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Kazakhstan Suspends Sugar Exports Until August

To ensure an uninterrupted supply of sugar to residents during the summer season, Kazakhstan’s government has announced a temporary ban on its export of sugar to third countries until 31 August. The decision made on 6 May, will affect fellow members of the Eurasian Economic Union - Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia - but will not impact international transit. Kazakhstan’s warehouses can store about 256 thousand tons of its own reserves and imported sugar, which is enough to meet half of the country’s annual requirement of 500-550 thousand tons. According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture Erbol Taszhurekov, current stocks of sugar and raw cane amount to 136 thousand tons. Combined with the quota of 120 thousand tons of imported Russian sugar, reserves will reach 256 thousand tons by 31 August. In addition, Kazakhstan has a duty-free import quota of 300 thousand tons of raw cane for processing until the end of 2024. The average monthly sugar consumption is 46 thousand tons, and in summer, reaches 60 thousand tons. Thus, explained the deputy minister, “the existing sugar reserves are more than enough to meet demand until the new harvest.” Kazakhstan also plans to negotiate with Russia to increase the quota of its supply of sugar by 100 thousand tons until the end of the year.

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Kazakhstan Forwards Water-Saving Technology

On May 6, the Kazakh Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation reported on measures being taken to encourage farmers to save and use water more efficiently. The move addresses Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s earlier criticism about the process of introducing water-saving technologies being “extremely slow,” with agricultural sectors in some regions, experiencing annual losses of water of 40%. According to plans set in motion by the ministry, by 2030, the installation of water-saving technologies will provide an annual saving of up to 2.1 cubic kilometres of water on 50% of the country’s irrigated land To date, subsidies for drilling irrigation wells have been increased to 80% of their costs, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, work is progressing to increase subsidies for the installation of water-saving systems from 50% to 80% of their costs. In adherence to the new Water Code, the state will provide subsidies and reduced tariffs for water supply depending on the extent to which water-saving technologies are used. Tariffs for irrigation water are set to be calculated according to the types of crops grown and the volume of water required for their production. The ministry is also working to digitalize 3,500 km of irrigation canals in the Almaty, Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, and Turkestan regions in the south of the country, which will improve water metering on 362 thousand hectares of irrigated land and enable a saving up to 600 million cubic meters of water annually.

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Victory Day Payments for WWII Veterans in Former Soviet Republics

To mark the 79th anniversary of the Second World War Victory, celebrated in former Soviet republics on 9 May, Kazakhstan's 50,100 WWII veterans and contributors each received at least 1.5 million tenge ($3,500). According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population, Victory Day awards differed from region to region. Qualified residents in Akmola received 3 million tenge, in Aktobe, over 2 million tenge, and in Abay, Almaty, Karaganda, and Pavlodar as well as the cities of Astana and Almaty, 2 million tenge. Records of 1 May, show that 148 WW2 veterans currently reside in Kazakhstan. The country is also home to 50,012 others who played important roles in winning the war, including 70 residents of besieged Leningrad; 149 prisoners of German concentration camps; 2,314 spouses of those killed and disabled in battle ; 2 widows of soldiers who died or went missing, and 47,477 people who manned the home front. During WWII, over 1.2 million Kazakhs were called to the Soviet-German front. Fighting in over 20 infantry divisions, fifty percent died or went missing in combat. In Kyrgyzstan, 41 surviving war veterans will each receive 100 thousand soms (almost $1,130) from the President’s Fund. In Russia, veterans will receive a single federal payment of 10 thousand rubles (about $109), and those based in Moscow, an additional 10 -25 thousand rubles. Victory Day payments to veterans in Belarus are around $1,226 per head, and in Azerbaijan, $1,200.

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Kazakhstan Establishes Forest Protection Service

On May 4, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov signed a government resolution establishing a national Forest Protection Service. Administered by the Ministry of Ecology, the agency is tasked to enhance the efficiency of forestry institutions in dealing with emergency situations, including forest fires, as well as instilling a more scientific approach to subsequent forest rehabilitation and clearance. In addition to improving coordination between government agencies in the elimination of large-scale wildfires, the Forest Protection Service will ensure that personnel responsible for preventing and extinguishing forest fires are fully qualified. Machinery and equipment required for the job will also be updated and increased. Kazakhstan currently has 15 national civil defense services, including the Firefighting Service, Medical Service, Chemical Protection Service, Radiation Protection Service, and Hydrometeorological Service.

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Chinese Сompanies’ Generous Aid for People Hit by Kazakhstan’s Floods

Some fifteen members of the Association of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan have stepped in to provide generous aid for people badly affected by unprecedented spring floods that hit the country in April. In addition to funds totalling around 300 million tenge (over $675 thousand), the Chinese companies have donated special equipment, fuel, and other necessary resources. According to a report by Kazakh Invest, PetroChina International Kazakhstan and its subsidiaries donated more than 100 million tenge, JAC automobile concern and Allur,100 million tenge, and the Kazakhstan branch of Chinese oil and gas corporation Geo-Jade Petroleum, 70 million tenge. A donation of over 3 million tenge was made by Chinese grain company Xi'an Aiju to the North Kazakhstan Disaster Relief Fund, and the Chinese National Chemical Engineering Corporation and China Tianchen jointly contributed 1.7 million tenge to flood relief. JXC donated engine oil for 1.8 million tenge.

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Kazakhstan Engages Hydrogeology to Address Water Issues

On 30 April, a government resolution was signed by the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov for the establishment of a national hydrogeological service under the name of Kazhydrogeology. Increasingly used worldwide, hydrogeology records movement and storage of water in the crust of the Earth, maps and quantifies water stored in underground 'acquifiers', identifies pathways of flow and discharge, and assesses the chemical composition of underground water. Kazhydrogeology is tasked with making a full inventory of the country's groundwater deposits and water intake wells to create an extensive database of 4,300 explored groundwater areas and in addition, provide comprehensive digitalization of the hydrogeological industry through the introduction of an automated groundwater monitoring system. Prospecting and exploration work will be undertaken to increase the volume of available underground water resources in regions where water is scarce, to optimize provision for the general population, the economic sector, and irrigation. The new agency also plans to explore the use of geothermal groundwater, as an alternative source of energy, to meet the needs of thermal power engineering, greenhouses, and fish farms.