Kazakhstan will begin pilot operation of the first modules of its Smart Turmys digital platform in the fourth quarter, bringing utility billing, subscriber records, and resource consumption data into a single system. The initiative forms part of a broader effort to modernize the country’s ageing housing and utilities sector by combining infrastructure renewal with digital management tools.
Industry and Construction Minister Yersayin Nagaspayev announced the timetable at a government meeting. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov instructed the industry and energy ministries to accelerate the platform’s implementation and adopt common standards for utility meters and software by September 1.
According to the ministry, Smart Turmys will maintain a unified subscriber registry, provide digital accounting of utility payments, and monitor the consumption of electricity, gas, heat, and water. Officials say the system should improve transparency and help reduce resource losses.
The platform will sit alongside Kazakhstan’s Unified Payment Document system, which allows households to receive a single bill covering multiple utility services. The system is already used in 38 cities, 170 districts, and more than 4,500 rural communities. By 2029, the government aims to achieve full metering coverage across utility infrastructure in cities of republican and regional significance.
Digitalization is being implemented alongside large-scale physical upgrades. Under Kazakhstan’s national modernization program, more than 800 billion tenge, approximately $1.7 billion, is planned for 45 projects to construct or reconstruct sewage-treatment facilities. Five projects were completed during the past two years. Work is underway in three cities and is scheduled for completion before the end of 2026.
The government also hopes the investment program will support domestic manufacturers. Officials say Kazakh companies can supply a significant share of the pipes, cables, reinforced concrete structures, and pipeline fittings required for utility modernization, reducing reliance on imported equipment.
For Kazakhstan, the digital push is primarily a response to decades of underinvestment in Soviet-era infrastructure. Much of the country’s utility network was built several decades ago. High-profile failures, including the heating-system collapse in Ekibastuz during the winter of 2022-23, highlighted the economic and social costs of delayed maintenance. Better data may help operators track consumption and resource losses, but the platform cannot substitute for repairs to ageing pipes, heating systems, and treatment facilities.
The Smart Turmys project forms part of a broader modernization strategy. As The Times of Central Asia previously reported, the national project has a budget of 13 trillion tenge, equivalent to approximately $27.5 billion at the official July 28 exchange rate. The program combines repairs to power plants and engineering networks with digital technologies intended to improve the management and resilience of public utilities.
