Qosshy Akimat Organized Questionable Tender at End of 2024

The new Akim of Qosshy violated Kazakhstan’s public procurement law by organizing a tender worth 53 million tenge at the end of 2024, Orda.kz reports.

What Happened

On November 11, 2024, Azamat Kapyshev was appointed as the new Akim of Qosshy. Just two weeks later, on November 25, local officials approached the regional maslikhat deputies, requesting 53 million tenge from the budget to pay a contractor for work that had already been completed. The deputies approved the request.

However, instead of paying the original contractor, the Akimat launched a new procurement process. On December 20, 2024, it held a tender by requesting price proposals for the same work, this time awarding the contract to KOKZHAL LLP, which offered a 52% discount, reducing the total to 25.5 million tenge.

The issue is that the contract set a completion timeline of 10 days, an unrealistic deadline. As expected, the work was not completed on time, and in May 2025, the Akimat signed an additional agreement pushing the remaining work into the next year.

It’s unclear why the city decided to hire a new contractor for work that had already been done, especially as the original contractor could potentially sue for non-payment.

The Akimat’s Position

Deputy Akim of Qosshy, Nurlan Sadyrov, explained the Akimat’s stance:

Why do you think we have a debt? It hasn’t been confirmed. (despite ongoing legal proceedings and and a letter from the previous Akim confirming the debt— Ed.). Regarding the 53 million, we simply submitted a budget request. But we did that back in September. It’s not our fault the money was allocated only in December. We expected the funds in September so we could service the roads until December. When they came late, if we didn’t sign an additional agreement, we had to go through a new procurement.he said. 

However, public procurement law requires that the minimum period for completing work be 15 calendar days.

This tender ran from December 20 to 31, 2024. Furthermore, the contract’s technical specifications indicated the work should be performed monthly and quarterly throughout the year — something impossible to accomplish in the final 10 days of December.

The regional maslikhat confirmed that in November 2024, they allocated 53 million tenge specifically for the installation, assembly, and maintenance of traffic control systems. They emphasized that the funds must be used strictly as intended.

Nevertheless, Deputy Akim Sadyrov claimed the new contractor’s tasks were not complicated:

It’s mostly road markings and signage. There’s no work on traffic lights, just servicing. So, it’s not complex. If we plan to install new traffic lights, like pedestrian or smart crossings, pedestrian traffic lights, then we will definitely announce a tender for this.

Sadyrov also admitted that since the change of contractor, the city has been struggling with traffic light maintenance.

We’re currently facing issues with traffic lights because there is proprietary (Kazakhstani – Ed.) software there. That added some complications. Before, the old contractor would come and handle adjustments themselves,he noted. 

He added that the Akimat now plans to switch from the Kazakh traffic light control system to the Russian Megapolis platform.

Chronology of Events

On December 5, 2024, Qosshy’s Akimat attempted to increase an existing contract with contractor SMEU Astana LLP by 53 million tenge. But the agreement wasn’t registered with the Treasury, and thus lost legal force.
Despite this, on December 11, the authorities posted a new tender for the same amount, though the previous agreement had not yet been officially annulled.

Typically, such procurements are done through open tenders with strict qualification requirements. This time, however, the akimat used the simplified price proposal method, where the lowest bid wins. KOKZHAL LLP was awarded the contract with a 52% discount.

Previously, Qosshy’s traffic lights were integrated into the capital’s automated traffic control system (ATCS), allowing for real-time traffic monitoring and control. This achievement was even presented to President Toqayev in August 2024.

But the new Akim chose to abandon the system. Since 2025, Qosshy’s traffic lights have been functioning autonomously.

Original Author: Ilya Astakhov