fuel.
According to the Krisha portal, the ban will initially be introduced as a pilot and only in a specific zone bounded by Bogenbai Batyr Street to the south, Zheltoksan Street to the east, Abai Avenue to the north and Dostyk Avenue to the west. The Almaty akimat first plans to test the control system and only then extend the requirements to new areas.
Violators will be penalized for failing to comply with sanitary-epidemiological and environmental protection requirements under Article 324 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. For individuals, a warning or a fine of 10 monthly calculation indices is provided, which in 2026 amounts to 43,250 tenge. For small businesses the sanction will be 15 MCI (64,875 tenge), for medium-sized businesses 20 MCI (86,500 tenge), and for large businesses 100 MCI (432,500 tenge). It is important to note that in 2027 the MCI will rise, meaning fines will be higher.
The ban on burning solid and liquid fuel applies to houses in gasified areas. However, having a gas pipe near a plot does not yet mean the owner can connect the house to it. The akimat said that when applying the new requirements, the real technical and legal feasibility of connecting to gas must be taken into account. For example, connection may be impossible due to insufficient network capacity, fire safety requirements or problems with property documents. In such cases, the ban on solid fuel should not be applied automatically. At the same time, the akimat is still developing the specific criteria for determining whether a house can be connected to gas.
A chimney filter will not allow citizens to continue heating their homes with coal, firewood or liquid fuel if a ban is already in effect in the area. In this regard, the akimat recommends that owners switch to gas or electric heating. However, switching to gas could hit citizens' wallets hard. For example, connecting to a single point in Almaty costs from 200,000 tenge. And that is without taking into account the stove itself, which residents will have to install. However, the akimat said a support program is still being developed. There are no specific assistance measures yet, but they will be available for socially vulnerable Almaty residents.
Almaty residents will be checked for compliance with the rules, but only if there are grounds, for example, based on monitoring data or a neighbor's complaint. If a neighbor reports that a private house continues to burn coal or firewood, this could become grounds for an inspection. At the same time, the smell of smoke alone is not enough to hold someone liable — the violation must be documented. The akimat also said that control over the private sector will be strengthened gradually.