State audit in the Ulytau region revealed financial violations amounting to 4.1 billion tenge, as reported.
During a meeting of the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) chaired by Alihan Smailov, the results of the audit on the effectiveness of budget funds utilization in the region for 2022-2023 were reviewed.
The SAO stated, "The revenues of the Ulytau region in 2023 increased by 2.1 times, reaching over 169 billion tenge compared to about 90 billion tenge in 2022. The execution of the revenue part, excluding transfers and subsidies, exceeded the approved plan by 12.5 billion tenge. Own revenues increased threefold, with their share in the total revenues of the region also rising. This indicates a significant economic potential in ensuring budgetary independence from the center."
However, the state audit identified the presence of systemic shortcomings.
Since the formation of the region, effective measures have not been taken to address the accumulated regional problems. The Comprehensive Plan lacks activities that require updating or reducing the high level of wear and tear of existing water supply, sewerage, and drainage networks. There is a low level of construction of new educational, healthcare, cultural, sports facilities, as well as repairs of existing social infrastructure facilities, as stated in the audit report.
Efficient measures are not being taken to clean up and reduce the influx of pollutants into the Kengir reservoir, which is the main source of drinking water supply for the cities of Zhezkazgan and Satpayev.
Despite its advantageous geographical location - in the center of Kazakhstan with common borders with six regions, the development of road networks is solely focused on the Kyzylorda, Karaganda, and Kostanay regions. Only two projects for the reconstruction and construction of regional roads with a length of 47.5 km were planned for 2022-2023, which will not allow the region's existing trade and transport potential to develop in the coming years, as highlighted in the report.
"There are 50 kindergartens in the region for 7.8 thousand children. The buildings of 19 state preschool organizations have an wear and tear of over 65%, and three of them are already at 100%. Despite the lack of places, the regional akimat has not taken the necessary measures to complete the construction of kindergartens with 320 places each in Zhezkazgan and Satpayev. The construction has been ongoing for 4 to 10 years with a cost increase of 14-17%," noted the SAO.
Similar problems exist in the healthcare sector, especially in rural areas. For instance, there are 41 healthcare facilities in the region built between 1950-2008. The wear and tear of 18 buildings is over 60%. According to state regulations, the region should have had a number of multi-profile and specialized regional centers, hospitals, ambulance stations, and medical rehabilitation organizations. However, these medical institutions were not established during the audited period. Furthermore, there were delays in the construction of primary health care facilities under the pilot national project "Modernization of rural healthcare."
Overall, the audit revealed:
- Financial violations amounting to 4.1 billion tenge;
- Ineffective budget planning of 1.7 billion tenge;
- Inefficient use of budget funds and assets of 7.8 billion tenge;
- Losses and missed opportunities of 22.8 billion tenge;
- 12 systemic shortcomings and 203 procedural violations.
To address the systemic shortcomings and inefficiencies, the SAO of the Republic of Kazakhstan has issued relevant recommendations and instructions to the Ministries of National Economy, Transport, and Agriculture, the regional akimat, the akims of Zhanaarkinsk and Ulytau districts, the cities of Zhezkazgan and Satpayev, and other organizations.
"This audit was conducted at the request of the head of state to identify issues in the newly formed regions. This is necessary to assist in the further development of these regions. Therefore, the akimat and central government agencies must take practical measures to rectify all violations," stated Alihan Smailov.
On May 16, the Supreme Audit Office reported the identification of a series of violations in the activities of the audit commission of the city of Almaty.
