The Government held a press conference on the implementation of the National Project on Modernisation of the Energy and Utilities Sectors. It was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev, Deputy Minister of National Economy Arman Kasenov, Deputy Minister of Energy Sungat Yesimkhanov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Construction Olzhas Saparbekov, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection Olzhas Anafin, Chairman of the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies Asan Darbayev.

The goal of the National Project is to ensure reliable and uninterrupted provision of public utilities throughout the country, construction of new facilities and reduction of wear and tear of engineering networks to 40%. Today, the wear and tear of energy and utility infrastructure of 87 monopolistic enterprises in the spheres of heat, electricity, water supply and wastewater disposal ranges from 65 to 100 per cent. The annual natural wear of utility networks reaches 2-3% or 4-5 thousand kilometres. At the same time, the existing infrastructure has been in operation for more than 50 years.

In addition to modernisation of the existing utility networks, it is planned to commission additional generation sources in the total amount of 7.3 GW to prevent a shortage of electricity and heat in the future. During the implementation of the National Project, it is planned to attract investment and develop mechanisms to encourage private companies to participate in infrastructure modernisation, which will reduce the financial burden on the state budget.

The National Project covers more than 200 natural monopoly entities (70 per cent state-owned, 30 per cent private) in 57 cities. An individual financing model will be selected for each enterprise. It is envisaged to use market and budgetary debt financing, as well as loans from international financial organisations. All loans will be in the national currency. It is important to note that the National Project establishes obligations to ensure the share of domestically produced products among suppliers. Measures have been developed to support Kazakhstani producers, such as:

• conclusion offtake contracts in order to localise new production facilities in the country;
• electronic procurement platform for transparent interaction between suppliers and contractors.

A list of 187 enterprises producing 711 commodity items has been formed. Of the total number of needs, today Kazakhstan has the potential for localisation of production in 337 commodity items. At the same time, state support is provided for citizens with low incomes. The following measures are provided by social protection agencies:

• provision of housing assistance for the repayment of utilities;
• Social assistance for the repayment of utility bills;
• Targeted social assistance.

Targeted social assistance will be provided to all Kazakhstanis with incomes below the poverty line. Transparency and control of the entire process from the formation of documents to the commissioning of facilities will be ensured in the implementation of the National Project. When deciding on tariff changes, the socio-economic situation of each region will be taken into account, and public discussions with consumers will be held.

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