- Azat Sirazhidinovich, why do issues with the acceptance of sugar beets in the regions arise year after year? What is the current situation?
- You are aware that this year, for the first time, the volume of preferential lending for spring field work has been increased to 580 billion tenge at a "clean" 5% annual interest rate. In previous years, this amount did not exceed 180 billion tenge.
Thanks to adherence to agrotechnologies and favorable weather conditions, farmers have harvested about 1.3 million tons of beets. This will allow the production of 120 thousand tons of sugar and cover 20% of the domestic market's needs, which is 1.6 times more compared to last year (68 thousand tons).
Despite the established schedule for receiving beets at collection points, there are occasional traffic congestions that prolong the process of accepting and processing the new harvest of beets.
This situation occurs annually during the mass harvest period.
The main reason for this is the high wear and tear of sugar factories, which prevents the acceptance of beets and full loading during processing (old bulk laying machines, lack of ventilation systems during storage, and worn-out lines in the beet processing department).
- What measures are being taken to address this problem?
- Representatives of the Ministry have repeatedly visited the beet-growing regions. The Minister discussed with the management of the factories the readiness of the plants to accept the new harvest.
Operational headquarters, which include representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture, sugar factories, and farmers, are working around the clock to solve problems related to increasing the throughput of factories and providing additional areas for beet storage.
This issue is under special control of our department.
Together with local executive authorities, a plan has been coordinated for organizational work to carry out repairs at the factories, timely harvesting, and delivery of raw materials to the factories by farmers, as well as timely financing.
- How much sugar beet has been accepted to date?
- A total of 988.7 thousand tons of beets have been accepted for processing, including Koksu – 252.6 thousand tons, Aksu – 351.7 thousand tons, Merke – 384.4 thousand tons.
420 thousand tons have been processed (Aksu – 67 thousand tons, Koksu – 162 thousand tons, Merke – 191 thousand tons).
Due to insufficient processing capacity in the Zhambyl region, part of the raw materials (100 thousand tons) has been redirected to the Aksu sugar factory in the Zhetysu region.
- What has the Ministry of Agriculture done to support beet growers and develop the sugar industry?
- A Comprehensive Plan for the development of the sugar industry for a five-year period has been adopted.
In 2023, subsidy norms for agricultural producers have been increased: for the purchase of agricultural machinery for growing sugar beets from 25% to 50%, for the delivery of sugar beets for processing from 15 thousand to 25 thousand tenge, and for seed purchases. Support is provided to beet and sugar producers in the form of working capital for conducting spring field and harvesting work, as well as for raw material purchases.
To compensate for transportation costs for farmers in the Zhambyl region, who are forced to transport 100 thousand tons of beets to the Aksu sugar factory in the Zhetysu region, the subsidy norm has been increased from 25 thousand tenge to 45 thousand tenge per ton.
From the Government's reserve, 10 billion tenge has been allocated for subsidizing sugar beets in the Zhambyl region and the Zhetysu region.
To ensure factories have working capital, a credit line of 25.8 billion tenge has been opened through regional agricultural cooperatives. Aksu sugar factory has already received 7.4 billion tenge. The Merke factory is working on obtaining a bank guarantee.
To prevent a situation of overproduction of beets in 2025, agreements are being made with the akimats of beet-growing regions regarding the areas for beet planting for existing factories.
In addition, according to modernization plans, work is underway to develop feasibility studies to determine financing needs. Plans include increasing the capacity of the Merke factory from 3 thousand to 4 thousand tons per day, installing technological equipment for processing sugar beets at the Taraz sugar factory, and expanding the capacity of the Koksu factory from 2.2 thousand to 5 thousand tons per day.