The companies Capital City Center and International Business Center, linked through their founder to the wife of the honorary consul of Hungary, Zhambulat Sarsenov, received state contracts worth hundreds of millions of tenge in 2026. At the same time, a significant portion of the state contracts was concluded from a single source, including for the lease of premises for state organisations.
WHAT CONTRACTS CAPITAL CITY CENTER RECEIVED
According to Hronika.kz, the Ministry of Energy concluded an agreement with Capital City Center LLP for the technical maintenance and comprehensive servicing of an administrative building in Astana worth 327.8 million tenge. The contract is valid from March to December 2026 and provides for cleaning, maintenance of engineering communications, upkeep of the territory and decoration of the building for festive events.
This concerns a 20-storey building at Kabanbay Batyr, 19 with a total area of 15,300 square metres. The ministry occupies 7,400 square metres, including most of the car park for 250 vehicles.
Before concluding the main agreement, the department purchased similar services from the same company for 68.9 million tenge — from February to March 2026. This contract was concluded from a single source, whereas the agreement worth 327.8 million tenge was awarded following an open tender.
The company received a further 38.5 million tenge from the ministry's subordinate JSC "Situation and Analytical Centre of the Fuel and Energy Complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan" for the maintenance of buildings and adjacent territories. This agreement was also concluded from a single source. The centre occupies less than 1,000 square metres in the same building.
THE PREMISES LEASE CONTRACT
In February 2026, KMG Engineering LLP concluded with Capital City Center a lease agreement for administrative and industrial premises at Kabanbay Batyr Street, 17. The initial amount was 168 million tenge, but after a supplementary agreement it was reduced to 108 million tenge. The term of the agreement is three months, until May 2026. In addition to the lease, it provides for the maintenance of the building.
Thus, the contracts of Capital City Center listed in the publication in 2026 amounted to 543.2 million tenge. At the same time, the company has been operating under contracts since 2015 and during this time has paid 5 billion tenge in taxes.
HOW THE COMPANIES ARE LINKED TO EACH OTHER
The current founder of Capital City Center is Kenzhbay Bekmurat. Before that, for 11 years the company was owned by Caspianenergy LLP. Its founders are named as Saltanat Karabalina and Aiman Sarsenova, the wife of the honorary consul of Hungary, Zhambulat Sarsenov.
Caspianenergy also acted as the founder of International Business Center, which leases premises in the neighbouring building at Kabanbay Batyr, 17. In 2026, this company received state contracts worth 842.8 million tenge, and all of them were concluded from a single source.
Among the tenants are the National Accreditation Centre, the Republican Centre for Electronic Healthcare, the Kazakhstan Industry and Export Centre QazIndustry, as well as the Astana Traffic Management Centre. The amounts of individual annual agreements range from 6.2 million to 349 million tenge.
WHY THE PROCUREMENT METHOD ATTRACTED ATTENTION
The publication notes that a significant portion of the tenants of the building at Kabanbay Batyr, 17 are organisations financed from the state budget. At the same time, state customers concluded agreements with International Business Center without competitive procedures, using the single-source method.
This method of procurement in itself does not indicate a violation of the law. However, the issue concerns not only the cost of rent, but also the transparency of the spending of budget funds.
