The editorial board of the FBRK has analysed the number of available pastures in the regions of Kazakhstan at the end of 2023, taking into account the area of plots seized under the "Zher Amanaty" project.
In accordance with the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, all lands not granted into ownership or land use, which are under the jurisdiction of district executive bodies, are reserve lands.
KOSTANAY REGION
Thus, according to the Department of Agriculture and Land Relations of Kostanay Region, as of 1 November 2023, the category of reserve lands accounts for 4 million 798 thousand hectares of pasture.
It is noted that according to the Regional Department for Land Resource Management, since the beginning of 2023, 356,300 hectares (including arable land – 37,300 ha, pasture – 317,300 ha, other – 1,700 ha) of agricultural land have been returned to state ownership, of which:
- an area of 272,100 hectares was voluntarily returned;
- 29,500 hectares were returned due to the cancellation of unlawfully made decisions on the provision of agricultural land;
- for an area of 1,800 hectares, the lease term for previously provided land expired and was not renewed;
- 15,600 hectares were seized through court proceedings based on claims by the DLRM;
- 21,300 hectares were identified during inventory and boundary clarification;
- 16,000 hectares were declared ownerless and credited to state ownership.
PAVLODAR REGION
According to the Department of Land Relations of Pavlodar Region, the region's special land fund contains 443 thousand hectares of available pasture. This includes 257,900 hectares seized under the "Zher Amanaty" project. Specifically:
- in the city of Ekibastuz - 52,100 ha;
- in Bayanaul district – 38,000 ha;
- in the city of Aksu – 28,500 ha;
- in Irtysh district - 24,700 ha;
- in Shcherbakty district - 22,100 ha;
- in Akkuly district - 21,300 ha;
- in Zhelezinka district - 19,500 ha;
- in Uspenka district – 19,000 ha;
- in May district - 14,600 ha;
- in Aktogay district - 7,200 ha;
- in Terenkol district - 5,500 ha;
- in Pavlodar district - 5,400 ha.
KARAGANDA REGION
According to the Department of Land Relations of Karaganda Region, the region's reserve lands account for 4,895,800 hectares of pasture. Of these, there are approximately 542,800 hectares of land returned to state ownership. Specifically:
- in Aktogay district - 201,400 ha;
- in Shet district - 116,600 ha;
- in Nura district - 98,400 ha;
- in Karkaraly district - 73,200 ha;
- in Bukhar-Zhyrau district - 38,000 ha;
- in Abay district - 13,700 ha;
- in Osakarovka district - 1,500 ha.
NORTH KAZAKHSTAN REGION
According to the Department of Agriculture and Land Relations of North Kazakhstan Region, the area of available pasture in the region is 153,200 hectares. This includes 118,500 hectares seized under the "Zher Amanaty" project. Specifically:
- in Akzhar district - 38,300 ha;
- in Zhambyl district - 22,100 ha;
- in Ualikhanov district - 14,300 ha;
- in Tayynsha district - 9,700 ha;
- in Gabit Musrepov district - 7,800 ha;
- in Akkayin district - 7,700 ha;
- in Kyzylzhar district - 7,200 ha;
- in Magzhan Zhumabayev district - 3,900 ha;
- in Aiyrtau district - 3,000 ha;
- in Shal akyn district - 2,000 ha;
- in Timiryazev district - 1,500 ha;
- in Mamlyut district - 1,000 ha;
- in Esil district - 0.014 thousand ha.
ALMATY REGION
According to the Department of Land Relations of Almaty Region, the akimats of districts and the city of Konayev have identified 611,300 hectares (1,756 land plots) of unused land since the beginning of the year.
It is reported that on the instruction of the Committee for Land Resource Management of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the return of 220,000 hectares of agricultural land provided in violation of land legislation was planned before the end of 2023.
It is noted that to date, 222,900 hectares of land plots have been returned to state ownership in the region, which constitutes 337 entities. Consequently, the plan has been fulfilled by 101%.
AKMOLA REGION
According to the Department of Agriculture and Land Relations of Akmola Region, the working body in the region, including within the framework of the "Zher Amanaty" project, seized 204,400 hectares in 2023.
At the same time, the department reports that to date the region has 118,600 hectares of available pastureland. The difference in the amount of available land likely arose due to its transfer into land use to other persons.
As the Department of Agriculture reports, the provision of land plots or the right to lease land plots in state ownership is carried out through tenders (competitions, auctions), except for cases stipulated in paragraph 1 of Article 48 of the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Currently, competitions for the provision of agricultural land by the akimats of Atbasar and Sandyktau districts have been announced in the region.
Information about the 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 resource management.
It is worth noting that statistics on the number of agricultural animals in the region for 2023 have not yet been entered into the database of the Bureau of National Statistics. However, judging by the indicators of previous years, an increase in livestock numbers is evident. Therefore, it is quite possible that the increased pressure on pastures is justified.
ZHETISU 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 Zhumatayev. Having found his contact number on the Department's website, we called Zhumatayev. However, 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 called earlier does belong to Samat Zhumatayev. The head of the department could not explain his subordinate's behaviour, and regarding our query, he recommended that we contact Zhumatayev again later.
It is worth noting that in our conversation with Zhumatayev, we did not even have time to say that we are journalists. The reason for such behaviour from officials is unclear. One can only guess why they are reluctant to make contact.
Later, we did receive a call from Samat Zhumatayev, but from a different phone. He informed us that the number we called earlier has been disconnected for a year.
When asked who we spoke to the previous time then, and why an outdated phone number is published on the official website of the Department, Zhumatayev 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 public access.
According to the Department of Land Relations of Zhetisu Region, the area of available pasture in the region is 4,533,800 hectares. It is reported that the return of 220,000 hectares of agricultural land, provided in violation of land legislation, was planned before the end of 2023.
It is noted that to date, 246,600 hectares of land plots have been returned to state ownership in the region. Consequently, the plan has been fulfilled by 112%. Specifically, broken down by district of Zhetisu region, the following was seized in 2023:
- in Aksu district - 55,600 ha;
- in Sarkand district - 31,700 ha;
- in Kerbulak district - 29,100 ha;
- in Karatal district - 28,800 ha;
- in Panfilov district -27,500 ha;
- in Alakol district - 27,200 ha;
- in Koksu district - 27,100 ha;
- in Eskeldi district - 18,500 ha;
- in the city of Tekeli - 1,000 ha;
- in the city of Taldykorgan - 0 ha.
Meanwhile, the editorial board of the FBRK sent an appeal to the Agency for Civil Service Affairs asking them to assess the behaviour of officials in Zhetisu region when communicating with journalists and to clarify whether they are violating the norms of official ethics implied by the Code of Ethics for Civil Servants of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
