[1] The settlement was founded in 1984 in connection with the proposed construction of the South Kazakhstan State District Power Plant (YUKGRES), which was never carried out.

[2] In 1997, at the proposal of the President of the Nuclear Society of Kazakhstan Vladimir Shkolnik, it was decided to use the site for the construction of a nuclear power plant,[3] but protests from environmentalists and residents of the area[4] again forced the plans to be reconsidered, and at the end of 2008 the Government decided to build the Balkhash Thermal Power Plant.

Most of the ones opposing,[7] including Kazakh ecologists, are troubled about the already worryingly low levels of the Balkhash Lake,[8] which is a major food and income source for the settlement.

[7] In June 2023, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that a referendum on the construction of the nuclear power plant would take place in the autumn of 2024.

The city administration (akimat) lacks an official building, and the äkim and his apparatus operate in a rented three-roomed flat.