During a government meeting chaired by the head of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan, Marat Karabayev, spoke about the preparations for the upcoming heating season.
According to the minister, the planned coal demand for the population and communal housing sector for the current heating period is around 9 million tons. To prepare for the upcoming heating season, the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan has developed and submitted to local executive bodies a plan of measures to ensure coal supply with specified deadlines for execution.
In order to prevent a shortage of coal for the communal housing sector during the heating season, preventive measures are being taken, which are aimed at restricting coal export by road and rail transport, except for coal mining enterprises. “During the peak of the heating season, there were cases of social coal outflow from sales points. Due to the lack of control by local authorities, some regional operators began to sell social coal for unintended purposes, that is, to business entities,” noted the head of the department.
According to the operational data of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, the total length of heat supply networks is about 14,000 km. The highest wear and tear is observed in Pavlodar, Karaganda, East Kazakhstan, North Kazakhstan regions, and Abai district.
Regarding the modernization of heat supply networks, which are owned by the communal property department, it should be noted that three financing mechanisms are being implemented for these purposes, namely targeted transfers, budget loans, and subsidizing costs up to 50%.
“By 2029, the task is to reduce the wear and tear of heat supply networks to 43%. Local executive bodies need to intensify their work on submitting relevant applications and documentation for heat supply projects. To date, when forming the budget for 2024, there are applications for only 43 heat supply projects,” shared Marat Karabayev.