Kazakhstan Ministry of Agriculture Updates Land Competition Rules for Farmers

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan has approved new rules for conducting competitions regarding the provision of agricultural lands. The corresponding order of the Minister of Agriculture No. 375 is dated October 29, 2026, and will officially enter into legal force on January 1, 2027. The key change is the complete transition of land auctions to an electronic format on the official web portal of the state property register. Now, application submissions, their preliminary verification, score calculations, and winner determinations will be carried out automatically based on data from state information systems.

A significant portion of the large-scale amendments was adopted at the direct initiative of the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, which summarized the most acute systemic problems faced by domestic businesses. Previously, Kazakhstani entrepreneurs often faced groundless rejections at the initial stage of admission to land competitions due to formal reasons, such as the lack of a unified application form or subjective approaches by local commissions to document verification. Moving to automated electronic submission and verification will completely standardize the participation procedure, introduce transparent evaluation standards, and eliminate the risks of arbitrary rejections.

Special attention in the updated document is paid to supporting newcomers in the agricultural business, who traditionally found it difficult to successfully compete with large, established farms. At the proposal of the National Chamber, a separate competitive category has been introduced for citizens who have never previously been provided with land plots for running a peasant or farm enterprise, or general agricultural production. At least 30% of all lands put up for auction will be directed toward this purpose. Furthermore, assessment criteria regarding the availability of agricultural machinery, livestock headcounts, and hired workers have been significantly simplified for beginner farmers.

As noted by Daniyar Molkenov, Director of the Construction and Land Relations Department and Managing Director of Atameken NCP, this mechanism will provide rural residents with a real and fair opportunity to launch their own agribusiness under transparent conditions. Another block of implemented changes aims to eliminate existing imbalances in evaluating operating market participants. Previously, when calculating competitive scores, only machinery owned outright was taken into account, resulting in farmers who actively updated their machinery fleets through financial leasing finding themselves at a clear disadvantage. Now, agricultural machinery acquired through financial leasing is officially equated to owned machinery.

In addition, the current system of awarding additional bonus points has been significantly leveled. Previously, local residents who had permanently resided in a respective rural settlement for at least five years received 10 additional points, while registered agricultural cooperatives received only 5 points. Under the new rules, both categories will receive an equal bonus of 5 points. Kuanysh Asylkhanov, Deputy Director of the Construction and Land Relations Department at Atameken, emphasized that financial leasing is currently one of the primary tools for purchasing machinery, meaning that the chosen financing method should not hinder farmers in competing for necessary land resources.