Why Is Astana Akimat’s Subsidiary City Transportation Systems Selling Assets?

The city administration’s transport company, City Transportation Systems (CTS), owns assets worth billions of tenge and is actively seeking to sell them. Orda.kz looked into how this Astana akimat subsidiary came to hold dozens of land plots, business shares, and commercial properties.

The state property auction site lists numerous lots for sale, an unusual move for a public transport company.

Here’s the full breakdown:

• 21 land plots in Astana — 3.7 billion tenge
• Production base in Almaty — 145 million tenge
• Restaurant premises in Almaty — 873 million tenge
• Another business premises in Almaty — 221 million tenge
• Unfinished residential complex in Astana — 3.7 billion tenge
• 11 parking spaces in Astana — 15.7 million tenge
• Land plot in Aqtau — 956 million tenge
• JSC Finngrad plant in St. Petersburg — 9.8 billion tenge 

Altogether, these assets are valued at around 20 billion tenge. Some have been on sale for over a year.

CTS was formerly known as Astana LRT, the company behind the long-delayed light rail project. It had kept $257.6 million in the now-defunct Bank of Astana.

After Nazarbayev's call to "bring order to the financial sector" and "deal harshly with dishonest bankers," the situation around the Bank of Astana began to rapidly deteriorate. 

Bank of Astana’s troubles began in 2018, driven by risky lending, liquidity shortages, and shaken customer confidence. 

On April 18, 2018, at a National Bank meeting, Nazarbayev slammed several banks, including the Bank of Astana, for mismanagement. Soon after, depositors rushed to pull out their money, liquidity dried up, and the bank’s license was first suspended, then revoked. By 2019, it was liquidated by court order.

The fallout left thousands of depositors without access to funds and an empty head office. Astana’s LRT project was heavily impacted, as its construction funds were frozen in the bank, delaying progress for years.

The government has tried to recover lost billions through the bank’s liquidation.

However, instead of cash, it ultimately ended up with real estate and bad debts — assets that are difficult to sell or repurpose. Only now, six years later, is the state slowly recovering part of the money by unloading these illiquid properties.

Meanwhile, the Astana LRT remains unfinished, and losses from the bank collapse have not yet been fully recovered.

Original Author: Ilya Astakhov