BaigeNews.kz continues a series of events from the Republic of Kazakhstan on the day of the liberation of Kazakhstan and the celebration of diplomatic relations between the two brotherly countries.
What is the first thing that comes to mind in Kazakhstan when it comes to Turkey? Antalya, sunny beach, palm trees or mysterious Istanbul with its ancient history. In fact, Turkey is not only an annual celebration of Kazakhstan, but also an all-time export of lentils. Yes, yes, Kazakhstan lentils “go” to the Turkish coast more often than you do. And to be more precise, they send it to a small port city called Mersey in the south of the country.
I’m sure many of you have never heard of this place. And Mersin, by the way, is the largest port in Turkey and the center of trade and industry, where crops are imported from different countries. Of course, logistics are built primarily by the sea. And there are more cargo ships on the coast of Mersey than people.
However, swimming in the sea is impossible in this area due to the pollution of the boats. However, this does not prevent tourism from developing here. Foreigners come here for a unique taste, which is not found in the beautiful Antalya and the glittering Bodrum.
But back to lentils. In recent years, Turkey has become a major supplier of cereals from Kazakhstan, and the Turks have begun to buy this product in large quantities from us. Naturally, in light of this background, a picture immediately pops into my head – is the Meredzimek lentil soup that tourists like to eat in Istanbul cafes made from Kazakhstan products? But no, sadly. Turkey does not eat lentils, it exports again, that is, it exports to Europe. First, of course, they clean it, bring it to market, pack it and sell it more than they bought from Kazakhstan.
We toured and packaged the two largest enterprises in Merseyside. These products have been growing successfully for more than a dozen years, and as usual in large companies in Turkey, one family runs the business from generation to generation.
“Our company was founded in the 80’s by our grandfather, Seid Dervissoglu. He lived in the town of Kaiseri, and its inhabitants grew a lot of chickpeas. We now have nine people, brothers, cousins and one sister, who run different parts of the company.
Dervisoglu recently joined forces with Kazakhstan. A.D. In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture invited the company’s leaders to our country and agreements were reached during discussions with local farmers.
“We have heard many times in agricultural exhibitions that there is a large quantity of lentils in Kazakhstan, and also the quality is good. We export to the Middle and Far East, we can never stop exporting some crops and importing others, it all depends on the harvest, for example, this year it is not available. “In addition, the quality and price are good, and we will benefit from working with you.”
Trucks arrive daily at Dervişoğlu to unload cargo. And there are thousands of bags of grain that are neatly packed and ready to be exported.
“Global warming has a huge impact on productivity every year, production is declining, and at the same time inflation is rising. Turkey, Canada and other countries are also facing this. Two years ago, the price of lentils was around 600-500 lira, and now about 800- We are talking about 900 lira. Turkish lentils are now worth about 1000 lira, so this year the price is high because the production is very low. We do not know what will happen next year, but global warming is a big problem for everyone. “Eddie came to us and visited the ambassador of Kazakhstan twice in Turkey. The minister promised to support the import. Kazakh lentils.” In terms of quality, we are in second place after Canada, “said the interlocutor.
Bashan is the second largest importer of lentils in Kazakhstan. The company Founded in 2005, it has become the leading and most popular Turkish carrier in 16 years. Every day the factory produces 3,400 tons of products, and only a small portion of this Kazakh content. And not because the Turkish company does not want to work with Kazakhstan. The reason is different.
“Countries like Canada place a lot of value on cereal production, so they have a good system for their farmers, so they have an impressive amount of produce. For example, we are talking about lentils. Compare yourself: Kazakhstan has a chance to meet these people, you have land, you have geographic interest, good climate, but this year, for example, we bought. Kazakhstan is only 20,000 tons of lentils. You can produce in bulk, and you do not need to look for markets for sale, they already have. “We are ready to buy grains from you. And Kazakhstan will increase the production of chickpeas. Suppose up to 500,000 tons a year, more than 50 percent of Turkish buyers take from you, because we currently buy from Canada, Australia and other countries, so why not. We buy in Kazakhstan.” Bashan board member Yusuf Memish said.
We saw the process of cleaning, preparing and packing lentils at the factory. It should be noted that each crop has a different building – you can see this in the photo. Each building is signed. The enterprise operates like a clockwork. The cleaning machine is installed underground, trucks drop the beans there, then the refined beans go to the factory, and then the process of preparation and packaging is carried out by modern technologies.
In Kazakhstan, Bashhan has an office in the Nur-Sultan. The head office works directly with Kazakh farmers and concludes contracts. Youssef Mamish did not receive any support from the Kazakh government.
“You have no problem with farmers and cereals. But I think the Ministry of Agriculture should pay attention to this area and help farmers export products,” he said. Work together to find solutions to increase production capacity; We believe it is a problem. In Kazakhstan, some holding companies, large corporations, do not provide clear and accurate information to the Ministry of Agriculture or the government. “This is my personal opinion,” said the general manager of a Turkish company.
According to him, the exporters also announce the number of products they plan to export each year, as well as the price tag. Occurs in May, June and July. However, for some reason, Kazakhstan will report late and most Turkish companies will do so when they conclude agreements with other countries.
“We travel to Kazakhstan at least three times a year, so we know all regions, where all grains are grown. Petropavlovsk, Almaty, Costa Rica are suitable regions for this. , They will meet, ”said Mamish.
A.D. By 2022, Bashhan plans to increase the number of lentils from Kazakhstan. True, again and again, it all depends on how ready Kazakhstan is for cooperation.
