Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov met with executives of Greek company Desserta Hellas, Athanasios Platanias and Josef Braunshofer, to discuss investment cooperation in Kazakhstan's dairy industry, Qazinform News Agency reports. Kazakh Ambassador to Greece Timur Sultangozhin also attended the meeting.
Saparov said Kazakhstan places great importance on expanding agricultural cooperation with Greece, noting that bilateral trade in agricultural products grew by 12% in 2025 compared with the previous year. "The ministry is interested in further strengthening trade and economic ties and implementing joint investment projects.
We are seeing positive growth in agricultural trade between our countries, creating favorable conditions for expanding cooperation," Saparov said. The two sides discussed opportunities to develop Kazakhstan's dairy industry, including the country's raw material base, government support for investors and plans to localize the production of value-added dairy products.
The talks focused on a proposed investment project to establish local production of cheese and other dairy products in Kazakhstan. Representatives of Desserta Hellas reaffirmed the company's interest in establishing production in Kazakhstan and building long-term partnerships with local businesses.
Saparov said Kazakhstan currently has 64 cheese producers and 182 dairy processing plants, with a total annual processing capacity of around 2.7 million tons of milk. The minister also outlined the government's support measures for agricultural processing projects, including subsidies for raw material purchases used in deep processing, reimbursement of up to 25% of investment costs, interest rate subsidies on loans, and preferential working capital financing at an annual rate of 5%.
Concluding the meeting, he reaffirmed the ministry's readiness to provide the necessary support for the project. According to the ministry, the Desserta Hellas initiative is expected to strengthen investment cooperation between Kazakhstan and Greece while supporting the further development of Kazakhstan's dairy processing industry.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported on Aidarbek Saparov's visit to the West Kazakhstan region, where he met with farmers and reviewed investment projects ahead of the harvest campaign.