Export Breakthrough: How State Support Opened European and African Markets for Kazakhstan’s Wheat

Kazakhstan is confidently moving towards a new record in agricultural exports, with unprecedented volumes of wheat shipments playing a key role in this success. Strategic state support has not only prevented oversupply in the domestic market but has also opened previously inaccessible markets for Kazakh grain — from Scandinavia to North Africa.

Details of this breakthrough were revealed in an exclusive podcast with Agrosearch CEO Zhenis Shaimerdenov by Yevgeny Karabanov, Head of the Analytics Committee of the Grain Union of Kazakhstan (GUK).

The main driving force behind the export success was the government’s program to subsidize transportation costs. According to Yevgeny Karabanov, this program solved Kazakhstan’s long-standing problem — the high cost of logistics due to its remoteness from global seaports. “We have always lost to Russia and Ukraine precisely because of logistics,” the expert emphasized.

For comparison, delivering one ton of grain to Black Sea ports costs Kazakhstan $70, while competitors from southern Russia spend only $10–20. State subsidies ranging from $38 to $56 per ton (depending on the route) have “leveled the playing field” and offset this difference. “Thanks to this program, many additional markets were opened,” Karabanov stated, noting that access to them would have been impossible without subsidies.

The result was impressive diversification of export destinations. Among the buyers of Kazakh wheat are countries that had not been on the list for many years or never before:
• Morocco
• Algeria
• European countries, including Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Belgium
• Significant growth in purchases from returning markets such as Vietnam and Azerbaijan
Thus, the transport subsidy program has become not just financial assistance but a strategic tool that prevented a drop in domestic prices due to a large harvest and opened a new chapter in Kazakhstan’s export history.
As Yevgeny Karabanov noted, “Our grain was well received, it sold well, and if this program continues, it will be simply excellent.”

Watch the full exclusive interview with Yevgeny Karabanov on our YouTube channel