On October 15, Zhandos Bakhytbekovich Imanaliev  , son of the former Chairman of the Committee on State Material Reserves  Bakhytbek Imanaliev ,  was appointed Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan  .

The new leader’s father became widely known after the so-called  " Canned Meat Case . " In 2021,  Bakhytbek Imanaliev  was sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzling  6.5 billion tenge in state property  , along with other defendants. However, he was released just a year after the verdict. The Criminal Executive System Committee attributed this  to the convicted man’s health , without disclosing details of his diagnosis, citing medical confidentiality. 

In the long and spacious corridors of Kazakhstan’s civil service, it’s common knowledge that  Bakhytbek Imanaliev is the in-law of a high-ranking official in the Kazakh Ministry of Transport . It is precisely this family connection, according to many observers, that played a key role in the rapid career advancement  of Zhandos Imanaliev , who managed to head an entire department in the Presidential Administration despite his father’s criminal record.
Moreover,  the position of the highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Transport, with which the elder Imanaliev is associated , was initially intended to be filled by  a more qualified specialist , unconnected to any family or clan structures. This fact only reinforces doubts about the transparency of personnel processes and the principles of equal opportunity in government appointments. 

It’s worth noting that Zhandos Imanaliev  was included in the Presidential Youth Personnel Reserve back in 2021  —a program designed to develop a new generation of managers. Then-head of the Civil Service Agency,  Anar Zhailganova,  stated that the reserve would not include children and relatives of high-ranking officials, as the program was intended for young professionals who "truly lack opportunities." 

Thus, the appointment of Zhandos Imanaliev raises questions about  the principles of selection and the transparency of personnel policies  in government agencies. This example demonstrates that  family and kinship ties can still have a significant impact on career advancement in Kazakhstan , despite the stated principles of meritocracy and managerial renewal.