Our People > Dmitry Pokidaev

Dmitry Pokidaev

Journalist

Dmitry Pokidaev is a journalist based in Astana, Kazakhstan, with experience at some of the country's top media outlets. Before his career in journalism, Pokidaev worked as an academic, teaching Russian language and literature.

Articles

Education

Kazakhstan Tests AI After Finding 700 Errors in School Textbooks

Kazakhstan is testing artificial intelligence (AI) as part of an overhaul of school textbooks after the Education Ministry identified around 700 errors in existing educational materials. A pilot digital textbook platform is already being used in 40 schools while the authorities consider how AI could improve future editions. One of the more striking errors is in an 11th-grade history textbook, which still refers to the capital as Nur-Sultan, even though the name Astana was restored in September 2022. Education Minister Zhuldyz Suleimenova confirmed on September 8 that the textbook, last updated in 2024, will be reissued next year. Suleimenova referred to the pilot as AI-oqulyq, a name combining AI with oqulyq, the Kazakh word for textbook. It brings school textbooks together on a single platform and incorporates AI tools for working with their content. The ministry’s review covered educational materials from different publishers across 16 subjects. The problems identified include outdated information and factual inaccuracies. Publishers are required to correct and reissue problematic books at their own expense. The ministry has also referred the matter to the Department of Economic Investigations, part of the Financial Monitoring Agency, because some of the same errors remained despite an earlier allocation of public funds. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev publicly raised the issue of textbook quality in August. He was particularly critical of history materials containing unreliable information and accounts of supposed heroes and events that, he said, never existed. Tokayev argued that patriotic education should not be based on falsified history. AI is also becoming part of Kazakhstan’s school curriculum. Digital Literacy in grades 1–4 is being expanded to include artificial intelligence, while Computer Science in grades 5–11 is becoming Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. In grades 10–11, students are expected to study machine learning and neural networks and learn how to analyze data. Separately, Kazakhstan has begun piloting a national AI-powered education platform intended to personalize learning by adapting assignments to students’ abilities and identifying gaps in their knowledge. The first stage began in September in 10 small rural schools, with further expansion planned. At university level, Qazaq AI Research University in Astana is admitting around 600 students in its first intake for the 2026–27 academic year. Kazakhstan is moving relatively quickly to introduce the technology into schools, while education systems elsewhere continue to debate how generative AI should be used. UNESCO recommends a human-centered approach, with teacher training and safeguards to protect children and their personal data. Using the technology to check textbooks carries its own risk because generative AI can produce convincing text containing false information or incorrect dates. AI may help identify inconsistencies across large amounts of material, but expert review remains necessary before textbooks are published. For the Education Ministry, however, the more immediate challenge is correcting the hundreds of errors already found in school materials. The AI-oqulyq pilot will test whether the technology can help prevent similar mistakes from reaching classrooms.

5 days ago

Middle Corridor

Kazakhstan Transport Sector Needs 57,000 Specialists as Middle Corridor Expands

Kazakhstan is expanding railways and logistics capacity along routes linking China and Europe, but its transport sector has identified a need for around 57,000 specialists. Digitalization is creating demand for 31 new professions. Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev announced the figures at a government meeting on September 8. Around 870,000 people currently work in the sector – nearly one in ten employed people in the country. Locomotive drivers, other drivers, engineers, technicians, logistics specialists, pilots, air traffic controllers, ship captains, and mechanics are among those in particularly high demand. The skills required are also changing. Railways need digital logistics specialists and automation experts, while the road sector needs specialists in Building Information Modeling (BIM), smart roads, and construction robot operators. In aviation, new roles include AI-assisted air traffic controllers, air traffic design specialists, and drone operators. BIM makes it possible to create a digital model of an infrastructure asset containing technical data and use it throughout design, construction, and operation. Kazakhstan’s workforce needs coincide with major investment in transport infrastructure. The country occupies the central section of the Middle Corridor, the route connecting China with Europe through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and the South Caucasus. Its importance has grown since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted some freight flows to shift toward routes bypassing Russia. In February, the World Bank approved an $846 million guarantee designed to mobilize $1.41 billion in commercial financing for the development of Kazakhstan’s railway network along the Middle Corridor. The project includes the 322-kilometer Moyynty-Kyzylzhar railway line, which will shorten the route by 149 kilometers and relieve some of the most congested sections of the network. In January 2026, IFC, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and Standard Chartered announced up to $300 million in financing for the electrified railway bypass around Almaty. The financing announcement said the line was expected to reduce pressure on the Almaty railway junction by more than 40% and cut freight delivery times by as much as 24 hours. Working train movements had already begun in December 2025. Kazakhstan’s universities and colleges are currently training around 44,000 students in transport-related fields, more than 28,000 of them on government-funded grants. However, that figure cannot be directly compared with the sector’s need for 57,000 specialists: the students are at different stages of their education, while many jobs require professional experience. The industry is therefore also retraining its existing workforce. Kazakhstan’s national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), operates four regional training centers as well as laboratories and training grounds. The JOLSHY platform has been launched in the road sector to connect employers, specialists, students, and training organizations, while a separate training center is being established for the aviation industry. For the Middle Corridor, Kazakhstan’s growing demand for skilled workers could become another constraint on expansion. The faster the route between China and Europe grows, the more people will be needed to keep it running.

5 days ago

Fiscal Policy

Kazakhstan Bond Market Proposed Tax Changes Aim to Attract $3 Billion in Foreign Investment

Kazakhstan is preparing tax changes to make it easier for foreign investors to trade bonds issued by quasi-state entities through international depository systems. The authorities estimate potential foreign investment in the market at around $3 billion. The problem currently arises after the securities have been purchased. If a foreign investor sells the bonds on a Kazakh stock exchange, capital gains are exempt from tax. But if the same securities are sold outside a local exchange, that exemption does not apply. For international investors, this is an important distinction. Kazakhstan wants to make quasi-state sector bonds accessible through Euroclear and Clearstream, international central securities depositories and settlement systems through which major banks and funds hold and trade securities from different countries. Transactions within these systems can take place without going through a Kazakh stock exchange. National Bank Deputy Governor Aliya Moldabekova said capital gains from non-residents’ sales of quasi-public sector bonds on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange were exempt from tax. However, the legislation did not provide the same treatment when those securities were subsequently sold outside Kazakhstani stock exchanges. The authorities propose eliminating this discrepancy by extending the tax exemption to relevant off-exchange transactions. The approach was backed on September 7 by the government’s Project Office for the implementation of the Tax Code. The Ministry of National Economy and the Ministry of Finance will now work on the necessary legislative amendments. This is a sizable market. There are currently around 17.6 trillion tenge, or roughly $39 billion, in outstanding tenge-denominated bonds issued by Kazakhstan’s quasi-public sector entities. The government estimates potential demand from non-residents at around 1.4 trillion tenge, or about $3 billion. The calculation is based on the average 8.1% share held by non-residents in Kazakhstan’s government securities market during the first eight months of 2026. It is a benchmark rather than a forecast of actual capital inflows. Expanding access to quasi-state company bonds is part of a broader overhaul of Kazakhstan’s domestic debt market. In April, the National Bank announced that Euroclear had begun a project to make Kazakhstan’s government bonds eligible for settlement through its international system. A direct link with Euroclear is planned for 2027, while an international link with Clearstream is already operating. A primary dealer system for government securities also began operating on May 4. Five banks were appointed to support demand and provide two-way quotes for selected securities on the secondary market. The National Bank expects the system to broaden the investor base and help create conditions for Kazakhstan’s government bonds eventually to be included in global debt benchmarks, including the JPMorgan GBI-EM Index. Major Kazakh borrowers, meanwhile, are already looking beyond the domestic market for financing. In August, KazMunayGas raised 3.5 billion yuan, around $490 million, through a yuan-denominated bond offering. The final issue was nearly three times the size of the company’s first yuan bond offering a year earlier.

6 days ago

Tourism

Kazakhstan Tourism Investment Tops $4.8 Billion as Arrivals Rise

Kazakhstan recorded more than $4.8 billion in tourism investment in 2024 and 2025. Current projects include new hotels and mountain resorts, while the government is upgrading transport links to tourist areas as foreign visitor numbers rise. Investment in tourism reached 947.5 billion tenge ($2.08 billion) in 2024 and rose to 1.26 trillion tenge ($2.75 billion) in 2025. Kazakhstan has 328 tourism projects under way worth about 1.3 trillion tenge, or roughly $2.85 billion. These include new Hilton and Mandarin Oriental properties, as well as an expansion of the year-round Oi-Qaragai mountain resort near Almaty. The government expects the projects to create 25 new international-standard hotel complexes and around 10,000 permanent jobs. Revenue from hotels and other registered accommodation facilities also rose from 229 billion tenge, or roughly $500 million, in 2023 to 350.6 billion tenge, or about $770 million, in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the figure rose 13.9% year-on-year. Kazakhstan is also trying to extend the tourism season through year-round mountain tourism and a growing events calendar. Kazakhstan received 15.7 million foreign visitors in 2025, of whom authorities classified 11.1 million as tourists because they stayed in the country for more than one day. Spending by foreign visitors in the country totaled about $2.9 billion. Around 1.43 million foreign visitors used registered hotels and other accommodation facilities, although the figure excludes those staying with relatives or friends and those using unregistered accommodation. From Football to the World Noman Games The 2025 UEFA Champions League match between Almaty’s Kairat and Real Madrid attracted more than 5,000 foreign visitors to the city. Fans arrived from China, India, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, and other countries. Kairat reached the league phase of the Champions League in 2025/26 but was eliminated in the third qualifying round this season, making the Real Madrid match a one-time attraction rather than a recurring source of visitors. Concerts offer a more repeatable version of the same model, with Jennifer Lopez and the Backstreet Boys performing in Almaty in 2025 and Deep Purple, Megadeth, Ricky Martin, and Enrique Iglesias following in 2026. Cirque du Soleil performances and major music festivals have also become part of the city’s events calendar. According to Mastercard, spending on international cards in Almaty during the Kairat-Real Madrid match rose 16% compared with the average for the two weeks before and after the event. It rose 11% during the Jennifer Lopez concert and 3% during the Backstreet Boys concert, while spending on Mastercard cards issued in Spain rose 81% during the Real Madrid match. The Jennifer Lopez concert attracted around 7,000 foreign spectators from 35 countries. Authorities estimated their direct tourism spending at more than 5 billion tenge, or roughly $11 million. The fifth World Nomad Games in Astana in 2024 attracted international visitors and extensive global coverage. Organized tours from the United Kingdom had sold out before the competition opened. Neighboring Countries Still Dominate Arrivals In the first half of 2026, Kazakhstan reported around 7 million foreign arrivals. The largest...

7 days ago

South East Asia

Kazakhstan Laos Seek to Link Transport Corridors Through China

Kazakhstan wants to connect its rail and logistics network with the China-Laos Railway, opening a possible route for Lao goods to Central Asia and Europe and for Kazakh exports into Southeast Asia. Much of the infrastructure already exists: both countries’ networks connect through China. What is missing are the agreements needed to make regular freight traffic between them practical. The idea was one of the main topics during Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith’s first official visit to Kazakhstan on September 3. During talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, trade, transport and logistics were high on the agenda. Tokayev specifically offered Lao freight carriers access to Kazakhstan’s logistics hub in Xi’an. From there, cargo can move through Kazakhstan to the Caspian Sea and then onward toward Europe. Astana sees the China-Laos Railway as a potential gateway to Southeast Asian markets. Opened in December 2021, the 414-kilometer section inside Laos connects the capital Vientiane with Boten on the Chinese border, linking the Lao network onward to Kunming through China’s rail system. It has become a central element of Laos’ strategy to transform itself from a landlocked country into a regional land-linked transport hub. Before the railway opened, the World Bank estimated that, with better logistics and simpler border procedures, it could substantially reduce transport costs and integrate Laos more closely into regional production and supply chains. The route is already being used for freight between China and Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore. Kazakhstan is looking at this infrastructure as a possible southern extension of its own overland trade routes. Between the two countries lies China’s vast railway system, meaning much of the physical infrastructure needed for such a connection already exists. There is, however, no regular Kazakhstan-Laos freight corridor yet. Regular freight services would require agreements covering transit, tariffs, and customs procedures. The route’s commercial viability would depend on transport costs and delivery times, as well as the ability to generate sufficient cargo volumes. The first potential goods have already been identified. Laos is interested in Kazakh grain, oilseeds, animal feed, and meat products. Coffee and rubber are among the possible Lao exports to Kazakhstan. The search for new trade routes is linked to Astana’s broader plans to expand the geography of its exports. Kazakhstan aims to increase non-commodity exports to $52 billion by 2030. Kazakhstan’s interest in Laos is largely explained by the country’s changing position on Asia’s transport map. The railway connection to China has given Laos direct access to the Chinese network and brought it closer to major regional markets. Kazakhstan’s infrastructure could extend that chain westward through Central Asia and across the Caspian toward Europe.

1 week ago

Nuclear Power Plant

Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plant Contract Signed with Rosatom

Kazakhstan has formalized plans to build its first nuclear power plant, signing the main construction contract with Russia’s Rosatom for a two-reactor facility near Lake Balkhash. The plant, preliminarily estimated to cost around $16.4 billion, will have a combined capacity of about 2.4 gigawatts, with most of the financing expected to come through a Russian state export loan. Rosatom was selected to lead the project in June 2025, meaning the latest agreement formalizes a decision made more than a year ago. Major construction work is expected to begin in 2027. The contract was signed on September 3 in Vladivostok during the Eastern Economic Forum. Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants, the state-owned company established to implement nuclear projects, signed the agreement with Atomstroyexport, Rosatom’s engineering subsidiary. The contract covers engineering, equipment supply, and construction of the plant. Almassadam Satkaliyev, chairman of Kazakhstan’s Atomic Energy Agency, said after the signing that Rosatom is expected to obtain the necessary site license in 2027, allowing construction to begin. He had previously identified 2034 as the target for bringing the first unit online, while the full construction cycle is expected to take about a decade. The nuclear power plant will be built near the village of Ulken on the western shore of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometers from Almaty. It will consist of two Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors with a combined capacity of around 2.4 gigawatts. That is equivalent to about 9% of Kazakhstan’s current installed generating capacity. Site preparation began in the summer of 2025. Specialists started engineering surveys and drilling wells to study the site’s suitability for the plant. Kazakhstan is returning to nuclear power generation after more than a quarter of a century. The Soviet-built BN-350 reactor in Aktau, which supplied electricity and district heating and supported large-scale seawater desalination, ceased operations in 1999. Kazakhstan has had no operating nuclear power reactors since then. In October 2024, the construction of a new nuclear power plant was put to a nationwide referendum, with a majority of participating voters supporting the proposal. In June 2025, Kazakhstan selected Rosatom to lead the international consortium for the project. The Russian proposal ranked first among four options considered, alongside bids from China’s CNNC, France’s EDF, and South Korea’s KHNP. The preliminary cost of the nuclear power plant is estimated at around $16.4 billion. Of that amount, approximately $14.4 billion is expected to cover the two generating units, with another roughly $2 billion allocated for infrastructure, physical protection systems, and fuel for the warranty period. Most of the project is expected to be financed through a Russian state export loan. The detailed financing terms have not yet been made public. Kazakhstan is also allocating its own funds. The draft national budget for 2027-2029 earmarks 818.3 billion tenge, or about $1.7 billion, to increase the capital of Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants. Of that amount, 247.9 billion tenge is planned for 2027, 303.1 billion for 2028, and 267.3 billion for 2029. Kazakh authorities intend to involve domestic companies in construction, equipment manufacturing, and the...

2 weeks ago

Geology

Kazakhstan Mineral Deposits: 54 New Sites Added to State Register

Kazakhstan is looking beyond its traditional strengths in oil, gold, and iron ore as it expands its mineral resource base. Fifty-four deposits were added to the state register in 2024 and 2025, while geologists are focusing more closely on lithium, tungsten, and rare earth elements as demand grows alongside clean-energy and high-tech manufacturing. The state register is Kazakhstan’s official inventory of mineral deposits, recording their resources and reserves, level of exploration and development, and changes resulting from extraction or reassessment. In 2024, 35 deposits were added to the register for the first time, followed by another 19 a year later. Across the same two-year period, exploration and reassessments added 262.2 million tons of iron ore, 199 million tons of oil, 157.2 tons of gold, and 22 billion cubic meters of gas to the country’s recorded resources and reserves. The register now includes around 10,000 deposits. The recorded resource base also increased for silver, copper, zinc, lead, chromium ore, manganese, and phosphorite. Geologists are also turning their attention to metals that have traditionally remained in the shadow of Kazakhstan’s main extractive industries. The country is assessing its potential for lithium, tungsten, molybdenum, and other rare metals and rare earth elements. Among the deposits under study are Karaoba, which contains tungsten, and the Karagailyaktas, Akhmetkino, and Akhmirovskoye lithium deposits. Several major molybdenum deposits are located in the Karaganda Region. A separate exploration program focuses on rare earth elements, which are used in permanent magnets, electric motors, electronics, wind turbines, and a range of defense technologies. Studies have been completed at 11 exploration sites, while four prospective areas within Kuyrektykol have forecast resources estimated at 935,400 tons. The government identifies Kuyrektykol in the Karaganda Region as the most promising of these sites. Geologists have identified lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and yttrium there. In 2025, officials said the wider Zhana Kazakhstan area, which encompasses almost all of Kuyrektykol, could contain more than 20 million tons of rare earth metals at depths of up to 300 meters. Much of this, however, remains at the geological assessment stage. The forecast resource estimates still need to be confirmed through further exploration before they can be treated as mineable reserves and the economics of extraction can be determined. Kazakhstan could also find growing demand abroad for these resources. The United States and the European Union are seeking new sources of critical minerals and trying to reduce their dependence on China, particularly in rare earth processing. Astana, meanwhile, is encouraging foreign partners to go beyond buying raw materials and invest in processing inside Kazakhstan. The search for new deposits is also becoming more expensive and more ambitious. Over the next three years, Kazakhstan plans to invest more than $470 million in state-funded geological exploration – more than it spent over the previous 15 years. The program includes new geological mapping, while broader modernization efforts include digitizing historical geological data and using artificial intelligence to help identify promising areas. Only a fraction of identified resources, however, ultimately make the transition to...

2 weeks ago

Agricultural technologies

Kazakhstan Tests Drone System for Releasing Beneficial Insects To Fight Agricultural Pests

Kazakh scientists have developed BioDrop, a system in which drones scatter biodegradable capsules containing beneficial insects over fields to combat agricultural pests. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, tests showed that the treatment takes several times less time than manually releasing entomophagous insects, while biological control effectiveness reaches 81%-83%. The technology is already being used by four farms. The system was developed by specialists at the Zhazken Zhiyembayev Kazakh Research Institute of Plant Protection and Quarantine. It consists of a drone, an automated dispensing device, and biodegradable spherical capsules. Inside the capsules are entomophagous insects — natural enemies of agricultural pests. BioDrop uses Trichogramma, microscopic parasitoid wasps that attack pest eggs, and Habrobracon hebetor, which targets pest larvae. The insects pose no danger to people or plants. The drone follows a predetermined route across a field and automatically releases the capsules. Their design protects the biological material when they land, after which the insects emerge and begin searching for pests. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 14 days after entomophagous insects were released manually, biological control effectiveness stood at 70%-73%. BioDrop achieved 81%-83%. Treating the experimental plot manually took 1-1.5 hours, while the drone completed the same work in 10-15 minutes, including equipment preparation. The Kazakh system follows an increasingly visible international trend in agriculture. Researchers in China previously developed an automated drone-based system for releasing Trichogramma. In field trials, it achieved more than 99% effective coverage of the target area and an average pest-control effectiveness of about 84%. Similar experiments have been conducted in Canada, where drones were used to release Trichogramma against pests affecting corn and forests. Researchers noted that traditional manual placement of biological control agents is time-consuming, while aerial application can be expensive. Kazakhstan has also been testing drones for biological crop protection for several years. Researchers from the same institute have used biological preparations on several crops and UAVs to release entomophagous insects against cotton bollworm. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has included this work in its repository of green agriculture practices. The FAO says UAV releases achieved biological effectiveness of 70% against the second generation of cotton bollworm and 82.6% against the third. BioDrop develops this work into an integrated delivery system. A study by Kazakh researchers published in June 2026 describes biodegradable capsules produced using 3D printing and field trials in which biological effectiveness ranged from 69.5% to 82.8%. Practical use of BioDrop is still limited to four farms. The ministry has not provided details about the scale of its use on those farms, leaving its performance over larger commercial areas unclear. Drones are already being used in Kazakhstan’s agriculture to monitor soil and crop conditions. In the East Kazakhstan Region, researchers are combining drone imagery with artificial intelligence to assess fields and plan agricultural operations.

2 weeks ago

CERN

Kazakh Scientists to Gain More Opportunities to Work at CERN

Kazakhstan is preparing an agreement with CERN that would give its scientists more opportunities to participate in experiments and undertake research internships at one of the world’s leading particle physics centers. The talks come as the country begins developing nuclear power plants and faces a growing need for highly qualified physicists and engineers. The prospect was discussed at a meeting between Kazakhstan’s acting Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek and CERN Director-General Mark Thomson. The two sides have already prepared a draft protocol expanding their 2018 cooperation agreement. The proposed mechanism would allow Kazakh scientists to undertake research internships and participate in CERN projects through the Scientific Internships program of Kazakhstan’s Center for International Programs. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, was founded in 1954. Its vast scientific complex is located near Geneva on the border between Switzerland and France. It is home to the Large Hadron Collider, a 27-kilometer particle accelerator, used by physicists to accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light, collide them, and study the fundamental structure of matter. The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, one of the most important breakthroughs in modern physics. CERN has 25 Member States and another 11 Associate Member States. Kazakhstan belongs to neither group. Its cooperation with the organization is based on the 2018 agreement. The draft protocol is intended to create a more formal mechanism for Kazakh researchers to participate in CERN research. For Kazakhstan, training scientists and engineers has become more pressing following the decision to develop nuclear power. In an October 2024 referendum, 71.12% of those who voted supported the construction of a nuclear power plant. In June 2025, Russia’s Rosatom was selected to lead the consortium building the country’s first nuclear power plant near the village of Ulken on the shore of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometers from Almaty. Kazakhstan has since expanded those ambitions. A nuclear industry strategy approved in April 2026 calls for at least three nuclear power plants to be operating by 2050. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has been selected to lead the development of Kazakhstan’s second nuclear power plant. Plans for a third plant are also being developed, although the technology and contractor have not yet been definitively determined. Buying reactors alone will not be enough – the country also needs its own specialists. Kazakhstan is already allocating dedicated places under the international Bolashak scholarship program to train nuclear energy professionals, while local universities are launching programs for future nuclear power plant employees. Bolashak is a state-funded program that pays for Kazakh citizens to study at universities abroad. While CERN does not train nuclear power plant operators, working at the center can give physicists and engineers experience with particle accelerators, sophisticated detectors, computing systems, and international scientific experiments. For Kazakhstan, this offers an opportunity to develop its own scientific expertise in parallel with training personnel specifically for nuclear power plants.

2 weeks ago

Agriculture

Weather Boosts Early Kazakhstan Grain Harvest

An unusually hot summer has led to an earlier grain harvest in Kazakhstan. Farmers have already collected 7.7 million tons of grain from roughly a third of the country’s grain-growing area, almost twice as much land as had been harvested at the same point last year. The first batches of wheat are also showing noticeably better quality – an important factor for Kazakhstan’s grain exports to Central Asia and other markets. By this point in 2025, farmers had collected 3.9 million tons of grain, compared with 7.7 million tons this year. The government said in mid-August that warm weather had brought the harvest forward, adding that newer farm machinery and modern farming technology had helped farmers increase the pace. It is still too early to say whether Kazakhstan will repeat its record harvest of 2025. Last year, the country produced more than 27 million tons of grain, including 20.3 million tons of wheat. Expectations for this year had been more cautious. Dry conditions in central and eastern Kazakhstan raised concerns about a smaller crop, and some industry experts suggested production could fall by 15%-20% from last year. The early results, however, suggest the wheat may be of better quality. Of the soft wheat already delivered to grain elevators and tested, 78% has been classified as Grade 3 and another 14% as Grade 4. Grade 5 and ungraded wheat account for 7%. Grade 3 wheat is suitable for flour and bread production. The early figures compare favorably with last year, when 53% of soft wheat was classified in Grades 1-3 and 35% as Grade 4. Gluten levels, another measure of wheat quality, are also strong. Of the wheat tested, 56% has a gluten content above 28%, while another 19% is in the 25%-27% range. That promises to be a boon for exports. Kazakhstan is a major supplier of grain and flour to Central Asia, and also sells to Afghanistan, China, and other markets. A larger share of higher-quality wheat gives exporters more opportunities to sell into higher-value markets. Kazakhstan is also changing what it grows. The government has been reducing the area planted with wheat and encouraging farmers to grow more oilseeds and other more profitable crops. In 2025, the oilseed harvest reached a record of nearly 5 million tons. This year’s oilseed harvest is only just beginning, with 244,000 tons collected so far. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 98% of grain and oilseed crops are currently in good or satisfactory condition. With 35.5% of the grain-growing area harvested so far, the early results point to better wheat quality, but the final size of the crop will depend heavily on the harvest in Kazakhstan’s main grain-producing regions in the north.

2 weeks ago

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