The Development Bank of Kazakhstan is considering financing the construction and operation of the Kolsai cable car in the Almaty region. The application is at the stage of collecting documents for an indicative analysis, reports infohub.kz.
The borrower is Stroy Industria Company, and the project's beneficiary is Samat Akhman. The project belongs to the tourism sector.
The cable car will be 6.3 km long and will connect the Lower and Middle Kolsai lakes. The regional authorities had previously announced plans to build the facility. According to the akimat, the line will consist of two sections: the first, about 3.5 km long, will run to the Batan valley, and the second, 2.8 km long, will reach the upper reaches of Lake Middle Kolsai. The cabins are planned to be eight-seater.
In February 2026, regional authorities reported that the cable car's capacity could reach up to 1,500 people per hour. The project was positioned as a way to make movement between the lakes safer and accessible year-round.
In March, the head of the tourism department of the Almaty region, Kuanyshbek Meirambekuly, said that the investor is preparing a master plan for the project and coordinating it with the Ministry of Ecology and the Committee for Forestry and Wildlife. At the same time, it was reported that the volume of investments would be known after the master plan is completed.
The investor in the project was previously named as Stroy Industria Company. The firm has been operating in the construction market since 2005, holds a category I license for construction and design works, and has participated in residential, social, and infrastructure projects. Its founder is Samat Akhman, who also owns and manages several other construction companies.
The equipment supplier for the cable car is expected to be China's Hanzhong Daqin Machinery Co., Ltd., which specializes in the design, production, and maintenance of cable cars. A cooperation agreement between the parties was signed in May 2025 in Hangzhou, China.
According to the akimat of the Almaty region, the tourist flow to the Kolsai lakes is growing rapidly. In 2024, the natural park was visited by more than 400,000 people, while in 2025 this figure reached approximately 600,000 tourists.