At a meeting at the Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC), the results of the state audit of the use of national resources in the field of geological exploration and subsoil management were summed up.
According to the press service of the agency, the inspection revealed a number of systemic shortcomings in the management processes of the mineral resource complex.
A high proportion of "paper" resources was noted, where reserves were preliminarily estimated but not confirmed nor brought into economic circulation.
"One of the reasons for the decline in reserve growth is the lack of proper funding for geological study of the subsoil. Despite the introduction of a licensing system for exploration rights, the investment activity of subsoil users remains low," the report stated.
Auditors emphasised that the Ministry of Industry and Construction failed to meet its targets for digitising geological information, creating a digital data bank, updating funds, and increasing private sector activity.
Also, due to a lack of oversight by the geology committee and dishonest execution of contracts by contractors, the state paid for uncompleted work on digitising geological materials to the tune of 68.2 million tenge.
"The Ministry of Industry allows changes to be made to subsoil users' work programmes without mandatory tax scrutiny. This gives companies the opportunity to interpret tax rules in their own way and avoid paying taxes and other payments to the budget," the agency added.
At the same time, there is increased demand for modern and reliable laboratories operating according to international standards. According to the auditors, their absence reduces the quality of control over the export of precious metals and raw materials.
Overall, SAC employees recorded 81 procedural violations and 16 systemic deficiencies.
"Based on the inspection results, the SAC developed necessary recommendations and instructions aimed at developing the field of geological exploration and subsoil management. Work on their implementation has been placed under monitoring," the report concluded.