Residents of Shymkent have collected signatures for a petition to return the assets of the LLP "Water Resources-Marketing" to state ownership and sent it to the city akimat. This company provides the city's residents with drinking water and maintains the sewage systems.
According to Bes.media, the initiative, which was discussed both online and offline, gathered signatures from approximately 30,000 people.
"The majority of residents support the petition's author and the return of the water utility. One of the main arguments is that having such a strategically important facility in private hands makes the state vulnerable to a single individual. The akimat agreed with the petition's arguments, however, since this matter is not within the competence of the state body, the final decision rests with the court," stated the city's mayor, Gabit Syzdykbekov.
It has become known that in October, deputies of the city maslikhat had already raised the issue of returning the water utility to state ownership, citing concerns over rising tariffs. At that time, they emphasised that the increase in water prices and the insufficient development of the water treatment system were causing dissatisfaction among the population.
In response, the director of the LLP, Anarbek Ormanov, disagreed with the accusations made, but stated that he had no objection to transferring the water utility to state management.
"I have no objections if they decide to take over management. But it should be taken into account that we have a debt of 12 billion tenge to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 54% of our property is collateralised," noted the company's director.
For context, in December last year, the mayor of Shymkent reported that the building of the "Fosfornik" Palace of Culture, previously owned by the convicted oligarch Tokhtar Tuleshov, had been taken onto the city's balance sheet and would be restored.
In June, the head of the Anti-Corruption Agency department for Shymkent, Dauren Yergarin, wrote that the city planned to bring the "Ice Palace" back under state control.
In July, it became known that the Shymkent prosecutor's office had returned property and shares worth 5.9 billion tenge to the state over six months.