Since it was deregistered on 28 March 2017, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (CNTUK) has been prevented by the government from registering under a new name.
Between July and September 2018, the founders of the union made three attempts at registering their union with the authorities. Every time their request was denied. On 6 and 27 August 2018, the Ministry of Justice refused registration of the organisation under its new name, Congress of Free Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, because of the similarity of the name of the registered association with another legal entity. On 4 September 2018, the government accepted another name that was proposed, the Confederation of Free Trade Unions; however, registration was again declined based on the fact that one of the founding members was subject to court proceedings concerning an unpaid utility bill.
Since then, the founders have been unable to register their union and, consequently, to function as a union. This is an arbitrary and unjust use of bureaucracy designed to prevent the registration of a legitimate trade union entity.