Information about the possible pollution of the Astana Reservoir continues to concern the public. The editorial team of FCBK decided to independently examine the condition of this strategically important reservoir, which supplies water to millions of residents of the capital region. We also tried to find out who might be linked to its potential pollution.
Created in the 1960s, the Astana (Vyacheslav) Reservoir serves critically important purposes: supplying the population with drinking water, regulating the flow of the Ishim River, maintaining the ecological balance of the region, and supporting agricultural and industrial needs.
The main threats to the reservoir come from agricultural activities: the intensive use of chemical fertilisers, the uncontrolled runoff of organic matter, and soil erosion near the water body pose a real danger to the region's environmental safety.
The most shocking fact is the gross violations of environmental legislation: agricultural plots are located an unacceptably short distance from the water body, which significantly increases the risk of pollution.
The founder of FCBK, journalist Kirill Pavlov notes that along the river and its tributaries, upstream, there are large ploughed fields, some of which are only 25 metres from the water.
At the same time, meltwater and rainwater wash chemicals from the fields and carry them into the reservoir. According to him, the situation has worsened due to last year's floods.
The editorial team of FCBK has found out who owns the agricultural plots near the reservoir.
The agricultural land located near the Astana Reservoir is under long-term lease by private entrepreneurs and some medium and large companies, mainly specialising in growing cereals and leguminous crops.
One such company is LLP «SӘҒILYa i E», which has been on the market for just over three years. During this period, the company has paid about 8 million tenge in taxes.
The first director and founder since its registration in 2021 is Yerkegaliy Ysenzholov, known for his extensive work experience in the regional administration. From 2016 to 2023, he was a deputy of the capital city maslikhat, and previously held the positions of akim of the Atbasar and Yesil districts of the Akmola region.
Even larger land plots belong to LLP «Tamyr 2024» (formerly «Agrofirma Poisk»), which has been operating on the market for 23 years. Over this period, the company has accumulated an impressive tax history — almost 724 million tenge.
The composition of the management has changed several times. For example, Alexander Gusev, who led the company from 2010 to 2022, was a shareholder of JSC «Atameken-Agro» in 2017. Part of the shares of this company belongs to JSC «Unified Accumulative Pension Fund». Another director, Gabit Tulepov, worked in 2020 in the tax control department of the state revenue office for the Sandyktau district.
The production cooperative «Izhevsky», established in 1994 and specialising in poultry farming, also owns plots that are as close as possible to the reservoir.
According to data from the kompra.kz service, the head of the cooperative is Timur Zhangurazov, and one of the founders is Borissiy Zhangurazov. In 2016, both were listed as affiliated persons of the state-owned JSC «NC «Kazakh Invest».
Special attention should be paid to LLP «Mikhailovskoye», which has been operating since December 2004. In February 2025, the company received a notice of initiation of bankruptcy proceedings. The debt under enforcement proceedings exceeds 172 million tenge, and the company's property and vehicles have been seized.
And yet, the main issue that must be addressed first is the actual environmental safety of the reservoir.
Each hectare of land near the reservoir is not just agricultural land, but a potential source of catastrophic pollution.
Intensive agriculture, minimal buffer zones, and the uncontrolled use of chemical fertilisers create a perfect cocktail for environmental degradation.
Microscopic particles of fertilisers, traces of petroleum products, residues of pesticides — all of this accumulates over the years, creating an invisible but dangerous chemical time bomb. The reservoir's ecosystem is a fragile balance that can be destroyed by the slightest external interference.
Can we afford to ignore these risks?
Let us recall that in February 2025, the media published information about a significant deterioration in water quality in the Astana Reservoir. However, shortly afterwards, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation refuted this information, adding that the department plans to carry out cleaning of the reservoir to remove bottom silt deposits.