McDonald's in Kazakhstan is ready for import substitution

On December 9 this year, a meeting on the restoration of McDonald's restaurants in Kazakhstan was held under the chairmanship of Kuanysh Yelikbayev, Chairman of the Committee for Technical Regulation and Metrology of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The meeting was attended by McDonald's management in Kazakhstan, government agencies, as well as representatives of the «Meat Union of Kazakhstan», «Poultry Farmers Union of Kazakhstan» and others.

During the meeting, the General Director of «Food Solutions KZ» LLP (McDonald's in Kazakhstan) Asset Mashanov noted that the company plans to continue operating in the market of our country and is working to restore the operation of restaurants. He also noted a number of challenges where the involvement of government agencies will help speed up the process of resuming activities. For example, to speed up the processes of customs clearance of all goods, especially veterinary, to speed up the receipt of documents from certification authorities, and so on.

Asset Mashanov, General Director of «Food Solutions KZ» LLP

Cargo from far and near abroad will arrive by the end of this year. The process of customs clearance, according to the available experience, unfortunately, often takes a long time, up to one working week. We ask you to support us in speeding up the customs clearance process as much as possible.

In turn, representatives of the State Revenue Committee noted that they are ready to assist, if there are permits from authorized bodies, such as phytosanitary certificates and certificates of conformity.

The issue of import substitution was also raised during the meeting. Representatives of the «Meat Union of Kazakhstan», «Poultry Farmers Union of Kazakhstan», «Dairy Union of Kazakhstan» and others offered their products to McDonald's in Kazakhstan, in exchange for imported goods.

Ruslan Sharipov, President of the Association of Legal Entities and Individuals «Union of Poultry Farmers of Kazakhstan»

Why not use Kazakh meat, it is no worse. And in terms of security, of course, it is better to make a choice on our products.

To the question of import substitution Asset Mashanov replied that they are ready to use domestic products and have already started negotiations with Kazakhstani manufacturers. It is important to note that all McDonald's products must meet the high quality requirements of McDonald's. Cooperation for Kazakhstani manufacturers means becoming a partner of McDonalds and opens up the opportunity to enter the international level, to the markets of other countries.

Asset Mashanov, General Director of «Food Solutions KZ» LLP

Let me remind you that at the moment we are already cooperating with several local manufacturers and taking raw materials from them that meet McDonalds standards. We are also currently negotiating with Kazakhstani poultry and beef producers.

At the end of the meeting, a roadmap was prepared to address these issues and curators were appointed for each issue