Negotiations on transferring the production of French agricultural machinery to Kazakhstan this time took place not in Astana, but at the company's most historic plant — the very place where the production of such machinery began before it became a global brand.

The essence in brief

• Vice Minister of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Saparbekov, as part of a working visit to France, visited the KUHN company's facility in the city of Saverne — the brand's historic production base.
• The Kazakh delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the head of the AGROMASH plant, and the company Eurasia Group AG, which represents KUHN's interests in the domestic market.
• The parties discussed the localization of KUHN equipment production in Kazakhstan, issues of technological cooperation, and the expansion of production competencies; following the meeting, an algorithm for implementing the agreements already reached was determined.
• KUHN is the world's only manufacturer of trailed and mounted agricultural machinery of this profile, with 11 plants on three continents and products represented in more than 110 countries.

A continuation of an already familiar story

The visit to Saverne is not the beginning of cooperation, but its next stage. We have already written that the Kostanay AGROMASH plant in 2026 attracted as many as seven new international partners to localize agricultural machinery manufacturing, including KUHN Group — at that time, the focus was on the very fact of expanding the partnership. The current trip to Saverne details this work: the delegations were shown the full production cycle — the key technological processes and quality control standards implemented at the plant — and the parties moved from general agreements to discussing a specific algorithm for their implementation.

From agreement to concrete steps

The initial agreement between AGROMASH, Eurasia Group AG LLP, and KUHN Group was signed in the spring of 2026 — after a meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov and leading global manufacturers of agricultural machinery. That document outlined the parties' intention to deepen industrial cooperation and work through localization issues, but did not contain a specific action plan. The visit to Saverne became the next logical step — the Kazakh side had the opportunity to see the production from the inside, from basic technological processes to final quality control standards, and following the meeting, the parties determined the procedure for further work on the practical implementation of the agreements already reached.

Why Saverne specifically matters for KUHN

Saverne is not an ordinary production site, but the place where the history of the entire company began. The fact that the Kazakh delegation was received specifically here, and not at one of the group's more modern plants on other continents, emphasizes the symbolic significance of the negotiations for the French side — the discussion of production localization took place literally at the origins of the brand.

Author's conclusion

The transition from a framework agreement to discussing a specific algorithm for its implementation is usually the most vulnerable stage of such international industrial partnerships: it is precisely at this stage that many declarations about localization remain on paper. The visit to Saverne shows that the parties continue to move beyond the initial agreements, but for now the focus is on coordinating the procedure for work, rather than on specific dates for launching production, investment volumes, or the range of equipment planned to be manufactured in Kazakhstan — these details, apparently, have yet to be agreed upon.