Two villagers who campaigned against a gold mining project in northern Kazakhstan are facing prison as prosecutors strain to link them to a banned opposition movement.  The Stepnogorsk city court has for weeks been hearing the case against Nikolai Katchiyev and Aleksandra Nazarenko a pair of residents of the mining village of Bestobe in Akmola region accused of “inciting social hatred.” And because Katchiyev and Nazarenko are deemed to have committed their alleged crime as part of a group they risk terms of up to 10 years in prison without hope of a non-custodial sentence.  and the next is scheduled for February 28.   There are times when – in keeping with the spirit of what President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has dubbed “the listening state” – company and government officials are ready to discuss local concerns As Katchiyev and Nazarenko have found out to their cost the more sinister police state is never far behind.  goes back as far as the 1930s. Residents’ complaints stem from the purported chronic dust pollution caused by a gold recovery plant that began work in 2018 Katchiyev and Nazarenko were among the members of a 28-person working group set up at the behest of Bestobe’s village administration in June 2020 to hold talks with the then-operator of the gold mine With the formidable Nazarenko leading the charge against the company, the public hearings became acrimonious affairs and no compromise was reached. Relations between the company and community grew only worse after the Ecology Ministry intervened on the side of the villagers ordering the company to cease construction of a tailings dump that had gone ahead without public hearings or state expertise.   demanding that Bestobe’s environmental problems finally be addressed.   breaking through his 13-year-old son’s bedroom window and confiscating Katchiyev’s laptop Katchiyev says his brother’s home was also raided.   The gold recovery plant began working again at the beginning of November after the company suspended its operations for close to six months amid tensions with the community As investigators sought to pile the pressure on Katchiyev and Nazarenko they played the trump card always available to prosecutors in Kazakhstan linked to the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement an opposition force affiliated to disgraced Europe-based banker Mukhtar Ablyazov.  Katchiyev has told Vlast news website that the accusation is false and a deliberate attempt to frighten residents into submission Ownership of the gold mining project changed in 2020, when another established mining company, Altynalmas, completed a three-stage purchase of Kazakhaltyn.  The latter company, which had mining interests across Kazakhstan, including several in the Akmola region, was formerly controlled by regime-friendly metal magnates Eduard Ogay and Vladimir Kim. Altynalmas a Netherlands-registered company whose ultimate beneficiary is a mystery.  The opposition-linked KazakhSTAN 2.0 website last year speculated that the acquisition by Altynalmas of assets previously controlled by Kazakhaltyn were “part of [former President] Nursultan Nazarbayev and his clan’s preparations for [Nazarbayev’s] departure from life.” This claim came with no proof attached drawing instead on the widely circulated belief that Kim and other billionaires have been enlisted to act as stewards of the wealth for the former head of state in the past.  Kazakhstan’s political situation has changed somewhat since the case against Katchiyev and Nazarenko was first opened. Nazarbayev allies and family members have been purged from top political and corporate posts as Tokayev emerged emboldened from a bloody nation-shaking crisis that left more than 200 people dead last month.   It remains to be seen whether these political shifts will have any bearing on the trial.  Artyem Sochnev is a writer based in Stepnogorsk Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all Despite a lack of previous aquaculture experience Shyngys Maksutbekuly has embraced the challenge of leading Kazakhstan’s most innovative trout farming company and has ambitions to gradually step up production to 6,000 tonnes “I’ve got no aquaculture experience and the farming conditions at 1,700 m can be extreme the fish are growing and the quality is good: when the top fish guys from Europe – from Skretting looking back on his first 12 months as CEO of FishTech which consists of a number of sister companies covering 2.2 km2 on Bestobe Reservoir – a large The farm currently has the capacity to annually produce up to 600 tonnes of rainbow trout and FishTech is set to complete their first harvest this year “We stocked our first batch of 10-25 g trout fingerlings in July 2023 and will grow them up to 2.5 kg in nets that are 22 m in diameter and 12 m deep The fingerlings are currently sourced from producers locally but these are under FishTech’s control: we source and supply the eggs and we manage the feeding and disease programme A lot of people are surprised that there are big fish farming operations happening in Kazakhstan but it’s going well,” Maksutbekuly reflects Maksutbekuly has plans to invest in a feed barge with an automated feeding system as well as underwater sensors and cameras to precisely control the feeding and growth of the fish To ensure optimal water parameters FishTech has already installed systems to recirculate the water in the pens oxygen levels are 12 mg per litre in winter and 9 mg per litre in the summer Maksutbekuly consulted fish farmers in northern parts of Canada and Russia to help inform him of the best ways of dealing with the harsh winter conditions He also leveraged his network in the American Society of Agricultural Consultants “I’m trying to apply my engineering experience In one we’ve decided to build the ice around the pens to act as an ice barrier so we will use pumps to grow an ice barrier of a few metres thick around the pens to act as a shield,” he explains Last summer there was a drought in the area.. At one point the lake’s water level fell by 80 percent in a matter of days “On the other lake we have similar winter issues but also testing conditions in the summer Last summer there was a drought in the area as more water was being used to irrigate surrounding agriculture lands We had to do some magic to save the fish,” he adds Although Maksutbekuly is currently relying on imported equipment their two farming teams take it in fortnightly turns to live on “We keep the site secure to reduce the risks posed by two-legged animals,” jokes Maksutbekuly “We have many migratory birds stopping off at the lake and lots of deer and boar but the wild animals don’t pose a problem.” While the operations have all been self-funded so far, they are currently raising funds to build a $2.5 million RAS hatchery to improve the quality and reliability of their fingerling supply but we have an idea of who’s going to build it and we aim to produce 3-4 million eggs and 100-150 tonnes of fingerlings a year,” Maksutbekuly explains One of the largest challenges inherent to such a remote farm in the middle of a vast country with a tiny aquaculture industry is the lack of support network for aquaculture operators – both in terms of inputs and experienced personnel Maksutbekuly hopes to work with the country’s universities to help ensure that a new generation of technically proficient farmers and researchers emerges to help support the growth of the sector High grade fish processing facilities are also thin on the ground so FishTech is planning to establish its own state-of-the-art facility to ensure that its customers – who will mainly be located in Central Asia China and the Arab countries – receive their fish in perfect condition as it’s the most economical and most manageable fish Maksutbekuly also has ambitions to diversify into different species “We started with trout for the pilot, as it’s the most economical and most manageable fish, but I’d prefer to switch to Arctic char We’re also looking into other cold water salmonids such as lake whitefish [Coregonus clupeaformis],” he explains And he’s also keen to increase the company’s harvest volumes “Over time there’s scope to increase production by 10 or even 20 times but we don’t want to become like some of the fjords in Norway where overexploitation by the salmon sector has led to environmental and fish health issues but we hope to gradually expand and potentially reach 5,000-6,000 tonnes per year by 2027-2030,” he explains Maksutbekuly was surprised to land his current role “I got a call from an IT company asking me to help create they had no experience in aquaculture at all and creating an aquaculture cluster,” he reflects Maksutbekuly says that he’s been able to apply some of the business knowledge he gained as an engineer for the US-based Harris Corporation a group of companies that operate fruit production He has also worked as a consultant for USAID-funded agriculture projects in Central Asia and Afghanistan Although the group has had a promising start Maksutbekuly is aware that there are still numerous obstacles to overcome Key priorities include gaining access to high quality aquafeeds, finding – or training – people to operate the farm effectively, and gaining access to vital vaccines “We aim to avoid antibiotics in our produce We have almost untouched and pristine natural water resources where we could grow environment-friendly fish A good systematic production plan can minimise “You need to register a vaccine before importing it to Kazakhstan So we are working with government entities and research institutions to adopt quicker ways to gain access to the newest vaccines,” Maksutbekuly explains Maksutbekuly would like to build a network of farms across the country which would all loosely be under FishTech’s control the sourcing of feed and equipment – will be taken care of by another company,” he says And he is also fielding requests from aquaculture operators in neighbouring countries who are looking to work with him and bring their own operations up to a similar standard to FishTech’s but the next step for us is to set up two or three cage-based farms in Kazakhstan and establish our own RAS facilities,” Maksutbekuly asserts He hopes that FishTech’s success could help to pave the way for the growth of the country’s wider aquaculture sector – which currently produces mainly trout while there are also a few niche producers of tilapia in regions with hot springs pikeperch and indigenous salmonids seem to be the products that are most likely to succeed commercially relatively cheap electricity and good quality artesian water sources create ideal conditions for RAS farms that can grow almost any species that fits the demand in high-end domestic and Asian markets,” notes Maksutbekuly He adds that the country has set ambitious targets for aquaculture development by 2030 but still has a long way to go before it fulfils its potential “Kazakhstan is currently underperforming in freshwater fish output producing less than 1 percent of the world’s inland aquaculture despite having 5.14 percent of the total surface area of inland water bodies,” he concludes has been writing about aquaculture since 2007 He has an MA in history from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in sustainable aquaculture from the University of St Andrews Environmentalists are often at higher risk around the world and in Kazakhstan eco-activists are often taken as oppositionists and brought to justice A list of environmental issues in the regions of Kazakhstan is rather long – it contains both air and surface waters pollution and the imperfect system of waste treatment Eco-activists in the country not only bring outstanding issues to public discussion They not only actively struggle for the unique flora and fauna species but also stand against the construction of hazardous plants and factories in the republic the consequences of the devastating attitude of humans towards the environment is the issue to be solved by all society members “The number of eco-activists is increasing every day in Kazakhstan today we do not have a proper culture of environmentalism and very often environmental activists are merely taken as oppositionists which gives them a hard time,” Zhumagali said Kazakhstan had real cases of pressure imposed on environmentalists The specific feature of such cases in Kazakhstan is that law-enforcement bodies often support businesses And some media outlets and organisations use such cases to discredit eco-activists by blaming them for implementing someone’s political will Attempts of residents of the village of Bestobe (Akmola region) to resist the launch of Kazakhaltyn Technology enriching factory the affiliated company of Kazakhaltyn Concern would aggravate poor environmental condition have brought some of the most active residents to justice The case was opened on a charge of “dissemination of misleading information” and some police questions about “involvement” in DVK (an extremist party banned in Kazakhstan) learned about two criminal cases opened against him police officers broke into his house by shattering the window and scaring his 13-year-old son Katchiyev said that his active social work was the reason for the prosecution He and other activists were reported to the police for disseminating misleading information about Kazakhaltyn Technology After the house-check Nikolai Katchiyev said that investigators tried to link him with the activities of Mukhtar Ablyazov the leader of the DVK movement banned by court The houses of Nikolai’s father and his younger brother were also checked Katchiyev recognised it as crackdown on his family and on village residents “They do it to cast aspersions on the working group They want to open the plant impudently and do not want to hold hearings so that we don’t fight for our village,” Katchiyev said (as cited from Vlast.kz) the dust coming from the plant of Kazakhaltyn Technology is dispersed in the village It is almost impossible to ventilate houses And peculiar odour comes from the tailings storage facility of the plant which leaves a specific taste in the mouth Katchiyev wrote a message to president Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev and to the General Prosecutor’s Office asking them to pay attention to environmental issues in Bestobe Saving a unique oasis in the concrete jungle Disputes around Lake Small Taldykol in the city of Nur-Sultan are still on the rise – eco-activists want to save it from filling and another metropolitan development actors and activists hold protests on its shore Artist Askhat Akhmedyarov has held repeated campaigns and performances in support of Small Taldykol in the capital. However, he was brought to Yesil district police precinct for another performance in support of Small Taldykol. “Mr. Akhmedyarov, being at the construction site near Shygys residential estate, was using obscene language against Mr. L. and thus committed an unlawful act displaying apparent disrespect for the society, in other words, disorderly conduct,” the court said. Also, the court said that Akhmedyarov resisted to the legitimate request of law-enforcement officers. The court found the artist guilty on both charges. Earlier, Askhat Akhmedyarov had repeatedly held public and political campaigns and performances. In July, the artist together with colleagues protested against construction in Bozzhyra Gorge in Mangistau region. Back then, participants of the campaign in Nur-Sultan were detained by the police and fined.  A story of PCB waste and construction of a waste recycling plant One year ago, wastes containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB, strong pollutants of the environment used in electrotechnical industry) were delivered to Stepnogorsk (Akmola region) for storage from Balkhash, namely Daryal-U radiolocation. A few years ago, some portion of the waste was transported to Germany for recycling, and the remaining portion posed a risk for Lake Balkhash because toxic agents could penetrate into the lake. Therefore, they were packaged and delivered to Stepnogorsk. At the same time, Ecolux-AS LLP, which delivered the wastes to the city, won the grant for installation of disposal equipment. The grant for the supply of equipment was organised by UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation), Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and the ministry of ecology of Kazakhstan. On June 12 this year, over a hundred of Stepnogorsk residents walked into the square in front of Gornyak community centre to protest against the construction of a waste recycling facility in the city. Afterwards, eco-activist and blogger Artyom Sochnev was fined. He was accused of organising the meeting of residents and violating sanitary laws during the pandemic. In particular, a case on administrative offence was filed against him. He was charged with violation of the “Order of the chief state sanitary officer of the Republic of Kazakhstan on December 25, 2020 No. 68 art. 2 sub-paragraph 1”, which provides for banning of public events. Sochnev paid a fine in the amount of 43,755 tenge (103 dollars). “There is a law. It’s a different matter whether the law-enforcement practice in Kazakhstan is used properly and for the right purposes,” said independent legal expert Aidos Ualiyev. According to him, despite the provisions of international law and convention designed to protect, environmental supporters are often at higher risk around the world. “Unfortunately, Kazakhstan is not an exception. Generally speaking, unfounded detentions of either environmental activists, or activists in general are the evidence of intimidation of people for their peaceful opinions,” he said. notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter Westminster City Council Standards Committee: patron of the Housing Association Charitable Trust: He has previously acted as chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and as chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust With a history of gold mining dating back almost a century the village of Bestobe in Kazakhstan’s northern Akmola region is still waiting to learn if it has any sort of future.  are employed at the mine overseen by Altynalmas a major player in the national industry.  Yet those jobs are now at risk as a long standoff between the company and the community trickles towards a conclusion and bemused provincial authorities find themselves in an ill-fitting mediator role.   a company later acquired in full by Altynalmas announced plans to transition from labor-intensive underground mining to technology-intensive opencast (also known as open-pit) mining.  The plans provoked vociferous opposition in Bestobe for several reasons the switch would have seen the bulk of the workforce made redundant.  the expansion would likely have forced several thousand families to relocate from their homes while further befouling the environment – already a factor in poor company-community relations.  The company’s open-pit plans were all but vetoed by the Akmola region governor who visited Bestobe in April and met with a large anxious audience that included employees of the company.  But Marzhikpayev’s stated support for the villagers has not solved their problems Altynalmas operates mines in four Kazakh regions and is majority-owned by a Netherlands-registered company whose ultimate beneficiary is a mystery The company in the past was associated with Timur Kulibayev the son-in-law of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev The company ceased all stages of production in Bestobe earlier this year and is now considering calling time on its investment there and ending payments to 1,200 idle workers Marzhikpayev’s office is concerned that such a move could push the settlement toward a social explosion After unprecedented nationwide political unrest in Kazakhstan this year, provincial chiefs have been under pressure from the central government to avert such crises the town of 7,000 is already politically active On June 27 two activists that spearheaded opposition to the mining company were convicted – and then amnestied on the spot – of spreading false information More serious charges were dropped at the last minute The denouement appeared an effort to calm tensions surrounding the gold mine around a dozen residents began camping out on Altynalmas’ premises to prevent the company removing equipment They are now under investigation for lawlessness The desperate campaign was motivated by residents’ belief that Altynalmas is preparing to abandon the village imminently Residents had hoped for a repeat meeting with Marzhikpayev last month he held talks with company representatives on August 5 a lower official without the heft to give concrete answers visited: Stepnagorsk mayor Appysbay Karizhanov one of the two activists convicted in June asked Karizhanov whether miners would be abandoned this winter Mayor Karizhanov said that keeping workers salaried was a priority but could not provide any details on the progress of talks.  In a video of his meeting with Altynalmas that his office shared on Instagram acknowledged that the company and the government – the sole customer for the gold produced by the mine – have not come to a deal yet on the future of the town and we will return to [negotiations],” Marzhikpayev said One of the key issues to be resolved if the company is to return to the underground shafts is what to do with excess water that has accumulated The company said it has allowed the buildup because it has no legal recourse or approved territory for dewatering the mine at present Although Altynalmas has not completely ruled out a return to underground mining it says the old shafts are not serviceable and their resource base is all but exhausted.  In July the company estimated that the stoppage of operations in the last year had cost it more than $14 million dollars with salaries running 400 million tenge (around $850,000) per month alone Altynalmas has offered Bestobe residents jobs at other mines but workers are reluctant to leave.   Many villagers suspect that the company has effectively sabotaged the old shafts in order to push through its vision for open-pit mining Locals also argue they are being punished for their successful campaign to stop production at a gold processing plant which they complained covered the steppe village with dust in the years after it opened in 2017 Many hope a new investor will simply ride into town and breathe new life into the underground shafts One benefit of a transition to open-pit excavation which has become a problem in the poorly guarded shafts The deaths of three illegal miners who broke onto the company’s premises last month and attempted to blast ore using amateur explosives shocked Bestobe Stepnagorsk’s police chief Bakhtiyar Utekin told locals that police had opened a case into illegal trespassing against members of the gang who survived the accident This provoked a moment of black humor as one resident suggested that the group had “trespassed legally” instead “They pay the security guards 260,000 tenge [$550] and then they just walk down [into the shafts],” Zhumabekov said