"In Atyrau “Sotherby” they didn't bargain, but artificially raised prices"

By Murat Sultangaliev

On October 27 in Public Service Center (TsON) in Balykshi village land plots were sold at the auction.

The land plot in Nursaya residential district, located at the abutting end of house #81 with the size of only 10 by 18 meters was sold for the record sum – 19 million tenge. This acquisition instead of pleasure brought disappointment to businesswoman Bakhyt Iskhakova (on a photo). She approached the guy who offered for this land plot 18 million tenge during the auction and said: "I will refuse and you could buy this land. But you, after all, won't buy it!"

– I consider this auction illegal, – says Iskhakova. – Before the auction we were told that only those who submitted applications for this specific lot, will participate in the auction. In the morning there was about three hundred people at the auction. The auctioneer announced that those who submitted applications for lot 25 and further should come after a lunch.

Though I was interested in lot #47, I stayed, but many people left. And what you think? In the morning auction participated Any Tom, Dick or Harry. Many participated in auction on 10 lots and more. They didn't bargain, but artificially raised the prices. I am sure that those people were false buyers and had no relation to business. I demanded to stop the auction process.

And I also demanded to announce the list of members of the commission. It turned out that the all members of the commission were employees of the city land relations department. There were neither members from Maslikhat – elected local representative body, nor reps from prosecutor's office and city architecture department (the latter should be the first to come, after all, they issue these lands). There was no map on the wall and potential buyers had no idea what land plats they are getting. And those who artificially raised the prices, did not care, because they had such command.

I asked the commission to show the regulation about holding of auctions. They showed me the paper dated by the year 2003 and for some reason for the Astana city. I am sure that if we are dealing with selling of land plots in our city, then the regulation should be approved by our city Maslikhat.

Ten years ago I purchased a land plot for 980 thousand tenge, for participation in that auction I paid 32 thousand tenge. And here we paid for entrance to auction only 1 thousand tenge. I eavesdropped how one person bragged that he managed to bring with him his own 7 middlemen.

– And who needs the land plot that is worth several million tenge?

– That's the case that nobody needs such expensive land plot. After the auction the buyer who won the lot refuses to pay money, then the one who offered the smaller price, than the third, the fourth... Eventually the auction organizers will say that everybody refused, therefore they will give the land to "their own guy" for 20 thousand tenge. This is how their scheme works.

The head of city department of the land relations Kydyrkozha Dauletyarov disproved all these charges, saying "after the auction there are always those who are dissatisfied". According to him, the announcement of the auction appeared in mass media on October 6. Under the law all interested citizens had an opportunity within 15 days to address the department of land relations and study the documents. At the auction they also provided documents so that everybody could learn about each announced lot. "Everybody who came to the auction had the right to bargain, therefore the price increased so much".