Is Kazakhstan facing a sugar shortage? Will the country be able to stop importing Russian sugar?

Sugar

Kazakhstan

Regulation & Compliances

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 29, 2024

Tridge summary

Kazakhstan is setting its sights on boosting its domestic sugar supply from current levels to 60% within the next five years, as announced by Minister of Agriculture, Aidarbek Saparov. The nation, which heavily depends on sugar imports, particularly from Russia, plans to achieve this ambitious goal through a series of strategic measures. These include state support for the sugar industry and initiatives to expand sugar beet cultivation. Furthermore, the government is contemplating the imposition of an additional tax on sugar-laden beverages and other products deemed 'harmful' to combat the unchecked consumption of sugar and the escalating rates of diabetes and obesity. This tax proposal is currently under consideration.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Within five years, Kazakhstan plans to increase the supply of sugar to the domestic market to 60%, the Agrosektor.kz portal reports, citing a statement by the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan Aidarbek Saparov. According to experts from the First Credit Bureau, a significant share of the Kazakh sugar market is now occupied by imports, the volumes of which are greater than the volumes of domestic products. “Are Kazakhstanis facing a sugar shortage this year?” journalists asked Aidarbek Saparov on the sidelines of the Government. “There are sugar reserves,” the minister answered confidently. And further, answering the questions: when will the country produce enough sugar and will Kazakhstan be able to refuse imports of sugar, in particular Russian, Aidarbek Saparov said that for this, the Ministry of Agriculture has developed a comprehensive plan for the development of the sugar industry. This program has been in effect since 2023. “We included state support for ...

Source: Agrosektor