Astana "eats off" other Kazakhstan citizens

Kazakhstan's budget expenses per one Astana citizen are 2-3 times higher than for any other Kazakhstan citizens, Total News reports citing political expert Marat Shibutov. According to him, budget transfers to Astana make 242 billion tenge ($1.6 billion) per year, which is 88 percent of the total budget costs or 72 percent of all the incomes. The expert considers this situation abnormal, “especially considering that Astana is not a donor of the state budget, but its recipient, unlike Moscow”. “For example, the difference between Mangistau oblast and Almaty is around 17-20 percent. This is a normal difference and I think the same difference should be maintained between southern and northern capitals. That means that not 400 thousand tenge ($2,700), but 250 thousand tenge ($1,700) should be spent on one Astana citizen per year,” Shibutov said. The speaker added that Kazakhstan's national companies are rendering a good “sponsor support” to Astana and this support is not considered by the Finance Ministry when it plans budget transfers. “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy presented the Media Center to Astana, KazAtomProm built the Schoolchildren’s Palace. These are also subsidies, but they are 'hidden' ones,” the expert stated. “I suppose that besides the official 396 thousand tenge ($2,690), the same amounts are invested into the capital unofficially.” According to the Finance Ministry, the expenses per one person from the local budgets in 2011 made 396 thousand tenge ($2,690) in Astana, 223 thousand tenge ($1,517) in Almaty, 190 thousand tenge ($1,292) in Mangistau oblast and 159 thousand tenge ($1,082) in Akmola oblast.