January 19, 2012

The agricultural sector of Kazakhstan continues to see more investments from The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) with over US$100 million investments poured in from the past year.

Established by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006, The Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution to facilitate the development of market economies in member countries and expand mutual trade and economic relations.

Thus, APK-Invest Corporation's credit line alone has increased to US$75 million.

The allocated loan funds will be channelled for financing sowing and harvesting campaigns alongside the purchase and sale of grain for export, Caspionet said.

Ella Baibikova, deputy head of the Analytical Department, Eurasian Development Bank said, "We saw a record grain harvest in 2011. This is an export product for Kazakhstan. First of all, we finance export operations. And our funding not only supports agricultural producers, but also gives them an opportunity to enter foreign markets".

According to the EDB, such projects contribute to the expansion of mutual trade between the bank's member countries, and have a positive impact on the development of single grain markets in Eurasia.

Baibikova added, "The bank's main mission is to support economic integration, and this agricultural projects fit perfectly".

In 2011, Kazakhstan harvested 26.9 million tonnes of grain in net weight.

Analysts said the last time the country had a harvest of this magnitude was in 1986, but at the time, crop areas were one and a half times larger than in 2011.

The average yield of grain was 16.9 hundredweights per hectare last year, Caspionet reports.