The Department of Economic Investigations (DEI) is investigating the theft of 461 million tenge during the construction of the central boiler house in Saran as part of the national project 'Strong Regions - a Driver of the Country's Development'.
According to Ratel.kz citing the DEI, over the years of the boiler house's construction the total cost of the project rose to 8 billion tenge.
It was expected that the new heat plant would provide homes and industrial facilities with heat, but the project turned into a long-term construction project. To date, the building has not been put into operation.
It is noted that, in addition to the DEI, the Anti-Corruption Service has also launched a criminal investigation into the facts of the theft. The main work on the heat plant construction project was carried out during the period when Yerzhan Temirkhanov was the city's mayor.
For context, on 13 October, residents of Saran began to massively complain about the cold in their apartments. On 15 October, the issue of heating problems was considered at a government meeting. And two days later, residential buildings and social facilities were fully connected to the heat supply systems.
As a result of the disruption to the start of the heating season, on 28 October a number of officials received strict reprimands from the region's mayor, Yermaganbet Bulekpaev. The following day, the mayor of Saran, Yerkin Baulykov, was dismissed from his post. And on 1 November, Bulekpaev himself received a reprimand from Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for inadequate control over preparations for the heating season.