Dariga Nazarbayeva, Chairperson of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, within preparation for the Parliamentary hearings, met with representatives of state bodies and agricultural producers to discuss the problems of the current state of the meat industry in Kazakhstan.
The meeting was attended by Members of the Senate of the Republic of Kazakhstan, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as heads of meat processing enterprises of Kazakhstan.
As Aidarbek Saparov, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said in his speech at the meeting, beef cattle breeding is the main priority area of agriculture. In the State Agro-Industrial Complex Development Program for 2017-2021, special attention is paid to it. Approximately 116 billion KZT is allocated annually for the development of the industry, including 60 billion KZT for the development of livestock breeding, and 56 billion KZT for livestock production. Nevertheless, the main problem of the industry is the shortage of raw materials.
“It is the lack of raw materials and relatively high cost of raw materials that make the products of domestic enterprises less competitive,” A. Saparov said.
Dariga Nazarbayeva raised the issue of a ban on livestock export and its consequences. “We need to succeed not only in volumes, but also in quality and price. And what do we have for today? Meat prices are rising at a very fast pace. We have meat, but why is it so expensive in our market? Moreover, our country and residents are historically meat-oriented. After bread, meat is the second most important product,” D. Nazarbayeva said.
Talgat Berekeshev, Director of Kubley LLP, in the discussion emphasized the main, in his opinion, problem of our processing enterprises – underutilization of capacities.
“The workload of meat plants is 40-45%. The main reason is the current Ministry of Agriculture’s productive livestock program. According to it, all subsidies proceed through feedlots, but not to the processing of raw materials at industrial enterprises. Therefore, farmers receive subsidies for livestock only if they donate their livestock to the feed site, not to the meat plant, i.e. they are not motivated to give meat to us. And export is profitable for livestock feeders, therefore subsidized cattle goes to resellers,” T. Berekeshev emphasized.
In a response remark, the Senate Speaker noted that if each plant is at least 90% loaded, it will be a completely different volume of production and a different retail price on the market, and intermediaries will leave.
“We now need to think about how to feed the population so that basic foodstuffs are available for them, affordable. This is our main common task. Agriculture as an industry has priorities. Do not forget about the people of Kazakhstan. It is necessary that they have available tasty meat on the table. Firstly, we need to think about food security. It is important to feed own country,” D. Nazarbayeva said.
Also speaking about the current state of the meat industry, the Head of the Senate noted its connection with light industry. “Slaughter is also an important issue. Due to the quality of leather, we are lame in the development of light industry. We need to approach this issue comprehensively, from all sides,” she said.
Summing up the meeting, Dariga Nazarbayeva noted that the work will continue after the Parliamentary hearings.
“By the end of 2020 – beginning of 2021, the Roadmap for the development of the agro-industrial complex will be ready. Strong laws and strong rules must be adopted. We have a common interest – to raise our agriculture, to become a rich country, so that our “dastarkhan” is groaning with tasty and cheap products of domestic production. This is the economy of simple things,” D. Nazarbayeva said.
