Health Ministry Challenges Audit Chamber Report, Hints at Legal Action

The Ministry of Health is prepared to take legal action over the findings of the Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC), Orda.kz reports.

Vice Minister Ardak Amangeldiyev stated that not all of the reported violations cited by SAC head Alikhan Smailov are backed by sufficient evidence.

We have made sure that there is not enough evidence for certain facts. And we have sent a pre-trial claim to SAC on these facts. I think that we will have this conversation with them in the near future and will remove all questions,
Amangeldiyev said on the sidelines of the Majilis. 

If the matter cannot be resolved through dialogue, the Ministry says it is ready to pursue the issue in court.

If we do not find mutual understanding, then there will definitely be a trial. As a state body charged with certain obligations and violations, we have the constitutional right to defend our honor and dignity and provide the appropriate evidence base for all facts,
he added. 

Should the case proceed, it would mark the first legal confrontation between a government agency and the Supreme Audit Chamber.

One of the most debated points in the SAC report concerns SK-Pharmacia’s drug purchases, which were reportedly 35.6 billion tenge above retail prices. The Ministry argues the comparison is misleading, noting that SK-Pharmacia buys in bulk to supply patients nationwide.

SAC has just announced that these drugs were removed from the Almaty city polyclinic or some other polyclinic. But we must document all these facts and then make a decision based on them,
Amangeldiyev said. 

When asked which specific findings the ministry disputes, Amangeldiyev declined to elaborate.

The Supreme Audit Chamber recently published the results of its review of Kazakhstan’s drug supply system for 2022–2024, highlighting chronic delivery delays, rising logistics costs, inefficient spending, and systemic issues in management.

Original Author: Zhadra Zhulmukhametova