In the city of Semey, the center of the Abai district, production facilities were opened, and a new direction of economic development of the region began to be determined. The proof of this is the sunflower oil processing plant "Qazaq Astyk Group", launched on the outskirts of the city. The company is financed by JSC Agrarian Credit Corporation and provides comprehensive support to its work. Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantirov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Baiterek Holding Nurbolat Aydapkelov, Chairman of the Board of JSC Agrarian Credit Corporation Almat Ashirbekov visited the production site, which is considered the largest oil refinery in the republic, and got acquainted with the operation of the facility. The sunflower oil production plant was opened in July last year. It has the ability to process 1 thousand tons of sunflower harvest per day. Production volumes are growing every day. Last year, 160 thousand tons of crops were processed here, and by the end of this year it is planned to increase this figure to 240 thousand tons. This year, 55 thousand tons of unrefined oil and 45 thousand tons of meal were obtained from processed crops. The total cost of the plant's project is 7.4 billion tenge. 5.9 billion tenge was financed by the Agricultural Credit Corporation. Qazaq Astyk Group LLP receives a loan under the Agribusiness program. Moreover, the first two years are exempt from payment. - We took a loan from the corporation on simplified terms and used the money to buy expensive equipment. I mean, it's just that the loan has payment holidays. It was a great help for us. Today we see the results of this," says Alexander Buzhenitsa, Director of Commercial Affairs at Qazaq Astyk Group. Now the company employs 200 people. Unrefined oil, in addition to the Abai district, is sent to Pavlodar, Kostanay regions, and the city of Almaty. At the same time, the way was opened to foreign markets such as China, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. However, according to Maksat Kulturikmenov, Deputy General Director of the Qazaq Astyk Group plant, there are difficulties with marketing products to the domestic market and exporting them. Because there are no empty freight cars on the railway. Although the problem has been raised several times from high platforms, no solution has yet been found. The representative of the plant did not hide the problem of shortage of raw materials. - If the total capacity of the country's creameries is enough to process 3 million tons of sunflower, then the volume of crops grown will not exceed 1 million tons. And sunflower producers prefer to sell raw materials to China. "Now we buy raw materials domestically and in Russia," says Maksat Kulturikmenov, Deputy General Director of the Qazaq Astyk Group plant. The management of the plant informed the Minister of National Economy that, taking into account these issues, they want to process raw materials inside the country and then export it to the foreign market in the form of finished products. Alibek Kuantirov noted that it is necessary to take into account the interests of exporters of raw materials. - It is necessary to develop the processing and production of agricultural products in the country through appropriate government subsidies. As for the transportation of products, this is a competitive market, so the company must negotiate with transport companies," says Alibek Kuantirov, Minister of National Economy. The sunflower oil plant is just one of the projects supported by the Agricultural Credit Corporation. - Over the next seven years, the financial institution has implemented 15 major investment projects with a total value of 20 billion tenge in the districts of the Abai district. These are projects that give impetus to the development of the agro-industrial complex of the country, such as the creation of feedlots, meat and dairy complexes, the development of commodity and dairy farms, the creation of a network of breeding farms. - says Almat Ashirbekov, Chairman of the Board of JSC Agrarian Credit Corporation. In addition, about 900 farmers in the Abai district have access to effective loans through the financing of 9 credit unions. In general, 186 projects worth 3.3 billion tenge have been financed in the region this year under the Kendala, Agribusiness and Isker programs. Now it will be easier to get an effective loan for entrepreneurs expanding their business in the region. Recently, a branch of the Agricultural Credit Corporation of the Abai district was opened in Semey. This will shorten the road for farmers of the Abai, Beskaragai, Borodulikha districts, save time and speed up business processes. Thus, today 16 regional and 3 city branches of the corporation serve together with the central office about 80 thousand agricultural producers. This year, about 15 thousand Kazakhstani farmers received financing for 350 billion tenge. JSC "Agrarian Credit Corporation" is a subsidiary of the national management holding "Baiterek". Since 2001, it has been providing preferential loans on preferential terms for the development of agribusiness. You can read about the loan programs on the website agrocredit.kz . Satzhan KARYPBAYEV https://egemen.kz/article/331430-semey-kunbaghys-mayyn-eksportqa-shygharady
