A year ago, the Almaty city prosecutor’s office spread the news: a land plot worth seven billion tenge with an area of 30 hectares, then in the Karasai district of the Almaty region (later it became part of the territory of Almaty), was returned to the state reserve. The International Association of Clubs LLC, which was given the land plot for commercial farming, did not pay its cadastral value. Under this pretext, prosecutors initiated a lawsuit in the Specialized Interdistrict Economic Court of Almaty. And won. But not everything is so smooth in this case.

What is known about the land plot worth seven billion tenge?

The city akimat reported that this plot was transferred to private hands back in 2004, when the territory was part of the Karasai district of the Almaty region. The company "International Association of Clubs" bought it for commercial farming. Then in 2006, it sold it to the company "Stoneinvest", which changed its intended purpose to the construction of a multi-story residential complex. A year later, the plot was transferred to the authorized capital of the company "Remizovka Limited".

In 2012, the government decided to expand the borders of Almaty, and part of the land plots of the Almaty region, including this plot, became part of the city. It is not known exactly how, but in 2018 this plot ended up in the hands of Narodny Bank, almost 70% of whose shares belong to Dinara and Timur Kulibayev. Three years later, KUSA KKB-1 LLP, a subsidiary of Narodny Bank, sold this plot to Baspana Almaty, issuing it a loan of seven billion tenge. 

However, in 2022, after the January events, the prosecutor’s office decided that the land was owned by the Nazarbayevs and initiated an inspection, allegedly revealing violations and returning the plot to the state. 

Who is being hit? The bona fide buyer is Baspana Almaty LLC. People’s Bank, represented by Timur and  Dinara Kulibayev, keeps their money. 

Investigation

The Department of Land Management of the City of Almaty, during the study of materials and analysis of data, found inconsistencies in the prosecutor’s inspection. According to the supervisory authority, the 30-hectare plot with cadastral number 03-047-531-007 originally belonged to the RSE "Enbek-Almaty" of the penal system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The territories of closed institutions are classified as "secret", and only those with access to state secrets can get acquainted with the data. It is unknown whether the prosecutors had access to these secrets and whether they established the actual location of the land plot.

If so, they should have taken into account that the plot they referred to and wanted to return had cadastral number 03-047-459-007 and an area of 65 hectares. This plot for subsidiary farming was granted on the right of permanent land use to branch 129 of the State Enterprise "Enbek-Almaty" by the decision of the Akim of the Karasai District dated October 11, 2001.

And then this land plot with cadastral number 03-047-459-007 was included in the city limits. However, the Almaty regional branch of the RSE "NPCzem" did not find information about the registration of an identification document for it in the city of Almaty.

Apple of discord

Now about the disputed land plot with cadastral number 03-047-531-007, in relation to which the Specialized Interdistrict Economic Court of Almaty cancelled the right of ownership. It was issued to TOO "Atlant" on March 10, 1994 by the resolution of the Bolshe-Almatinsky village council on the right of permanent land use for the construction of sports facilities. Its area then was only 1.3 hectares.

Three years later, the Akim of Kaskelen District increased the land plot to 30.9 hectares and granted it to Atlant LLP on the right of permanent land use, issuing an act for it with the assignment of cadastral number 03-047-531-007 with the intended purpose of commercial farming.

By the decision of the Akim of Karasai District dated April 29, 1999, the land plot was transferred to the International Association of Clubs LLC for commercial farming. According to Article 24 of the Land Code, citizens and non-state legal entities of the Republic of Kazakhstan who previously purchased the right of permanent land use from the state become owners of land plots without charging additional fees.

Before the Land Code was put into effect on June 20, 2003, the disputed land belonged to the International Association of Clubs LLC on the basis of permanent land use. And then, on the basis of a purchase and sale agreement dated July 1, 2004, the company transferred the land to private ownership. 

After the site was included in the boundaries of the city of Almaty, it was divided with subsequent changes in its characteristics: cadastral number, area and intended purpose.

Division of plots

The land plot with cadastral number 03-047-531-007 and an area of 30.9 hectares was divided into two land plots:

• 03-047-531-285 with an area of 29.44 hectares;
• 03-047-531-286 with an area of 1.46 hectares.

In 2012, land plot 03-047-531-285 was included in the city limits of Almaty and received cadastral number 20-313-050-050 with an area of 27.0116 hectares. In 2020, this plot was again divided into two plots:

• 20-313-050-146 with an area of 25.4116 hectares;
• 20-313-050-147 with an area of 1.6 hectares.

The last owner of the plot 20-313-050-146 was the company TOO Baspana Almaty, which bought it at auction for 7.1 billion tenge from the bank of Timur and Dinara Kulibayev. And now the company is deprived of land worth 7,111,692,777 tenge on far-fetched grounds and remains a debtor of JSC Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan.

Who’s on horseback?

Analyzing all the circumstances of the case, we can conclude that the land plots with cadastral numbers 03-047-531-007 and 03-047-459-007 are different plots, they have different locations, contours, graphic and area characteristics. It turns out that the prosecutor’s office and local courts simply made a mistake in their definition and location?

Thus, they returned the wrong land plot to the state, taking away from the bona fide purchaser, Baspana Almaty LLC, land plot 20-313-050-146, which previously had cadastral number 03-047-531-007.

Moreover, it is obvious that the plot with cadastral number 03-047-531-007 never belonged to the lands of the RSE "Enbek-Almaty". Consequently, the consent of the local executive body was not required for its alienation. 

In order to re-check these circumstances, an application for a new inspection and a protest against the issued judicial act were sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan. All necessary evidence is attached to the letter.