78 million for road repairs disappeared in Akmola region

Tengrinews.kz — Authorities in the Akmola Region are investigating the embezzlement of budget funds allocated for road repairs in a local village. Out of the 167.8 million tenge earmarked for the project, 78 million was spent on purposes unrelated to construction, citing the regional prosecutor's office.

167 million allocated for 5.4 kilometers of road repairs

According to the prosecutor's office, in 2023, the Bulandy District Housing and Utilities Department signed a contract with a contractor for the medium repair of internal roads in the village of Nikolskoye. The project covered 5.4 kilometers of road at a cost of 167.8 million tenge.

The contract was set to expire in December 2024. By that time, 103 million tenge in budget funds had been disbursed to the contractor.

An audit revealed that 78 million tenge worth of work had not actually been performed. Prosecutors established that these funds were diverted to purposes unrelated to road repairs.

Case referred to special prosecutors

A pre-trial investigation into large-scale embezzlement of budget funds has been launched against the former head of the Bulandy District Housing and Utilities Department and the heads of the contracting organization.

The criminal case has been handed over to the special prosecutors of the Akmola Region. In accordance with Article 201 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, further information is not subject to disclosure.

Earlier, reports emerged regarding an investigation into the theft of over 200 million tenge during the construction of social housing in Kokshetau. According to the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA), the contractor received a 211-million-tenge advance but failed to complete the work, spending the money on personal needs, settling debts with counterparties, and cashing it out.