A large-scale case of illegal sand mining is under investigation in Kostanay Region. According to the Financial Monitoring Agency, the head of STS-Cement LLP illegally extracted river sand on an industrial scale from the bed and banks of the Tobol River outside the state-designated subsoil plot. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
The work was carried out using a hydromechanized method with two dredges from the river bottom. The extracted river sand was sold to affiliated enterprises. The total volume of sand sold exceeded 113,000 cubic meters, worth 719 million tenge.
The illegal actions caused significant environmental damage to water and land resources. In particular, the Tobol River's channel changed, the shoreline was destroyed, the hydrological regime was disrupted, and wetlands appeared. According to satellite imagery data, the area of damaged water fund lands exceeded 28,000 square meters. Restoring the natural complex requires bank reinforcement, riverbed cleaning, and reclamation of damaged lands.
By court order, the suspect's property was seized. Specifically, 12 vehicles, 10 land plots, and one non-residential premises were seized. The criminal case has been sent to court.