The FBIK editorial team has obtained documents indicating large-scale financial irregularities at the Akmola branch of the RSE "Kazvodkhoz". This concerns an enterprise that receives billions from the budget every year to supply regions with drinking water. But, apparently, these funds are flowing in a very different direction.
The beginning of this story is quite ordinary – an inventory in the village of Korgantas in early February 2022. The commission discovered the absence of 229 litres of AI-92 petrol and 3,127 litres of diesel fuel. Total damage – 660,208 tenge. The report was signed, the material damage was recorded. It seemed like a routine case of a shortage.
But here is what is particularly interesting. The fact of the shortage was apparently discovered at the end of January 2022 during an inspection by an internal commission. A few days earlier, the site manager – Mr. Utyro – had written an explanatory note, admitting his guilt in the theft of not only fuels and lubricants, but also a diesel power station (an autonomous generator worth several million tenge) and a trailer (a special trailer for transporting heavy machinery). In the explanatory note, Mr. Utyro directly states that he was acting on the instructions of the head of the production site in Kokshetau, Mr. Baltabekov.
Notable fact: as our sources report, after the dismissal that followed the admission of theft, both employees were re-hired by the new branch director, Yerbol Askerbek. It turns out that today Mr. Baltabekov continues to manage the site in Kokshetau, and Mr. Utyro is again working at the main facilities under his supervision. According to our sources, management even receives thanks from the employees we already know.
It is no longer clear what is more absurd – the scale of potential theft at Kazvodkhoz, or how matter-of-factly it has to be received.
Let us recall, for example, how the situation looked with the reconstruction of parts of the "Nura Group Water Pipeline" in the Yegindykol and Korgalzhyn districts. Simple maths. In 2020-2021, 503.2 million tenge were allocated for the repair of 16 km of the pipeline. The conclusion on the quality of work dated 10 December 2021 states a sum of over 579 million tenge, while the minutes of the meeting of the Water Resources Committee listed a figure of 488 million tenge taking the discount into account.
The technical council then decided to extend the section under repair using the remaining 178 million tenge. However, our sources claim that this extension was never actually implemented. Meanwhile, a new pipeline was laid parallel to the old one, but the necessary work to ensure their joint operation was not carried out. So, hundreds of millions were spent (one wonders, where?), and the water supply problem was not solved.
It should be recalled that the RSE "Kazvodkhoz" and the RSE "Nura Group Water Pipeline" are linked by a merger process, carried out in 2024 to optimise water resource management. This decision was prompted by financial irregularities, dilapidated infrastructure and ineffective management of both organisations.
The RSE "Nura Group Water Pipeline" and its former head, Gamzat Sagandikov, have also repeatedly found themselves at the centre of dubious deals. For example, an audit in early 2024 revealed that Sagandikov had accepted an unfinished construction project, causing damage to the state of over 40.5 million tenge. The story began in 2022 with the signing of a contract with the LLP "Euro-Құрылыс" for the repair of a dormitory for shift workers and the roof of a pumping station for a sum of over 38 million tenge. A few weeks before the contract deadline, its sum was increased by almost one and a half times – to 60 million tenge. An inspection in January 2024 showed that actually unperformed work on electricity supply, heating, water supply and sewage had been accepted and paid for.
Incidentally, according to information from our editorial team, today, several years later, the dormitory still stands unrepaired, and virtually nothing is known about Sagandikov's current status.
The situation looks even more absurd against the backdrop of systemic problems in Kazvodkhoz branches across the country. According to the ministry's internal audit department, inspections in 2024 led to the bringing of over 30 individuals to administrative responsibility. An audit in the Zhambyl region revealed about 10 instances of illegal use of water resources. In October last year, violations totalling 20 million tenge were also discovered, related to illegal water use and public procurement.
However, despite a string of corruption scandals, the Ministry of Water Resources continues to pour huge sums into the sector. Extensive work is underway to replace 19 pumping units and electrical equipment on the K. Satpayev Canal, contracts have been signed for the supply of 17 transformers, and 9 units of ancillary equipment have been purchased. To improve the material and technical base of Kazvodkhoz branches, the procurement of 757 units of specialised equipment and vehicles has begun, 150 of which have already been transferred to branches, and an additional 23 units have been purchased as part of the investment programme.
And quite recently, in early May 2025, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) approved the provision of a loan and grant to Kazakhstan for the implementation of a large-scale programme for the development of water infrastructure. Within the first phase from 2025 to 2027, Kazakhstan will receive $1.153 billion, of which $1.1 billion will be directed towards construction works and digitalisation, $50 million towards design and estimate documentation, and $3.5 million as a grant for institutional capacity building. Is it worth clarifying who exactly will be the main contractor or, at the very least, an active participant in these projects?
And this is not about these funds not being needed by the water sector, on the contrary, they are critically necessary. However, these funds, apparently, are ending up somewhere other than where they should be.
As early as April last year, the President noted the need to reorganise the entire water management system, including the "Nura Group Water Pipeline". And, judging by the facts uncovered, such a reorganisation is indeed overdue, as corrupt schemes are multiplying exponentially.