Interview with Adilbek Khalibekovich Bergaripov, Vice President of JSC PSTK Bitelecom, one of the shareholders of the QazaQstorage project.

The QazaQstorage project on Moskvina Street, 9 in Almaty was the result of almost two years of work by a team of shareholders, investors, consultants, contractors and operating partners. The warehouse complex was created as a modern infrastructure facility for businesses that need high-quality warehouse space, convenient urban logistics, reliable engineering solutions and a ready operational base for storing and handling cargo.

QazaQstorage was implemented not merely as a construction facility, but as a full-scale investment project with a clear commercial model. Even before all launch stages were completed, the project reached an agreement with a tenant to lease the warehouse premises, confirming the market demand for the facility and the soundness of the chosen market concept.

The official opening of QazaQstorage marked an important milestone in the development of the project. It was timed not to the formal commissioning of a separate facility, since that is only one stage of a broader project cycle, but to a more substantive moment: the handover of the warehouse to the operator, the completion of the necessary technical and organizational fine-tuning, the start of actual operating activities and the project reaching its intended operating and payback mode.

For the project participants, the opening confirmed that the investment idea had been successfully implemented, that the facility had received operational content, and that the market had gained modern warehouse infrastructure capable of serving real business needs.

We spoke about the significance of the project, its implementation and further prospects with Adilbek Khalibekovich Bergaripov, Vice President of JSC PSTK Bitelecom, one of the shareholders of the project.

– Adilbek Khalibekovich, the QazaQstorage project has been successfully completed. What does the opening of this facility mean to you?

– For us, the opening of QazaQstorage is an important practical result. We have gone all the way from an idea and an initial investment hypothesis to a completed warehouse facility that can already be used by businesses. This is not simply the construction of a building, but the creation of full-fledged warehouse infrastructure designed for the needs of the modern market.

Today, businesses need more than just square meters. They need facilities that allow them to receive, store, process and ship goods quickly, reduce logistics costs and operate at high speed. QazaQstorage was created precisely for this purpose.

– Why did JSC PSTK Bitelecom take part in the project as one of the shareholders?

– We saw a clear market need and strong investment logic in the project. Almaty and the Almaty Region remain a key center of trade, distribution and logistics. At the same time, high-quality warehouse space, especially with a good location and modern technical specifications, remains in demand.

For us, it was important to participate in a project that has real practical value. QazaQstorage is an asset that can be useful to tenants, the market and investors. Therefore, our participation in the project was a deliberate decision.

– What is the main idea behind the QazaQstorage project?

– The idea was to create a modern warehouse complex that would meet the requirements of companies operating in logistics, distribution, e-commerce, FMCG and related sectors.

From the outset, we viewed the facility not only as a traditional warehouse, but as infrastructure for a new model of trade. Today, e-commerce, marketplaces, fast urban delivery and the dark store format are actively developing, where goods are not actually placed on a store shelf but are located closer to the consumer and delivered promptly after an online order. Therefore, it was important for us to create a facility capable of serving precisely this model: quickly receiving goods, storing them, assembling orders and ensuring subsequent delivery across the city and beyond.

We proceeded from the view that the market needs a facility that can be used not merely as a warehouse in a formal sense, but as an operational platform. Working height, floor load, the availability of dock doors, engineering systems, security, video surveillance, fire suppression, the ability to organize an office area and efficient cargo handling were all important.

– Which characteristics of the facility do you consider key?

– QazaQstorage is a warehouse complex with an area of approximately 6,840 square meters. The facility is located on a land plot of approximately 1.66 hectares. Its height is up to 18 meters, and the working height inside the warehouse is approximately 13 meters.

The warehouse is equipped with 10 dock doors, a built-in office mezzanine with an area of approximately 360 square meters, engineering infrastructure, security and fire suppression systems. Its estimated cargo handling and storage capacity is up to 100,000 tons per year. For a tenant, this provides not just premises, but a ready base for organizing warehouse and logistics operations.

– How important was the location of the facility?

– For warehouse real estate, location is of fundamental importance. It directly affects the tenant’s economics: delivery times, transport costs, accessibility for personnel, the ability to serve urban districts quickly and optimize routes.

In the case of QazaQstorage, the location was chosen with precisely this logic in mind. The facility is located within the city, but not in the congested central area. This makes it possible, on the one hand, to receive heavy transport and organize large-batch deliveries, and, on the other hand, to distribute goods quickly along urban routes using smaller vehicles. For a modern warehouse, this is a very important combination: the facility must be sufficiently accessible for mainline logistics and, at the same time, convenient for last-mile delivery.

We understood that the facility had to be convenient for companies for which speed and predictability of logistics are important. A good location makes it possible to shorten the logistics cycle, reduce dependence on intermediate warehouses and deliver goods faster to end points of consumption.

– Which market factors confirmed the relevance of the project?

– The warehouse real estate market in Almaty shows steady demand for quality space. This is connected with the development of trade, online sales, distribution, logistics operators and companies that need modern premises with clear infrastructure.

Facilities that allow businesses to scale without materially restructuring their operating model are especially in demand. QazaQstorage falls precisely into this category: it can be adapted to different tenant needs, while already containing the basic infrastructure required for efficient operation.

In addition to domestic demand in Almaty, we also looked at the broader regional context. In Central Asia, there is competition among major logistics hubs, primarily Almaty, Tashkent and Bishkek. For international and regional operators, it matters where warehouse and distribution infrastructure should be located, from where it is more convenient to serve markets and where cargo flows should be directed. From this perspective, the emergence of a quality facility in Almaty strengthens the city’s attractiveness as a logistics base not only for Kazakhstan, but also for work with neighboring markets.

– When did the project become clear to you as an investment?

– The project became clear as an investment when several elements came together: market demand, the technical concept of the facility, the financial model, the shareholder participation structure and an understanding of the potential tenant.

A very important point was that, even before the warehouse was commissioned, an agreement had been reached with a tenant to lease the warehouse premises. For any investment project, this is a significant indicator: the future operating model is confirmed not only by calculations, but also by the interest of a specific counterparty.

– What was the significance of the agreement with the tenant before the facility was commissioned?

– It was one of the key factors in reducing the commercial risk of the project. When a project has a clear future user, the quality of the investment decision changes. Shareholders and investors can see that the facility is not being built abstractly “for the market”, but in response to real demand.

In this respect, an important role was played by structuring the relationship with the counterparty under the off-take contract. The IPLC team assisted in building this arrangement, under which an agreement was reached with the tenant to lease the warehouse premises even before the warehouse was commissioned. This strengthened the commercial certainty of the project and helped move it from an investment hypothesis to a more sustainable implementation model.

– What were the most difficult tasks in the course of implementing the project?

– In projects of this kind, complexity is always comprehensive. Design, contractors, estimates, budget, timelines, documents, investors and future operations all need to be kept under control at the same time. An error in one area can affect the entire project.

For us, the key task was to preserve the manageability of the project: to ensure that technical solutions corresponded to future operations, commercial proposals were economically justified, and decisions by project participants were made in a timely manner. It is precisely this kind of discipline that makes it possible to bring a project to completion.

A separate challenge was the cost of financing. For warehouse real estate projects, the high interest rates of second-tier banks have a significant impact on the financial model, payback period and overall sustainability of the project. Therefore, the issue was not only to construct the facility, but also to properly form the capital structure, find a balance between debt financing and the participation of private investors, and preserve the commercial logic of the project throughout its implementation.

– How was the work with investors and financing structured?

– For a project of this level, having only a construction idea is not enough. It is necessary to secure financing, align the interests of the participants, prepare a clear structure and convince investors of the commercial logic of the facility.

At this stage, it became clear that the project needed a more flexible investment model. The high cost of bank financing required the search for a private investor and a more detailed packaging of the project in terms of economics, risks, the future tenant and expected cash flow. An important task was to show that QazaQstorage is not simply a construction project, but an operating commercial asset with a clear operating model. The IPLC team helped precisely at this stage: in preparing the project for discussions with investors, structuring the participation of the parties and explaining the investment logic of the facility.

Important work was also carried out in preparing the investment package, negotiating with investors and structuring relations among the project participants. The IPLC team helped at the pre-project stage: it participated in the analysis of the model, the preparation of the investment logic, work with documents and support for negotiations. This made the project clearer for all parties.

– What role did pre-project preparation play?

– Pre-project preparation effectively determines the fate of a project. At this stage, it is necessary to understand what exactly is being built, for whom it is being built, what the economics of the facility are, what risks investors face, what structure will be used and what documents are needed for implementation.

For QazaQstorage, this work was particularly important. It was necessary to combine the construction component, the investment component, relations among shareholders and the future leasing model. The better all of this is prepared before the active construction stage, the less uncertainty arises later.

– What changed for the project after the official opening of the facility?

– The official opening is a symbolic but very important milestone. Until that moment, the project exists as a construction site, schedules, documents and expectations. After the opening, it becomes an operating facility that can be shown to the market, tenants, partners and investors.

For us, this confirms that the project model worked. The facility is now moving into the practical phase: operation, service to the tenant and the creation of commercial returns for the project participants.

– What effect can QazaQstorage have on the market?

– Facilities like this improve the quality of warehouse infrastructure in the city. For tenants, this is an opportunity to work in modern conditions, optimize logistics, serve customers faster and better control warehouse processes.

For the market as a whole, this is also a positive signal. The emergence of quality facilities forms a more mature competitive environment, stimulates the development of logistics services and shows that warehouse real estate can be a full-fledged investment class, rather than an auxiliary asset.

– What is the main conclusion you have drawn from the project?

– The main conclusion is that a successful project begins long before construction work starts. It is important to define the market, model, participants, financing, tenant, technical parameters and management system in advance.

QazaQstorage has shown that, with proper preparation and coordination, a complex facility can be implemented in a manageable format. For us, this is valuable experience in participating in an infrastructure project where the result is visible not only in documents and calculations, but also in a completed facility.

I would like to thank all participants in the project: shareholders, investors, contractors, consultants and the team that supported the implementation. QazaQstorage is the result of joint work, where each participant made their contribution.