The expertise for it will be stipulated in the new science law.
Research and development projects (R&D) of subsoil users will undergo assessment at the National Center for State Scientific and Technical Expertise (NCSTEE) under the Ministry of Education and Science. This was announced by its head, Arman Kashkinbekov, during his speech at the Second Kazakhstan-China Conference on Renewable Energy and Science in the capital.
“There are aggregators, 1% of subsoil users, like PIT Alatau with the Tech Garden brand, and with KIN G – the Kazakh Institute of Oil and Gas – we work with all of them… In the new science law, which will be enacted by the end of the year, NCSTEE is designated as the sole authorized organization in Kazakhstan for conducting these activities. Thus, after the law takes effect at the beginning of the new year, all projects of all subsoil users will be required to undergo state expertise in our center,” he said.
As reported two years ago, according to the Subsoil Code, subsoil users in Kazakhstan were required to allocate 1% of their expenditures on mining for research and development projects (R&D). Companies could independently choose accredited scientific institutes or autonomous educational organizations for funding. Subsoil users also had the right to allocate R&D funds to the Tech Garden autonomous cluster fund and use these funds for digitalization.
In 2021, the Ministry of Energy announced a phased transition: in 2022 – 50%, in 2023 – 75%, in 2024 – 100% towards centralizing subsoil users’ contributions to R&D through the republican budget by creating a separate budget program. Thus, the government intended to independently allocate the received funding for scientific activities in Kazakhstan.
According to Kashkinbekov, the center is already working with the Samruk-Kazyna group of companies.
“Our company has signed a cooperation agreement with Samruk-Kazyna, the Samgau center for scientific and technical initiatives. This is a new unified window for all R&D developments of all national companies in Kazakhstan. The essence of the agreement is that state expertise and state accounting of all projects of national companies are now being carried out by our center. Prior to this, there was no such state expertise, national companies could choose where they wanted to have their projects evaluated and invested, there was no government oversight, interaction, or synergy in state policy in the field of scientific activities. Now the agreement is in effect, the first projects have passed. The large package from Kazatomprom is next,” the head of NCSTEE noted.
At the same time, he did not rule out that the center may establish cooperation with investors in renewable energy.
“There is a dilemma because, according to the law, all subsoil users will come to us, but in Kazakhstan, there will still be “sacred cows” that are protected by production sharing agreements (PSAs) – these are oil companies, operators, how many of them are there – three or four licensees, and Tengiz. National legislation does not apply to them, so they are not required to come to us and undergo official state expertise. We will think about this. At the same time, investors in renewable energy – they are not subsoil users, they do not dig the land, but they invest in Kazakhstan in the energy sector. This work also awaits us – where to place them – they are not subsoil users, but they use solar and wind energy, they invest in Kazakhstan in the energy sector. We will work on this,” Kashkinbekov assured.
In his speech, he reminded that his center is the only authorized organization conducting technical expertise of scientific programs and projects as well as applications for funding fundamental scientific research. Moreover, NCSTEE is responsible for organizing the work of national scientific councils. The center is also involved in state accounting and monitoring of projects and programs in science funded by the state budget in Kazakhstan, digitizing scientific works, and creating an index of citation of Kazakhstani scientists.
