Kazakhstan's exports: how the government supports domestic producers abroad
Today, enterprises that create competitive products and implement modern technologies are becoming the main drivers of economic growth, enabling them to successfully enter international markets and strengthen the country’s export potential, Zakon.kz reports.
Domestic manufacturers are being helped to modernize their businesses and become highly competitive players in both domestic and foreign markets by Export Credit Agency of Kazakhstan (ECA, part of the Baiterek holding structure). The company provides insurance and financial guarantee instruments to minimize risks in foreign trade activities.
Journalists were able to see these mechanisms in action during a special press tour to the Kostanay Region. One of the agency’s largest and long-standing partners in the region is the confectionery factory Bayan Sulu JSC.
Thanks to the support of the national development institution, the company now produces more than 300 product lines and is actively expanding into foreign markets. Confectionery products from Kostanay are exported to China, Mongolia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, and Russia. Deliveries to the Russian market account for about 80% of the factory’s total exports. Overall, Bayan Sulu exports 44% of its products, while the remaining volume is sold domestically.
“Large-scale logistics always involve significant risks. A considerable amount of time passes between the shipment of products abroad and their sale in the destination country. Accounts receivable insurance provided by the Export Credit Agency of Kazakhstan is the instrument that helps us work with foreign customers on a long-term basis. Thanks to their support, we can immediately ship large batches of goods without worrying about foreign companies failing to fulfill their contractual obligations. By expanding our production, we are not only developing our own business but also contributing to import substitution.”
Olga Gubareva, Commercial Director of Bayan Sulu JSC
Another Kostanay-based company supported by the ECA is Terra LLP, the largest full-cycle livestock agroholding and a leading supplier of high-quality beef to the markets of China, Uzbekistan, and neighboring countries. Over the past 18 months, the company has exported approximately 3,000 tons of products, generating around 12 billion tenge in revenue.
As its export geography expands, the volume of exported beef is expected to increase further. The company is currently developing access to the Japanese market.
“One breeding bull costs from 2 million tenge, and we usually purchase large batches. Quite often, we lack sufficient collateral to obtain a major loan. That is when the Export Credit Agency comes to our aid. They assume responsibility for us before the bank, we receive financing, purchase livestock, fatten it, and then sell it both domestically and for export. This support also has a social impact. Over the past three years, increased livestock turnover has allowed us to create 30 new jobs.”
Marat Utelbayeva, Managing Director of Terra LLP
Prombaza-7 LLP is a vivid example of business diversification through state support. Known in the region as a major distributor of liquefied gas, the company expanded its activities in 2012 by launching a small vegetable oil production workshop. Six years later, it built a full-scale high-tech processing plant using modern extraction technologies, increasing processing volumes almost tenfold. Today, the company produces two products — refined and unrefined oil — with a capacity of 50 tons per day.
“Most of our products are supplied to the markets of China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and other foreign countries. We have been cooperating with the Export Credit Agency for almost five years. During this time, we have not only increased the plant’s production capacity but also expanded our workforce from 18 to 45 employees. In addition, in 2018 we connected the plant to a gas supply, which made it possible to gasify the entire village of Kopychenka in the Fedorovsky District of Kostanay Region, where more than 250 people now live.”
Mukhamedzhan Akulov, Founder of Prombaza-7 LLP
Over the past five years, the Export Credit Agency of Kazakhstan has supported exporters in the Kostanay Region with more than 128 billion tenge, accounting for about one quarter of the agency’s total portfolio. Overall, by the end of 2025, the cumulative economic effect of projects supported by the agency is estimated at 2.3 trillion tenge.
“Becoming our partner is quite simple. The main requirement is the production of your own goods and their export. We are ready to support any enterprise, even if exports account for only 0.5% of its sales. The only condition is that our instruments are aimed exclusively at stimulating the non-resource sector of the economy. ECA support covers key industries — from mechanical engineering and metallurgy to the food industry, which is strategically important for the country’s food security.”
Temirkhan Tishbayev, Chief Manager of the Insurance and Guarantee Department at the Export Credit Agency of Kazakhstan
State financial and insurance mechanisms enable local enterprises to move away from a raw-material orientation, diversify production, and manufacture highly competitive products with high added value. This is one of the key objectives that Kazakhstan has set for itself today.
