The Agrarian Credit Corporation continues to increase the volume of financing of the agricultural sector, including the growing number of supported investment projects. The Chairman of the Board of Agrarian Credit Corporation JSC (ACC) Almat Ashirbekov spoke about this.

- Almat Burkutbaevich, what are the main results of AKK's activity by the end of 2023?

In 2023, ACC, a subsidiary of Baiterek National Management Holding JSC, continues to develop its services and increase farmers’ access to financing.

Thus, in 2023, it was planned to allocate 500 billion tenge to finance ACC projects, taking into account leasing through KazAgroFinance JSC (KAF). But taking into account the great demand from farmers, de facto this level was exceeded by 11% of the plan - to 554.7 billion tenge. Of these, projects worth 186.8 billion tenge were financed under the main program “Agribusiness” (this is 31% higher than the previous year), 141.2 billion were issued for sowing and harvesting work, to support entrepreneurs, including youth direction - 47.8 billion, and under the CAF leasing program - 178.8 billion tenge.

In addition, financing of investment projects continues. At the end of last year, ACC’s portfolio was replenished with 46 projects, the financing of which was allocated 17.3 billion tenge, of which the main funding falls on dairy farms (45.1%), irrigation systems (23.8%), vegetable and fruit storage facilities ( 17.5%), poultry farms (6%).

Last year, 29 projects were put into operation, of which 8 projects are already producing products. In total, the design capacity for the introduced projects is 44 thousand tons of agricultural products.

In total, since 2006, 474 investment projects have been implemented, with 407.4 billion tenge allocated to support them.

- How evenly concentrated are the projects you finance across the territory of Kazakhstan, and is it possible to predict their future profitability in advance?

When financing investment projects, special attention is paid to whether this type of business is a priority, what is the financial sustainability of the projects, and their impact on social and economic indicators. The acquisition of fixed assets, including biological assets, construction and installation work, and replenishment of working capital are financed. 

Last year, the Corporation adopted standards and requirements for investment projects, which we coordinated with industry associations - the Meat and Dairy Union of Kazakhstan, the Union of Potato and Vegetable Growers, the Association of Greenhouses, the Association of Gardeners of the Almaty Region, the Association of Meat Processing Enterprises, the Union of Poultry Farmers, the Fat and Oil Union of Kazakhstan.

In addition, taking into account the implementation of local projects and in discussions with experts, a group of ACC analysts prescribed in which regions it is most profitable to develop certain agricultural areas. For example, taking into account climatic conditions, it is more expedient to develop gardens in Zhambyl, Turkestan and Almaty regions.

Since last year, a two-stage process for reviewing investment projects has also been introduced: at the first stage, an indicative examination is carried out based on a minimum package of documents, at the second stage, the applicant and the investment project are reviewed and analyzed for the possibility of financing.

Previously, farmers had to immediately bring a full expanded list of documents, including design and estimate documentation, which takes at least two to three months to prepare and entails large financial costs, since it will be necessary to hire designers, estimators, architectural and technical supervision.

And at the same time, the presence of design documentation did not give him guarantees that his project would be financed.

Now, at the first stage, we are giving the first indicative conditions for farmers as simplified as possible. We review them in advance and provide recommendations on what he needs to focus his efforts on to obtain financing: strengthen the collateral, or order design and estimate documentation, after which he will be able to participate in the second stage. This allows project initiators to reduce costs and time for collecting documents, and eliminate red tape.

What projects are you planning to finance this year and are there any priority sectors?

In 2024, it is planned to finance more than 58 projects totaling more than 85 billion tenge.

Priority projects for this year will be in the field of processing agricultural products, introducing irrigation systems, and constructing storage facilities for fruits and vegetables.

- Thanks for the interview.