Kazakhstan's IT industry and data centres: energy, tax breaks and real estate

How Kazakhstan's IT industry is growing

Five years ago Kazakhstan's IT exports were measured in tens of millions of dollars. According to the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, they grew to $1.142 billion in 2025, up from $33.5 million in 2020. More than half comes from members of the Astana Hub tech park: $634 million, 537 exporting companies, more than 32,000 jobs.

As a real estate specialist, I see specific people behind these numbers. IT companies and their staff look for offices and rental apartments, and later for property to buy. Some of them moved to Almaty in recent years, and people usually rent first and put off buying until they've settled in.

What tax breaks IT companies get in Kazakhstan

According to the description in the cdb.kz legal database, Astana Hub members are exempt from corporate income tax, VAT, personal income tax and social tax for foreign employees. The full corporate income tax reduction applies if the company earns income only from priority ICT activities.

From April 2026, according to mybuh.kz, members must sign a single standard accession agreement to keep the exemptions. The duration of the exemptions and the terms after the Tax Code reform are best confirmed with a tax adviser for your company.

Kazakhstan's nuclear power plant: where, who builds it and when it opens

The first nuclear plant has been named Balkhash. Engineering surveys near the village of Ulken in Almaty Region began in August 2025. The plant will have two VVER-1200 units of 1,200 MW each. According to Kapital.kz (May 2026), construction is estimated at $16.4 billion, and Rosatom leads the international consortium. Almassadam Satkaliyev, head of the Atomic Energy Agency, said: "The project will be financed through an export credit from the Russian Federation." Russia provides 85% of the money, Kazakhstan 15%.

Rosatom plans to begin full-scale construction in 2027, with the units coming online in the mid-2030s, 8–10 months apart. Under a government resolution of February 2026, the second plant, working name Moiynkum, will be located in Zhambyl District of Almaty Region; its configuration hasn't been announced yet. China's CNNC may lead the consortium for one of the following plants. The nuclear industry development strategy to 2050, approved in April 2026, provides for at least three nuclear plants.

Is there enough electricity for data centres in Kazakhstan

The honest answer: in the south it's tight right now. According to Informburo (September 2026), the power system's installed capacity is 27.1 GW, but at the 18 December peak demand was 17,724 MW while domestic generation was 16,684 MW, with imports covering the gap. On 14 August 2026, after an accident in the Central Asian power grid, part of the country lost power. The southern zone, which includes Almaty, covers about half of its demand from local generation.

Energy expert Olzhas Baidildinov, in the same piece: "In any case, we lack our own generation and we are in deficit." The Ministry of Energy promises to cover all demand from early 2027 with new capacity. According to KEGOC, energy-intensive projects, including data centres, have already applied for about 1 GW, and most of them are planned in the north, where there is more energy.

Data centres in Kazakhstan: which projects are already under construction

The main state project is in Pavlodar Region. According to Digital Business (August 2026), the first 50 MW facility is due to launch in June 2027, after which the site is meant to grow to 1 GW and host GPU clusters of international companies, including in partnership with NVIDIA. This is the north of the country, which has more domestic generation than the south.

In Almaty, according to a post on the Astana Hub blog, a commercial data centre for 480 server racks is being built, with the first phase in 2026. That scale is realistic for private capital: a building, reliable power, cooling, fibre. The key question for such a project isn't the land but confirmed capacity from the grid company and two independent power feeds.

Alatau: a new city next to Almaty

Alatau is being built between Almaty and Konaev; the project used to be called G4 City. A presidential decree of 26 September 2025 created the Alatau City Authority fund, and in March 2026 Parliament passed a constitutional law on the city's special legal regime. MP Nurtai Sabilyanov said the law "aims to create new legal and economic conditions for the sustainable development of the new city."

Under the law, only the prosecutor's office will be able to inspect businesses in the city, and tax preferences and a single digital platform are being introduced. The plan is about 2 million residents by 2050. In June 2026 Tokayev spoke of more than 50 investment projects worth about $4 billion. Analysts note that until recently the project existed more in announcements than on the ground, so buying plots here is a long-horizon bet for now.

What an investor can build for the IT sector

• Class B+ and A offices in Almaty for IT companies, including with coworking
• Rental housing for IT specialists: apartments with good internet and a workspace, close to office clusters
• Small server rooms and edge data centres in the city with confirmed power capacity
• Land for future development around Alatau with a 5–10 year horizon
• Sites with dedicated capacity for energy-intensive production

Risks of IT and energy projects: what to watch

• Nuclear plant timelines are long: it's expected in the mid-2030s and does nothing for today's capacity
• Financing for the nuclear plant depends on a Russian export credit and the sanctions situation
• Power shortages in the south: technical conditions for a large connection may be refused or come at a high price
• Astana Hub exemptions and the rules for IT companies can change
• Alatau is still at an early stage: infrastructure and demand won't appear overnight
• IT specialists are mobile: if conditions get worse they move, and rental demand drops