In its draft budget for 2026–2028, Kazakhstan will cut image-related expenditure by 68 billion tenge, completely scrapping funding for forums and reducing travel allowances for officials. This was announced at a briefing in the Senate by Vice Minister of Finance Abzal Beisenbekuly.
According to Informburo.kz, he noted that the savings are achieved through a review of several budget items and the optimisation of government spending.
"We have done a great deal of work reviewing and cutting expenditure. Regarding specific items, these are mainly image-related costs – forums, business trips, as well as a review of standards for a number of public services. Overall, this has yielded savings of around 68 billion tenge," Beisenbekuly explained.
The Vice Minister of Finance emphasised that the 2026 budget includes no forums funded from republican resources.
The optimisation also affected travel allowances, as well as standards for floor space, transport, and other parameters. According to Beisenbekuly, these measures also apply to officials.
Incidentally, it was previously reported that in 2023 the Ministry of Defence signed two major agreements for the placement of information materials in the media worth 217 million tenge.
Last year, a subsidiary of JSC "Kazakhtelecom" — LLP "Centre for the Development of the Digital Economy" — conducted a tender for information and image support on the electronic procurement portal of JSC "NWF "Samruk-Kazyna" worth 157 million tenge.