Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliev reported at a Government session on the ongoing work to stabilize prices for socially significant food products.

He noted that, overall, the work to stabilize prices for SSFPs has been structured and remains under control. Weekly meetings are held, where problems are addressed promptly by product and by region. The price index for socially significant food products since the beginning of the year amounted to 108%, for August 0%, and for three weeks of September 0.1%.

“Regarding the vegetable group, the price growth since early August has been reduced by an average of 2.5 times, including for potatoes, carrots, and onions. Memorandums have been signed with domestic producers to fix prices until the end of the year for salt, eggs, potatoes, and sunflower oil. Pasta, flour, and rice have a negative index,” Arman Shakkaliev informed.

The minister also stated that to saturate the domestic market, a ban on the export of live cattle was introduced on May 15, as well as support for proposals to strengthen veterinary control over the export of meat and establish a quota on beef exports exclusively for meat processing companies. Additionally, an agreement was reached with retail chains to ensure the supply of meat from farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture will ensure the volume necessary to meet domestic demand.

As part of control measures and the work of the commission investigating intermediary schemes, unproductive intermediaries are being identified and eliminated. Work has been established to promptly detect and remove factors influencing pricing. Regular meetings are held with industry associations, producers, retail chains, and farms. Field meetings are organized in problematic regions.

In addition, agricultural fairs continue to be held in all regions of the country, providing farmers with free retail space. Together with Kazakhtelecom, work is underway to launch an agro-marketplace that will directly connect producers, retail chains, and SPCs, excluding intermediaries. The launch is scheduled for the end of the year. In parallel, work is being carried out to form exchange indices for socially significant goods and create a separate section for potatoes and oilseeds, which will increase the volume of exchange trading and ensure transparent pricing. An important issue is the availability of shelf space for domestic products.

“Today, the law establishes a requirement to allocate 30% of shelf space for domestic food products. Similar amendments for non-food products are under consideration with government agencies. Also, starting this year, state support for domestic trade entities is provided on the condition of an additional 20% shelf space allocation for domestic products. At the same time, obligations have been introduced for the placement of ‘Made in Kazakhstan’ signs, with responsibility for refusal to conclude contracts with domestic producers and for late payment,” Arman Shakkaliev added.

Furthermore, large retail facilities and markets are restricted from revising rental rates more than once a year. Representation levels are monitored through the Fiscal Data Operator, which showed that the share of Kazakhstani socially significant products on shelves is over 86%. The strategic goal is to expand traditional CIS and Chinese markets and enter promising directions in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. To ensure access to these markets, external trade and logistics infrastructure is being developed, including:

• national trade pavilions, offices, and representative offices in key partner countries;

• seaports and logistics hubs, such as the terminal in Bandar Abbas (Iran);

• national pavilions on international e-commerce platforms (JD.com, Alibaba.com, and others).

To further expand export directions, Free Trade Agreements between the EAEU and the UAE and Mongolia were signed this year. An FTA between the EAEU and Indonesia is planned.

It was noted that comprehensive support tools are applied to promote agricultural products. In particular, the Export Credit Agency provides export financing for producers of finished agricultural products. Since the beginning of the year, the Agency has supported agricultural exporters-producers in the amount of about 119 billion tenge. In total, the agricultural portfolio includes 61 projects worth 180 billion tenge. The share of SMEs is 69%, the share of medium and high processing – 87%. Additionally, work is underway to expand the Agency’s mandate to support the export of crop products, including grain.

Through QazTrade JSC, special attention is paid to the “Export Acceleration” program. This year, 40 companies from the agricultural sector are participating, covering 11 product areas. Six trade and economic missions have been carried out, resulting in contracts for the export of agricultural products worth 159.4 billion tenge. Four more missions are planned by the end of the year. Food producers also took part in 10 international exhibitions and forums.

The development of the oil-and-fat industry roadmap for 2026–2028 is being finalized. The document is being prepared jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture, the International Trade Center, and the National Association of Oilseed Processors. The goal is to bring the oilseed sector to a new level: to increase production and capacity utilization. By 2028, it is planned to ensure an annual turnover of over $1 billion and enter the top three global suppliers of sunflower oil.

#Government session #Ministry of Trade and Integration #Socially Important Food Products #Trade

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