The Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC) has completed an audit of pricing in the construction sector.
According to the press service of the agency, the total volume of construction work in Kazakhstan last year reached 7.6 trillion tenge, an increase of 21% compared to 2022.
SAC member Mikhail Bortnik noted that the current regulatory legal acts influencing pricing in construction contain a number of shortcomings.
"There are no clear criteria or transparency in the selection of basic supplier enterprises, on the basis of which price monitoring is subsequently carried out and the estimated regulatory framework in construction is provided. This concerns the monitoring of prices for building materials, products, structures and equipment. At the same time, companies are not held responsible for failing to submit reporting forms," the statement said.
In addition, auditors found deficiencies in the law on public procurement.
"The rules for conducting public procurement do not take into account the provisions for implementing construction projects in accordance with the contractor's estimate. Furthermore, current legislation allows, in the event of adjustments and cost increases for construction projects while maintaining the technology and structural part, to also increase the amount of contracts for the provision of technical and author supervision services. This leads to an additional burden on the budget, despite the same volume of supervision services," the SAC reported.
The state audit also revealed violations and shortcomings in the implementation of infrastructure projects.
"For the project to build a bridge crossing over the Bukhtarma Reservoir in the Kurchum District of the East Kazakhstan Region, there was a cost increase of more than 31.2 billion tenge, or 104%. The cost of the Haematology Centre in Ust-Kamenogorsk increased from 32 to 72 billion tenge, i.e. by 125%," the statement said.
Overall, in the construction sector, auditors identified:
- financial violations amounting to 1.3 billion tenge;
- inefficient planning and use of budget funds amounting to more than 14.2 billion tenge;
- economic losses and lost profits – 530 million tenge.