Procurement practices
Our approach
Kazakhtelecom takes a responsible approach to interaction with suppliers. The Company seeks to cooperate only with honest, reliable and transparent partners.
The Company supports the national policy on development of domestic producers of goods, works and services under the conditions of innovative development of the national economy.
Key priorities of Kazakhtelecom JSC’s procurement activities:
- transparency and openness of procurement;
- competition in carrying out procurement procedures;
- support and development of local suppliers.
Samruk-Kazyna SWF’s Procurement Procedure as adopted in the new wording in April 2023 regulates the Kazakhtelecom’s procurement activities. As a result of the introduced changes, the functionality on competitive methods of procurement was finalised, preferences for small and medium-sized businesses were provided, and items on support of domestic producers were added.
The Fund’s e-procurement information system is a tool for managing procurement processes. The Fund’s e-procurement information system is a single portal where the full cycle is performed: from planning the need for goods, works and services, procurement, conclusion and execution of contracts to delivery of goods to the warehouse.
More details can be found on the portal zakup.sk.kz.
Since 1 April 2022, the Fund has in force the Procurement Procedure approved in a new version by the Board of Directors of Samruk-Kazyna JSC on 3 March 2022.
In accordance with the requirements of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan On Procurement of Certain Entities of the Quasi-State Sector, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan agreed the new version of the Procurement Procedure (hereinafter - the Procurement Procedure). During the development of the draft Procurement Procedure, the Fund held discussions and consultations with both the authorities and the business community, including: the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Atameken. Based on the results of discussions, the document took into account the main comments of government authorities and constructive proposals of the business community.
The new edition of the Procurement Procedure contains description of all procurement procedures without reference norms to other documents and is a document of direct action. In addition, the grounds for single-source procurement have been significantly reduced, transparency of the procurement category management process and preliminary qualification selection has been increased with the involvement of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Atameken, public associations and unions in these processes, new measures to support domestic producers and SMEs have been introduced.
To improve the procurement process, the Samruk-Kazyna Fund takes an active part in the process of reforming the procurement of all regulated entities on a national scale together with the relevant state bodies and the business community.
Improvement of procurement system
The Company carries out procurement procedures by the following methods of procurement: open tender, request for quotations, single source, special procedure.
In May 2023, the Company introduced an automated system for submission of applications (Procurement Monitoring of Kazakhtelecom JSC). The Company launched a new type of procurement on the portal of the Information System of Electronic Procurement through e-shop, which facilitates procurement procedures. As part of the process of digitalisation, analytics on procurement activities from the procurement portal was integrated into Qlik Sense.
Kazakhtelecom strives to select suppliers whose activities comply with the Company’s requirements in the environmental protection, industrial safety and respect for human rights.
In 2024, Kazakhtelecom plans to improve the procurement management system and assess its suppliers according to ESG criteria. Among other things, we will develop the Supplier Code of Conduct taking into account ESG criteria.
Procurement results in 2023
Main types of goods/services:
- telecommunication equipment;
- maintenance of telecommunication equipment;
- SOIM services and other types of telecommunication services.
Share of spending on local suppliers
Kazakhtelecom attaches special importance to co-operation with local suppliers, preferring to procure goods and services from them. In its activity, the Company follows the state policy aimed at development of local content in the conditions of innovative development of the national economy.
To increase the share of local suppliers in the Company’s procurement, a local project office for import substitution is functioning on the basis of the Telecom Komplekt Directorate, aimed at working with the instructions of authorised state bodies on procurement and import substitution issues, as well as interaction with the Central Project Office of Samruk-Kazyna SWF JSC. In addition, annually the Fund’s Authorised Body for Procurement determines performance targets for increasing the share of local goods, works and services in procurement.
The category mechanism of procurement management introduced in the Samruk-Kazyna Fund and managed entities (including Kazakhtelecom) also provides point support for domestic producers.
Read more at zakup.sk.kz.
Expenditure on local suppliers, 2022–2023
The geographical definition of “local” and the main place of Kazakhtelecoms operations implies the country of the Company’s presence - the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Key requirements for suppliers
Kazakhtelecom JSC’s requirements to suppliers are documented in the SWF Samruk-Kazyna JSC Procurement Procedure, as well as published on the portal of the Fund’s Electronic Procurement Information System.
Feedback from suppliers
The Company utilises various tools for supplier feedback, including: formal correspondence via paper/email letter; communication via the Company’s official Facebook page; a technical support service on the procurement portal; and a direct line to collect complaints and petitions on procurement issues.
The Company holds annual offline/online conferences with current and potential suppliers. In 2023, we held 3 conferences with suppliers (1 offline, 2 online) attended by more than 100 suppliers. Kazakhtelecom systematises all proposals and recommendations received during such conferences for further improvement of the procurement system management. For example, the suppliers’ initiatives that were put forward at one of the conferences in 2022 became the basis for creation of a new separate unit within the Company’s procurement division to supervise off-take contracts, category procurement and service models.
Direct line to collect complaints and petitions on procurement issues: