Almaty audit reveals $2.1B in financial mismanagement and stalled projects

Billions vanished, homes left unfinished, buses gathering dust. Almaty’s audit uncovers a web of neglect—and the worst may still be coming.

, and Administrator

2025 December 25 . 3:32 AM

1 min read

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Almaty audit reveals $2.1B in financial mismanagement and stalled projects

A major audit of Almaty’s city administration has uncovered financial irregularities totalling nearly 1,000 billion tenge. The findings, announced by Alikhan Smailov, Chairman of the Supreme Audit Chamber, reveal mismanagement across multiple departments. The review examined around 15 entities handling a combined 1.6 trillion tenge in public funds.

The audit highlighted serious issues in the city’s construction authority. Seven residential complexes in the Zhas Kanat microdistrict remain unfinished since 2022. Additionally, the authority failed to transfer 12 completed housing projects, valued at 13.3 billion tenge, to the municipal housing fund.

Problems were also found in the transport sector. The mobility authority disbursed 2.3 billion tenge in subsidies to operators without proper justification. Meanwhile, 628 new buses, worth 64 billion tenge, sat idle due to unpaid fines delaying paperwork. Almatyelectrotrans, the public transport operator, further spent 260 million tenge covering administrative fines for its drivers—expenses it was not required to pay. The audit, still ongoing, is expected to release its final results soon.

The preliminary report exposes significant financial mismanagement in Almaty’s local government and affiliated entities. With nearly 1,000 billion tenge in irregularities identified, the findings will likely prompt further scrutiny of budget oversight. The full audit results are set to be presented in the coming weeks.