If you want to understand where a company is headed, don't read the press releases. Look at where the money is going, what's under construction, and which new entities quietly appeared in the business registry this spring. Do that with Kusto Group right now, and a clear picture starts to emerge — one that's more ambitious than anything the company has attempted before.
Yerkin Tatishev founded Kusto Group in 2002 and has spent over two decades building it into a diversified industrial holding with operations across nine countries. But 2026 feels different. The projects currently in motion aren't incremental. They're the kind of bets you make when you've spent years laying groundwork and finally feel ready to put it all together.
Kusto Group is launching a logistics complex worth 28 billion tenge. That's a real number — not a concept, not a feasibility study. Ground is broken, capital is committed, and the facility is designed specifically to handle the scale of agricultural and commercial volumes that Kusto's operations are now generating.
Here's why it matters beyond Kusto Group itself: Kazakhstan has been pushing hard to become a genuine export hub, not just a country that grows grain and ships it raw. That requires infrastructure — cold storage, distribution networks, transport coordination — and that infrastructure is exactly what this complex is built to provide. The timing isn't accidental. Record grain export volumes came out of 2025. The question for 2026 is whether the physical capacity exists to do it again, at greater volume, more reliably. This complex is the answer to that question.
It's the kind of project that doesn't generate much noise but ends up being foundational to everything that follows.
Image: Ethan Wilkinson, Unsplash
In April 2026, two new companies appeared in the registry. Nomad Tankers Ltd — sea and coastal cargo transport. JanaPort Holdings Ltd — airport management and cargo air transport. And sitting alongside those: a cargo airline project with a $30 million budget.
Kusto Group is, in effect, building the logistics spine it needs to run its own supply chains without depending on third parties at the most critical points. If you're moving grain from Kazakhstan to Asian markets, processing construction materials across multiple countries, and running operations from Israel to Vietnam, the cost and fragility of relying on foreign carriers adds up fast.
The cargo airline in particular is being framed as a national infrastructure argument — reducing Kazakhstan's dependency on foreign carriers. That framing isn't just PR. It reflects something real: if you're serious about building an export-oriented industrial business in Central Asia, you eventually have to confront the transport problem head-on. Kusto Group is confronting it.
Nine stories might not sound dramatic. That's almost the point. Most developers in this part of Almaty are going straight to fifteen floors and above, squeezing as many units as possible onto each site. Kusto Home — the group's real estate arm — chose to go in the opposite direction. Lower density, better quality, a layout that's actually designed for the people living there rather than for the pro forma spreadsheet that justified the project.
Tatishev has talked about this approach consistently across Kusto Group's real estate work: the conviction that if you build something genuinely good, the returns follow. Diamond is the second major urban development from Kusto Home, and the early signs suggest it's landing well with buyers who've grown tired of the default approach to new Almaty housing.
The target now is an IPO by 2028. Getting there requires serious preparation — governance structures, audited financials that meet international standards, a clean narrative for institutional investors. That groundwork is being laid through 2026, which means a lot of the behind-the-scenes work is happening right now, even if it's not visible from the outside.
When it lands, it'll likely be one of the larger public market moments in Kusto Group's history. The patient approach Tatishev applied to Tambour over eleven years is about to get its most public test.
The idea is straightforward: develop climate-resilient, high-performance seed varieties suited specifically to Central Asian growing conditions, and supply them to farmers who are facing increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. The global seed development market is heading toward $92 billion by 2028. Central Asia has both the agricultural land and the need for better seed technology.
Kazseeds isn't chasing that market from a standing start. It's been in development for six years, building scientific credibility and agronomic track record in the region. By the time the broader market growth arrives, the infrastructure — research, distribution, farmer relationships — should already be in place.
The Tsinandali Festival continues each September, now in its seventh edition, drawing world-class performers and young musicians from across the Caucasus and Central Asia to the historic Tsinandali Estate. The combination of a leading luxury hotel in Tbilisi's most important street and an internationally recognised cultural festival in the Kakheti wine region gives Kusto Group a platform in Georgia that very few foreign investors can claim.
What comes next in Georgia isn't fully announced yet. But after twenty years and two flagship institutions, it would be surprising if the answer were simply "nothing."
Kusto Group under Yerkin Tatishev has always been a company that invests in the infrastructure that underlies other things. Not the flashiest layer. The load-bearing one. Grain storage that makes exports reliable. Transport networks that make supply chains autonomous. Residential developments that people actually want to live in. Seed genetics that farmers can depend on in a changing climate.
What's different in 2026 is the scale. Each of these projects is larger, more complex, and more consequential than what came before. The company has clearly reached a phase where it's ready to move beyond careful consolidation and into something that looks a lot more like acceleration.
Whether that reads as ambition or confidence probably depends on how well you know the two decades of work that got it here.
Editor's Note: This is sponsored content. The views expressed are those of the author and/or sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.
Yerkin Tatishev founded Kusto Group in 2002 and has spent over two decades building it into a diversified industrial holding with operations across nine countries. But 2026 feels different. The projects currently in motion aren't incremental. They're the kind of bets you make when you've spent years laying groundwork and finally feel ready to put it all together.
The Logistics Complex Nobody Is Talking About Enough
Start with what's happening in the Almaty region, because it matters more than it might look at first glance.Kusto Group is launching a logistics complex worth 28 billion tenge. That's a real number — not a concept, not a feasibility study. Ground is broken, capital is committed, and the facility is designed specifically to handle the scale of agricultural and commercial volumes that Kusto's operations are now generating.
Here's why it matters beyond Kusto Group itself: Kazakhstan has been pushing hard to become a genuine export hub, not just a country that grows grain and ships it raw. That requires infrastructure — cold storage, distribution networks, transport coordination — and that infrastructure is exactly what this complex is built to provide. The timing isn't accidental. Record grain export volumes came out of 2025. The question for 2026 is whether the physical capacity exists to do it again, at greater volume, more reliably. This complex is the answer to that question.
It's the kind of project that doesn't generate much noise but ends up being foundational to everything that follows.
Kusto Group Is Building Its Own Transport Network
This is where things get genuinely interesting.In April 2026, two new companies appeared in the registry. Nomad Tankers Ltd — sea and coastal cargo transport. JanaPort Holdings Ltd — airport management and cargo air transport. And sitting alongside those: a cargo airline project with a $30 million budget.
Kusto Group is, in effect, building the logistics spine it needs to run its own supply chains without depending on third parties at the most critical points. If you're moving grain from Kazakhstan to Asian markets, processing construction materials across multiple countries, and running operations from Israel to Vietnam, the cost and fragility of relying on foreign carriers adds up fast.
The cargo airline in particular is being framed as a national infrastructure argument — reducing Kazakhstan's dependency on foreign carriers. That framing isn't just PR. It reflects something real: if you're serious about building an export-oriented industrial business in Central Asia, you eventually have to confront the transport problem head-on. Kusto Group is confronting it.
Diamond: The Almaty Project That Looks Different on Purpose
In Almaty's Bostandyk District, construction crews are currently building the Diamond residential project — 15 blocks, each nine stories tall, sitting across from the MEGA Alma-Ata shopping centre.Nine stories might not sound dramatic. That's almost the point. Most developers in this part of Almaty are going straight to fifteen floors and above, squeezing as many units as possible onto each site. Kusto Home — the group's real estate arm — chose to go in the opposite direction. Lower density, better quality, a layout that's actually designed for the people living there rather than for the pro forma spreadsheet that justified the project.
Tatishev has talked about this approach consistently across Kusto Group's real estate work: the conviction that if you build something genuinely good, the returns follow. Diamond is the second major urban development from Kusto Home, and the early signs suggest it's landing well with buyers who've grown tired of the default approach to new Almaty housing.
Tambour Is Getting Ready for the Public Markets
Kusto Group acquired Tambour — an Israeli paint and construction materials company — in 2014. It was a turnaround bet at the time. Over a decade later, it's become something considerably more valuable, with Tambour's first international acquisition (Colorificio Zetagi in Italy) signalling that the company isn't staying Israel-only.The target now is an IPO by 2028. Getting there requires serious preparation — governance structures, audited financials that meet international standards, a clean narrative for institutional investors. That groundwork is being laid through 2026, which means a lot of the behind-the-scenes work is happening right now, even if it's not visible from the outside.
When it lands, it'll likely be one of the larger public market moments in Kusto Group's history. The patient approach Tatishev applied to Tambour over eleven years is about to get its most public test.
Kazseeds and the Long Game on Agriculture
Most of Kusto Group's agricultural story in 2025 was about grain volumes and export records. The longer game is playing out through Kazseeds — the seed genetics venture the group launched in 2019 with Baumgartner Agricultural Science and Services.The idea is straightforward: develop climate-resilient, high-performance seed varieties suited specifically to Central Asian growing conditions, and supply them to farmers who are facing increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. The global seed development market is heading toward $92 billion by 2028. Central Asia has both the agricultural land and the need for better seed technology.
Kazseeds isn't chasing that market from a standing start. It's been in development for six years, building scientific credibility and agronomic track record in the region. By the time the broader market growth arrives, the infrastructure — research, distribution, farmer relationships — should already be in place.
Georgia: Still Unfinished Business
The Telegraph Hotel opened in Tbilisi in June 2025 and immediately became Georgia's first property in the Leading Hotels of the World network. That's a meaningful achievement — but anyone who knows Tatishev's relationship with Georgia, which goes back twenty years, understands that the hotel is part of something larger, not a standalone project.The Tsinandali Festival continues each September, now in its seventh edition, drawing world-class performers and young musicians from across the Caucasus and Central Asia to the historic Tsinandali Estate. The combination of a leading luxury hotel in Tbilisi's most important street and an internationally recognised cultural festival in the Kakheti wine region gives Kusto Group a platform in Georgia that very few foreign investors can claim.
What comes next in Georgia isn't fully announced yet. But after twenty years and two flagship institutions, it would be surprising if the answer were simply "nothing."
The Thread That Runs Through All of It
Looking across these projects — the logistics complex, the transport network, Diamond, the Tambour IPO, Kazseeds, Georgia — they're not a random collection of bets. They all point in the same direction.Kusto Group under Yerkin Tatishev has always been a company that invests in the infrastructure that underlies other things. Not the flashiest layer. The load-bearing one. Grain storage that makes exports reliable. Transport networks that make supply chains autonomous. Residential developments that people actually want to live in. Seed genetics that farmers can depend on in a changing climate.
What's different in 2026 is the scale. Each of these projects is larger, more complex, and more consequential than what came before. The company has clearly reached a phase where it's ready to move beyond careful consolidation and into something that looks a lot more like acceleration.
Whether that reads as ambition or confidence probably depends on how well you know the two decades of work that got it here.
Editor's Note: This is sponsored content. The views expressed are those of the author and/or sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.
