ASTANA, Kazakhstan, February 19. In the Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan, the wheels are turning for the construction of a third sugar factory, where talks with investors are in full swing, aiming to boost the sugar beet processing capacity in the area to a whopping 1 million tons, said the regional akim (governor) Beibit Isabayev during an extensive interview for Kazakhstan's media, Trend reports via the press service of the Zhetysu regional akimat.
“We are starting the modernization of the Koksu Sugar Factory. After the update, it will be able to process 500,000 tons of beets per year. Investments of 60 million euros ($57 million) are being attracted for these purposes. The Aksu Sugar Factory will process an additional 350,000 to 400,000 tons. As a result, our region will be able to process 800,000 to 900,000 tons of sugar beets. At the same time, we will increase the area of irrigated land put into circulation, including through the ongoing work on the reconstruction of irrigation networks. As a result, if we build the third sugar factory, the volume of processing of the sweet root will increase to 1 million tons,” noted Isabayev.
As the head of the region emphasized, such high yields are a significant achievement and the result of the immense labor of the region’s farmers. Regarding difficulties with raw material intake, these temporarily arose due to the situation in the Zhambyl region. A total of 100,000 tons of sugar beets from this region were accepted for processing at the Aksu Sugar Factory.
Speaking about plans for the current year, the regional akim highlighted that work on the processing of agricultural products would be intensified. For this purpose, work is currently underway with investors to open a poultry farm and a corn processing plant.
In total, 65 percent of the agricultural products produced in the region are processed in the Zhetysu region, including sugar beets, corn, wheat, meat, milk, and others. Moreover, in the preceding fiscal year, the agronomic sector experienced a growth trajectory of three percent.
To note, last year, the Zhetysu region harvested a record amount of sugar beets—630,000 tons from 13,000 hectares. This is the best result since independence. The average yield was 450-500 quintals per hectare.