Kazakhstan’s Mountain Cluster Under the Spotlight Again

For more than two decades, activists have challenged several attempts to build a ski resort at Kok Zhailau, a valley by the mountains near Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city. Now, the government plans to greenlight fresh development projects.

A 2005 plan to build private ski resorts in Kok Zhailau was met with strong public backlash over environmental concerns and lack of government transparency in planning. The 2015 financial crisis halted the project, but in 2017 construction company Capital Partners announced their new, scaled-back proposal for a ski resort.

Opponents declared victory in 2019 when President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that he would forbid development in Kok Zhailau, acknowledging expert’s disapproval of the project.

However, in May 2025 the project returned to the government’s agenda as part of the development plan for the Almaty Mountain Cluster. The new plan has caused alarm among environmental activists and community members.

Vlast spoke with opponents of the project about whether they are ready to fight again to preserve the area, which lies within the Ile Alatau National Park, and what factors will determine the success of their new public campaign.

What We Know About the Project

In 2014, the site was officially removed from the territory of Ile Alatau National Park to authorize construction plans. In February 2022, Kok Zhailau was returned to the jurisdiction of the park.

The following November, Tokayev confirmed that Almaty needed to set up a mountain tourism cluster.

According to the president, the eastern and western sections between Turgen and Kaskelen just outside Almaty “must be comprehensively developed, independent of their administrative status.”

Only a few months later, then-mayor of Almaty Yerbolat Dossayev announced that the mountain cluster project was already being developed by a consortium of international companies. The document was published only in February of this year.

The ministry of ecology did not participate in planning, and activists and experts alike have called for the project to be terminated, arguing that the construction could harm protected natural areas.

The document revealed plans for the large-scale construction of aerial cable cars and ski slopes as well as commercial infrastructure.

The plan listed cable car routes “Nursultan Peak,” “Sukhoy Log,” “Kimasar,” “Pioneer-Oi Qaragai,” “Butakovka-Pioneer,” and “Butakovka.” Cable car routes will also be constructed at the Big Almaty Lake, and from MedeuEcoPark to Kok Zhailau, as well as from Kazachka to Kok Zhailau.

The plan also features a hotel complex at Kimasar Gorge and Ile-Alatau Park which will include 15 glamping sites, hotels, and visitor centers.

In May 2025 Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov privately presented the project which revealed that Kumbel Peak and Kok Zhailau Gorge will join the project, resulting in Almaty Superski, a ski resort consisting of more than 65 kilometers (about 40 miles) of slopes.

“After the previous discussion, the Kok Zhailau project was suspended, but it’s time for decisive action. Let’s join the Shymbulak and Oi-Qaragai mountain resorts and build up all of the small resorts between them. We will develop the Almaty Mountain Cluster including Kok Zhailau,” said Askar Valiyev, general secretary of the Ski Federation of Kazakhstan, in a presentation to Bektenov.

In a press conference on July 15, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov reaffirmed the government’s intentions to execute the Almaty Mountain Cluster program: “We will develop Kok Zhailau. We will begin construction of the initial infrastructure this year.”

Urban Districts With Luxury Tourism Prices

Social activists who earlier opposed construction in the natural area said that the development project poses risks to the ecosystem, but they also highlighted the complete lack of government transparency. They point out that the project was designed without the participation of residents and environmental experts.

Azhar Jandosova, a member of the “Save Kok Zhailau” initiative said that she does not oppose the Almaty Mountain Cluster project, noting that “it’s important to see the whole plan first.” As for Kok Zhailau, she argues that the site needs to be protected from development and that the Mountain Cluster project should include ecological conservation and restoration measures.

She also believes that the project’s budget should be used to solve social issues in the city. Development in the mountains will transform these areas into urban districts with elite tourism prices.

“We need to leave Almaty’s natural areas for the city residents who need a break from the stress of city life in the surroundings of beautiful nature, clean air, and quiet,” Jandosova said.

Vadim Ni, environmental rights lawyer and director of the Social-Ecological Fund in Almaty, says that the project plans are extremely problematic from a social justice perspective. He believes the majority of Almaty residents will not be able to afford to use the new infrastructure because of high operational costs.

“I’m against this plan because it includes massive budget expenditures for the sake of providing leisure activities and services for high-income residents. Will there be foreign tourists? How many? This is a big question for me,” he said.

Dmitry Zhukov, finance specialist and social activist, said that the new mountain cluster project is the same Kok Zhailau project, only multiplied by tens in terms of cost and area.

Zhukov conducted a financial analysis of the 2015 Kok Zhailau development project and concluded that the construction of the resort would result in millions of dollars in financial losses for the country. As for the new mountain cluster project, he noted a lack of financial information. Only the masterplan has been shared, which was designed by a foreign company.

“How much did [this masterplan] cost, who paid for it, was there a tender, was there a competition committee, who drew up the technical specifications? None of this has been shared with the public,” he said.

The expert believes that such a project could only be financed by primarily government funding: “No self-respecting international credit institution will finance this because it’s ecologically and economically unsound.”

“All consumables are paid for by the state, all profits remain with the developers who are referred to as ‘private investors.’ They don’t risk anything, and they receive ready-made plots with all the infrastructure,” he explained.

Tatyana Bendz, a PR-specialist, criticized the PR campaign that presents the project as an inclusive mountain resort with an accessible environment for city residents to relax.

“We understand how much a cable car ride can cost, and the consumers of these services will be fairly wealthy people,” she said. “This is the monetization of nature for personal interests. I think that’s a better description of what’s going on.”

Bendz believes the project is socially unjust: “We’re building big ski resorts for rich people using the national budget, this is happening in the country’s biggest city, which is suffocating from unresolved transport and environmental problems. We’re frantically searching for money to put towards innovations in air purification, to allocate subsidies to people who heat their homes with solid fuel, because they simply cannot afford to install gas in their homes.”

Bendz also says that the program lacks transparency as the environmental impact assessment of the project has not been made public.

“We intend to insist on a broad community discussion on this project, especially since we see a call for social justice and a solution to the environmental problems not only in Almaty but also across Kazakhstan,” she said.

Is the Public Ready for Another Fight?

Construction of a ski resort in Kok Zhailau to be completed by BONITA construction company was first widely discussed in the early 2000s. But the project failed to find investors. In 2011 the government revived discussions of the project, and they allocated funds from the national budget to a feasibility study.

Social and environmental activists responded with a long and multi-layered campaign. They drafted petitions, filmed documentaries, organized educational initiatives for students, performed flashmobs, appealed to international organizations, and filed lawsuits against the project, all in an attempt to save the natural site from construction plans. The fight continued until 2019, when Tokayev barred construction, saying that the project was "unnecessary."

Azhar Jandosova believes that activists exhausted virtually all legal means of opposition.

“In the past there were public hearings where experts and activists could speak to the community, but these discussions are only planned to be held online. It’s obvious how they'll end. And rallies are prohibited even though no legal permission is required to hold one,” she said.

Despite these restrictions, Jandosova intends to continue using the remaining legal means of resistance, including drafting petitions and posting on social media.

“We need to be persistent. We have a wonderful opportunity to be creative,” said the activist.

During the “Save Kok Zhailau” campaign, Dmitry Zhukov regularly spoke out about the need to conserve the natural site and openly challenged the project's developers at public hearings.

He says that he is ready to join the fight against the new project.

“The [developers’] appetite has not disappeared. They still want to build on Kok Zhailau. Now a lot of people have started going to the mountains, hundreds of people go to Kok Zhailau on weekdays. I hope that even more people will [start to visit].”

He added that when social well-being deteriorates, people are less inclined to pay attention to the environment, the city’s natural surroundings, and corruption.

“It’s difficult to convey how all of these problems are related,” he said. “These one and a half billion dollars could be more effectively spent on solving problems within the country, not these kickbacks for rich people. So I’m not very optimistic. But we’re going to try to show people that their well-being directly depends on whether [the project] will be implemented.”

Environmental rights attorney Vadim Ni believes that any campaign can be effective if there is wide-range support from citizens. Like Zhukov, he thinks the majority of citizens are busy with their own everyday responsibilities.

According to Ni, the public figures should aim to show citizens that the project will be ineffective, detrimental to the environment, and unjust in terms of budget expenditures.

Speaking on the campaign against the project, Bendz noted that in democratic systems there are political parties, labor unions, and community organizations that professionally engage in defending rights in a particular area.

“In our country there are no such entities. It’s only about people’s enthusiasm. People who are ready to spend their life, energy, and time [working on this issue] without any reward beyond their own moral satisfaction. It’s an exhausting endeavor,” she continued. “I want to emphasize that ‘Save Kok Zhailau’ isn’t funded by anyone.”

Bendz herself began to participate in the initiative in 2018.

“As a public relations specialist, I saw the need to approach it differently. And then it worked. It continued to work even during the transition [from former President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Tokayev’s] government. Leave Kok Zhailau to the people: [Tokayev’s] decree was such a victorious moment for us..”

Bendz noted, however, that there is enough social discontent among the people, and the younger generation is environmentally conscious and easily ignited by social initiatives. These factors may work in favor of a new campaign.

An edited and updated version of this article was translated into English by Zeina Nassif.