Employees of the national company 'Kazakhtelecom' in several regions of the country have expressed dissatisfaction with the remuneration system and management decisions.
Journalist Denis Krivosheev published a series of articles on Facebook about workers' complaints, in which they criticise the distribution of bonuses and the lack of salary increases for ordinary employees. Particular attention is paid to the actions of the Chairman of the Management Board of JSC 'Kazakhtelecom', Bagdat Mussin, and the head of 'Samruk-Kazyna', Nurlan Zhakupov.
BACKGROUND TO THE CONFLICT
The situation at Kazakhtelecom had already attracted public attention at the beginning of October, when company employees lodged complaints about the unfair distribution of bonuses. The published documents included a payslip for the Managing Director of Human Resources, a member of the company's management board: in one tranche she was paid 22 million tenge, and her total income for the year amounted to over 50 million tenge. Meanwhile, specialists with many years of experience continued to work for 120-160 thousand tenge.
Workers also reported mass redundancies in the regions targeting employees approaching retirement age, the creation of new departments at the head office 'for the favoured few' with inflated salaries, unsanitary working conditions, and the use of unsafe vehicles. Separate accusations were made of abuses in the Project Management Directorate (PMD), where multi-billion tenge projects are allegedly channelled through a single entity, LLP 'Bastau'.
ESCALATION OF PROTEST SENTIMENT IN NOVEMBER
On 5 November, Krivosheev published a piece about the protest by 'Kazakhtelecom' technicians in Astana, who raised the issue of a minimum wage of 370 thousand tenge. The journalist highlighted the contrast between these demands and the bonuses given to management, criticising the system of reward distribution. He also noted that some senior employees, after receiving large bonuses, resign by mutual agreement with an additional payment of three months' salary.
On 12 November, the conflict entered an active phase. A meeting with workers was held in Astana, where the Administrative Director and member of the JSC management board, Yerzhan Meiramov, announced that there were no plans to increase salaries. According to Krivosheev, employees subsequently walked out of the meeting in protest.
Similar sentiments have been recorded in western Kazakhstan. The journalist reported on the blocking of the Instagram account @telecomaktau, which may indicate pressure being put on protesting workers. Employees are demanding fair treatment and a review of the company's human resources policy.
PLANNED AUDIT BY THE ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE
According to a statement by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, the Accounts Committee plans to conduct an audit of Kazakhtelecom next year. However, Krivosheev drew attention to a potential conflict of interest, pointing out that the General Director of 'Division Set Association', Samat Tuganbayev may be a relative of Smailov. The journalist noted that he could be mistaken and invited Tuganbayev to comment on this information.
APPEALS TO THE HEAD OF STATE
Krivosheev has repeatedly appealed to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to initiate an investigation into the situation at the company. On 3 November, the journalist published a detailed appeal, asking for attention to be paid to the work of Samruk-Kazyna.
In his view, the holding company should protect the interests of the state, but it is not involving the competent authorities in the investigation. Krivosheev also mentioned previous appeals concerning the management of the holding's companies, in particular, the story of the purchase of Airbus aircraft with P&W engines, which were subsequently grounded due to technical problems.
The journalist is calling for an investigation into the practice of distributing bonuses in the national company and for a professional assessment of whether the management of Samruk-Kazyna and Kazakhtelecom are fit for their positions. At the time of publication, no official comments had been received from the management of Kazakhtelecom or Samruk-Kazyna regarding the events described.