The Aerospace Committee of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan has denied the supply of Chinese satellite images, which JSC "NC "Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary" sold to the Land Resources Management Committee under a government procurement contract. Meanwhile, QGS itself does not deny purchasing the images from a foreign supplier.
Recall that earlier we reported that under a government procurement contract, JSC "NC "Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary" provided the Land Resources Management Committee with satellite images previously purchased from a Chinese company China HEAD Aerospace Technology Co, which is under US sanctions.
We contacted a number of authorities requesting comment on this situation, but received no substantive response. Some government bodies redirected our inquiry to the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Land Resources Management Committee, in turn, asked QGS for appropriate clarification, to which Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary stated that they had acted completely lawfully and observed no legal violations in this situation.
Furthermore, QGS even provided a detailed explanation of why the images were purchased from a foreign supplier: it was noted that the contract with the Land Resources Management Committee required the provision of ultra-high spatial resolution satellite images within the shortest possible timeframe, for which there are no analogues in Kazakhstan.
In this regard, JSC "NC "Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary" sent requests for commercial proposals to global space system operators from France, the USA, China, Korea, and India, as a result of which the proposal from the Chinese company HEAD Aerospace proved the most suitable.
Meanwhile, the editorial board of FBRK received a response from the Aerospace Committee of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry, which states that the Chinese company HEAD Aerospace Technology Co was not involved in this contract.
"According to information from JSC 'NC 'Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary', the Chinese company HEAD Aerospace Technology Co was not engaged under the Contract with the Land Resources Management Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan", the Aerospace Committee wrote in its response.
The department also noted that, in the event of a risk of falling under sanction restrictions, JSC "NC "QGS" conducts necessary consultations and maintains constant monitoring of sanction restrictions on companies that could potentially be partners of JSC "NC "QGS".
In conclusion, the Aerospace Committee of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan stated that it is not actually a party to this contract, and therefore, to obtain detailed information, we should contact the Land Resources Management Committee and JSC "NC "QGS" directly.
However, we already have in our possession a detailed comment from QGS, which completely contradicts the committee's response. The situation is becoming increasingly confusing: either the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry is completely unaware of the activities of its subordinate organisation, or it is simply covering for Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary.
Recall also that, according to our information, Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary has still not settled its account with Ti-Tech Development Limited (a subsidiary of China HEAD Aerospace Technology Co), from whom the images were purchased.
How the national operator will resolve the current situation is unclear, as failing to make payment would violate the requirements of the contract with the foreign operator, while making payment carries the risk of breaching sanction restrictions.
Additionally, a reasonable question arises: if Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary does not operate its own satellites to produce satellite images, would it not be better to give the prerogative of supplying images to a competitive environment, where any other organisation with access to the foreign market could become a reseller?
The editorial board of FBRK again asks the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition to pay attention to this situation. Furthermore, we are still waiting for the Committee of Internal State Audit of the Republic of Kazakhstan to comment on this matter.