A record amount of 700 billion tenge has been allocated for preferential financing of field work in the current season in Kazakhstan, but farmers complain about the complexity and length of procedures for obtaining loans. At a meeting of the industry Council on the agro-industrial complex of the Kostanay region, it was decided to develop a package of amendments to the lending rules in order to simplify the process of obtaining loans. This was reported by the Association of Agricultural Producers of the Kostanay region.
This year, 84.1 billion tenge have been allocated to the Kostanay region under two programs - "Ken Dala" and "Ken Dala 2": of which 64 billion tenge - through the Agrarian Credit Corporation and 20.1 billion tenge - through the SPK "Tobol". These funds are intended to finance work on an area of about 400 thousand hectares, and in general, the area of crops in the region exceeds 5 million tenge.
According to the Association of Agricultural Producers, to receive funding, heads of agricultural formations must collect a huge amount of documents, sometimes up to 600 pages, which takes several months.
As reported by Zhanna Abzulinova, Deputy Director of the Kostanay branch of the ACC, money comes in tranches from the republican budget, and funds are issued as they are received. But, despite the availability of unspent funds (about 2 billion tenge), the speed of processing applications remains problematic due to the high workload of specialists: applications have been accepted since November 2024, and their number is growing.
According to farmers, the problem lies not only in the large document flow, but also in the ineffective organization of management. The head of Zarya JSC, Alexander Klimko, gave a specific example: in order to receive a loan of 90 million tenge, the enterprise had to provide collateral worth 313 million tenge and collect documentation of 600 pages. Even after approval by the credit committee, the registration process dragged on for a week due to the large number of certificates and the signing of each document in several instances. He emphasized that farmers are ready to take risks, including pre-trial sale of the mortgaged property, but expect a rational approach from creditors. In particular, duplicate or unnecessary documents can be excluded from the list.
The Association emphasized that untimely provision of financial resources leads to failures in agricultural technology processes. Under current conditions, farmers are forced to adapt to the requirements and schedules of financial institutions, which reduces production efficiency. The financing system should be built taking into account the specifics of the agricultural sector and focus on real production needs.
One of the proposals voiced at the meeting of the industry Council was to store borrowers' files locally in order to avoid collecting the same package of documents every year. It was also proposed to introduce simplified procedures for issuing funds during periods of high need, for example, during sowing. This would help to quickly master state funds and reduce the risks of underfunding the sector.
Based on the results of the council, a package of proposals will be formed. The joint working group for its development will include representatives of the Association of Agricultural Producers of the Kostanay Region and financial institutions. The goal of this work is to eliminate existing contradictions and increase the availability of financing for farmers.