Promises Broken, Questions Mount: Behind the Relocation of the Baganashyl Orphanage

State inspectors and an employee of the internal policy department of the presidential administration arrived in the region to investigate the situations surrounding the Baganashyl orphanage.

Orda.kz has looked into the matter.

Embattled Civil Servants

Dinara Zakiyeva, who was aware of the situation and tried to keep it under control, came under fire.

Each time she publicly relayed the information she received from the regional Akimat. And she later learned about the changes from the media or from messages from the children.

She also openly stated that the Almaty region Akimat acted arbitrarily.:

The Almaty Region Akimat failed to ensure safety during the relocation of children living in the JAC (Juvenile Adaptation Center). As a result, an unacceptable incident occurred: one graduate of the orphanage lost consciousness, another child suffered a leg injury. I have repeatedly contacted the Akimat regarding this over the past week following reports from children. However, the local executive body took uncoordinated actions without informing about them. 

When Bakytzhan Bazarbek arrived at the orphanage only to find the headmistress on site, with whom he attempted to address all the inconsistencies.

The deputy sent a request to the Almaty Region Akimat and received a response that clearly stated that the children of the Juvenile Adaptation Center, those who were in the institution temporarily, would be resettled.

Everyone else would be allowed to finish their studies; behind closed doors, they signed a document that nullified all the promises made in public.

Bazarbek ultimately called on the Akim of the Almaty Region, Marat Sultangaziyev, to resign.

In December 2024, it was the Akim of Almaty region, Marat Sultangaziyev, the former Akim of Almaty Yerbolat Dosayev, and, in fact, the developer, who began to implement the resettlement project.

The project became part of a large-scale cooperation between the Akimat of Almaty and the Almaty region and a private investor, secured by a memorandum between the First Deputy Akim of the region Nurlan Abdrakhim and the co-founder of the consortium Ruslan Akhmetov.

We still don't know the contents of the memorandum or what each party stands to gain — the document hasn’t been made public.

For all the developer’s apparent generosity, the building went up quickly and efficiently — both the Almaty Region Akimat and the Akimat of Almaty may have seen something in it for themselves.

The document was signed by the first deputy Akim of the region, Nurlan Abdrakhim. The relationship between Marat Sultangaziyev and his subordinate Nurlan Abdrakhim is noteworthy. 

In March 2024, the "Fifth Region" found out that after high-profile corruption scandals in which many officials were involved, not all were held accountable.

During that year, the heads of the Department of Culture (Aliya Zhakypbekova) and the Department of Religious Affairs (Baurzhan Niet) were detained, and a guilty verdict was even issued in the latter case. The heads of the departments do not formally report directly to the regional Akim.

Still, in the event of such violations, the responsibility should have been borne by the first deputy Akim, Nurlan Abdrakhim, who oversaw these areas.

After the situation escalated, Abdrakhim submitted a letter of voluntary resignation to the regional Akim. Marat Sultangaziyev refused to satisfy the request. Conversely, the Akim of the Yenbekshikazakh district, Altay Dosumbayev, saw his application accepted.

Nurlan Abdrakhim, according to Kompra.kz as of July 23, has a small tax debt of 23 thousand tenge. Abdrakhim's wife is Madina Abylkasymova, Chairperson of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market.

Nurlan Abdrakhim also heads the public association "WT Taekwondo Federation of Almaty Region".

The official has a consistent career. He became the first deputy Akim in 2023. He participated in the forum on combating corruption. 

In 2018, the financial reporting depository under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan included Abdrakhim and his family members among the affiliated persons of JSC National Infocommunication Holding Zerde.

Land And Friendship

On May 22, just a few days before the former Akim of Almaty, Yerbolat Dosayev, was dismissed from his post by presidential decree, journalist Mikhail Kozachkov made a peculiar discovery — the then-acting Akim gave to the family of Marat Sultangaziyev.

Kozachkov recalled that every citizen has the right to 10 acres of land from the state. Distribution is carried out through a queue. But in Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent, such things are not practiced - there is no free territory.

Yerbolat Dosayev still managed to allocate plots to five applicants in 2024.

Among the landowners was 78-year-old Gulbakhar Mansurova. In 2015, she was listed among the affiliates of the managing director of the Damu fund, Kanat Sultangaziyev; she is his mother. Kanat and Marat Sultangaziyev are brothers.

Dosayev gave the mother of the Akim of Almaty region 10 acres of expensive and scarce land.

The Ministry of Agriculture also took an interest in the story. Now, the Department for Land Resources Management will be pursuing the annulment of the decrees in court.

Dosayev and Sultangaziyev participated in meetings of the Local Council of the Almaty agglomeration and opened the BAKAD together.

Despite discussions and rumors, Dosayev has received no promotion after being dismissed. 

We tried to contact the former Almaty Akim through his assistants to find out his future plans, but we did not succeed.

We also sent inquiries to the KNB Anti-Corruption Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KNB, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Financial Monitoring Agency. They have no information about where the ex-Akim is today, and no one has conducted or planned to conduct any investigations.

Incidentally, a trial was held on the case of a rally for Yerbolat Dosayev's resignation. Requests were made to hold it on May 24. On that day, Dosayev was dismissed, so the meeting lost its relevance.

It is still unclear what role the Almaty Akimat played in concluding the memorandum. Apart from the fact that the land under Baganashyl was to go to the city.

Quite The Controversies

Akim of Almaty region Marat Sultangaziyev has repeatedly found himself at the center of major scandals over the past few years. 

Sultangaziyev is a member of the board of directors of JSC "Problem Loans Fund".

A year ago, after the tragic events in the Almaty region, when Sherzat Polat was killed, the Akim was already asked about his resignation.

Sultangaziyev emphasized that this situation was not the only one through which his work would be assessed. That same year, the Akim was among the officials who received a severe reprimand for slowness in resolving the problems that arose with the floods.

Businessman Yesengeldy Osanov brought forward a grievance against Sultangaziyev. The issue concerns pastures where Osanov breeds cattle. The Akimat wanted to give this land for the construction of a wind power plant, claiming that the region does not have enough electricity.

According to the businessman and his lawyer, the seizure took place in violation of the law.

They tried to take the land through the court, but without the required procedures - without publishing the resolution, without indicating the cadastral numbers and without the owner's consent.

In addition, a Chinese company is participating in the project, and the state owned only 25% - this is not enough to consider the project state-owned.

Despite the prosecutor's office's protest and the revocation of previous decisions, Sultangaziyev signed a decree again in December 2023, giving another company the right to continue the project on the same land. Osanov's lawyer has called this pressure and an attempt to cover up commercial interests under the guise of state needs.

In October 2022, a meeting of the interdepartmental commission on anti-corruption issues was held under the Akim of the Almaty region, Marat Sultangaziyev. Serious land relation violations were discussed. This was not implemented under Sultangaziyev, and there was no notable counteraction.

In April 2025, an investigation was launched into abuse of power during the implementation of a PPP project with the International Academy of Medicine and Sciences (IAMS). The company received management of the Almaty Multidisciplinary Clinical Hospital until 2050.

The Akimat prevented the delivery of the infectious disease building, attempts at personnel changes, and early termination of the contract. The investor won the case in the AIFC for 369.9 million tenge, and then filed a lawsuit for another 13 billion.

All The Same

Silence from the authorities, delayed responses, and formulaic replies. Authorities' cold attitude toward investors has already led to the cancellation of several projects, which makes its eagerness to assist with the construction of a new orphanage building all the more curious.

The Akim has two brothers: Kanat Sultangaziyev, previously mentioned, and Kuat Sultangaziyev, who served as Akim of the Yenbekshikazakh district from February to June 2022. Kuat resigned immediately after his brother was appointed regional Akim, in an apparent attempt to avoid a conflict of interest.

In 2021, their sister, Svetlana Sultangaziyeva, was listed as deputy head of Almaty’s Public Health Department.

Since 2022, she has served as vice rector for clinical affairs at the S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University. Kanat Sultangaziyev is also in business with some family members, including their mother, Gulbakhar Mansurova."

The Investigation

The presidential administration representatives could conduct an internal investigation into the people who made the decisions. It will be especially interesting to see whether Marat Sultangaziyev will show interest and participate in identifying wrongdoing.

The editorial board will closely monitor the progress of the investigation.

Original Author: Alexandra Mokhireva