How KazStroyTechnik grew from subcontracting to major projects

Road construction remains a key part of Kazakhstan’s infrastructure development. For contractors, the market offers opportunities while demanding substantial investment in equipment, production facilities, technology and people. This is the path KazStroyTechnik has followed over the past decade: starting out in equipment rental and subcontracting, the company now delivers major infrastructure projects using its own resources.

Founded in 2015 by Zelimkhan Makhauri, the company drew on his extensive experience in infrastructure construction and logistics. The business initially focused on renting heavy equipment and dump trucks to foreign companies. After obtaining the necessary licenses, KazStroyTechnik moved into subcontracting, undertaking earthworks, foundation excavation and other construction work. Its early major projects included Abu Dhabi Plaza, EXPO 2017 and the Botanical Garden in Astana. The company gradually assembled its own team and invested in machinery, equipment and production capacity, allowing it to progress from handling individual elements of a project to delivering the entire construction process.

«When we became a general contractor, we decided to carry out the work ourselves, without engaging subcontractors. We reinvested almost everything we earned in our production facilities and in strengthening the company’s capital base», — Makhauri recalls.

Today, KazStroyTechnik operates more than 170 pieces of road construction equipment; an asphalt mixing plant from Swiss manufacturer Ammann with a capacity of 160 tonnes per hour; a crushing and screening complex with a capacity of 400 tonnes per hour; a concrete plant capable of producing 90 tonnes per hour; bitumen facilities with storage capacity of 1,000 tonnes; and gas supply infrastructure with 150 tonnes of storage capacity. According to the CEO, subcontractors are now brought in only for specialist work required by a project, accounting for less than 1% of the total volume of work.

A key milestone in the company’s development was the reconstruction of a 30.2-kilometre section of the M-51 Astana–Petropavlovsk–Kurgan highway in North Kazakhstan Region. Conditions were difficult: waterlogged ground, groundwater, persistent rain and a lack of suitable aggregate in the region, which meant material had to be transported over a distance of 240 kilometres.

«When we arrived at the site, we understood why we had faced no competition in the tender. Completing that truly challenging project established us as a fully fledged market player. Quality remains my top priority. If we want to remain in demand, we have to build good roads and follow all the required construction processes. That is the best advertising a company can have», — says KazStroyTechnik’s founder.

Government bodies and state-affiliated organizations remain the principal clients for major road projects in Kazakhstan. Makhauri notes that large private businesses have yet to show the same interest in road infrastructure as their counterparts in some overseas markets. At the same time, KazStroyTechnik is considering opportunities to participate in projects backed by foreign investors, as well as infrastructure initiatives outside Kazakhstan.

The company belongs to the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan and, in 2025, became the first Kazakhstani company to join the US-based National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). For Makhauri, NAPA membership is primarily a commitment to meeting international standards. One example is the investment the company has made in improving the environmental performance of its production facilities. KazStroyTechnik converted its asphalt plant and bitumen facilities to run on gas, which required building a gas storage facility at its on-site workers’ camp. According to Makhauri, the storage facility alone cost KZT 120 million to build, excluding the cost of transporting gas over hundreds of kilometres.

These investments do not always deliver a direct financial return. The company nevertheless views them as part of a broader move towards higher production standards. In the United States, KazStroyTechnik also explored new road construction technologies and held talks with Terra Pavement about using specialist additives and stabilizers. However, technologies developed abroad must be tested under local conditions before they can be adopted in Kazakhstan. As Makhauri explains, the Kazakhstan Road Research Institute (KazdorNII) conducts trials of the products on a project; successful results could see them placed in the «green zone». Their practical application remains an area for further work, including on rural roads without asphalt surfacing.

Makhauri sees workforce shortages as one of the industry’s main structural challenges. The shortage extends beyond engineers to plant and heavy equipment operators, drivers, installation workers and other skilled trades. In his view, the industry needs more specialist vocational institutions and a systematic approach to training. The quality of the underlying information used to develop a project is equally important.

«If the geotechnical investigations are reliable and the design is sound, construction will go well and the roads will be of good quality. But if errors at those stages are then passed on to the contractor as a business risk, the economics of the project change entirely», — Makhauri says.

He also believes that competition for contracts should give greater weight to companies’ actual production capacity. Past experience does not necessarily mean that a company still has an established team, modern equipment and operational facilities today. KazStroyTechnik’s response has been a strategy of maximizing self-sufficiency, from maintaining its own equipment fleet to owning its production assets.

The company is also exploring opportunities in related infrastructure sectors. During the 2024 floods, it provided its own equipment to build flood defences in North Kazakhstan Region and later constructed a four-kilometre flood protection embankment in the Podgora area of Petropavlovsk. According to Makhauri, KazStroyTechnik has now approached the relevant government committee with a request to be considered as a contractor for hydraulic engineering projects.

The next stage of development will involve further expansion of the company’s production facilities. In Petropavlovsk, KazStroyTechnik has begun building a precast concrete plant for the road construction industry, intended to supply construction materials to North Kazakhstan Region. Its plans also include establishing a dedicated bridge construction division and participating in international projects.

«We would like to take on international projects and offer real competition to foreign companies. I believe Kazakhstan’s road construction companies have earned that opportunity. We build roads just as well», — Makhauri concludes.