Why is Zhanatas abandoned? Stories of Kazakhstani cities: Zhanatas

If you search for results for the word “Zhanatas” in a Google search engine, you can see that, along with this name, users often search for the phrase: “Zhanatas is a ghost town.” Indeed, on the Internet you can find many pictures and videos of abandoned five-story buildings in Zhanatas, standing without windows or doors. In the 90s, an impressive part of the residents of this city, located in the Zhambyl region, left their homes and went to other places for a better life. And the city was almost on the verge of extinction. But a few years ago, the seemingly impossible happened - Zhanatas began to come to life. Emergency five-story ghost buildings began to be demolished, and those that were still in good condition began to be restored and people moved into them (while significantly saving on the construction of new housing). The city began to noticeably transform, and now a citizen who came here would not even dare to call it depressive. Renat Tashkinbaev and Turar Kazangapov returned from Zhanatas with the strong opinion that, if desired, any similar town or village in our vast homeland can be brought out of depression in the same way.

From the window of a non-residential five-story building in Zhanatas we look at a completely residential building.

This house stands out from the rest of the landscape - it is painted in pleasant colors, there is a playground and gazebos in the backyard. The entire area is fenced.

This house was bought and restored by a large company (in Zhanatas this enterprise produces mineral fertilizers), moving its employees into it.

We observe all this beauty from the opposite house, which still looks different. And the word “yet” in this case is key.

“It turns out that the neighboring yellow and blue house with a playground and a fence used to be the same box without windows and without doors?” - we ask a local resident.

“Yes, exactly the same. And our house was the same, we took it and renovated it,” says the man who moved to Zhanatas ten years ago.

“Now the city has noticeably come to life. And at that time there were no lights on the streets at night, it was dark and scary, there was no gas, electricity in the houses was turned off, there were difficult times, people baked bread on the street. Now everything is fine,” notes our companion.

“We came here in 2008, at that time many houses were empty, then some were demolished, some are now being slowly restored. Before, when you come to us from Taraz, on the right side the whole microdistrict was empty. Now there are a total of 68 houses in the city demolished," he says.

On the website of the Zhambyl region akimat there is information that just a year ago in Zhanatas there were 214 non-residential buildings, of which 111 were recognized as unsafe and subject to demolition.

As the district housing and communal services department told us, today all these emergency houses have been demolished. Meanwhile, six five-story buildings have been restored and 16 more non-residential buildings remain, which will also be restored over time.

On the Internet you can find several videos about Zhanatas, in which journalists talk about how local residents, trying to earn at least a little money, extract metal from the ruins, which they then sell for scrap.

But judging by the fact that we didn’t see any hunters for protruding rebar during our visit, we can assume that they no longer do this in Zhanatas. “Now we don’t have such houses where we could collect scrap metal,” the housing and communal services department told us.

In addition, it seems that the local authorities are now keeping an eye on uninhabited buildings here.

From the entrances of empty five-story buildings you can see a sign prohibiting entry into non-residential buildings.

Earlier, the regional akimat reported that after the changes that had taken place, its former residents, who had once left here, began to return to Zhanatas. In particular, it was mentioned that over 600 people returned to the city.

Vladimir Ivanovich Nesterenko is one of these. This man came to Zhanatas in the 70s to work as an excavator operator at a mine (the city arose in 1969 due to the beginning of phosphorite mining). “At first, in the 70s of the last century, I came from Ukraine to Kyzylorda on a Komsomol voucher, worked for five years, but the climate there was unbearable, heat and dust storms,” the man says about his life. Then he met military personnel who served in Zhanatas, got into conversation with them, and they advised him to go to the Zhambyl region.

“They said: you will earn good money there as an excavator operator. And in fact, at first you earned good money. There were two of us with a friend, we took tickets and came here with him. I remember how they took us to the Karakum sands, where only saxaul grows , and for the whole week. We collected food, cooked for ourselves. And on Saturday after work, then it was a shortened day, they came for us and on the weekend we went home to the city again for a whole week. worked for years,” says the pensioner.

After retiring in the 90s, Vladimir Ivanovich went to his daughter in the Krasnoyarsk Territory (Russia). He lived there for some time and decided to return to Zhanatas to his other daughter, who lives here. “In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the climate is harsh - 50 degrees below zero, I’m not used to this, I love warm winters like we have here. In general, I have three daughters, all of them graduated from universities in Astana, they are good specialists, I’m glad for them, although our mother died early and it turned out that I taught them myself,” says the man.

“Pay attention to the windows in the entrance, I covered them with a piece of fiberboard, and less than a month has passed before the kids have already removed one sheet, such children are simply terrible,” he says. And for some reason there are no entrance doors in the entrances of this house.

“Zhanatas has changed a little. And then, I remember, there was a general blockage,” the man notes.

The residents themselves call this plan grandiose and really hope that it will be implemented.

“Compared to how it was before, we are getting better and better, there are improvements, and big improvements. Houses are being restored, for example, the ninth microdistrict was completely destroyed - everything was removed, these empty houses that were abandoned, they were all cleaned The waiting list for housing in the city is moving forward, my daughter is on the waiting list for an apartment and next year or the year after she will already receive an apartment from restored houses,” says Nadezhda Mikhailovna Menshova.

She came from Kostanay to Zhanatas on a Komsomol voucher in 1979 and actually built this entire city.

“When there was devastation, there was no light, there was no heating, there were strikes, no money was given, we took everything using coupons - these were the most difficult times, then many people left,” says Nadezhda Mikhailovna.

“I also wanted to leave, but my husband loves Zhanatas so much, he didn’t want anything, and we didn’t move, he works for me as a Belarusian specialist at the plant,” she says.

Since ancient times, there has been a sign at the entrance to her house saying that Friday is cleanliness day.

“So write everything good about our city. And in general, invite them to visit us, let them come to our city, we don’t have anything that terrible, even the criminal situation in our country is not bad. It’s very beautiful here, especially in the mountains, here there is a pioneer camp “Zhuldyz” - oh, what beauty there is, simply virgin beauty: poppies, tulips... So come in the summer,” local residents invite.

Now the population of Zhanatas is slightly more than 21 thousand people. According to the grandiose master plan, in 2050 the number of local residents should almost double and reach 40 thousand.

Text by Renat Tashkinbaev, photo by Turar Kazangapov

Most modern Kazakhstanis remember Zhanatas mainly from the events that happened here at the end of the last century. When the desperate population of an abandoned single-industry town came close to the line beyond which the territory of rebellion began. Rallies, road closures, hunger strikes and hopeless campaigns of Zhanatas residents “for the truth” - these are all attributes of precisely that troubled time (timelessness!), which fell like a heavy curtain on local history and covered the former glory of the exemplary city that Zhanatas was considered not so long ago.

Zhanatas – New Stone. This stone is the famous Karatau phosphorite, the vast reserves of which gave rise to the emergence of a new city at the foot of the black Karatau mountains.

Despite the fact that industrial reserves of phosphorites were discovered in this area almost first, they began to be developed much later than in Chulaktau (the current city of Karatau). Due to the remoteness of Zhanatas from the railway, in the 40s of the last century, when the industrial development of these outback areas began, there was no time for fat. There was a war going on and it was necessary to quickly master what lay closer.

So Zhanatas appeared on the map as a city only in 1964 and immediately became a model for other similar ones. And for some, even a dream worthy of leaving their homes and going to distant Kazakhstan. After all, the construction of Zhanatas took place with the very active participation of the Leninist Komsomol, and thousands of “the best representatives of Soviet youth” came from all over the country from all over the country to the all-Union shock construction site, with “Komsomol vouchers” in their pockets.

They didn’t talk about the fact that no fewer builders of a completely different nature were sent here, with completely different “vouchers,” not of their own free will, “for chemistry.” And although the “chemists” were a noticeable stratum at the construction sites of “big chemistry”, in those years they were not yet surrounded by an aura of thieves’ romance - their time had not yet come and the tone in everything was set by those to whom this was due in the concepts of the time.

In the troubled privatization times, when the former industrial flagships of the collapsed Soviet Union were briskly auctioned off for pennies, not all happy buyers invested these pennies, thinking about development. The ultimate dream for most was the immediate resale of the stray wealth that had fallen on their heads. "For scrap metal."

Photo by Andrey Mikhailov
photo by Andrey Mikhailov
photo by Andrey Mikhailov

photo by Andrey Mikhailov
photo by Andrey Mikhailov
photo by Andrey Mikhailov

photo by Andrey Mikhailov
photo by Andrey Mikhailov
photo by Andrey Mikhailov

photo by Andrey Mikhailov
photo by Andrey Mikhailov
photo by Andrey Mikhailov

photo by Andrey Mikhailov

The fact that this total sale often bore the character of real economic crimes against the state and its future did not particularly bother anyone (they still prefer to remain silent about this). It got to the point that equipment sold “for scrap metal” was dismantled according to the drawings and taken away with the expectation that it would be assembled somewhere outside of Kazakhstan. This “scrap metal,” they say, is still working properly somewhere in enterprises in China, regularly producing products, bringing profit and new items for thoughtful reflection on the “Chinese economic miracle.”

The fact that part of the former phosphorus industry of Kazakhstan ended up with those who were able to see their benefits not only in banal robbery is a continuation of the story of Zhanatas. And enterprises divided by fate between opposite owners are very indicative in this regard. One part, which fell into the hands of the owners of Kazphosphate, works, puffs, gives the country phosphorus and jobs for the people. The other share is tragically silent, robbed, plundered and destroyed. Therefore, the fact that Zhanatas, despite everything, managed to survive on modern maps, although fairly battered by time, is an element of luck. And he was pretty battered!

The city, hidden in a basin, emerges to meet the multi-story ruins of a microdistrict with gaping window openings and through winds blowing through the useless walls of someone’s living space abandoned in the dark times. It seems incredible that just a couple of decades ago many thousands of more or less happy residents lived here. In the morning they sent their children to kindergartens and schools, in the evening they went out into the courtyards to sit with neighbors on benches and watch their children play, on the 5th and 20th of each month they received their due salaries (and organized small holidays on this worthy occasion), they did not think much about their future and, quite possibly, they sincerely loved their city.

This apocalyptic microdistrict at the entrance is the main image maker of today’s Zhanatas, influencing all perceptions of the future. After meeting him, many no longer care that this is just a picture of clinical death, that the patient, despite all the efforts of the “doctors,” survived and is somehow recovering. That Zhanatas did not share the sad fate of those hundreds of single-industry towns on the territory of the former Union, for which their former promise overnight became their own death.

— Are they going to do something with these ugly ruins?

- What should we do with them? Just break it. They cannot be restored. And the city doesn’t need them - today Zhanatas has only a third of its former population...
They say that one of the founding fathers of Zhanatas was initially against these high-rise buildings and even began to build a cottage community. He believed that his own land would further attract people, most of whom came from somewhere far away, to live and work here, at the foot of Karatau and next to the largest phosphorite deposits in the Union.

The monument-symbol of Zhanatas, where a horseman is depicted tearing apart a rock, is located in the main park. It is all painted and covered with autographs. But the autographs are not at all from that bygone “heroic” era of pioneers. Most of the inscriptions, we must pay tribute to the polyglot nature of the authors, are written in English.

But America has nothing to do with it (at least somewhere!). What we see before our eyes is ordinary vandalism, which, alas, in many places we have become quite accustomed to. As we know, devastation “on the ground” is always preceded by another devastation – in the minds. A generation is growing up, before whose eyes almost nothing was built, but only destroyed.

We continue the series of special reports as part of the new CPC project “People Everywhere”. These are stories about abandoned and forgotten cities, villages and their inhabitants. Our next material is from the town of Zhanatasa, in the Zhambyl region. Under the Union, Zhanatas was the pride of the chemical industry; hopes were placed on it. People from all over the country went there to build a happy future. In a matter of years, the mining town was overgrown with factories, which after several decades were overgrown with grass and became a haven for stray dogs. Currently, only one plant operates in Zhanatas.

- The dairy is over there... the windows are visible. It also does not work now, it has also stopped. The bakery was big. The whole region was provided with bread. "Zhanatas NAN".

The Sultan gives a tour of Zhanatas. Or rather, according to what remains of the once prosperous city. The guy is 23 years old, he was born here. Just at the time when Zhanatas began to fade. After the collapse of the Union, enterprises stopped and people left here in search of a better life. They left behind these empty houses. Dozens of houses, entire neighborhoods. Zhanatas, once famous for its phosphorus mines, began to turn into ruins.

The ninth microdistrict is perhaps the city’s main anti-attraction. They try to avoid it even during the day. Very unpleasant sensations arise when you find yourself inside courtyards. It seems that you are captured by these empty high-rise buildings, and the houses are slowly converging around you in a tight ring. But it is surprising that in the very center of this absolutely dead area there is a functioning school.

Akmaral Shynybaeva lives with her husband and two children in a dilapidated house. Due to the injury she received in the accident, she rarely goes outside. And there’s really nowhere to go here: there are almost no neighbors left, her house is located among abandoned high-rise buildings. Akmaral does not like to look out the window. She dreams of completely different landscapes.

Akmaral Shynybaeva, resident of Zhanatas:

“I want to live like normal people and do repairs, but I’m afraid it will suddenly fall apart.” Because we had a snowstorm here, there was a neighbor on the fourth floor. Her balcony is just like this... This wall went inside her like this. But they didn’t do anything, the akimat said: “Okay, okay, but they didn’t do it.”

Previously, there was so much work in Zhanatas that there was enough for both local residents and visitors. The mining town grew rapidly with plants and factories, but also soon fell into decay. Today there is only one phosphorus plant operating here, but there are not enough jobs for all of them.

Sultan Tarverdiev, resident of Zhanatas:

- 40%, one might say, are unemployed, 40% go out of town, to Almaty, Shymkent, Astana, to earn a living .

They try to make a living in different ways. Men, women and even children spend days wandering through empty concrete boxes and hitting them with sledgehammers in search of metal. They get 25 tenge per kilogram. Everyone has their own plot, so guests are not welcome here.

- If there is a job, we work. If not, what should I do? We need to feed our own... So we work slowly, until lunch.

Now a little more than 20 thousand people live in Zhanatas. These are those who have nowhere to go or nothing to buy. And recently, locals learned that the settlement was included in the list of the state program for the restoration of single-industry towns. The authorities promise to open new industries and revive old ones, demolish dilapidated houses and build new ones. The Sultan also believes in this. He and his wife recently had a son. And they want him to remember something else - a revived city, and not these pitiful ruins.

In 1969, a city with the promising name Zhanatas appeared on the map of Kazakhstan. The ongoing scientific and technological revolution required the necessary acceleration of the pace of development to raise the country's mining industry to a high level. Armed with high-tech equipment, the mining industry developed in incredible time. In order to ensure the normal functioning of mining industry enterprises, it was necessary to build new cities. All the country's forces were directed to the construction of Zhanatas. With the creation of conditions for work, it was necessary to create conditions for rest. Therefore, the city was transforming before our eyes. In those years when there were the “Five Year Plan”, “Plan” and “Building of Communism”, the people were busy only with work, and the current issues of social security did not worry the working people. Because any employee knew that the enterprise where he worked would provide him with a trip to a sanatorium, gifts for families for the holidays, and, finally, a decent pension. The Soviet economic model did not allow enterprises to go to waste, because they were under state control. Citizens from all over the Union were drawn to Zhanatas, and not only by the high salaries of the miners. The state responded with gratitude to the Zhanata people. A hospital, a Palace of Culture, kindergartens and schools, and dormitories for workers and students were built. An entire house-building plant was also built, since the construction of housing and the modernization of factories and factories were required. In a word, the city lived its own life. The developed infrastructure and conditions for normal life made it possible to consider the city developed and modern. Then no one could have imagined in what inhuman conditions they would have to exist in the future. With the advent of perestroika and the democratization of society, a kind of healers and predictors began to appear more and more often on central television. And then the now famous astrological couple Globa predicted that in the near future such young cities as Magnitogorsk would become unsuitable for existence. A little time passed, and we have what we have. After the collapse of the Union, the newcomer “internationalists” were the first to leave. They thought that now everything would be different, and they were not mistaken. Independent Kazakhstan did not suit them. There was only one way out - to leave for their historical homeland. Then the breakdown of ties in the industrial chain led to the fact that the enterprise for which the city was created could not provide not only the city, but also its employees with either wages or social benefits. This was explained by the lack of cash. Although a few years earlier the Karatau production association was a billionaire. The rest of the staunch part of the Zhanatasians could not believe that such a “colossus”, which provided phosphorus raw materials for a great country, would become unnecessary to the state. But the state was busy with other urgent matters and did not pay enough attention to this industry. The management of the plant had to look for partners through their connections and establish a sales market. However, the money earned, due to the need to convert it, passed through one now famous bank and got stuck in the government. Naturally, this could not but cause indignation among the company's workers. The unpaid wages were blamed on investors who paid off the company’s debts. And it seemed that life was getting better, salaries were being paid on time, but, as one would expect, dubious investors of those years went home, leaving behind a new salary debt. Then everything happened according to approximately the same pattern, but the people had to endure bullying could not. Putting forward demands, miners went on strikes, organized marches from Zhanatas to Almaty and pickets in front of the government in order to attract attention to themselves. But, as the famous saying goes, “a well-fed man is no friend to the hungry.” Millions of Kazakhstanis watched on television what the situation in Zhanatas had become, and no one, not a single public organization, considered it necessary to stand up for their compatriots. As a result, the situation reached the point where the strikers seized the Taraz-Almaty railway and did not allow locomotives to pass in either direction. Traffic stopped and the railway suffered losses. A decision is made to suppress the strikers who have especially “distinguished themselves” and punish them. Now this is remembered as a bad dream. Electricity was only supplied for two hours a day, there was no hot or cold water at all, and most importantly, there was no money. Children should study, dress no worse than others and, finally, eat nutritious food. These seemingly basic things, without which life in modern society is unimaginable, were not something the Zhanata people could afford. Not much has changed since then. The city is still in darkness. Entering the city, the first thing that appears before the eye are empty houses, although no, not houses, but entire microdistricts. Thanks to the leadership of the country that we don’t have wars, but looking at Zhanatas, probably only because of his appearance, the desire comes to make some kind of film about the war and the feeling that he is somewhere in Chechnya or Yugoslavia. The city turned into a big camp. The disadvantaged residents of the city have simply adapted to these conditions, since there is no one to expect help from. If previously the vast majority of the working population worked for the plant, now this “oasis” is only for those who have worked at the enterprise for a long time and have good connections with the management. Some have settled down to the budget trough, and the majority are either not busy with anything or are trading in the markets. There are already two of them in Zhanatas, as well as trays near shops and commercial kiosks. Fortunately, food prices are reasonable. According to the stories of local residents, the people are not the same as before. Decency has faded into the background. All psychologists and political scientists believe that the more difficult the conditions of existence, the more united the team and the state. Now there is another trend, contrary to all the rules. On the contrary, people began to divide: those who have a stable salary look down on those who do not have it at all or trade in the market. As for our fellow citizens who serve in banks, the tax office or the akimat, this is a completely unattainable elite. It is sad that the once friendly and united city, which people from all over the Union wanted to get to, is now a forgotten settlement with a population angry at each other, which takes bribes even to hire a worker. The plant, which now has only one mine for the extraction of phosphorus ore, because the rest were stolen and resold, is still an object for pumping out money from investors. Probably no one can change the current state of affairs, since the chance to get out of poverty with dignity has been missed. Of course, it was hard and, probably, it will remain so for a long time, but doing such vandalistic things as periodically stealing telephone cables and power lines for kilometers, as well as achieving something in life through honest work has become a big problem. The garden city has turned into a polluted “ “dead city”, where only those people who have nowhere to go and have to put up with all the hardships and difficulties that have befallen them remain to live.

In those years when there were the “Five Year Plan”, “Plan” and “Building Communism”, the people were busy only with work, and the current issues of social security did not worry the working people. Because any employee knew that the enterprise where he worked would provide him with a trip to a sanatorium, gifts for families for the holidays, and, finally, a decent pension. The Soviet economic model did not allow enterprises to go bankrupt, because they were under state control.

Citizens from all over the Union were drawn to Zhanatas, and not only by the high salaries of miners. The state responded with gratitude to the Zhanata people. A hospital, a Palace of Culture, kindergartens and schools, and dormitories for workers and students were built. An entire house-building plant was also built, since the construction of housing and the modernization of factories and factories were required. In a word, the city lived its own life. The developed infrastructure and conditions for normal life made it possible to consider the city developed and modern. At that time, no one could have imagined the inhuman conditions in which they would have to exist in the future.

With the advent of perestroika and the democratization of society, a kind of healers and predictors began to appear more and more often on central television. And then the now famous astrological couple Globa predicted that in the near future such young cities as Magnitogorsk would become unsuitable for existence. A little time has passed, and we have what we have.

After the collapse of the Union, the newcomers “internationalists” were the first to leave. They thought that now everything would be different, and they were not mistaken. Independent Kazakhstan did not suit them. There was only one option left - to go to their historical homeland.

Then the breakdown of industrial chain ties led to the fact that the enterprise for which the city was created could not provide not only the city, but also its employees with either wages or social benefits. This was explained by the lack of cash. Although several years earlier the Karatau production association was a billionaire.

The rest of the persistent part of the Zhanatasians could not believe that such a “colossus”, which provided a great country with phosphorus raw materials, would become unnecessary for the state. But the state was busy with other urgent matters and did not pay enough attention to this industry. The management of the plant had to look for partners through their connections and establish a sales market. However, the money earned, due to the need to convert it, passed through one now famous bank and got stuck in the government. Naturally, this could not but cause indignation among the company's workers. The unpaid wages were blamed on investors who paid off the company’s debts. And it seemed that life was getting better, salaries were being paid on time, but, as one would expect, dubious investors of those years went home, leaving behind a new salary debt.

Then everything happened according to approximately the same pattern, but the people could no longer tolerate the bullying. Putting forward demands, miners went on strikes, organized marches from Zhanatas to Almaty and pickets in front of the government in order to attract attention to themselves. But, as the famous saying goes, “a well-fed man is no friend to the hungry.” Millions of Kazakhstanis watched on television what the situation in Zhanatas had become, and no one, not a single public organization, considered it necessary to stand up for their compatriots. As a result, the situation reached the point where the strikers seized the Taraz-Almaty railway and did not allow locomotives to pass in either direction. Traffic stopped and the railway suffered losses. A decision is made to suppress the strikers, those who have particularly “distinguished themselves” and to punish them.

Now I remember it like a bad dream. Electricity was only supplied for two hours a day, there was no hot or cold water at all, and most importantly, there was no money. Children should study, dress no worse than others and, finally, eat nutritious food. These seemingly basic things, without which life in modern society is unimaginable, were not something the Zhanata people could afford. Not much has changed since then. The city is still in darkness. Entering the city, the first thing that appears before the eye are empty houses, although no, not houses, but entire microdistricts. Thanks to the leadership of the country that we don’t have wars, but looking at Zhanatas, probably only because of his appearance, the desire comes to make some kind of film about the war and the feeling that he is somewhere in Chechnya or Yugoslavia. The city turned into a big camp. The disadvantaged residents of the city simply adapted to these conditions, since there was no one to expect help from.

If previously the overwhelming majority of the working population worked for the plant, now this “oasis” is only for those who have worked at the enterprise for a long time and have good connections with management. Some have settled down to the budget trough, and the majority are either not busy with anything or are trading in the markets. There are already two of them in Zhanatas, as well as trays near shops and commercial kiosks. Fortunately, food prices are reasonable.

According to the stories of local residents, the people are no longer the same as before. Decency has faded into the background. All psychologists and political scientists believe that the more difficult the conditions of existence, the more united the team and the state. Now there is another trend, contrary to all the rules. On the contrary, people began to divide: those who have a stable salary look down on those who do not have it at all or trade in the market. As for our fellow citizens who serve in banks, the tax office or the akimat, this is a completely unattainable elite.
It is sad that the once friendly and united city, which people from all over the Union wanted to get into, is now a forgotten settlement with a population that is angry with each other and takes bribes even to hire an employee. The plant, which now has only one mine for the extraction of phosphorus ore, because the rest were stolen and resold, is still an object for pumping out money from investors. Probably no one can change the current state of affairs, since the chance to get out of poverty with dignity has been missed. Of course, it was hard and, probably, it will be like this for a long time, but doing such vandalistic things as periodically stealing telephone cables and power lines for kilometers, as well as achieving something in life through honest work became a big problem.

The garden city has turned into a polluted “dead city”, where only those people who have nowhere to leave and have to put up with all the hardships and difficulties that befell them remain to live.