Almaty Court Returns Nikolsky Market Land to University, Annuls Sham Deal

After 15 years of legal battles and resales involving prominent figures, the fate of the legendary Nikolsky Market plot in Almaty has been settled. A court has invalidated the final attempt to sell the land and restored ownership to its rightful holder.

On February 19, an Almaty court ruled that a contract for the sale of the historic plot on Karasai Batyr Street was fictitious. This deal represented a last-ditch effort by associates of businessman Aidos Kospayev. In October 2024, while Kospayev was under investigation, the asset was transferred using forged documents to a nominal buyer identified as A.B.

The court annulled this transaction and ordered state authorities to reinstate the property rights of Almaty Technological University (ATU). The ruling compels the relevant government body to cancel the registration record transferring ownership to A.B., remove it from the real estate registry, and restore ATU as the legal owner.

Notably, neither representatives of "Nikolsky Investment" LLP nor the nominal buyer A.B. Appeared at the hearing.

University representatives informed the court that even after previous deals were declared illegal, they were unable to register their ownership because a new owner—A.B.—had mysteriously appeared in the database. The plaintiff argued this sale was a sham transaction backdated with counterfeit paperwork.

It was revealed that Aidos Kospayev, owner of "Nikolsky Investment," was in custody at the time and could not have authorized the asset's sale in September 2024 without investigative approval. Furthermore, no cash or bank documents confirmed that payment for the property—over 354 million tenge—ever reached the company's accounts.

The fictitious nature of the deal was corroborated by "buyer" A.B. Himself. Within a separate criminal case where Kospayev's associates received prison sentences, A.B. Admitted he was paid one million tenge simply for signing the contract and never intended to become the actual owner.

Additionally, it emerged that at the time of this 2024 "sale," the building remained under arrest as part of a criminal case against Kospayev's organized crime group, making any transactions with it unlawful.

The protracted legal disputes and frequent changes in ownership ultimately led to demolition of Nikolsky Market in 2020, ending over a century of history for one of Almaty's most iconic locations.

The market was founded in 1915 as Zubovskaya Square. It was later renamed Proletarsky, then Kirovsky; its final name—Nikolsky—likely came from its proximity to St. Nicholas Cathedral.

In December 2019, Bolat Nazarbayev announced plans to demolish market for construction residential complex; at that time around 170 entrepreneurs operated there.