The Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition (APDC) conducted an analysis of the activities of regional Social and Entrepreneurial Corporations (SECs), which are responsible for stabilising prices on socially significant products. The results of the inspection showed that the mechanism is being used inefficiently and is accompanied by systemic violations of fair competition.
According to the press service of the agency, cases of non-fulfilment of loan agreement terms and their repeated extension without penalties were recorded in a number of regions. For example, one borrower was granted a loan of 489 million tenge, which was repeatedly extended without the return of funds. Similar violations were identified concerning loans totalling more than 1.3 billion tenge.
Employees of the APDC also established instances of providing interest-free preferential loans to certain entities. Meanwhile, products purchased using budget funds often did not reach retail chains. Over two years, only 19% of the purchased volumes were sold, and some goods bought as far back as 2021 have still not been sold.
Additionally, the Agency identified irrational spending of funds. For instance, during a period of price surplus (October to April), 5.1 billion tenge was allocated for the purchase of potatoes, whereas during a period of shortage (May to July), when stabilisation measures are particularly important, no purchases were made at all.
Furthermore, discrepancies were found in the terms and conditions of contract execution, which violates the principles of equal access.
Following the analysis, one SEC was fined 300 MRP (1.18 million tenge), and eight notices of violation of antimonopoly legislation were issued to others.
The APDC has prepared proposals for reforming the price stabilisation mechanism — including introducing uniform contract terms, prohibiting extensions without fulfilment of obligations, requiring the publication of fund distribution plans, and strengthening the accountability of local executive bodies (akimats) for the efficient use of budget resources.