In 2022, peasant farms and agricultural enterprises of the country received more than 350 billion tenge in the form of loans on preferential terms from JSC Agrarian Credit Corporation (ACC), a subsidiary of JSC NUH Baiterek in 2022.

Taking into account the leasing of agricultural machinery issued by KazAgroFinance JSC, the volume of financing for the agricultural industry amounted to more than 522 billion tenge. This is 13% more than issued in 2021, writes Caravan.kz

Unfortunately, second-tier banks cannot be pleased with such successes. Last year, banks financed the village for 288 billion tenge, and if you subtract funding from the ACC, then the banks supported farmers with their money only for 246 billion tenge. This is a meager amount compared to the 24 trillion tenge that the country's commercial banks have given to the entire economy.

Because of this policy of the banks, the village is hungry for money. Two years ago, 148 thousand tractors and 38 thousand combines worked in the agro-industrial complex. And their wear was 80%. This limits labor productivity in rural areas. And therefore, the income of the villagers. Every spring, the question arises: what kind of money to sow? Take out a bank loan? It is not available for most people. Especially for small farms.

- Taking a loan from a bank for a peasant is not an option, – says the owner of the KH "Sparta" Spartak Turemuratov. – I just took out a loan, and I have to pay it back next month. And what to work for?

Turemuratov received his first loan from Spartak in 2009. He grew watermelons, and he did not have enough money for planting. A total of 325 thousand tenge. For seeds, for film, for fertilizers. The conditions of the bank were frankly predatory. The requirements of the ACC were also tough, but Spartak Sheruenovich decided.

- Yes, then I took a big risk. I had to give an apartment in Aktobe as collateral. I was collecting a large package of documents. The first time was especially hard. I spent a month. While I collected it, I was angry at everyone. But the conditions were very good: only 6% per annum, and the money can be given only in autumn, after harvest. Now it's easier to collect these documents, everything goes through the PSC. I closed the loan in the fall. Since then, for 13 years, I have been taking out a new loan to the ACC every spring under the Ken Dala program. At the same time, the loan rate has already been reduced to 5% per annum.

During this time, the Sparta farm has grown from three leased hectares to 20 hectares, but already leased from the state for 49 years. With this money, the peasant brought steers and sheep for meat. Last year, he opened his store in the village of Kemer in the Wilsky district of the Aktobe region.

- To be honest, I am the only one working with the ACC in our village. Growing watermelons is a difficult task. Not everyone will take it. And people are afraid," the farmer admits.

For medium and large farms, the ACC has its own lending program – "Agribusiness".

- In 2004, my friends and I faced the task: where to develop further? We have land, but we did not have the funds for development. Banks provided loans at 18-20%. That's a lot. And then one of the heads of the Aktobe branch of the Agrarian Credit Corporation suggested that we create a credit partnership – something like a cooperative, so that we, several farms of the Aitekeby district, could help each other. That's how it all started," Alexander Suitcases, head of Kumkuduk LLP, told Karavan. - The very first time we took out a loan of 50 million tenge.

Initially, the partnership's enterprises grew only grain. Then, gradually, the farms became multidisciplinary.

- We have been working with the Agrarian Credit Corporation for more than 20 years. They help us out all the time. We took out loans for spring field work, difficulties arose in the middle of summer - we took out a loan again without any problems. The main condition is to have a good rating in the ACC, – explains Alexander Fedorovich. - Our main achievement is that we are still working. Today we have 30 thousand hectares of arable land, 40 thousand hectares of pastures, a thousand heads of breeding heifers, 600 heads of horses. We produce meat, corn, wheat, our own flour. Last year, we sold products worth more than a billion tenge. More than 100 people work. All from our village of Kumkuduk.

- If the country wants the village to develop, then agribusiness should be given money. Preferably at a lower percentage," continues the head of Kumkuduk LLP. – There are a lot of things to do in the village. Now we want to do irrigation in order to harvest more silage. To develop beef production, it is necessary to have more juicy feeds.

Now, according to Alexander Suitcase, a good mechanic of Kumkuduk LLP can earn up to 7 million tenge per year. Livestock breeder - up to 3.5-4 million tenge. And this is not the limit if the village is given more money.

As of March 1, 2023, ACC had almost 4,000 different borrowers working in the Aktobe region. They received loans worth 65 billion tenge. In the structure of the ACC, this region ranks 4th in terms of lending immediately after Shymkent, Zhambyl region and Almaty.

Last year alone, the ACC was able to allocate 14.3 billion tenge for the village of the region. Most of the loans were granted, of course, to small and medium-sized businesses under the Agribusiness program - more than 9.5 billion tenge. 2.3 billion – small farms under the Ken Dala program for sowing and harvesting campaigns. Over 2.4 billion – to support start-up entrepreneurs and the development of small businesses in rural areas under the Isker microcredit program.

This year, another 10.6 billion tenge will be allocated for three programs.

Adil Urmanov, Caravan.kz.

https://www.caravan.kz/news/kholding-bajjterek-stal-glavnym-kreditorom-sela-v-kazakhstane-926325/