When the Ministry of Agriculture reports a wide range of prices for chemical treatment against locust pests — from 2,550 to 4,900 tenge per hectare — it creates the impression of a dynamic market where dozens of independent suppliers are fiercely competing for every state tenge. However, a detailed study of the companies participating in this market reveals a surprising picture of intertwined interests, family ties and business structures that turn apparent diversity into a carefully disguised monopoly. This time, the editorial board of FBRK has gathered information on the main suppliers of chemical treatment services against locusts.
At the centre of this web is the Zhamal family. Bagzhan Zhamal, head of IP "Bagzhan", which has been engaged in wholesale trade of pesticides since 2020, turns out to be the founder of several key market players at once. His brother Rakymzhan Zhamal was not only the founder of LLP "Pesticides" but also headed LLP "Satti Tulik". The FBRK editorial board has already reported on these two companies in detail in a previous article, which analysed the main suppliers of insecticides. But this connection allows control not only over the supply of chemicals, but, apparently, also over services for their application.
The story of a company with a similar name - LLP "Pesticides KST", where Bagzhan Zhamal is the founder, is particularly telling. According to data from the kompra.kz service, the company has existed since 2013, but until March 2025 it was exclusively engaged in publishing magazines and periodicals. A sudden switch to trading pesticides at the height of the season was accompanied by an explosive growth in tax deductions — by 1230% in one year. Such metamorphoses, as is known, rarely happen by chance in the business world.
Parallel to this, Bagzhan Zhamal is the founder of APC "Aspap Zher Su", where his partner is Tagabek Kalshorayev — the very same person who is simultaneously the founder of LLP "Satti Tulik".
The Kalmuratov family adds another layer to this multi-storey structure. Toregeldy Kalmuratov, former head of LLP "Satti Tulik" and simultaneously founder of LLP "Pesticides", is currently a deputy of the Turkestan Regional Maslikhat from the "Auyl" party. His brother Muratali Kalmuratov is a deputy of the Shymkent City Maslikhat from the "AMANAT" party, who at the beginning of his career was a lawyer at the South Kazakhstan Regional Agricultural Research Institute and president of JSC "Plant Protection". The third brother, Amze Kalmuratov, heads SCE "Aksu" of the Sairam District Akimat, responsible for the operation of irrigation systems in the Turkestan region, and has appeared in the management of LLP "Aviation Company 'Delta-Yug'" - another frequent supplier of locust treatment services.
The aviation segment of the chemical treatment market represents a separate universe of interconnected companies. LLP "AVIASILA", which has been operating in the market for 34 years and has paid 717.5 million tenge in taxes during this time, is part of the AL "Association of Ultralight Aviation of Kazakhstan" together with LLP "Dala Air" and LLP "DELTA-S" — all of which are frequent suppliers to the committee. Incidentally, the President of the association - Umirbek Kenesbayev was once linked to the company Sigma Airlines, which, according to media reports, was involved in the supply of military equipment to Libya.
Let's talk a bit about the pricing policy in the chemical treatment market. Some time ago, our editorial board sent an official inquiry to the Ministry of Agriculture, where they shared purchase prices for services with us. Drone and ultralight aviation services cost the same — 3,400 tenge per hectare, which looks highly suspicious given the significant differences in technology and operating costs. Ground sprayers cost 4,000 tenge per hectare, light aviation — 4,900 tenge, and aerosol gas generators — 2,550 tenge. Perhaps among our readers there will be specialists able to explain how such a price range could arise naturally in a competitive market.
The financial indicators of the companies themselves also raise questions. For example, LLP "Aviation Company 'Delta-Yug'" paid over 113 million tenge in taxes in 2024 alone — significantly more than in previous years. For perspective, over its entire existence (19 years) the company has paid about 403 million tenge in taxes.
Another popular supplier, LLP "Aviation Company 'AERO'", radically changed its profile from passenger transport to crop production, while paying more than 800 million tenge in taxes over its existence. If it weren't for the confidence in fair competition, one might think that such transformations indicate a redistribution of assets within a business group.
And the political connections of market participants extend far beyond the agricultural sector. Kairat Yermen, the current head of LLP "Satti Tulik", ran for a seat in the maslikhat from the "Auyl" party in 2021, and in 2016 he was listed among the affiliates of the Republican Scientific and Methodological Centre for the Development of Technical and Vocational Education. In the same list we find Baurzhan Akkozov, who today, as we already know from the previous article, heads LLP "Pesticides", as well as the Kalmuratov family we are familiar with.
Even reputational aspects work in favour of this system. For example, several companies, including LLP "Pesticides KST" and LLP "Magtoxin", are included in the registers of reliable suppliers of the highest category, which gives them advantages when participating in tenders. However, the effectiveness of the work, apparently, does not always match the high ratings. Not long ago, the local akimat of the West Kazakhstan Region criticised the company "Magtoxin" for the low effectiveness of mosquito disinsection, despite a budget of up to 291 million tenge.
The public procurement system in the field of chemical treatment seems to have turned into a one-man show, where many companies play the roles of independent competitors, in reality representing the interests of a single business group.
Need it be said that when suppliers of insecticides and chemical treatment services turn out to be bound by family, business and political ties, this creates a favourable environment for price collusion and the exclusion of independent participants? The barriers to entry for new players become insurmountable, not because of technical difficulties, but because of a lack of access to information, contracts and lobbying opportunities. The state, thinking it is paying a market price under competitive conditions, may in fact simply be financing a monopoly that has learned to disguise itself as a multitude of independent suppliers.
Perhaps it is time not only to reconsider the public procurement mechanisms in this area, but also to conduct a serious audit of the entire system of licensing and admission of suppliers to participate in tenders for the chemical treatment of agricultural land. However, given the department's workload with other equally important tasks related to maintaining the industry's image, these issues will probably remain on the back burner for now.