At the start of the 33rd session of the parliament of Kazakhstan, President Tokayev has asked for some bold measures to uplift the agriculture sector.
Here is the relevant portion of his address to the lawmakers :
An extremely important task is to attract investment to the agro-industrial complex. Despite the consequences of the floods, our farmers completed the sowing campaign on time, for which I express my deep gratitude to them.
This year, funding for spring field work has been doubled. But overall, 70% of the agro-industrial complex is financed by the state. It is also necessary to attract funds from commercial banks to the industry. Work has been carried out to subsidize state financial institutions to issue loans to farmers at a reduced rate. This experience should be extended to banks. This will allow farmers to quickly be provided with the necessary working capital, reduce corruption risks and simplify the procedure for obtaining loans.
The most important task is a gradual transition from direct subsidizing of the agro-industrial complex to providing accessible credit. All allocated funds must be used effectively. However, unreliable data, or in other words, falsifications, do not allow us to assess the real situation in agriculture.
A special commission has already identified 2 million heads of cattle and more than 3 million heads of small cattle that do not exist. Similar facts have been identified in crop production. These are essentially falsifications for which state subsidies were allocated. Such criminal practices should be stopped, and those who engaged in them should be held accountable.
Land is a key element of the investment attractiveness of the industry. The Land Withdrawal Commission has identified more than two thousand illegal decisions by local executive bodies to provide agricultural land without holding tenders. There should be no ambiguity here. If the land was taken in violation of the law and is not used, then this land should be returned to the state, and under a simplified procedure. But if the land user works conscientiously and has invested, then the existing production cannot be destroyed. At the same time, work on the development of villages and ensuring permanent employment of villagers should also be taken into account.
It is no secret that many land users live thousands of kilometers away from the land that brings them profit and do not care about the lives of villagers. We do not need such landowners. The government and the Prosecutor General’s Office should deal with them. /// nCa, 3 September 2024