The purchase of bicycles for the city's bike-sharing system in Astana, which previously sparked public debate due to its high cost, has gone ahead. LLP "ROST-Standard" has been named the winner of the procurement.
WHAT IS KNOWN
According to the Telegram channel "Journeys through Public Procurement", the procurement, which had previously raised questions about the rationality of expenditure and compliance with procedures, has not been cancelled.
"The supervisory authorities ignored several violations, as well as the very fact of the procurement's questionable rationality," the post states.
LLP "ROST-Standard" has been identified as the supplier. The company has not participated in public procurement since 2019, and previously supplied lamps and did not receive government contracts worth more than 2 million tenge.
WHAT IS SAID ABOUT THE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE
The publication notes that Astana already has cycling infrastructure in place, the maintenance of which costs around 300 million tenge annually. However, the existing system is virtually unused.
The post also cites the opinion of specialists in urban infrastructure with international certification, who believe that a similar situation could arise with the new system.
CONTEXT
It was previously reported that LLP "City Transportation Systems" (CTS) announced the procurement of 1,300 bicycles for the city's bike-sharing system at a total cost of 2.336 billion tenge. According to the documentation, the project includes not only bicycles but also 195 bike stations with information panels, as well as software. Based on the total procurement amount, the cost of one bicycle, along with the accompanying infrastructure, was around 1.797 million tenge.
