Mazhilis deputy Murat Abenov stated that over six years, JSC "Samruk-Kazyna" allocated 31 billion tenge to the "Astana" cycling team alone, while only 35 billion tenge was allocated to all mass sports in Kazakhstan.
According to the Telegram channel "Atameken Business", the Mazhilis member claims that the Ministry of Tourism and Sport cannot provide reliable information on the team's expenses.
He also noted that out of 29 members of the cycling team, only 10 are citizens of Kazakhstan.
"It competes abroad. This is a business project. It never raises the flag of Kazakhstan at any victory. There are no mentions of Kazakhstan at all. They simply do not come here. They compete there, in Europe, and almost no one returns," the statement reads.
Murat Abenov also highlighted the team's disappointing results at recent Olympic Games.
"The team captain took 21st place in Tokyo, and 51st in Paris. How much longer can we continue funding this? Are you just waiting for the law? What is the situation now?" the deputy reported.
It is worth recalling that in May, the Anti-Corruption Agency, together with the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, conducted an external analysis of corruption risks in the sphere of sports funding, which identified inefficient spending on sports federations and professional clubs.
At the time, it became known that over six years, 138 billion tenge in sponsorship funds from JSC "Samruk-Kazyna" was allocated to finance 4 professional clubs.