The Ministry of Construction diverted 40 million KGS past the Treasury — Audit by the Chamber of Accounts

The Accounts Chamber conducted an audit of the Ministry of Construction, Architecture, and Housing and Utilities of Kyrgyzstan, as well as its structural and subordinate units, for the year 2024. The audit revealed financial irregularities totaling 1.5853 billion KGS.

A significant portion of the violations is related to the implementation of construction and investment projects. In particular, the audit revealed an overstatement of the cost or volume of construction and installation work by 166.1 million KGS, as well as other violations in the use of capital investments and the performance of construction work amounting to 23.5 million KGS.

In addition, non-compliance with the procedure for implementing investment projects in the form of capital investments amounting to 7.1 million KGS was identified. This indicates shortcomings in project management and control.

The auditors paid particular attention to transactions outside the budgetary control system. For example, the use of funds outside the Single Treasury Account in the Ministry of Construction’s system amounted to 40.2 million KGS. This reduces the transparency of government fund flows and increases the risks of their inefficient use.

Other violations identified include:

• use of budget funds to cover expenses that should be financed from other sources — 85 million KGS;
• untimely and incomplete transfers of funds to the budget—20.4 million KGS;
• violations in the payment of salaries and other benefits—24 million KGS;
• the presence of unaccounted-for assets—26.6 million KGS;
• unjustified transfer of advance payments in excess of established limits — 7.8 million KGS.

The largest volume of violations was recorded in the accounting of accounts receivable — 1.17 billion KGS, which poses the main risk to financial discipline in the sector.

Of the total amount of identified violations, 349.4 million KGS are subject to recovery, of which 122.2 million KGS, or 35%, have already been recovered during the audit.

Following the audit, the Audit Chamber issued relevant recommendations and directives aimed at rectifying the violations, strengthening oversight of construction projects, and improving the efficiency of budget spending.