Kazakhstan’s government has intensified oversight of budget spending as part of the President’s instructions to strengthen fiscal discipline. A large-scale audit of key sectors has revealed serious systemic problems in the financing of private schools and the agro-industrial complex (AIC), DKNews.kz reports.
At a government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Minister of Finance Madi Takiyev presented preliminary results of audits covering these two areas.
Private schools: rapid growth, weak control
According to the Ministry of Finance, the number of private schools in Kazakhstan has grown dramatically over the past five years — from 203 schools in 2020 to 878 in 2025. Over the same period, student enrollment increased sixfold, from 53,000 to 322,000 children.
Budget spending followed the same upward trajectory. Funding for private schools rose from 13.3 billion tenge in 2020 to 248 billion tenge in 2025, an almost 20-fold increase.
However, until the end of 2025, the financing system remained fragmented and largely uncontrolled, creating conditions for data manipulation and misuse of public funds.
To address this, funding was transferred to the Orta-bilim.e-qazyna digital platform, which automates processes and ensures transparency at every stage. Early results already show that the new system is reducing risks of abuse.
What the audit uncovered
The audit identified a number of systemic violations in private school financing, including:
- artificially inflating student numbers through repeated transfers between schools;
- overstating school capacity without regard to actual building limits — in some cases exceeding norms by more than three times;
- gaining double benefits by underreporting income for tax purposes while receiving state funding;
- conducting cosmetic or routine repairs instead of major renovations, often without proper project documentation or cost estimates.
According to Finance Minister Madi Takiyev, these findings indicate that for a significant number of private schools, participation in public funding was viewed not as a social responsibility, but as a way to extract profit from the state budget. In some cases, violations occurred due to negligence or direct involvement of officials.
Audits are ongoing, and the Ministry of Finance will prepare proposals to overhaul the private school financing system.
Agriculture: violations nearing 300 billion tenge
Serious problems were also uncovered in the agro-industrial sector. Audit results for 2023–2024 revealed violations totaling around 300 billion tenge, including 32 billion tenge in direct budget losses.
Over the two-year period, approximately 1.2 trillion tenge was allocated for state support of agriculture. However, a significant portion of these funds failed to deliver the expected economic or social impact.
Among the most serious findings:
- shadow subsidy schemes totaling 5.5 billion tenge;
- in 11 regions, cases of fictitious resale of the same livestock between subsidy recipients worth 808.1 million tenge;
- violations amounting to 13.3 billion tenge in investment projects financed through budget loans — livestock and equipment were either not delivered or delivered in smaller volumes, while some construction works were paid for but never completed;
- microloans issued to borrowers with overdue debts and active enforcement restrictions. In one case, 25 borrowers with debts of 45.8 million tenge received new loans totaling 177.7 million tenge.
Why state support is failing
The audit also showed that programs financing sowing and harvesting operations — worth 140 billion tenge annually — are structurally inefficient. Despite official targets to cover up to 70% of farmers’ costs, funds are spread thinly across many borrowers, making it impossible to finance a full production cycle.
The Agrarian Credit Corporation, established to support agricultural operations, has not met its stated objectives.
Government response
In response to the findings, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov issued a series of instructions aimed at tightening control and improving efficiency:
- introduce end-to-end digital monitoring by integrating systems of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, and local authorities;
- revise subsidy mechanisms to focus on actual output, rather than paper-based indicators;
- implement logical controls to block the sale of subsidized livestock until all state support conditions are fulfilled;
- require mandatory state expertise for construction works under investment projects financed by public loans.
Materials related to specific violations have been forwarded to law enforcement agencies for procedural decisions.
