An announcement has appeared on the public procurement portal regarding the purchase of furniture for the offices of the Abai region akimat. The customer is the regional finance department.
According to Juzmedia.kz, the technical documentation stipulates the purchase of furniture made from natural veneer, beech, natural and artificial leather, as well as other expensive office furnishings.
The most expensive furniture is intended for Office No. 1. Among the items ordered:
- a 3-metre-long desk in oak colour made from MDF with natural veneer and recycled leather;
- a chair, modifications A and B, with a multi-block mechanism, solid beech armrests and upholstery in natural leather;
- a briefing console and a cabinet on rubberised castors;
- a 4-metre-long wardrobe;
- a coffee table.
For visitors to the akimat, two chairs of modification D are being purchased — a frame of solid beech and legs of natural wood. The order also includes a three-seater and a two-seater sofa, and a natural leather armchair.
In other offices (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5), desks on platforms, lecterns, conference tables, velvet sofas, shelving units and decorative panels are being purchased, including those "faced with American walnut veneer, coated with seven layers of polyurethane varnish with intermediate drying and polishing".
In addition, the documentation describes a "second set of furniture", intended for the work offices of managers and employees. According to the description, one of the offices is planned to have 94 furniture sets installed, with others receiving 4, 13 and 20 sets respectively.
"The third set of furniture" provides for the purchase of 545 desks, 839 cabinets, 405 document filing cabinets, 309 clothes wardrobes, 38 conference tables, as well as 51 metal shelving units and 46 wall units with TV cabinets.
The total volume of procurement, according to preliminary estimates, amounts to 410 million tenge, not including possible delivery and installation costs. The tender application period began on 19 June, and the winner will be determined on 26 June.
For context, the Abai region akimat previously announced a tender for the purchase of six official cars for a total sum of approximately 170 million tenge. After the publication of the article, uniform comments defending the purchases sharply increased under the news, which may indicate the possible use of so-called "bots".
Based on observations, such activity may point to organised information campaigns. Meanwhile, the question remains open — whether such measures are funded from the budget or through other resources.