Kazakhstan seizes elite farmland from foreign-owned company

Authorities in Almaty have returned 71.9 hectares of agricultural land to state ownership after it was found to be illegally held by a company established by a foreign firm. 

The investigation by the city’s prosecutor’s office revealed that the plots, located in a prestigious area of Almaty, were being used in breach of Kazakhstan’s Land Code, Caliber.Az reports, citing Kazakhstani media.

Under national law, foreign individuals and companies are prohibited from owning agricultural land in the country.

Following a lawsuit filed by the prosecutor’s office, the specialised interdistrict economic court ruled on July 16, 2025, that the land must be returned to the state. The decision was upheld by the appellate court on October 2, 2025.

The seized plots are valued at 5.9 billion tenge (approximately 11.1 million US dollars) and have now been formally reinstated as state property.

Over the past three years, Kazakh authorities have reclaimed 83,000 hectares of land worth a total of 6.1 billion tenge (around $11.6 million), the city’s prosecutor’s office has announced.

Of this, 21,000 hectares, valued at 1.6 billion tenge (about $3.0 million), previously belonged to former senior officials, their relatives, and individuals listed in Forbes. In May 2025, a high-profile case saw the state regain a coastal plot near Kapshagay, formerly owned by the Kulibayev family.

In a separate development, nine hectares of coastal land highlighted in a parliamentary inquiry have also been returned to state ownership.

The prosecutor’s office confirmed that investigations are ongoing regarding land in the Ili district and promised to update the public on further results. “The regional prosecutor’s office supervises compliance with land legislation systematically, in cooperation with the public and members of Parliament,” a spokesperson said.

Earlier, Majilis (Parliament) MP Bakytzhan Bazarbek had raised concerns about the illegal allocation of land along the Kapshagay Reservoir and the Ili River. He alleged that some of the land had been acquired by relatives of the country’s first president, former senior officials, and Forbes-listed oligarchs.

By Aghakazim Guliyev