Aidarbek Khodzhanazarov: durum wheat can become our brand

The General Director of "Olzha Agro" Aidarbek Khodzhanazarov disagreed with the opinion presented in the article published by World of NAN under the title" On the prospects of Kazakh exports told by a Ukrainian consulting company". We contacted the businessman to learn his point of view.

First of all, Aidarbek Asanovich noted that Kazakhstan does not have high barley production potential for intensive exports. "Today we have an oversaturated grain crop rotation, so by growing barley, we will not go far. Plus in Kazakhstan there is an acute issue with the shortage of barley, and today the country's economy is focused on the development of livestock farming. And by increasing the share of exports, we will aggravate the situation with the shortage of fodder. So we need to think about other forage crops - rye, triticale, corn, "- explained the entrepreneur.

Aidarbek Asanovich admitted that he uses the services of consulting agencies. However, he prefers to work with firms that are in the Kazakhstani market. According to him, it is necessary to work with those companies who know the direction and possibilities of the domestic agro-industrial complex.

When asked what crops domestic farmers can compete on the world market, the entrepreneur answered: rapeseed, sunflower, flax, lentils and durum wheat. The businessman focused on this last crop: "Native durum wheat is a promising crop, and could become our brand on the world market. This is our heritage, which the people of Kazakhstan have the right to be proud of. Today, it is easier to sell it to the Italians or large pasta producers. Using marketing tools we can make Kazakhstani durum wheat the face of domestic agro-export, a brand no less than well-known Ukrainian sunflower, Russian wheat or Texas WTI oil".

The businessman also shared his experience of working on the global market. He said it is easier for him to work with Europe than with the same Chinese or Iranians. In Europe the legislation is more sensible and transparent, the rules are clearly defined, for example, what expert examinations must be done, and in general the security of trade operations is higher.

We took advantage of the moment to find out the businessman's opinion on quotas. A sore subject for the Kazakh farmers caused an emotional reaction: the limitation of the agricultural export has negative consequences. "Kazakhstan is studying the experience of quotas from the Russian Federation. And Russia, by the way, jumped in the production of wheat from 60 million tons to 130 million tons, kept this figure for 5 years, and only then introduced quotas. Why? The large volume of production lowered the price abroad, so they decided to process the product. But we are not Russia," Aidarbek Khodzhanazarov continued. - We haven't had any production spikes, and our processing is unprofitable. Today, by setting quotas, the government wants to reduce the price for processors. This is wrong. It turns out, there is a migration of profits from the hands of farmers into the hands of processors. But have you thought about the future? Tomorrow the farmer will stop growing quota products and this will create a production restriction."