28–30 October 2026
On 28 October, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the government to develop a “large-scale financing system” that lets farmers plan for the long term. He said agriculture grew by almost 6% last year and that preferential financing for the sector (loans and leasing at reduced interest with state support) rose from 1 to 1.5 trillion tenge (about $3.3 billion) in a year. The next day, Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov presented the plan: the state development holding Baiterek is allocating 270 billion tenge (about $595 million) to long-term farm loans this year, and the state leasing company KazAgroFinance is expected to secure about 200 billion tenge (about $440 million) for preferential machinery leasing (rental with an option to buy) in 2027.
On 30 October, the ministry reported a 2026 harvest of 24.3 million tonnes of grain — one of the best results in 15 years. About 72% of the soft wheat (the main bread-making variety) delivered to elevators (large grain silos) meets class 3 standards (good-quality milling wheat). Over the past two marketing years (each running from September to August), grain and flour exports (in grain equivalent) reached record levels of 15.5 and 16 million tonnes.
An important detail: farm credit in Kazakhstan is still expensive (19.7% on average in 2025) and the machinery fleet is still heavily worn (65% worn out in 2025, meaning most machines have reached the end of their service life). Longer and cheaper financing could therefore boost demand for machinery, seed and fertiliser, as well as investment in farms — the programme’s actual terms are worth watching.
Sources: Kazinform, 28 and 29 October 2026; Trend.az, 30 October 2026; “Agribusiness of Kazakhstan 2025” (ElDala.kz); National Bank of Kazakhstan rate of 30 October 2026 (about 454 tenge per $1).