A group of landowners in Almaty has sent a collective appeal to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The authors represent the interests of more than 100 plot owners affected by the practice of recovering from them the cadastral value of the land and losses of agricultural production – payments that began to be demanded years after the plots were officially reclassified from the category of "personal subsidiary farming" (PSF) to "individual housing construction" (IHC).
HOW THE AKIMAT BEGAN THE RECOVERY
According to the analytical report of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan (now the Anti-Corruption Service of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan) dated 23 May 2023, during 2019–2022 in Almaty the designated purpose was changed for 134 land plots covering an area of 21.5 hectares.
For 113 of them, covering an area of 15.77 hectares, the owners did not pay the required sum into the budget – the shortfall, according to calculations by the state corporation "Government for Citizens", exceeded 1.07 billion tenge.
Following the publication of the report, the Almaty akimat, through the department of land relations, began sending pre-trial claims to owners, followed by lawsuits.
At least one such case has already been heard by the court: in May 2026, the court ordered the defendant to pay more than 20 million tenge into the budget – the cadastral value of the plot and losses of agricultural production.
The court rejected the argument that the limitation period had expired, stating that the clock started from the moment the violation was identified by the Anti-Corruption Service, not from the moment the designated purpose of the plot was changed.
WHAT THE OWNERS DISAGREE WITH
The applicants claim that their plots are located within the boundaries of populated areas, many of them have had residential houses standing on them for decades, and the change of designated purpose was previously approved by the state bodies themselves without any payment requirements.
It is noted that Article 107 of the Land Code ("Concept and composition of lands of populated areas") classifies PSF lands within the boundaries of populated areas as residential, not agricultural, zones.
The owners also point out that in the Anti-Corruption Service's report this article is not quoted in full – the words "with household garden plots", which are present in the current version of the code, have been excluded from the wording on the residential zone.
Separately, the applicants refer to the fact that the state officially allows pension savings to be used for the purchase of plots precisely with the designated purpose of PSF and IHC – to improve housing conditions and build a home.
In their view, this contradicts the classification of PSF lands as agricultural on the basis of which claims are now being brought.
WHAT THE COURTS HAVE ALREADY DECIDED
Previously, the Almaty akimat itself tried to challenge the Anti-Corruption Service's directive in court.
The Specialised Inter-District Administrative Court of Almaty in April 2023 refused to uphold the akimat's claim. The decision was upheld by the appellate panel of the Almaty court in December 2023 and by the panel of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan in August 2024.
Those rulings concerned the lawfulness of the anti-corruption service's directive itself, not the classification of lands in claims against specific owners – on that issue, the practice of the higher courts has not yet been established.
CONTEXT
A similar example from the anti-corruption agency's report – a plot of 2 hectares with an underpayment of 126 million tenge – was published in open sources back in July 2023.
According to the applicants, similar practices have already affected hundreds of plot owners in Almaty and could potentially affect thousands of owners of such land across the country.
Court proceedings over claims against individual owners are ongoing.
