The Anti-Corruption Service revealed that for 30 research projects in the field of science, on which 11.5 billion tenge was spent, the expert evaluations were conducted in the interests of specific individuals.
Furthermore, the agency's press service stated that of the 13,500 experts on the list, around 10,000 had not conducted any evaluations, and the results of assessments were manipulated to fit 'favoured' projects.
"Since 2016, the state has spent about 32 billion tenge on these purposes, of which 90% of projects (130 out of 145) did not achieve their stated goals, making them unproductive initiatives. Moreover, 70% of the research ended with the writing of articles and books, and many developments had no practical significance," the statement said.
It was also reported that the Institute of Information and Computational Technologies spent 290 million tenge on developing equipment for producing biogas and bio-fertilisers. At the same time, Anti-Corruption Service employees found that cheaper analogues were available on the market for tens of times less.
It was also reported that in 2019, one of the country's large poultry farms received about 300 million tenge to develop technologies and recipes for Kazakh delicacies, but later spent almost all of the funds (92%) on purchasing equipment and materials.
"Based on the analysis results, more than 100 recommendations were made to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The authorised body has already begun to implement them. For example, following the Agency's recommendation, the qualification requirements for members of the Expert Commission have been tightened in the Rules for Organising the Work of the Expert Commission; now the total work experience must be 10 years, and experience in the speciality at least 5 years, whereas previously it was 3 years," the Anti-Corruption Service concluded.