Karim Massimov held meeting on petrochemical industry development
The petrochemical industry was defined a priority sector in Kazakhstan's Industrial Program for 2015-2019.
According to Vice Minister of Investment and Development T.Toktabayev, due to implementation of the first five-year industrialization plan, the chemical industry increased its production by 32%. During this period, 39 new production plants began operating, and more than four thousand jobs were created.
In 2015, compared to 2008, the share of domestic production of phosphate fertilizers increased from 81% to 99.9%, sulfuric acid - from 91% to 97.7%, varnishes and paints - to 60.5%, nitrogen fertilizer - up to 62.8%.The results of the first six months of 2016 are at the same level as last years’.
During the meeting, it was noted that further development of the industry is forecasted on behalf of the agrochemical sector, which manufactures products both for export and for import substitution. Currently, work is underway on the implementation of major projects in the production of complex fertilizers at LLP "Kazphosphate" and LLP "EuroChem-Fertilizers", potassium fertilizers at LLP "Batys Potassium," and glyphosate at the SEZ «Chempark Taraz», three which of are located in Zhambyl region. The total amount of investment is 703 billion tenge.
In addition, the leaders of the four largest chemical companies identified a number of issues common in all of Kazakhstan's chemical industry. In particular, they spoke about the decreasing demand for domestic products, due to the economic situation in the world markets. Currently, the company exports chemical products to Russia, China, Ukraine, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Estonia and other countries.
Along with that, representatives of the chemical industry raised questions about the tax and tariff policy, modifications in the environmental legislation, the payment of subsidies, and infrastructure construction.
Director General of LLP "Kazphosphate" M. Iskandirov, Director General of LLP "KazAzot" K.Urakov, Director General of LLP "Euro-Chem Karatau" Valyshev D., and Chairman of the Board of JSC "Caustic" E. Orymbekov spoke about the problems of the industry in their presentations during the meeting.
Minister of Energy K.Bozumbaev, Vice-Minister of Investment and Development T.Toktabayev, Vice-Minister of National Economy M. Kussainov, Vice-Minister of Finance A.Tengebayev, Vice-Minister of Agriculture K. Aituganov, Co-Managing Director of "Samruk Kazyna" E. Tutkushev and Managing Director of JSC "Baiterek" K. Uskenbaev provided feedback on all issues raised by production workers.
After the meeting, the PM instructed to create a working group, compile and summarize the existing problems in the industry and prepare proposals for their solutions. The government will then hold a meeting in early October to discuss the findings of the working group.
For reference:
In the framework of the second Five-Year Plan of the State Program of Industrial-Innovative Development, the following priority sectors of chemical industry were identified: petrochemicals, agrochemicals and chemicals for production; sectors with the necessary competitive advantage and prospects of development in Kazakhstan’s market, with access to export markets.
The following projects are planned to be implemented in 2015-2019:
construction of a mineral fertilizer production plant in Zhambyl region, with a production volume of at least one million tonnes per year, LLP EuroChem-Fertilizers;
potassium fertilizer production plant in West Kazakhstan and Aktobe regions, LLP Batis Potassium;
construction of a soda ash plant in Aral district of Kyzylorda region, LLP Aralsoda;
modernization of the mineral fertilizer production plant, increasing design capacity for the production of finished products, LLP KazAzot;