Kazakhstan will carry out an inventory of onion stocks. If there is a risk of deficiency, restrictions on onion exports may be introduced. This was reported to ElDala.kz by the press service of the Ministry of Trade and Integration.
The regulation of onion prices was considered at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Foreign Trade Policy and Participation in International Economic Organizations.
“Following the discussions, the Ministry of Agriculture and local administrations were instructed to analyze the actual onion stocks needed to fully meet the demand of the population and control prices. If the results of the analysis show the risk of onion deficiency during the off-season, measures will be taken in advance to protect the domestic market,” the press service of the Ministry of Trade said.
Meanwhile, the press service of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan informed that the Ministry of Trade has developed a draft Roadmap for the import of vegetables in the off-season of 2023. The document provides for the distribution of imports of socially important food products by regions and retail chains, the timing and volume of financing of retail chains under reverse schemes through regional administration so that the chains conclude contracts with suppliers for the import of vegetables in a timely manner. Furthermore, assistance will be provided through the QazTrade Trade Policy Development Center to ensure a green corridor for timely deliveries.
At the same time, contracts with Kazakh producers on the supply of vegetables at fixed prices are only partially fulfilled. According to the acting Chairman of the Trade Committee Aidar Abildabekov, out of 120 contracts for the supply of 206 000 tonnes of vegetables, concluded by regional SECs, only 80 contracts for 125 796 tonnes have legal force. Besides, most contracts do not provide penalties for sales at inflated prices and underdelivered volume.
“Many agreements do not provide for price revision and, thus, additional agreements are not concluded in cases of price reduction. For example, in an agreement with one of the individual entrepreneurs in the West Kazakhstan region, the cost of carrots was 200 KZT/kg. Today, the average price for carrots is 150 KZT, but the contract has not been revised,” Aidar Abildabekov said.
