Recently, the akimat of Almaty signed several contracts for services related to road safety provision totalling approximately 2.6 billion tenge.
However, as we have learned, the contracts are currently subject to termination, and road works are not being carried out.
The editorial board of the FBRK decided to look into the situation.
This year, the State Institution "Almaty City Mobility Department" held open tenders for the provision of services for the "provision of road safety in populated areas".
According to data from the public procurement portal, the tender winner was initially identified as SpekTradTM LLP.
However, following complaints from other participants, the internal state audit committee reviewed the tender results and declared SAEMU Almaty LLP and Ejector-SK LLP as the winners.
On 3 June, the department signed a contract with the company "SAEMU Almaty" worth over 1 billion tenge. The main scope of work includes the installation and restoration of road signs.
According to the tender results protocol, the bid from SpekTradTM LLP was rejected due to non-compliance with qualification requirements.
It is worth noting that SAEMU Almaty LLP has another similar contract with the department worth more than 3.2 billion tenge, which the parties signed on 29 March. The supplier's primary task is "annual maintenance of the central control point (CCP) of the automated control system, communication lines, system, and local traffic light objects".
On 28 May, the Almaty City Mobility Department signed a contract worth approximately 1.6 billion tenge for road safety provision with Ejector-SK LLP. According to the technical specification, the company's main task is applying road markings.
In this case, the bid from SpekTradTM LLP was rejected for the same reason – non-compliance with qualification requirements: the potential supplier did not confirm the availability of necessary material and labour resources.
At the same time, as we have learned, shortly after the signing of the two contracts – dated 3 June with SAEMU Almaty LLP and 28 May with Ejector-SK LLP – the appeals commission of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan ruled that the bid from SpekTradTM LLP was rejected without justification.
Nevertheless, the contracts with the other suppliers have still not been terminated, meaning the companies continue to receive funds allocated for road works. Meanwhile, SpekTradTM LLP, despite the decision of the higher authority, is unable to commence work.
Currently, the contract with Ejector-SK LLP is at the stage of "awaiting termination", but this process is proceeding extremely slowly, whilst no one is carrying out the work.
It is worth noting that, according to data from the service kompra.kz, one of the company's founders is listed as Batyrbek Nurliev – the son-in-law of Sardar Kabdulov, who heads the Department of Economy and Budget Planning of Almaty.
An equally interesting figure is Altai Berdikulov, who served as chairman of the supervisory board of Ejector-SK LLP from 2017 to 2019 and today holds the post of chairman of the audit commission for Almaty.
It is highly likely that these circumstances are in no way connected to the companies' government contracts, yet one cannot help but think of the legacy of "Old Kazakhstan", which is so eager to resurface.
The editorial board of the FBRK has sent an official request to the Ministry of Finance to find out how the process of terminating the contracts is currently progressing.
To be continued…