The editorial board of FBRK analysed the number of available pastures in the regions of Kazakhstan at the end of 2023, taking into account the area of land seized under the "Zher Amanaty" project.
In accordance with the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, all lands not granted for ownership or land use, under the jurisdiction of district executive bodies, are reserve lands.
KOSTANAY REGION
Thus, according to the Department of Agriculture and Land Relations of the Kostanay Region, as of 1 November 2023, the reserve land category contained 4 million 798 thousand hectares of pasture.
It is noted that according to the Regional Department for Land Resources Management, since the beginning of 2023, 356.3 thousand hectares (including arable land – 37.3 thousand ha, pasture – 317.3 thousand ha, other – 1.7 thousand ha) of agricultural land have been returned to state ownership, of which:
- on an area of 272.1 thousand hectares, voluntary return was carried out;
- 29.5 thousand hectares were returned due to the cancellation of unlawfully made decisions on the provision of agricultural land;
- on an area of 1.8 thousand hectares, the lease term for previously provided land expired and was not renewed;
- 15.6 thousand hectares were seized through court proceedings based on claims by the DULR (Department for Land Resources Management);
- 21.3 thousand hectares were identified during inventory and boundary clarification;
- 16.0 thousand hectares were recognised as ownerless and credited to state ownership.
PAVLODAR REGION
According to the Department of Land Relations of the Pavlodar Region, the region's special land fund contains 443 thousand hectares of available pastures. This includes 257.9 thousand hectares seized under the "Zher Amanaty" project. In particular:
- in the city of Ekibastuz - 52.1 thousand ha;
- in Bayanaul district – 38 thousand ha;
- in the city of Aksu – 28.5 thousand ha;
- in Irtysh district - 24.7 thousand ha;
- in Shcherbakty district - 22.1 thousand ha;
- in Akkuly district - 21.3 thousand ha;
- in Zhelezinka district - 19.5 thousand ha;
- in Uspenka district – 19 thousand ha;
- in May district - 14.6 thousand ha;
- in Aktogay district - 7.2 thousand ha;
- in Terenkol district - 5.5 thousand ha;
- in Pavlodar district - 5.4 thousand ha.
KARAGANDA REGION
According to the Department of Land Relations of the Karaganda Region, the region's reserve lands contain 4895.8 thousand hectares of pastures. Of these, there are approximately 542.8 thousand hectares of land returned to state ownership. In particular:
- in Aktogay district - 201.4 thousand ha;
- in Shet district - 116.6 thousand ha;
- in Nura district - 98.4 thousand ha;
- in Karkaraly district - 73.2 thousand ha;
- in Bukhar-Zhyrau district - 38 thousand ha;
- in Abay district - 13.7 thousand ha;
- in Osakarovka district - 1.5 thousand ha.
NORTH KAZAKHSTAN REGION
According to the Department of Agriculture and Land Relations of the North Kazakhstan Region, the area of available pastures in the region amounts to 153.2 thousand hectares. This includes 118.5 thousand hectares seized under the "Zher Amanaty" project. In particular:
- in Akzhar district - 38.3 thousand ha;
- in Zhambyl district - 22.1 thousand ha;
- in Ualikhanov district - 14.3 thousand ha;
- in Taiynsha district - 9.7 thousand ha;
- in Gabit Musrepov district - 7.8 thousand ha;
- in Akkayin district - 7.7 thousand ha;
- in Kyzylzhar district - 7.2 thousand ha;
- in Magzhan Zhumabaev district - 3.9 thousand ha;
- in Ayrtau district - 3 thousand ha;
- in Shal akyn district - 2 thousand ha;
- in Timiryazev district - 1.5 thousand ha;
- in Mamlyut district - 1 thousand ha;
- in Esil district - 0.014 thousand ha.
ALMATY REGION
According to the Department of Land Relations of the Almaty Region, the akimats of districts and the city of Konaev have identified 611.3 thousand hectares (1,756 land plots) of unused land since the beginning of the year.
It is reported that on the instructions of the Committee for Land Resources Management of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the return of 220 thousand hectares of agricultural land provided in violation of land legislation was planned by the end of 2023.
It is noted that to date, 222.9 thousand hectares of land plots have been returned to state ownership in the region, amounting to 337 entities. Consequently, the plan has been fulfilled by 101%.
AKMOLA REGION
According to the Department of Agriculture and Land Relations of the Akmola Region, in the region the working body, including within the framework of the "Zher Amanaty" project, seized 204.4 thousand hectares in 2023.
At the same time, the department reports that to date the region has 118.6 thousand hectares of available pasture land. The difference in the amount of available land likely arose due to its transfer for land use to other persons.
As the Department of Agriculture reports, the provision of land plots or lease rights to land plots in state ownership is carried out through tenders (competitions, auctions), except in cases provided for by paragraph 1 of Article 48 of the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Currently, competitions for the provision of agricultural land have been announced by the akimats of Atbasar and Sandyktau districts in the region.
Information about the holding of competitions is published in territorial printed publications, on the internet resources of local executive bodies, and on the website of the authorised body for land resources management.
It is worth noting that statistics on the number of livestock in the region for 2023 have not yet been entered into the database of the National Statistics Bureau, however, judging by indicators from previous years, growth in the number of livestock is apparent. Therefore, it is quite possible that the increased load on pastures is justified.
ZHETYSU REGION
Having received a response from the Department of Land Relations of the region, we had some questions. We decided to contact the executor of the response - the chief specialist of the land cadastre department, Samat Zhumataev. Having found his contact number on the Department's website, we called Zhumataev, but he told us that he is not Samat and we had the wrong number.
Meanwhile, his superior - the head of the land cadastre department, Kuat Kabylbekov confirmed that the contact number we had previously called belonged to Samat Zhumataev. The head of the department could not explain the behaviour of his subordinate, and regarding our question, he recommended we contact Zhumataev again later.
It is worth noting that in the conversation with Zhumataev, we did not even have time to say that we are journalists. The reason for such behaviour by officials is unclear. What lies behind their reluctance to make contact can only be guessed at.
Later we did receive a call from Samat Zhumataev, but from a different phone. He informed us that the number we had called previously had been disconnected for a year.
When asked who we had spoken to the previous time then, and why an outdated phone number was published on the Department's official website, Zhumataev could not answer.
However, he promised that the numbers on the website would be checked and changed. It is worth noting that after our conversation, the phone numbers of the Department's specialists were completely removed from open access.
According to the Department of Land Relations of the Zhetysu Region, the area of available pastures in the region is 4533.8 thousand hectares. It is reported that the return of 220 thousand hectares of agricultural land, provided in violation of land legislation, was planned by the end of 2023.
It is noted that to date, 246.6 thousand hectares of land plots have been returned to state ownership in the region. Consequently, the plan has been fulfilled by 112%. In particular, by district of the Zhetysu Region, the following was seized in 2023:
- in Aksu district - 55.6 thousand ha;
- in Sarkand district - 31.7 thousand ha;
- in Kerbulak district - 29.1 thousand ha;
- in Karatal district - 28.8 thousand ha;
- in Panfilov district -27.5 thousand ha;
- in Alakol district - 27.2 thousand ha;
- in Koksu district - 27.1 thousand ha;
- in Eskeldi district - 18.5 thousand ha;
- in the city of Tekeli - 1 thousand ha;
- in the city of Taldykorgan - 0 ha.
Meanwhile, the editorial board of FBRK sent a