An abandoned territory near the Kulager microdistrict, at the intersection of Ryskulov Avenue and Zhansugurov Street, was discovered by residents of Almaty. It is reported that the area contains utility buildings, construction waste, and old trees. It is noted that previously the territory was fenced off with a high fence from the side of the Big Almaty Canal, but now access is completely unrestricted. Residents of the southern capital are asking: who owns this territory and why is a plot of several dozen hectares in such a deplorable state?
The editorial board of FBRK decided to find out the owners of this territory. As it turned out, the main area consists of three plots: a plot of 12.8 hectares, held under temporary compensated long-term land use until May 2064, and plots of 49.2 hectares and 2.5 hectares, which are privately owned. All three plots belong to the category of settlement lands and have the designated purpose: for the operation, management, and maintenance of greenhouse farming.
All three plots, including the 12.8-hectare land plot leased for almost 49 years, have been under the control of the former JSC 'Zelenstroy' (a company involved in plant cultivation) since 2015, which was renamed in 2021 to LLP 'Jasiljelek Qurilis'. Today, the company's founders are LLP 'Kipros', owned by Timur Kulibayev, and Yulia Tskhay, daughter of Kazakh oligarch and owner of several oil companies Yakov Tskhay (No. 35 in the list of the 50 richest businessmen in Kazakhstan) and a minority business partner of the Kulibayev couple.
It is worth noting that in 2016, JSC 'Zelenstroy' was found guilty of failing to comply with an order in violation of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan 'On Public Health and the Healthcare System' – an unauthorised dump of solid household waste on the territory of the plot had not been cleared. Violations of approved sanitary regulations were also committed, for which the specialised inter-district administrative court of Almaty found the company guilty of an administrative offence and imposed a penalty in the form of a fine of 100 MCI (212,100 tenge), with a suspension of activities for 2 months.
It is noteworthy that the company, specialising in plant cultivation and landscaping, has not improved the territory of the land plot in such a lengthy period, and in fact, in the middle of the city, there is a sizeable abandoned wasteland with construction waste and other inappropriate objects. The editorial board of FBRK appeals to the Akimat and the Department of Land Resources Management of Almaty, requesting to find out on what grounds these land plots were privatised and whether any improvement of this territory is planned at all.