During the interview for the PrimeMinister.kz, Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Center for Modernization and Development of Housing and Public Utilities Nursultan Dzhienbayev told about the creation of property owners’ associations and the implementation of the unified information system E-Shanyraq.

Dzhienbayev told about the reform planned in housing and communal services. So, according to him, the law on changing the housing cooperatives to the property owners’ associations is currently in Parliament and is discussed in the Committees.

If the housing owners’ cooperatives in the current understanding manage the house within the apartments (cleaning of entrances, etc.), then the new form of a non-profit organization — the association of property owners — provides for an individual approach to the management of each house.

“You have a house, you have shared ownership. Your property is not only an apartment; it is part of the roof, part of the basement, part of the house. Currently, some basements and roofs are used by the housing cooperatives, are leased, cellular antennas are installed, money is earned. But residents do not see any benefit from this. Somewhere they even overpay for water or electricity. Many violations occur. When they see that it is their common property, they will dispose of it together. The management company, using the money earned, will provide additional services, create some kind of benefits, build playgrounds, and make an additional payment for capital repairs. This will allow them to manage more effectively on a large scale,” said Dzhienbayev.

Today, about 14.5 thousand housing cooperatives and management companies are registered in Kazakhstan. According to the chairman of JSC KazTsentr, this is a big number.

“In order for management companies to become professional within the real sector of the economy, they must earn their trust. There should be no more than 300-500 of such companies. They will provide quality services and the people will trust them. It works this way all over the world. Apartment owners’ association is a very good management tool for the house itself. People should understand that not only the apartment is their area is of ​​responsibility, but the whole house,” Dzhienbayev noted.

At the same time, he noted that the existing cooperatives should be transformed.

“I think the most successful and powerful of them began this work long ago. I monitor this situation. There are wonderful examples in Karaganda when the cooperative has already transformed into a management company. Now it has more than 100 houses under management. All residents are happy, satisfied, there are no complaints. Progress has to go. We have to adapt to the new realities, the digital field. Digitalization is underway, new technologies are being applied,” Dzhienbayev said.

Speaking about the launch of a single information system for housing and communal services, E-Shanyraq, Dzhienbayev said that today the system is operating in a pilot mode. Five thousand apartment buildings are connected to it. Digital passports have been established, but the population itself is not yet working in the system.

According to the chairman, in the next month and a half, mobile applications will be available to the public. Today, personal offices of residents, subjects of natural monopolies, local executive bodies have already been created, data is being transferred from metering devices, analytics and big data are being collected, which tomorrow will be very valuable material for achieving a balance of energy production and consumption in the country.

In the personal accounts of the mobile application, users will see electronic passports of houses, management companies, will be able to vote, control their current account, pay for services, and choose tariffs.

According to Dzhienbayev, the greatest benefit of this system for Kazakhstanis is transparency. These are the correct charges for services, effective relationships with government agencies, and management companies. Intellectual system — data cannot be changed. If someone will fulfill their obligations in bad faith, this, according to the chairman of the board, will be recorded. In the future it will be possible to create lists of unfair participants in the housing and utilities sector.