Food Vouchers Instead of Price Regulation and Farmer Support: A New Reform in Kazakhstan

The Government of Kazakhstan is launching a large-scale reform in the field of food price regulation. Instead of directly setting price caps for socially important goods, the authorities are moving to a mechanism of targeted support for vulnerable groups of the population and tightening control over trade markups. This measure, initiated by presidential order, is part of a broader package of legislative changes for businesses.

Kazakhstan is abandoning the practice of direct intervention in pricing for basic food products. As explained by Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliev, the state will no longer set threshold and maximum prices. Instead, the focus shifts to strict monitoring to ensure that the trade markup on socially significant goods does not exceed the established 15%.

The main goal of the reform is to ensure food accessibility for those who need it most, without distorting market mechanisms. To test the new system, the pilot project “Digital Food Voucher” has been launched. Under this initiative, socially vulnerable citizens receive special vouchers that allow them to purchase items from the list of socially important products at procurement cost, that is, without retail markup.

Alongside the change in pricing policy, the government is strengthening support for domestic producers. A new program obliges retail chains to allocate at least half of their shelf space for goods produced in Kazakhstan. This step is aimed at stimulating local production and enhancing its competitiveness.

At the same time, active work is being carried out to protect the domestic market from low-quality and unsafe imported products. For this purpose, a Situational Headquarters is operating, bringing together the efforts of all regulatory agencies. According to Arman Shakkaliev, the results of this work are already tangible: more than 47,000 vehicles carrying over 600,000 tons of livestock products were inspected. As a result, more than 900 vehicles with questionable goods were sent back, and over 1,000 documents confirming product compliance with standards were annulled.

Thus, the reform has a comprehensive nature. The abandonment of direct price regulation is expected to stimulate healthy competition, while targeted assistance and support for local farmers are designed to protect the interests of both consumers and Kazakh businesses. The successful implementation of the pilot food voucher project will become a key step toward the nationwide rollout of the new system.