Anti-Corruption Service Prevents Akimats from Overspending Billions on Inflated Procurement Deals

The Anti-Corruption Service (Antikor) has uncovered major violations in public procurement by regional akimats, preventing the misuse of billions in budget funds, Orda.kz reports.

In Kokshetau, the city’s construction department planned to purchase a transformer substation for 1.1 billion tenge, though its actual value was 896 million.

In another case, officials in Aqsu (Pavlodar Region) nearly spent 3.7 billion tenge on residential complexes. After inspection, the cost was reduced by nearly half.

In Almaty, the education department intended to buy new kitchen equipment for 25 schools for a total of 1.9 billion tenge, with some items priced as high as 79 million tenge each, while their market value was only 20 million tenge.

Following Antikor’s audit, the purchase was canceled, and the funds will be returned to the state budget.

Violations extended beyond local governments. The Bokeyorda State Nature Reserve in West Kazakhstan Region also planned to buy fire trucks for 95 million tenge and cargo vehicles at prices 40% above market rates.

According to Antikor, a total of 30 billion tenge was saved through procurement audits.

Original Author: Aliya Askarova