In a landmark decision, the specialized inter-district administrative court of Zhetysu region has annulled two critical resolutions connected to the unlawful seizure of land and assets from the company Solid Metals. On April 9, 2024, the court invalidated the Sarkand district akimat’s Resolution No. 275, which had transferred a land plot granted to Solid Metals for temporary compensated land use into communal property. Additionally, the court overturned the regional coordination council’s decision to revoke the investment status of Solid Metals’ plant construction project.
These resolutions were originally made possible due to a raid in November 2019, facilitated by former Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development (MIIR) Timur Toktabayev. Toktabayev, later arrested and sentenced to seven years for abuse of office, had acted in the interests of certain entrepreneurs, illegally transferring sites with discovered mineral deposits under the guise of exploration. This led to significant state losses amounting to billions of tenge.
Solid Metals, which had legally acquired 420,000 tons of technogenic mineral formations (TMF) in 2017 and invested heavily in a processing plant, was forcibly evicted from their property by Aksenger Ltd, a company allegedly set up to facilitate this illegal takeover. Despite proving the legality of their acquisition in court, Solid Metals continues to battle for the return of their assets, emphasizing the need for transparent legal proceedings to mitigate external pressures on the judicial process.
