The national company Kazavtozhol has submitted an application to the World Bank for financing a project to sustainably improve transport infrastructure.
According to Atameken Business, it is planned that the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank will each provide $650 million (approximately 308.6 billion tenge), while the Kazakh government will contribute $231 million (approximately 109.69 billion tenge).
These funds will be partially allocated to the repair and reconstruction of the Karaganda — Zhezkazgan highway.
"The work includes earthworks, bridge construction, concrete paving and road furnishing", the statement reads.
At present, the national company is pre-qualifying potential contractors. The deadline for applications is 9 August 2024, and the start of work is scheduled for the end of the first half of 2025.
Earlier, the government approved a 10-year development plan for KazAvtoZhol. Under this plan, they promise to finally take measures that should in theory lead to improved quality of road construction and maintenance across the country.
These include "the introduction of international FIDIC standards in all road projects, improving the process of approving technical documentation, increasing the responsibility of design and contracting organisations, integrating automated control systems into a single IT system, and procuring the necessary road maintenance machinery and equipment."
Recall that earlier, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticised the state of the roads in the country. He instructed the government and the Anti-Corruption Agency to reduce corruption offences during their construction to "zero". At the same time, he said he had ordered the start of large-scale road construction and repair in Atyrau.