In Kostanay, financial violations amounting to 1.2 billion tenge were uncovered during the construction of a school.

During an unscheduled inspection of the construction of a 980-seat secondary school in the "Bereke" microdistrict, auditors uncovered major violations. The audit was conducted by the Internal State Audit Department for Kostanay Region.

It was revealed that the contractor, LLP "Lider-NK", had received 1.23 billion tenge from the state budget for work that had not actually been completed. This was confirmed by comparing the reported completion acts with the actual state of the construction site.

The Department of Construction, Architecture and Urban Planning of the Kostanay Region Akimat was issued a directive to eliminate the violations, compensate for the damage by completing the remaining work, and apply disciplinary measures to the responsible officials.

In response to the directive, the Department filed a lawsuit with the Specialized Interdistrict Economic Court, demanding the return of the funds and the seizure of LLP "Lider-NK"’s bank accounts.

The court ruled in favor of the Department on June 14, 2024, and the contractor's appeal was dismissed. As a result, enforcement proceedings were initiated for a total of 1.2 billion tenge, including 37 million tenge in state duty.

Simultaneously, the Department filed a separate claim to terminate the contract, have LLP "Lider-NK" declared an unreliable supplier of public procurement, and recover penalties totaling 82.4 million tenge. The contract was unilaterally terminated through the public procurement portal. On October 3, 2024, the court again ruled in favor of the Department and upheld all claims.

The audit materials were forwarded to law enforcement. The Anti-Corruption Service of Kostanay Region initiated a criminal case under Part 4 of Article 189 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan – embezzlement or misappropriation of entrusted property.

As of April 1, 2025, the Department completed calculations for the remaining work and held a new tender to select a replacement contractor. The winner was “SMT i Kompaniya”, which will now be responsible for completing the school’s construction.