In Aktobe, an audit revealed violations in the construction of a cycle path costing more than 1 billion tenge. The city's Housing and Utilities Department filed a lawsuit seeking the return of 34,781,000 tenge spent by the contractor.
According to media reports, the contractor had previously been held accountable for construction without the necessary documentation. The State Audit Department won the case, resulting in the contractor being ordered to pay a fine.
"An agreement for public procurement of works not related to construction was concluded between the LLP and the State Institution 'Department of Housing and Utilities, Passenger Transport and Highways of Aktobe'. Clause 3.2 of this agreement stipulates that the contract is subject to registration with the territorial treasury authority under the budget programme 'Improvement and Greening of Populated Areas'", the press service of the regional court reported.
In the end, the Aktobe Regional Court brought the contractor to administrative responsibility under Article 312 of the Administrative Code. For the lack of design and estimate documentation, the company was ordered to pay 200 MCI (738,400 tenge). In addition, the State Audit Department is seeking to invalidate the contract concluded between the Housing and Utilities Department and the contractor.
"Based on the audit results, a violation was committed during the public procurement process. The Department has filed a lawsuit to declare the contract invalid. We have already won the first instance. The contract was declared invalid. However, the decision has not yet entered into force," said Saken Kassymov, head of the Internal State Audit Department of the Aktobe Region.
The client did not comment on the incident, only clarifying that the construction of the cycle path had been suspended.