More than half of food imports to Kazakhstan come from Russia

Last year, Russia accounted for more than half of all food imports in Kazakhstan, according to a survey by INFOline, a Russian consulting agency. The agency also believes that Russian food suppliers will get an even bigger share of the local market this year thanks to the weaker Russian ruble.

The agency noted that Russian food products account for 30% to 50% of the entire assortment in an average Kazakhstani grocery store. For example, in the Dina Market grocery chain that operates in eight towns in West Kazakhstan, Russian and Kazakhstani food products account for 42% and 32%, respectively.

According to the survey, in 2022, the import of Russian food products grew by 18.5% and reached $3.2 billion. At the same time, Magnum, the biggest supermarket chain in Kazakhstan, reported a decline in the assortment of Russia-made confectionary products, cheeses and pastries due to the high exchange rate of the ruble in 2022.

The vast majority of Russian products has been brought to Kazakhstan by gray importers. There are almost no complaints about the quality of non-perishable food made in Russia. However, when it comes to meat and fish products, authorized bodies in Kazakhstan have discovered hundreds of Russia-made product items contaminated with salmonella, staphylococcus and E.coli. The Sanitary and Epidemiology Committee of Kazakhstan believes that this situation is a result of corruption in this sphere as many food certificates and declarations of conformity are false.

Ivan Fedyakov, head of INFOLine, says that the exodus of foreign brands from the Russian market has caused the deepest transformation of the food products supply chain in Russia and the region more generally.

«This transformation has touched upon everybody: Russian producers, European producers and retailers in Russia and Kazakhstan. Finally, it affects the consumers,» Fedyakov told Kursiv. He also noted that for 70% of manufacturies and suppliers obstacles in logistics are the key driver of uncertainty and growing costs.

What makes the situation worse is a lack of warehouses in CIS countries, including Kazakhstan. Many Russian businesses are trying to redirect supplies to these countries.

«Kazakhstan is a leader in terms of warehouses that either have already entered into operation or are set to be built (41% of all warehouses announced in the region.) Given that Kazakhstan is going to establish big logistic centers on the perimeter of its border with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, this drives more interest to this country,» Fedyakov highlighted.