According to Zhienbayev, the Kazakhstan Center for Modernization and Development of Housing and Public Utilities over the last year has been actively working to find and attract companies that offer innovative technologies for utilities in Kazakhstan.

As it is known, today in Kazakhstan there is a big problem with the wear and tear of engineering networks, which entails high heat losses and, as a consequence, an increase in public utility bills. Simply put, the consumer pays not only for the heat actually consumed, but also for heat loss during its transportation. Today, modern technologies to extend the service life of pipelines are practically not used, the problem is solved by the costly replacement of pipes. Therefore, the investment programs of natural monopolies entail an increase in existing tariffs.

To solve this problem, KazCenter is working on the selection of optimal modern technologies that are being tested in several pilot cities of Kazakhstan. These technologies are high-tech equipment that can extend the life cycle of pipes.

For example, in Kyzylorda, equipment of the German company Merus was installed at a site of 10 km, which made it possible to reduce the iron content by 86%. This, as Zhienbayev noted, is very much. Roughly speaking, if the life cycle of a new pipe in a normal environment is 30 years, then due to an aggressive environment, this cycle is reduced to 10 years. Thus, using equipment that reduces the iron content in water, you can guarantee the service life of the pipe to 30, and maybe even 50 years.

At the same time, there is a huge savings due to a decrease in the investment need of natural monopolies for the implementation of projects for the modernization and reconstruction of engineering networks. Thus, we can talk about a possible reduction in the tariffs themselves for the services of these subjects.

According to Zhienbayev, KazCenter is now a fairly large pool of foreign technologies that are being tested. These are not only technologies of the German company Merus, there are also technologies from Canadian, Japanese and other companies that are being implemented as pilot projects in the cities of Astana, Almaty, Kyzylorda, Atyrau, Aktobe, Lisakovsk. In the future, successful experience will be scaled throughout the country, it is even possible to localize the production of high-tech equipment in Kazakhstan.

Also Zhienbayev expressed confidence that within three years the country will reach 100% provision with devices.

It is worth noting that there are several stages of adjustment. The first is the metering devices themselves, the second is automatic heat points. When installing home-based metering devices, a resident's savings can reach from 30% to 40%, depending on the region.

“For the check it is very noticeable. If you were used to pay 7,500 tenge, you will pay 2,700 tenge less. This is a very good indicator. However, taking a complex approach and installing automatic heat supply points (points that have sensors outside and inside the house. Depending on the air temperature outside, they regulate the heat supply temperature of the house), then there will be a saving in consumption of gigacalories," said Zhienbayev.

The analysis shows that, on average in the country, when installing house heat meters without installing an automatic heat supply station, the payment for heat of a two-room apartment with an area of 60 m² will drop to 36% or an average of 2,720 tenge. On a national scale, this savings in monetary terms can reach 32.5 billion tenge per year.

The second example is the savings after the installation of a general house heat metering and automatic heat supply station on the example of an apartment with an area of 29.8 m² in Aktobe. As can be seen from the receipt, in October 2017 the heating cost was 3,547 tenge. After the installation of heat metering devices and an automatic heat supply station in October 2018, the payment for heating was 466 tenge, i.e. the savings were 3,081 tenge (86.8%).

As Zhienbayev noted, for the full-scale introduction of house-wide metering devices for heat and automatic heat points, work is underway to attract investments and funds from second-tier banks.

“Our task now is to raise funds. We are now actively working with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in order to launch this program and the population feel this savings,” he said.

In addition, the chairman noted that Kazakhstani developers are ready to participate in the appliance program. Also, some work will be done with the population.

“People see that there are real savings. This is not a saving of 50-100 tenge, these savings amount to thousands. We will separately talk with the population,” Zhienbayev noted.

In conclusion, the chairman of KazCenter stressed that all measures for the modernization of the sphere will be based only on new technologies.

“We will not deal with patching holes, we will introduce new technologies that are more efficient and much cheaper than just repairing or changing equipment. The task is to fully equip the country by the end of 2022. I think we can do it faster. Everything will depend on how we work together in the financial part with foreign banks, second-tier banks, with our state bodies,” concluded Zhienbayev.