Modern trade centers being constructed in place of Baraholka

    By Roza Yessenkulova and Assel Satubaldina
    The construction of modern trade centers has begun in place of the demolished giant agglomerated Almaty flea market known as Barakholka in the outskirts of the city, Tengrinews reports, referring to Zhanat Aitleu, First Deputy Head of the Architecture and City Planning Department of Almaty.
    The owners of several of the markets, including the Alatau, Olzha, Salem, Jupiter, Bolashak and Sauran, have had the projects for their trade centers approved, and have already received architectural planning specifications, he said.
    “The construction of two of the markets - Alatau and Olzha, has already started. And the construction of the shopping centers in place of the Salem and Jupiter is under way. Owner of Sauran is also preparing a working draft,” Zhanat Aitleu said.
    “I believe the construction work will be completed by the end of next year,” because they are competing with each other, the malls that are completed first will win more traders, he added.
    The Almaty city administration is not financing the reconstruction of the flea market. The construction is being done at the expense of the owners of the flea markets, officials claim.
    Barakholka is a very chaotic market, with many small shops violating boundary restrictions and fire safety regulations, officials say.Parking is also a big problem.
    After a series of large fires, Director of the Almaty Chamber of Commerce, Yerlan Stambekov suggested creating a regional trade hub to replace it with well-organized trade centers meeting modern standards.
    In 2013, the city administration began to demolish 34 markets of the 74 total that did not meet the basic requirements.
    The new development is expected to benefit traders not only in terms of space and safety, but also in terms of rights. Traders will have the right to private property in the shopping centers, which currently they do not have - there is only the right to rent a trading space.
    The new malls will be several floors tall and will be able to accommodate more traders than Barakholka.
    Upon completion, the trading space will be large enough to provide 35 thousand jobs place of the current 20 thousand. Trade turnover of the hub is expected to reach $1.5 billion, Tengrinews.kz reports.