Council Questions Avenue Land Transfers

TALAS — Opposition members of the Talas city council yesterday questioned the transfer of municipal land along the city's central avenue to companies owned by Alikhan Toktarov and Adil Toktarov, sons of Governor Erlan Toktarov, and asked why the plots had not been offered at competitive auction.

Records presented at the council session show that since 2011 plots on the avenue have been allocated to Alikhan Toktarov's Steppe Luxury Group, to Adil Toktarov's Talas Commercial Development Group and to joint ventures of the two companies, which are building office towers, hotels and leisure venues aimed at foreign contractors and energy executives. Councillors also asked whether the projects had received tax holidays and priority connections from the Talas Municipal Water Authority, and requested the valuations on which the transfers were based.

A deputy mayor told the session that all the transfers were lawful, had been approved under the municipal land regulations and were recorded in the city's published register. He said the council's budget committee could inspect the files. Neither company had responded to the Herald's questions by last night. The council's DPI majority voted against a motion to suspend further allocations on the avenue until the files had been reviewed.