High-Profile Names on Qapchagay’s Shore: Oligarchs, Ex-Officials, and Nazarbayev’s Circle
Photo: Orda, collage
On September 15, Majilis deputy Bakytzhan Bazarbek shared on Facebook a response he received from the Balkhash-Alakol Basin Inspection (BABI). The request concerned 82 land plots along the Qapchagay Reservoir that had been transferred into private hands.
According to the response, some belong to well-known figures in Kazakhstan, Orda.kz reports.
The Names and Property
The most prominent name is Marat Abykayev, son of former National Security Committee chair and senator Nurtay Abykayev. BABI confirmed that Abykayev owns a 60-acre plot (cadastral number 03055006407) designated as a “recreation center.”
Abykayev is currently being investigated by BABI.
Satellite images, however, show the land resembles a boat station with hangars and towers.
Another rather famous person was not directly named in the response to the deputy. But apparently, Bakytzhan Bazarbek had him in mind when he mentioned the oligarchs from the Forbes list in his post.
This is Yakov Tskhai, ranked 43rd on the Forbes 2025 list.
Through his company Dostar, he owns two plots on the Qapchagay shoreline with a total area of more than 15 hectares. According to BABI’s response, the prosecutor’s office is preparing a lawsuit to invalidate the ownership rights to these plots.
Unlike Abykayev’s property, satellite images show developed infrastructure: houses, outbuildings, piers, ponds, and a swimming pool.
Tskhai’s fortune is estimated at $236 million. He is linked to the Green Bazaar in Almaty through Dostar-Kommerts, where the other co-owner is Mercury Properties, tied to Timur and Dinara Kulibayev.
The response also pointed to Almaly Corporation LLC, whose founders once included oligarch Vladimir Zhumanbayev’s Vertex Holding, and later Noord Holland Trading Company BV, connected to Nursultan Nazarbayev and oligarch Vladimir Kim.
Almaly holds two large plots. The first, 13 hectares across from the Qapchagay hydroelectric power station, contains a mansion, gardens, and a private dock.
The second, 300 hectares on the southern shore, is officially for farming, but satellite views reveal stables and a small hippodrome.
Earlier this year, in May, a separate plot owned by Nazarbayev’s father-in-law, Askar Kulibayev, was confiscated.
Original Author: Igor Ulitin
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