From 2027, farmland leases will be allocated through an electronic competition

Applications will be submitted on the portal, and the winner will be determined by points. The rules will take effect on January 1, 2027, as reported by Zakon.kz.

The essence in brief

• Order of the Minister of Agriculture No. 375 was signed on October 29, 2026, and the new edition of the rules comes into force on January 1, 2027.
• The competition is held electronically, and applications are signed with an electronic digital signature.
• For the first category of participants, the plot is limited to 300 ha, and only those who have not previously received land for farming can apply for it.
• Foreigners, companies with foreign participation, and citizens married to foreigners will not be able to participate.

Who will not be able to participate

Land for farming and agricultural production will not be provided to foreigners, stateless persons, foreign legal entities, or Kazakhstani companies with foreign participation. The ban also covers international organizations, research centers with international participation, citizens of Kazakhstan married to foreigners or stateless persons, and kandas, that is, ethnic Kazakhs who have resettled in their historical homeland.

How the competition will be held

Competitions are organized by local executive bodies of districts and cities of regional significance. The list of available plots is formed by the authorized body and coordinated with public councils, agricultural non-profit organizations, the regional chamber of entrepreneurs, and local self-government bodies. The list is considered coordinated if at least three quarters of these bodies have given a positive opinion. Land management work must take no more than 35 working days.

The annual list must be formed, coordinated, and approved by January 20, and thereafter updated at least twice a year if there are available plots. The announcement of the competition is published on the portal and on the website of the local body no later than 15 working days before it. If a plot was put up for competition after a refusal to provide it without bidding, the competition must be held no later than 90 calendar days.

Participants are divided into two categories. In the first, only citizens of Kazakhstan, and the plot for them is no more than 300 ha. In the second, citizens and non-state Kazakhstani companies without foreign participation. The category of the plot is determined by the local body and indicated in the announcement.

Registration opens five working days before the competition and closes two hours before it begins. Applications are signed with an electronic digital signature, and the portal verifies them against government data, which it receives automatically. The competition will not take place if fewer than two applications were received for the plot or fewer than two participants were admitted. In a repeat competition, a plot may be awarded even to a single applicant.

How the winner will be selected

The winner is the participant with the highest number of points, and in case of a tie, the one who submitted the application earlier wins. The results are formalized in a protocol, which can be challenged in court. The local body publishes the results on the portal and on its website within one working day after the protocol is drawn up.

What is happening with agricultural land

The moratorium on transferring agricultural land into private ownership expires in 2026. In September, the Ministry of Agriculture reported that the moratorium is proposed to be extended until 2031. Amendments were prepared at that time, but no adoption was reported. Currently, about 1% of agricultural land is in private ownership, and the ministry linked the shift of plot distribution to electronic competitions from January 1, 2027, to the e-Qazyna platform and pilots in Akmola Region and Zhetisu Region.

A separate area is the condition of the land itself. The Ministry of Agriculture compiled electronic maps of soil degradation over an area of 53.5 million ha, which were presented in October at the FAO forum in Rome.

Author's conclusion

The new edition sets aside a separate category with plots of up to 300 ha for those who have not yet received land for farming. The rules also explicitly prescribe closing access to the competition for foreigners and companies with foreign participation. But a plot can only be obtained by winning on points, and in case of a tie, the time of application submission decides, and this makes the competition a race not only for the best indicators but also for speed.