ASTANA (TCA) — Money taken out of the economy of Kazakhstan in the form of bribes would be enough for building 628 schools and 1,256 kindergartens, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan reported citing the Deputy Head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Alik Shpekbayev.
Speaking at the recent meeting of the Council on combating corruption and the shadow economy under the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, Shpekbayev cited IMF data regarding corruption in the public sector, which every year takes money out of the world economy in the form of bribes in the amount of 1.5-2 trillion USD or about 2% of global GDP. “In Kazakhstan, 2% of GDP is equal to 1 trillion 250 billion tenge. We have programs for construction of hospitals and schools. With these funds, we could build 628 schools and 1256 kindergartens and within one year to satisfy the need for these social facilities,” he said.
Shpekbayev drew the attention to corruption in the sphere of public procurement in national companies of Kazakhstan. He said that administrative liability is applied for violations of public procurement procedures, while only disciplinary actions are applied for the same violations at national companies.
Shpekbayev spoke for the necessity of amending the legislation to adopt uniform rules governing the procurement of national companies and holdings. “We suggest national companies to introduce the practice of conclusion of integrity contracts, every two years to rotate employees of national companies who are responsible for procurement, as well as to introduce mandatory anti-corruption checks of candidates for employment in the procurement departments of national companies,” he concluded.
