The high-profile and scandalous LRT case has almost reached its end — the investigation has been completed and will reach the court after the accused parties will have read and acknowledged it and the prosecution will have confirmed the indictment. Thus, the time has come to present a political assessment of this case.
This is how the news was presented by TV-channel KTK (text in bold by kz.expert).
«The investigation of one of the most resonant corruption-related cases has been completed in the capital. We are talking about the building an LRT line that has cost the state budget 5 bln 600 mln tenge. In total, the corrupt officials stolen almost 25 bln tenge from the country last year. Today, the National Bureau has revealed the details of the most scandalous thefts.
The monument built in honor of the Kazakh corruption (this is how the people call the LRT’s ugly supporting elements) has been defacing the façade of the capital for more than two years now. But if the grand construction has been frozen, then the investigation has ended. Which means that, in the nearest future, there will be a trial. The only problem is that the main figurants are still at large. Namely, we are talking about head of Astana LRT Talgat Ardan and former Deputy Mayor of the capital Kanat Sultanbekov (he is thought to be the founder of the criminal group at the time Tasmagambetov was still the Astana Mayor). The rest of the accused includes the former officials and the top managers of the contractor companies. The amount of the damage constitutes almost 6 bln tenge.
Sergey Perov, the Head of Department 2 of the Anti-Corruption Agency said:
— Over 10 people are being held responsible. As to those who have fled, we are conducting searches both through the Interpol and with the states where, presumably, they are hiding.
— And where, presumably, are they hiding?
— We have this data, however, due to the ongoing investigation, I cannot comment on that. Now we are conducting the process of familiarization. Then, the case will be sent to the court where open trial proceedings will be held. This is where you can learn about everything — the faces, the names of the figurants».
We have covered this resonant topic in the article The Undersurrents of the Astana LRT Case and given an in-depth commentary on the fate of Kanat Sultanbekov in the material Who Stood Up for Sultanbekov . Therefore, we do not see a point in returning to these subjects. Now, however, when the investigation of this resonant criminal case has been closed, we would like to present our political assessment of it.
In our opinion, both Kanat Sultanbekov and his henchmen are but typical scapegoats. Moreover, Imangali Tasmagambetov whose deputy Sultanbekov had been occupying this post for many years and to whom, according to our sources, the latter owes his freedom (albeit in the «wanted» status) is too not the main culprit in this story.
Why do we think so?
Because the project of constructing the LRT line in the Kazakh capital was approved by the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan personally after the project proposal had secured the approval of all levels of authorities. In other words, if we are to follow the law closely, Nursultan Nazarbayev and several dozens of ministers, vice-ministers and other high-rank officials should end up on the defendants’ bench.
To confirm this, let us cite Sergey Pero, the Head of Department 2 of the Anti-Corruption Agency. He says that the figurants of the case are accused of stealing only US5.6 $ bln (about US15 $ mln by today’s exchange rate).
Meanwhile, the total amount spent on the construction of the LRT line constituted US1.9 $ bln. With that, it was clear from the very beginning that this project would never be cost-effective since the estimated number of passengers that would use it was exaggerated and could not be achieved in principle.
By the way, they have written a lot on this subject in the Kazakh press and on the Internet comparing the Astana project with the similar projects in other countries (see here for instance — text available in Russian).
It is not surprising that, after the freeze-up and then the reexamination of this investment project, the sensitive question arose — who was to be the culprit? And the answer was found — it was all the fault of the managers who communicated the orders from above to the «scapegoats». As a result, the people who have made a decision to construct the extremely costly, technically ineffective and a priori lossmaking investment enterprise whose damage to Kazakhstan’s economy constitutes 400 $ mln (the cost of the objects already built in the capital) turn out to be innocent.
From the common-sense standpoint, Kanat Sultanbekov and his henchmen should not be put behind bars but rewarded since they, de-facto, have saved these 15 $ mln from being «buried» under the ground. As a result, the money has continued moving around Kazakhstan’s and other states’ economies (albeit in an illegal fashion) unlike the almost 400 $ mln forever frozen in the concrete supporting elements of the LRT and the other constructions of this failed project.
But such is the logic of any authoritarian system — the main errors and crimes are committed by those who govern the system and abuse their powers while the responsibility is placed on the people whom they appoint to be guilty.
