Oil producers accuse the Ministry of Trade of lobbying the interests of oil refineries

The situation with sunflower oil and sunflowers in Kazakhstan is worsening, said the Union of Crop Growers of Kazakhstan. The initiative group contacted the editorial board of KazTAG, hoping to be heard, reports World of NAN.

According to members of the initiative group, farmers have faced reluctance from officials of the Ministry of Trade and Integration to hear their concerns.

"All our letters, rationales and arguments are being ignored and remain unanswered. The head of state Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich Tokayev, during an extended government meeting, stressed that it is those millions of Kazakhs who work daily for the benefit of the motherland in the first place should feel the real support of the "hearing state". But we, the farmers, work every day in the field and have not seen the support of the "hearing state" from the Ministry of Trade and Integration. Therefore, we are forced to turn to you, the news agency KazTAG", - said in a letter of the Union. The issue concerns the removal of restrictions on the export of sunflower seeds.

"Last year, the government banned the export of sunflower, explaining this decision by the need to contain the price of sunflower oil. A year has passed, and we see that all the restrictions have no effect on the price of the final product for the population. But they have caused significant economic harm to farmers and reduced the investment attractiveness of oilseeds production," - is written in the appeal.

The farmers stressed that the cost of oilseeds cultivation increases every year by 25-30% on average. In this case, the price formed in the market of Kazakhstan in 2022 shows a drop of 30% compared with 2021. The situation is worsening, farmers say. They noted that the shipments have stopped due to the lack of rolling stock.

At the same time, farmworkers are pressured by loan repayment obligations, timely wage payments and other expenses.

"We had hoped to generate income from the sale of sunflower seeds, but government agencies have restricted everything possible. Such an approach by the ministry will lead to a reduction in oilseed crops," the peasants are concerned.

As stressed in the letter, agricultural producers are outraged by this situation.

"No one hears us. The Ministry of Trade and Integration is ignoring us. There was no effect of export restrictions in the form of reduced prices of vegetable oil. There is undisguised lobbying for the interests of a few oil refineries, when a huge industry is under attack. How long will the problems of other related industries be solved at the expense of farmers? If sunflower seed production becomes unprofitable, farmers will reorient themselves. And their processing plants will go bankrupt. Please hear us and make our case to the Minister of Trade and Integration. We want to discuss publicly both our arguments for the removal of the export restriction, and the arguments of the Ministry, which supports the ban on the export of sunflower seeds," the letter says.

On December 6 Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin said that it was decided to introduce the export customs duty on sunflower. According to the head of MTI, there is a threat of export of these raw materials. The minister announced the introduction of a tariff quota from January "in exchange for the fact that sunflower oil producers will sign a memorandum with the Ministry of Agriculture, that the price per year will not exceed T750 per liter.

However, farmers point out that the memorandum is not a document that obliges them to comply with its provisions, and therefore cannot guarantee that the price per liter of sunflower oil will remain at or below T750.

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