Published:
Based on the decision of the Republican Commission for Training Personnel Abroad No. 34-4.10 dated December 14, 2015, Gavrilenko V.V. was awarded the international scholarship of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Bolashak" to study in the UK at the University of Liverpool in the "Master's" program in "Strategic Communication," where academic training was completed in 2016-2017.
According to the terms of the concluded agreement, the scholarship recipient committed to providing a diploma upon completion of the study program, returning to the Republic of Kazakhstan after graduation, and working in the field of their specialty within Kazakhstan.
To ensure the fulfillment of the obligations stipulated in the study agreement, the scholar is required to provide real estate as collateral, the appraised value of which must be at least the total cost of the training. If the total cost of the academic training is not fully covered by the collateral, the scholar must provide financially capable guarantors who ensure the fulfillment of the scholar's obligations upon completion of their studies.
Gavrilenko V. provided two real estate properties as collateral. However, their value did not cover the full cost of the training, so two official guarantors—M.A. Daribayeva and N.A. Vorobyova—vouched for the scholar, and Guarantee Agreements were signed with the Center.
According to clauses 2.1 and 2.2 of the Guarantee Agreement, M.A. Daribayeva and N.A. Vorobyova assumed full joint liability for the fulfillment of all obligations under the study agreement. Clause 2.4 of the Agreement states that if the scholar fails to fulfill or improperly fulfills their obligations to the Center, and the scholar does not satisfy the Center's demand to fulfill the obligation, the Center has the right to demand the guarantor to cover the unpaid portion.
To improve operations and ensure quality monitoring of scholars, the Center for International Programs has implemented several measures to identify "violations." According to the results of an internal investigation, it was found that on May 13, 2019, the former President of the Center, Z. Meldeshov, Vice-President M. Alpyspay, and Head of the Legal Department A. Sharambaev issued a notification to release the collateralized real estate due to the full fulfillment of the scholar's obligations, i.e., one year after working in Kazakhstan.
After these facts were revealed, the Center repeatedly submitted statements to the relevant authorities regarding the former officials of the Center for falsification of official documents to take appropriate measures and hold those responsible accountable as prescribed by law.
In April 2024, the Center sent letters to the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to determine the actual location of Gavrilenko V. Currently, the Center is systematically working on "returning scholars" of the Bolashak program who are abroad and not fulfilling their contractual obligations to the state.
It should be noted that the Center is conducting extensive and systematic work to recover funds from individuals who have been stripped of their scholarships and to identify scholars illegally abroad and evading their contractual obligations. Of the 13,000 graduates of the Bolashak program, less than 1% failed to complete their studies or fulfill their work obligations to the state and were stripped of their scholarships. The Center returns about 200 million tenge to the state budget every month. In 2023, 1.9 billion tenge was returned to the budget, and as of May 27, 2024, 716 million tenge has been returned, with 43 individuals fully repaying their debts to the state.
Moreover, the Center regularly provides full inf ormation about the ongoing work to the guarantors and has held several meetings to clarify their responsibilities in the situation.
Additionally, the Center has initiated four appeals to law enforcement agencies regarding premature release of collateral from the scholar’s real estate and the need to identify those responsible, particularly former employees of the Center.
The Center advocates for a fair review of this case within the legal framework.
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