W Kazakhstan region exports meat to Iran

"After the Head of State, Nursultan Nazarbayev, paid a visit to Iran last year, the entrepreneurs of the two countries started building on their business ties. Later, the delegation headed by the Akim of West Kazakhstan Region, Altay Kulginov, also visited Iran and held negotiations for mutually beneficial cooperation. After the positive negotiations, the Iranian company and Batys Marka Lamb LLP, based in Akzhaik district of West Kazakhstan region, inked an agreement," the ministry's press service said.

According to the agreement, Batys Mark Lamb LLP should supply 1,500 tons of chilled lamb meat to Iran before the end of the year. Under this agreement, the first batch was shipped to Iran in July this year from Atyrau airport, the second batch was delivered to Tehran yesterday by direct flight from the international airport of Uralsk.

Batys Mark Lamb LLP is an enterprise that butchers 1,400 lambs per day and puts the meat into vacuum packs. The construction of this facility began in 2013. Two years later the enterprise started operations. Presently, it employs over 80 people and is the first export-oriented facility in Kazakhstan that uses advanced technologies to process small stock meat.

Last year, the company exported 180 tons of lamb to the neighboring Russian Federation. It is planned that another 50 tons of meat will have been exported to Russia by the end of this year.

"We produce environmentally-friendly products. Therefore, our products are highly valued in Iran. As part of the agreement with the Iranian side, we have made the second shipment of chilled lamb. The Iranian entrepreneurs have specific requirements for meat: it should be male lamb meat. Our products meet all the quality requirements. We have no problems with supplies as we take livestock from the farms and family households of the region. We plan to export meat to other countries as well," said Ruslan Temirbolat, Director of Batys Marka Lamb LLP.

Iranian veterinarian Nasser Karemi noted that most of all they liked the quality of products complying with all the standards.

"The potential of the agricultural sector in West Kazakhstan is very high. Nowadays, there are countries that show interest in this sector of the region's economy. They are currently negotiating with them for cooperation," according to the regional internal policy department.