Sometimes it seems that there is very little private property left in the country. It is unclear what happens to the properties that are transferred to state ownership. Although sometimes the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) or the Prosecutor General's Office share plans for the future of these properties, this is more of an exception. Accurate information about the number of nationalized properties and their value is lacking, as there are no open databases or reports from government agencies.
Kaktus.media conducted an analysis of official statements from government bodies and calculated how many properties and for what amount were returned over the past five years.
Ministries and the Mayor's Office are also involved
In the final quarter of 2025, the state returned 99 properties from private owners. Government agencies were most active in October, when almost half of all properties returned with violations were recorded. At the same time, in December, the amount of returned property significantly decreased.Throughout the past year, among the returned properties were also apartments (55) and various buildings (18). It is worth noting that apartments are often seized after the construction of multi-story buildings on illegally privatized plots of kindergartens. They are not required to demolish the constructed properties, but new owners compensate for the damage by transferring part of the living space to the state.
Most likely, these properties will either be resold or transferred to the State Mortgage Company for construction. This was the case, for example, with the former Bishkek liquor and vodka plant, the plot of which, valued at over 610 million soms, was returned in December 2024. It was previously owned by the family of former Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh Chynybai Tursunbekov, and in the fall of 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred it to the authorized capital of the State Mortgage Company.
Increase in state assets
When the first reports of the nationalization of certain properties began to appear in 2021, no one could have predicted what this would lead to. Initially, it was about the return of property related to high-profile criminal cases.Despite the slowdown in the process in 2022-2023, there has been an acceleration in the last two years. Data shows that last year, twice as many properties transitioned to state ownership as in the previous four years combined.
Among the most expensive nationalized properties in the last five years are:
- the April gold deposit - 4 billion 350 million soms;
- the "Oberon-Dordoy" and "Oberon-Orto-Sai" markets - 3 billion 889.5 million soms;
- the Aravan cotton factory "Ak-Bula" - 3 billion 217 million soms;
- the Radio Plant in Tokmok - 3 billion soms;
- the "Juma-bazar" market in the Suzak district - 2 billion soms;
- over 60 hectares of agricultural land in the Batken region - 1.8 billion soms;
- the Kum-Shagyl factory - 1.7 billion soms;
- the "Osh Nuru" hotel - 1 billion 566 million soms;
- the Uluu-Tuu mercury deposit - 1 billion 246.5 million soms;
- the "Simiram" recreation center - 1 billion 84.6 million soms.
It should be noted that there is no complete open database of returned properties, and it is unclear what happens to the seized property. Properties transferred to the State Agency for Management of State Property are periodically put up for auction or transferred to the balance of government agencies by decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers. However, there are also those that are returned to local authorities, and no one knows how they manage the received property.
At the beginning of last year, a group of deputies proposed to declare an amnesty for certain properties privatized from August 1991 to January 1, 2025. The document was adopted in the first reading only in September 2025. After that, the Jogorku Kenesh announced its self-dissolution, and a new composition was elected, which has not yet returned to discussing this initiative.
