A full year has passed since Daniyal Akhmetov's resignation as governor of the East Kazakhstan region. Yet the disappointing results of the former governor's activity continue to haunt us today.
Take, for example, the boiler house promised back in 2018, the construction of which Mr Akhmetov "personally oversaw".
As some media outlets write, the East Kazakhstan region's akimat promises to resume construction of the facility in the village of Glubokoye after conducting a technical inspection.
The old boiler houses, built in 1938 and 1949, have long since worn out and are unable to fully provide heat for the village's residents. Although over 631 million tenge has been spent on their repair in the last five years, interruptions to the heat supply in Glubokoye occur periodically.
Mr Akhmetov announced the construction of a new boiler house back in 2018, and in 2020 it became known that the work would be carried out under a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement.
The construction costs of 4.5 billion tenge were to be divided between the state (40%) and the Turkish investor Mimsan Industry Boilers (60%). Over time, the estimate rose to 5.3 billion tenge.
The foreign investor brought in the local company Sigmastroy as a contractor, having agreed this decision with the akimat. Construction was promised to begin in 2021, with the facility to be commissioned in October of the same year.
However, the boiler house was never brought into operation. Instead, the Turkish investor and the contractor became embroiled in a legal dispute, accusing each other of delays in fulfilling contractual obligations.
And although the Turkish company offered to complete the project with a different contractor, the akimat decided to terminate the agreement with Mimsan Industry Boilers. At the same time, cooperation with Sigmastroy continued, and over time this company became the project's new investor.
The construction of the facility, which ended with the erection of a metal framework, cost the budget 1.6 billion tenge.
It is perhaps worth mentioning that during the years the contract with Sigmastroy was in effect, the company was headed by Yergali Zhaksyheldinov, who at the same time worked in another company under the leadership of Talghat Akhmetov – the son of Daniyal Akhmetov.
The position of akim of the Glubokovsky district, both then and now, is held by Eldar Tumashinov, the son of Lukbek Tumashinov – a Majilis deputy and a business partner of Mr Akhmetov's son.
Now, as the regional akimat states, following the development of the design and estimate documentation, the project cost will be determined, and construction will be launched again.
Although the residents of Glubokoye will only be able to begin hoping when there is actual resumption of work. After all, it is obvious that six years of promises have had no effect whatsoever on the construction of the boiler house.
However, local akimats can, without a twinge of conscience, allocate significant sums to measures aimed at strengthening public trust. Apparently, fulfilling promises related to the basic living conditions of people is not included in the list of such measures.