An additional 1.8 billion tenge has been allocated from the budget for car rental for employees of Astana. The funds are needed to continue the multi-year project providing official transport.
WHY WAS ADDITIONAL FUNDING REQUIRED
According to BES.media, the allocation of additional funds was announced by the deputy head of the investment and entrepreneurship development department of Astana, Maksat Zhanabayev.
In 2024, the city administration entered into a public-private partnership agreement with the company Ecology Service for car and taxi rental services. The total cost of the agreement is 5.6 billion tenge, and its term is set for seven years.
According to Maksat Zhanabayev, a further 1.8 billion tenge is needed over the next five years to ensure the project's continuous implementation. He linked the need for additional funding to an increase in the drivers' payroll fund, a higher tax burden due to the VAT rate increase, and a 15–20% rise in the cost of maintaining and operating the vehicle fleet.
WHAT ADDITIONAL VEHICLES IS THE ADMINISTRATION REQUESTING
The city administration also intends to obtain additional vehicles from Ecology Service. One vehicle is needed for the newly established department for the protection of children's rights.
Furthermore, the department requires a minivan. It is noted that this need is due to an increase in the number of off-site events.
According to Maksat Zhanabayev, part of the allocated funds will return to the budget in the form of tax revenues. This refers to the amount of 1.6 billion tenge.
HOW MUCH DOES CAR RENTAL COST
The city administration reported that it compared the cost of Ecology Service's services with offers from another vehicle fleet and concluded that the current contract provides lower prices.
It is reported that the rental of an electric vehicle under the current agreement is 43,000 tenge per day, while a similar service from another fleet is priced at 73,000 tenge.
The cost of a business-class vehicle under the contract with Ecology Service is 56,000 tenge per day, compared to 61,000 tenge from another supplier.
CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
High spending on official transport rental has been a topic of discussion in Kazakhstan several times before. In 2024, attention was drawn to the spending of the Almaty city administration, which had allocated 247 million tenge for car rental. During the year, two contracts were signed with a total value of 41.2 million tenge and 205.8 million tenge, providing for the rental of various classes of cars and minibuses.
The spending of the Almaty city administration on transport rental in previous years also amounted to hundreds of millions of tenge: in 2023 it was 182.4 million tenge, in 2022 — 146.9 million tenge, in 2021 — 182.8 million tenge, and in 2020 — 208.5 million tenge. Thus, the discussion over the cost of official vehicles for state bodies has been ongoing for several years.