In the Almaty Region, the deployment of the ‘Sergek’ intelligent security system has been completed — the company’s largest project since its monopoly position in the market was shaken.
More than 9,000 cameras and 325 hardware-software complexes now cover all districts of the region, including 32 remote locations. The project was implemented using a service model: the equipment is leased out, which is several times cheaper than directly purchasing technology that would become obsolete within the five-year contract period.
The editorial team of FBRK has closely followed the developments surrounding ‘Sergek’ in the regions. Over the past year and a half, the company has experienced a series of high-profile contract terminations with state partners.
EAST KAZAKHSTAN: DISMANTLEMENT AND AFTERMATH
In the spring of 2024, in the East Kazakhstan Region, following the end of the contract, a conflict unfolded. Korkem Telecom LLP, part of Sergek Group, had signed a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement in 2018 to provide the system for a period of five years. After the initial term ended, the contract was extended for another two months — until 30 June 2024.
The company was accused of dismantling equipment and leaving behind ‘bare cameras’, although Sergek Group insisted it had handed over a fully functioning system with all login details and access passwords.
The new contractor became Satory Company LTD LLP. It was reported that after the operator change and equipment dismantling, the results were swift: in the first half of 2025, the number of road traffic accidents in the city without ‘Sergek’ increased 2.5 times.
KOSTANAY: A WORKING SYSTEM WITHOUT PAYMENT
At the beginning of 2025, the situation in Kostanay worsened. In 2023, the regional information management department, headed by Azamat Kashiyev, decided to implement ‘Sergek’ using the service model. Kashiyev personally oversaw the project, issuing a positive sectoral opinion. Korkem Telecom LLP invested over 2 billion tenge in installing 60 hardware-software complexes, thousands of video surveillance cameras, and modernising the police control centre.
The system worked effectively. It was noted that in 2025 alone, the city identified over 1 million violations amounting to nearly 19 billion tenge in fines, and solved more than 400 crimes. The regional police department received data from the cameras without issue.
However, at the start of 2025, the information management department suddenly decided to terminate the contract and achieved this through the courts. The formal reason was a conclusion from the regional state audit department, although no financial irregularities were found — the auditors could not identify written approval for some technical solutions. In April 2025, the court of first instance upheld the claim, and the appeal confirmed the termination. The working system was dismantled.
ASTANA: NINE YEARS OF WORK AND A CHANGE OF OPERATOR
In February 2025, the contract in Astana, where the system had been operating since 2017, came to an end. During this time, ‘Sergek’ demonstrated impressive results: the crime rate fell by a third in the first year of operation, and road accident fatalities dropped from 60 to 37 cases per year over seven years.
Private investors spent 8.4 billion tenge on implementing the system, subsequently receiving around 1 billion tenge from the city administration. In nine months of 2024, the system recorded 642,000 violations, resulting in 5.2 billion tenge paid into the budget. Over its entire operating period, the system brought 38.3 billion tenge into the state coffers.
Simultaneously with the contract's end, the city administration announced a change of operator — the Emirati company Presight, a subsidiary of the technology holding company G42, is investing 53 billion tenge in the new project. The project involves installing 10,000 new cameras and over 500 hardware-software complexes on the capital's roads. The new system promises 50 types of video analytics, including detecting phone use while driving, monitoring seatbelt use, identifying fights, and detecting weapons.
However, in October of this year, at a meeting with city residents, the Mayor of Astana, Zhenis Kassymbek, stated that the two companies are working in collaboration:
"They have a consortium; they work together. The lead company in this consortium is Presight. A large company working in this field. Sergek continues to work alongside them."
That is, effectively, the Kazakh developers have not left the capital at all but have become a ‘subcontractor’ for the Arab company.
A TECHNOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS
Against the backdrop of legal disputes, ‘Sergek’ is confirming its technological viability. The company has developed the TOR platform (from Kazakh – ‘network’) for the Ministry of Internal Affairs — a unified digital system that integrates data on road situations from all third-party operators. The platform allows police officers to work without regional restrictions across the entire country.
Tests of drone technologies have also been carried out. Autonomous solar-powered complexes have been deployed in remote areas. In the village of Zhaipak, Alakol District, Zhetysu Region, the first hardware-software complex capable of operating without connection to the electrical grid has commenced operation. The alternative power module, based on solar panels, converts sunlight into electrical energy, ensuring uninterrupted operation in field conditions.
ALMATY REGION: BETTING ON SCALE
The launch of the large-scale project in the Almaty Region — comparable in scope to the former Astana project — appears to be a turning point. The region ranks third in the country for crime (6,141 cases from January to August 2025) and is among the leaders for road accidents — with over 6,500 crashes recorded over seven months.
The system detects speeding, running red lights, illegal parking, and other violations. It is noted that in regions where ‘Sergek’ operates, road accident fatalities decrease by 30-50%. In Astana, the number of deaths fell from 60 to 37 people, and in Almaty — from 161 to 105. A similar effect is expected in the Almaty Region.
The project includes the creation of a transport digital twin — a real-time road traffic model, which, according to the developers, should become part of the Smart City concept. Regional authorities are betting on the digitalisation of management, integrating ‘Sergek’ into the region's overall ecosystem.
A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM OR ISOLATED INCIDENTS?
However, the main question is not about technology, but about the stability of the partnership. Three contract terminations in a year and a half point to a systemic problem in the interaction between large businesses and the state within the PPP framework. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has repeatedly noted the effectiveness of the video surveillance system, highlighting a dual benefit for the state: a technological solution to the problem of violations and a simultaneous reduction in corruption schemes within the traffic police.
The long history of attempts to implement PPPs in Kazakhstan is full of ups and downs. The Kostanay precedent is particularly telling: can an official who personally approved a project declare two years later that the same project no longer suits him? Does the state have the right to unilaterally change its approach to projects already being implemented?
Next year, the editorial team of FBRK will continue to follow the project's development. Will the Almaty Region case show that the company is back on top, or will the Kostanay and East Kazakhstan scenario repeat itself?