In the North Kazakhstan region, dozens of farmers may lose pastures and hayfields allocated to them many years ago, Sputnik Kazakhstan correspondent reports.
One after another, agricultural producers receive claims to the court to invalidate ten-year-old transactions for the provision of land plots to them. The reason for this was the identified violations in the procedure for granting land. And the reason was the lack of pastures for livestock from private farms.
However, according to the entrepreneurs, the lawsuits also refer to land plots located near sparsely populated or completely deserted villages. Farmers turned to the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the North Kazakhstan region for help.
Claims came from where they did not expect
The cause of the claims was a violation of the procedure for granting land plots within the boundaries of settlements and without holding tenders. However, farmers do not see their fault in the current situation and believe that because of the mistakes made 10-15 years ago by officials, today business should not suffer, which, by the way, invested huge sums in the land received, uses them for their intended purpose. and pay taxes in good faith.
One of the farms that found themselves in such a situation is Vozvyshenko-SK LLP from the Gabit Musrepov district. Deputy Director Denis Posovets says that the purpose of providing a land plot in 2012 was the implementation of the Livestock Development Program. The partnership imported 300 heads of Aberdeen Angus breeding stock from the USA. Now the livestock is already 1.5 thousand heads of meat cattle.
Since the end of 2019, the enterprise began to build a dairy livestock complex with a planned capacity of 1,800 heads. The construction of the first stage has already been completed, European equipment has been delivered, and part of the livestock has been purchased.
“This livestock is kept outside. Therefore, it needs a powerful fodder base. In 2014, we were given land near the village of Vozvyshenka for haymaking. We used these lands to increase the quality of the forage base for the meat-breeding complex, and since this year – also for laying fodder for a dairy farm.The problem with claims for the seizure of these land plots is very sensitive for us, since we have already invested a lot of money in their radical improvement, in overseeding forage grasses, haylage, for silage, plus the application of fertilizers. about 648 ha. Government agencies motivate the withdrawal of plots by the fact that the number of livestock among the population is growing and there is not enough pasture according to the standards. Although we participate in providing the population with fodder at cost and provide land for grazing livestock, including our sown land after harvesting campaigns, ” – explains Denis Posovets.
The same problem has developed in the farm “Atabay” from the district of Magzhan Zhumabaev. Alfiya Kulzhabayeva, a farm representative, says that she and her husband have been running the family business for eight years now. Before receiving the land, they purchased 44 heads of cattle under the state program.
“In 2014, we received land by decision of the Bastomar rural district. We participated in several state programs for animal husbandry. We have an agreement with Maslodel LLP, we supply milk there. We now have a livestock of cattle, small cattle and breeding stock of horses – about 600 heads. We have been working for almost eight years. And now we have received a notification that they want to take away our land – a plot of 485 hectares. We are told that the inhabitants of the village of Yekaterinovka have nowhere to graze their cattle. Although there are five households in the village, and the population has only 25 heads of cattle. At the same time, the population freely grazes livestock on our plots, there are no prohibitions,” the entrepreneur notes.
She states that if the land is taken away from the KH, then they will simply have nowhere to graze their livestock.
“We have large loans, we took out leasing. Now we don’t know what to do. There are many farms in the same situation that use the land for its intended purpose as pastures, graze livestock, harvest hay. They explain to us that the problem is that we were given this land by the decision of the rural district, but there should have been a competition. But this is not our fault. And we must answer, – says the businesswoman. – For such a livestock as ours, we need more land, but we do not ask so they give us more, we just want to keep ours.”
According to legal consultant Elena Prigozhenko, the problem is systemic. Thus, according to the latest data, at least 35 lawsuits have been prepared against agricultural business entities, and 16 cases are already being considered in the economic court.
The lawsuits were initiated by the Department of Agriculture on the basis of a submission from the regional prosecutor’s office.
“The Department of Agriculture, being the controlling body, discovered in 2022 that there were violations in granting land use rights to agricultural producers. It was revealed that pastures and hayfields were provided within the boundaries of settlements and without a competition. The fact that the controlling the authority found violations only in 2022, while enterprises that are now operating in the field of animal husbandry received their land use rights starting from 2010, that is, more than ten years have passed. Accordingly, the question of competence arises primarily for land relations departments, which granted the right to land use without complying with the requirements of the law, as well as to regulatory authorities. It turns out a situation in which in the chain of state bodies we have a moment of incompetence everywhere, but private business entities have to “disentangle” all this,” notes legal advisor.
By the way, the courts of first instance have already satisfied several claims for the return of land to state ownership. Moreover, in the opinion of those present, they treated the problem formally and did not take into account many controversial issues. Entrepreneurs fear that this practice will be applied en masse.
Don’t shoot from the shoulder
Elena Prigozhenko notes that over the decade of working on the land, most farmers have invested huge amounts of money not only in the development of agriculture, but also in the villages themselves. And in some settlements, farms are even city-forming, and thanks to them, the village lives, and people have jobs.
The root cause of this situation is the need to solve the problem of shortage of pastures for grazing the population. However, the farmers themselves say that in most cases there are no conflicts between them and the population over the food supply. Moreover, according to the entrepreneurs, in some lawsuits it is generally about sites located near sparsely populated and deserted villages.
And in those places where the problem really exists, it can be settled out of court. But officials, for unknown reasons, immediately took extreme measures, without even considering how such measures could eventually turn out, primarily for the population itself. Now private entrepreneurs are improving pastures, sowing, fertilizing, and tomorrow the land will be left to itself, there will be no one to deal with it, as a result, the situation may lead to the disappearance of the forage base, including for livestock from personal subsidiary plots.
The participants of the meeting in the Chamber of Entrepreneurs noted that if small farms lose their land, they will be forced to slaughter livestock, and larger businesses will have to buy feed, in general, the situation will affect the development of animal husbandry in the region. At the same time, the situation unfolded against the background of the words of the President of the country about the need to ensure food security in the country, in which the development of agriculture plays an important role.
Representatives of the prosecutor’s office also conveyed their position
“Claims are filed on the basis of joint work. An analysis conducted in November last year showed that there were violations of articles 26 and 48 of the Land Code. Article 26 says that land used and intended for the needs of the population is not provided for land use by citizens. The basis for the analysis was the order of the head of state to resolve the issue of pasture shortages.On the one hand, we understand that entrepreneurs have invested money and efforts, but while protecting the interests of business, one should not forget about the interests of the people, there really is a shortage of pastures,” the prosecutor said. Department for the Protection of Public Interests of the Prosecutor’s Office of the North Kazakhstan Region Sanat Kabullaev.
He agreed that there are cases where it is necessary to approach individually, especially if there is a decision that the village is closed, where there is no shortage of pastures, and these three residents who remained in the village work for the same entrepreneur.
“But if you look from the position of the law, then in any case there is a violation, so we raised a question to all land plots. The second violation is under Article 48 of the Land Code, which says that land plots must be provided at auction. Why this there is a norm – that the interests of other entrepreneurs are respected, that there is competition,” the prosecutor explained.
Agricultural producers believe that it is necessary to conduct an objective analysis and publish its results, and in those settlements where there is really a problem with a lack of pastures, try to find a compromise solution that would suit all parties, in other words, do not cut off the shoulder, but apply a balanced approach.
Balanced Approach
Later, the Chamber of Entrepreneurs reported that an explanatory meeting was held between the prosecutor of the North Kazakhstan region and entrepreneurs who were affected by this problem. The prosecutor of the North Kazakhstan region, Bagban Taimbetov, assured that the issue of stopping the land use of pastures and hayfields within the boundaries of settlements will be approached carefully.
“We fully understand and share the concerns of the population. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that over the 10-15 years of doing business, and we are talking about real business, people have made significant investments, received loans, purchased breeding stock, reconstructed or built facilities livestock breeding, and also made a radical improvement of the pastures themselves, by sowing perennial grasses, – Zhenis Kaziev, deputy director of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the North Kazakhstan region, emphasized in his speech. around the world. We believe that each filed claim requires special, close attention and study. Both a conscientious entrepreneur and the population who need pastures and hayfields should not be left alone with their problem.”
To which the prosecutor of the region Bagban Taimbetov noted that the return of the lands of settlements is an instruction of the head of state, therefore they cannot cancel the claims, but they agree to consider each case separately.
“Within 10 days, we will create a working group with the akimat of the region and the Chamber of Entrepreneurs, which you will also join,” Bagban Taimbetov, the prosecutor of the North Kazakhstan region, addressed the entrepreneurs. more. That is, so that you understand, we are not going to thoughtlessly approach this issue. We will also involve development institutions: KazAgro, SEC and others, so that you can equip the newly received lands. That is, until you equip them, in fact, no one will will be expelled from the old lands, that is, for this you will be given a certain time, because the fault of the state, and not yours.”
Also, the regional prosecutor stressed that for those lands where there are no settlements for a long time, claims will be withdrawn.
By the way, the other day during an off-site meeting of the “Jer amanaty” commission under the Amanat party, it became known that 18.9 thousand hectares of pasture land were returned to state ownership in the North Kazakhstan region. The land plots will now be used by the villagers, including for grazing their personal farmsteads and hayfields.
