OREANDA-NEWS. On April 23, 2009 Prime Minister Karim Massimov, members of the Government, the management of the Administration of the President, the Astana akimat, state authorities, banks and construction companies, and deputies attended the meeting, reported the Official website akorda.kz.

Mayor of Astana Imangali Tasmagambetov delivered a report on the course of implementation of the presidential tasks and the anti-crisis measures taken.

Addressing the gathering, the President emphasized that development of Astana is showing a rapid growth pace. The akimat carries out in whole his instructions given at the previous similar meetings. Much work is being done for the improvement of residential settlements, repair of highways, construction of traffic interchanges and bridges, development of social infrastructure. The management of the city is planning to organize subbotniks (a Saturday when people gather to improve the city territories); the number of parks and green plantations within the bounds of the city are being increased.

At the same time, the head of the state raised a range of pressing issues for the capital city.

The shared construction of 123 objects with more than 23 thousand people participated is coming to an end very slowly. The transfer of the allocated funds to construction companies takes a lot of time. The mortgage refinancing program has not been thoroughly elaborated. There are many complaints about impossibility of getting credits due to limitations or high interest rates established by the second tier banks. Information on shared construction market is not virtually available for the people.

The funds allocated for the development of small and medium-sized businesses under the anti-crisis program are being utilized at a low pace in Astana. The extended credits amounted to KZT 43 billion which is only 19 percent of total volume of funds provided for these purposes by the National Fund. By comparison, over the last three years the credits for the amount of nearly KZT 300 billion have been extended. The utilization of allocated KZT 120 billion funds under the anti-crisis program throughout the country is as low as 1 percent only. The head of state instructed Vice Prime Minister to personally examine and improve this situation.

“Nowadays, small and medium-sized businesses are a major part of the city’s economy, its share in gross regional product amounts to 60 percent,” the head of state underlined.

Nursultan Nazarbayev emphasized that the funds from National Fund are the people’s funds. So they should be utilized under strict control.