Olzhas Bektenov discussed measures to support agro-industrial complex within framework of President's Address and progress of harvesting campaign with representatives of agribusiness
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov held an extended meeting with representatives of domestic agribusinesses, during which issues of supporting the agricultural sector and the progress of the harvesting campaign were discussed. Measures to achieve the goals outlined by the Head of State in the Address to the People "Fair Kazakhstan: Law and Order, Economic Growth, Public Optimism" were considered.
During the meeting, approaches to long-term state support for agro-industrial complex entities were considered.
"In the Address to the People of Kazakhstan, the Head of State placed special emphasis on business development and measures to support it. Sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex is the key to our food security, and therefore the Government will continue to support agriculture, which employs more than 1 million of our citizens," Olzhas Bektenov emphasized.
The Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov, akims of Akmola, Kostanay, North Kazakhstan, and Zhambyl regions reported on the implementation of state support measures for the agro-industrial complex.
On the instructions of the President, this year the Government has created all the necessary conditions for the successful implementation of spring field and harvesting work. For the first time, the volume of preferential financing for the industry has been increased more than 3 times and reached a record 580 billion tenge. These funds were sent to farmers for direct lending, interest rate reduction, and forward purchase. The interest rate was reduced at the stage of attracting commercial funds by Baiterek Holding. Next year, a similar mechanism will be launched for financing processing enterprises. In general, the state provides comprehensive assistance to agribusiness at all stages - from the purchase of seeds and fertilizers to export support.
The President set the task of increasing the volume of financing for agro-industrial complex entities by switching from direct subsidies to providing affordable lending. From 2025, farmers will be able to directly receive cheaper loans from financial institutions. Subsidy issues will be fully assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture. Thus, the farmer will be freed from unnecessary red tape in processing subsidies.
This year, a record volume of preferential lending was achieved. Starting next year, the volume of financing for the industry is planned to increase and reach 700 billion tenge. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov emphasized that the first money of the next year should reach farmers in December of this year.
Special attention is paid to the issue of preferential financing for the purchase of agricultural machinery. This year, the government significantly increased the amount of funds allocated, which allowed more than 2 thousand agricultural producers to update their existing fleet. The country's farmers purchased about 20 thousand units of agricultural machinery, the renewal rate was 5%. This figure is planned to be increased to 5.5% by the end of this year, and to 6.5% next year. At the same time, taking into account the needs of the domestic market, it was instructed to ensure the expansion of the capacity of Kazakhstani enterprises for the production of agricultural machinery.
In March of this year, the country introduced a mechanism for advance subsidies for the purchase of domestic fertilizers. Thanks to significant state support for spring field and harvesting work, 1.2 million tons of fertilizers have been applied to the soil to date, which is 2 times higher than last year. Taking into account the instructions of the Head of State to reduce the degradation of agricultural land, akimats need to increase the volume of fertilizer application to 1.9 million tons in 2025.
When considering the issue of developing domestic seed production, the importance of reducing the use of imported seeds in crop production was noted, especially regarding vegetable, fruit and melon crops. The Ministry of Agriculture was instructed to address this issue, qualitatively developing the system of selection and seed production. The need to revise the subsidy mechanism in favor of domestic seed producers was also noted.
The attention of the meeting participants was focused on the sale of products through processing and export. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the grain harvest this year is expected to be at least 20 million tons. The Ministry of Trade and the Atameken Chamber have been instructed to expand priority markets for agricultural exports, not limited to traditional ones such as Central Asia, China, Afghanistan and Iran, but also to work out new directions - the EU countries, North Africa, Southeast Asia, etc. In turn, the Ministry of Transport and KTZ should provide an effective mechanism to support the transportation of exported agricultural products.
The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of self-sufficiency in food products for the country. The state is taking all necessary measures to create favorable conditions and comprehensive support for the agricultural sector. At the same time, open and transparent work is expected from the business side. In order to prevent the inefficient use of state funds, a large-scale agricultural census will be conducted in Kazakhstan in 2025, which will update data on land and crop areas, livestock, agricultural machinery and infrastructure.
"The President's Address sets specific tasks for the development of agriculture, increasing productivity and year-round employment of the rural population, ensuring effective and transparent financing of the industry. This work should be carried out in close cooperation between the state and business. This is the only way we will achieve significant results," Olzhas Bektenov emphasized.
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During the discussion, domestic agro-entrepreneurs voiced their proposals for the further development of the industry, and also raised a number of pressing issues.
"I would like to note the enormous work done this year to increase financing for the agro-industrial complex. Farmers felt this support. Preferential loans allowed us to work as needed, and not for what we had enough money for. High-quality seeds, fuel and lubricants, fertilizers were purchased in a timely manner. By correctly applying all agricultural technologies and with such support from the state, we have no right to get poor harvests. Here we must say about animal husbandry: yes, it is a painstaking labor-intensive process, but people are busy in animal husbandry all year round. Farms as a whole should be multi-industry, engaged not only in crop production, but also in increasing the livestock. Then we will not need any export quotas, we will trade freely, conquer markets. Many of the participants in today's meeting do not keep livestock. Colleagues, we must get involved, I urge everyone to do so," Gennady Zenchenko, Chairman of the Public Council for the Development of the AIC, founder of the Zenchenko i K company, spoke on behalf of the farming community.
The entrepreneur also raised issues of developing domestic science in the field of plant growing, veterinary medicine, and noted the importance of training professional personnel.
Director of LLP "Tan LTD" of Kyzylorda region Imamzada Shagirtayev reported that as a result of intergovernmental agreements reached with neighboring countries, farmers of the region were provided with irrigation water this year. This year, the company sowed agricultural crops on over 2 thousand hectares of land, of which about 1.5 thousand hectares were allocated for rice. Laser leveling of rice fields was carried out, which allowed for 30% savings in irrigation water. To date, over 50% of the harvest has been collected. The entrepreneur proposed to consider the possibility of developing additional measures to support farmers for the implementation of water-saving technologies.
The head of the limited partnership "Khilnichenko i K" from the Zhetisu region Alexander Khilnichenko also spoke: "A striking example of the effectiveness of state support is the sugar industry of our region. There are results in just one year: sugar beet crops have doubled from 7 thousand hectares in 2023 to 13.7 thousand hectares in 2024; a record harvest of 600 thousand tons over the past decade was obtained. All this is the result of compliance with agricultural technologies: we worked with high-quality seeds, used fertilizers, carried out processing on time, due to which high yields were ensured. Sugar beet producers are ready to further increase their productivity. In 2024, domestic sugar production will double, reaching 22% of the country's needs. I would like to note that an important step was the increase in the amount of subsidies for sugar beet production as a priority crop from 15 thousand to 25 thousand tenge per ton submitted for processing."
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, this year, thanks to the measures taken to introduce agricultural technologies and the results of the diversification, farmers in the Zhambyl and Zhetisu regions expect a high sugar beet harvest. Regarding the sale of sugar beets, it is noted that 450 thousand tons from the Zhambyl region will be processed at the Merken sugar plant, the remaining 100-150 thousand tons - at the Aksu sugar plant, located in the Zhetisu region. In turn, processing the crop will produce 120 thousand tons of sugar, which will significantly increase the country's self-sufficiency in sugar.
The chairman of the NGO "Fermerskiy AgroTsentr", which includes more than 60 leading farms in the West Kazakhstan region, the head of the company "AgroService-Batys" Armat Bissenov spoke on behalf of the young farmers of the country. He noted the importance of implementing the KenDala-2 program, which allowed for a multiple increase in the coverage of producers with preferential loans and compliance with agricultural technologies.
Farmers from a number of regions made proposals via videoconference. General Director of the Experimental Oilseed Crops Farm Farid Abitayev (East Kazakhstan region), Head of the Zhetisu Agricultural Production Cooperative Isagulov Zhanat (Almaty region), Tulpar LTD LLP Valery Goloukhov (West Kazakhstan region) raised issues of using mineral fertilizers, pricing agricultural products, as well as mechanisms for preferential lending within the framework of the program for the construction of dairy farms.
Chairman of the Presidium of the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Raimbek Batalov also voiced a number of topical issues, including noting the importance of digitalization of the agro-industrial complex.
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In addition, issues of the current agenda were considered - the progress of the harvesting campaign. The total harvested area of agricultural crops in the country this year is 23.3 million hectares. To date, 11.3 million hectares of grain and leguminous crops have been harvested, or 67.9% (last year, the same figure for the period was 42.8%). With an average yield of 14.7 c/ha, 16.7 million tons of grain were threshed, which indicates the correct use of agricultural technologies. The share of elite seeds increased from 7.1% to 9%.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the issue of preserving the new harvest and improving the quality of bread is important. The total grain storage capacity in the republic is 30 million tons. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, this volume of capacity is sufficient for the planned harvest, taking into account the carry-over balances of previous years. Grain receiving enterprises received 2.5 million tons of grain, including 1.8 million tons of wheat. Work is underway to move and sell grain to free up elevators to receive the new harvest. Thus, in August and 15 days of September of this year, the Food Corporation and KTZ transported 1.2 million tons of grain cargo, of which 1 million tons were sent for export. Some of the grain is exported to Uzbekistan and China, the rest is sent for domestic needs. In September, the plan for transporting new-harvest grain by KTZ was increased to 1.9 million tons. Kazakhstani grain is returning to its traditional sales market, Iran.
To ensure high-quality agricultural work, farmers have been provided with a sufficient volume of discounted fuel and fertilizers this year. 226.2 thousand tons of discounted diesel fuel, or 64% of the plan, have already been shipped to the regions. Work in this area continues. The Ministry of Energy has additionally allocated 67.7 thousand tons of diesel fuel for drying grain and oilseed crops.
The head of the Government outlined the key priority of the current work - to complete the harvesting campaign in the optimal time frame, preserve the harvested crop and ensure the sale of manufactured products. The importance of coordinated work by all interested government agencies and organizations was noted here.
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Following the meeting, the Prime Minister instructed government agencies to ensure a high-quality completion of the harvesting campaign in the country, as well as to work out all business proposals.
