Intersectoral integration between government agencies, business and akimats will be created to control a large project

The efficiency of distribution and implementation of agricultural projects included in the pool of a Large project (replication of the experience of the North Kazakhstan Region on affordable lending for the construction of dairy farms) will be monitored and jointly conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, NCE «Atameken», akimats participating in the project. This was agreed at a meeting in the government chaired by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin.

A large project is state support in the form of a preferential loan at 2.5% per annum for 10 years for the construction of dairy farms (CDF), in 2023 the amount is 100 billion tenge. The task of the project is to meet the country's need for the production of socially significant food products with a high share of imports today. The project is designed for several years. Only large farms with extensive practical experience, provided with a feed and production base, and having sufficient own funds to co-finance projects can apply for preferential loans. The latter indicator is especially important, since budget funds are mainly provided for the expansion or modernization of existing ITFs. Akimats in 11 regions of Kazakhstan have identified a preliminary pool of potential 67 projects that meet these criteria. Of these, 35 are for the expansion of existing dairy farms, and the construction of 32 new ones.

Vice-Minister of Agriculture Amangali Berdalin informed at the meeting that the adoption of lending rules for a Large project is expected in the near future. Akimats need to identify authorized agents to finance projects.

At the meeting, representatives of all regions participating in a Large project were heard, the results of the analysis of each potential project conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agro–Credit Corporation were reviewed. Concessional lending to the construction of CDF is also conducted by ACC. For this year, the corporation received applications for 16 projects. Of these, 5 are duplicated with the list of akimats within the framework of a Large project. For example, 2 projects in the Akmola region request preferential financing for the implementation of different stages of a Large project and from the ACC. However, the fragmentation of one project between different financial institutions creates an injustice in the distribution of state support measures. Considering that the applications of duplicate projects were in the ACC at the stage of collecting documents, it was decided to leave them for consideration only within the framework of a Large project. And the released ACC funds should be directed to projects in other regions that have been allocated less funding.

Serik Zhumangarin set the akimats the task of monitoring the efficiency of spending budget funds within the framework of a large project. To do this, the pool of potential projects before approval will pass through the sieve of NCE «Atameken» for the business sustainability of the applicant enterprises.

For his part, Chairman of the Presidium of NCE «Atameken» Raimbek Batalov proposed to create integration between the Chamber of Entrepreneurs, government agencies and akimats for effective cooperation in monitoring the implementation of projects.

«We now have a fairly well-developed system for monitoring investment projects. There is an information system in which we can see in real time the progress of investment projects, their key indicators are reflected on the dashboard. The entrepreneur has his own investor's office in the system, where data on his project is uploaded. We can make access to the system to the akimat, the Ministry of Agriculture and other participants, government agencies. It will be an objective channel of information», — he suggested.

The Deputy Prime Minister supported the initiative, instructing the NCE together with the Ministry of Agriculture to control the implementation of the pool of projects within the framework of the Big One to create an investment management committee based on this information system on the basis of the National Chamber. In addition, the selection of projects in the pool for preferential lending for the next year will be carried out at the site of the management committee. Currently, work is underway to allocate 100 billion tenge from the republican budget for 2024 for the implementation of the next stage of a Large project — the construction and expansion of poultry farms, vegetable storages with climate control, irrigation projects. All these projects together will significantly reduce the country's import dependence on basic foodstuffs.

«It is necessary to ensure full control over the use of money for each project included in the Big One. We will meet once a month and review the progress of their implementation. I only need a 100% result. I also propose that NCE «Atameken» maximally involve domestic manufacturers in the construction of CDF», — Serik Zhumangarin summed up.