There's some buzz: the Ministry of Agriculture revealed where bananas are grown in Kazakhstan.

“This accounts for about one percent of the total banana imports in Kazakhstan. Currently, considering the pricing environment and shipping costs, the price of these bananas could be competitive with domestic market prices. There is even a bit of hype; their entire batch is already sold out, and major retailers are very interested in purchasing in large volumes. Overall, there is growing interest; your colleagues have been asking when we will start producing oranges, bananas... the issue isn’t about whether it can be done, but rather about the profitability of production,” said the vice minister in the Senate hall.

He noted that technically, it is possible to grow other exotic fruits in Kazakhstan, such as oranges or mangoes, but it would be prohibitively expensive. Unlike Brazilian or Ecuadorian farmers, ours would need to invest in greenhouses, fertilizers, electricity, and heating. This is not cost-effective. It is cheaper to buy imported fruits. However, the situation with bananas has changed, and now Russia is interested in their export.

Additionally, in western Kazakhstan, the ministry plans to launch an investment project for olive cultivation. According to Sultanov, farmers' experiments have shown that this is feasible.