Offsite meetings of the Public Council of Samruk-Kazyna JSC have been held in Almaty. Dialogue platforms with the involvement of sectorial experts, politicians, deputies, NGO representatives, company executives, media representatives were devoted to the activities of two Portfolio Companies of JSC SWF Samruk-Kazyna – Samruk-Energy JSC and Air Astana JSC.

Construction of the new gas power plant in Almaty will begin in summer of 2023.

As Serik Tyutebayev, CEO of Samruk-Energy JSC, noted during the meeting, the contractor for the supply of equipment, design and construction of the new gas station at the site of Almaty HHP-2 will be determined in Q2 this year.

According to him, during the first stage of the open international tender, six applications have been received. Two of them passed to the second final stage. The tender winner will be determined in Q2. The start of construction and installation works is scheduled for August 2023.

Before the meeting, members of the Public Council visited the main production sites of Zhakutov HPP-2, where they got acquainted with the current state of the station. According to experts, in general, the safety margin of power plants in Kazakhstan has been exhausted and by 2029 a shortage of electric capacity of over 3 GW is expected. This forecast is related to growth of energy consumption, which has increased by 9.4% over the past five years. New power generation facilities are being launched, but at a much slower rate due to lack of funding and low tariffs. The increasing load on the existing heat power plants, their wear results in frequent accidents, such as in Ekibastuz, Rudny, Ridder, Temirtau.

According to Samruk-Energy JSC, these problems are being solved by modernizing existing and building new power plants with a total capacity of 4.1 GW. Similar large-scale projects are being implemented in Almaty and Ekibastuz.

Experts also speak about the problems of the industry and the impact on the economy - as Anatoly Shkarupa, the representative of the Kazakhstan Electric Power Association, noted: “Kazakhstan is in a state of deep energy shortage. If the situation does not change, the energy sector will be a direct brake on the development of the national economy.”

Along with this, as representatives of the energy holding note, Kazakhstani power plants are operating at a loss due to low tariffs. Thus, the policy of restraining tariffs leads to losses for heat energy producers.

“For example, the Almaty company, AlES over the past 5 years, it amounted to about KZT6 billion. Often power plants have nothing to pay for coal, from which electricity is produced. The total debt of energy-producing organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Bogatyr Komir LLP is about KZT6.4 billion. In addition, due to the foreign policy situation, the prices of equipment have additionally increased. For example, the pipe for steam boilers and pipelines has risen in price by 3.5 times in two years,” Serik Tyutebayev, CEO of Samruk-Energy JSC said.

At the same time, Bolat Zhamishev, Chairman of the Public Councilhas drawn the attention of the participants that any costs that would be attracted to the energy sector should be controlled at all stages. Without transparency, any changes, including tariff increases, will be perceived negatively by the population – it is necessary to explain to consumers what risks the industry bears and how the tariff for companies’ services is formed.

“We need to talk about the problems of heat and power engineering, electric power industry. Tariffs should be fair. If the networks are not repaired at all, they will fail someday. And it needs to be explained and shown.  At the same time, financing should not be only at the expense of tariffs, other sources of financing are needed. And people need to know how and what is happening. Only if consumers understand what expenses should be incurred, we can talk about raising the tariff. We need a state control system that would provide very clear control and increase the confidence of all consumers in investments. Today we have passed through this huge enterprise with a great legacy of the Soviet period in the form of outdated and worn-out equipment, it is clear that such enterprise cannot function without current investments. Colossal resources are needed,” Bolat Zhamishev stressed.

As it was noted during the meeting, in global terms, the underfunding of Kazakhstani energy facilities results in the degradation of the industry, due to low tariffs, the electric power industry does not receive the necessary resources to upgrade and expand capacity, as well as retain highly professional personnel. Underfunding of energy facilities ultimately entails the degradation of the industry and the inability to meet the energy needs of the economy.

As the members of the Public Council noted, Samruk-Kazyna JSC submitted the work of power engineers to the discussion of the society not by chance, the next heating season is over, but the summer season requires a review of work and the choice of effective tactics to prepare for the upcoming heating season.

The Country’s Largest Air Carrier to Actively Expand its Fleet: the Company Expects to Deliver 7 Aircraft by the End of 2023 and 13 more by the End of 2026.

The second meeting, which aroused no less interest from the public, was a meeting on the activities of the country’s largest airline, Air Astana JSC.

The meeting agenda is formed from the issues that have matured in the society. Thus, during the meeting of the Public Council, Peter Foster, the company’s President, said that in 2017-2022, the Air Astana fleet was replenished with 11 European-made aircraft. By the end of 2023, Air Astana is planning to receive 7 more aircraft and expects delivery of 13 more from 2024 to 2026, including new modern wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Another important topic is the delay of flights. According to Peter Foster, the timeliness of Air Astana group flights has not historically decreased from 81%, and only in 2022 the indicator was 74.1% due to disruptions in the industry around the world, recovery from the COVID19 crisis, limited resources at airports in Kazakhstan and other circumstances. The average punctuality of Air Astana group flights in 2022 (74.14%) is close to KLM and better than many other European airlines. At the same time, Air Astana has acquired software to optimize the schedule and crew composition in order to increase the punctuality of flights.

The experts drew attention to the quality of the service, the route network and found out what measures are being taken by the company to train and improve the skills of personnel.

According to the President of the airline, special attention is paid to the training of personnel and flight personnel: since 2008, more than 260 citizens of Kazakhstan have been trained in advanced aviation training centers of the world under the Air Astana pilot training program. At the same time, the volume of investments of Air Astana in the Ab-initio pilot training program exceeds USD36.7 million. Equally important is the training of the company’s engineering staff: the existing Air Astana program for the initial training of engineers is the only training center for the training of engineers certified by EASA Part 147/145.

In addition, the Head of the airline shared the progress of the implementation and introduction of the ESG principles and the contribution made to the ecological and social sustainable development of society.

Following the meeting, Bolat Zhamishev, Chairman of the Public Council stressed that the national air carrier needs to be more open in explaining its tariff policy, the causes of technical failures and the cancellation of flights.  

Both events were held in an open format and aroused great interest from media representatives and the public.

To the attention of persons interested in participating in the work of the Public Council of Samruk-Kazyna JSC, please read the memo on accreditation and participation.

MEMO ON HOLDING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE MEETING OF THE PUBLIC COUNCIL