MP proposes postponing until 2028 the Baqylauda system that monitors state support for farmers

This system checks how recipients of state support comply with the conditions. According to the deputy, the requirements for farmers do not take into account the specifics of the industry, reports BAQ.kz.

The essence in brief

• Irgibayev (the "Auyl" faction) is asking to postpone the introduction of Baqylauda for farmers to 2028.
• He proposes revising the requirements for the number of employees, the payroll fund, and tax revenues.
• The main argument: machinery replaces people, while harvests and prices depend on weather and the market.
• The request is addressed to Zhumangarin, who heads the Ministry of Economy.

What Baqylauda is

Baqylauda is a two-tier monitoring system being introduced by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy. It is needed to monitor state support for agricultural producers. The deputy's request appeared on October 7.

Which requirements raise questions

Irgibayev pointed to a contradiction. Farmers are expected to upgrade their machinery, but at the same time they are required to increase the number of workers. At the same time, modern machinery makes it possible to manage with fewer people: what used to be done by four people is now done by one machine operator.

The second argument concerns taxes. Results in agriculture depend on weather and product prices, which farmers cannot influence. Demanding stable growth in tax payments under such conditions, according to the deputy, is unrealistic.

What the deputy proposes

Murat Irgibayev is asking to revise the requirements for growth in the number of employees, the payroll fund, and tax revenues so that they take into account the specifics of agriculture:

"Requiring a farmer to simultaneously upgrade machinery, increase productivity, and at the same time constantly increase the number of workers does not quite correspond to how agriculture is developing today."

"There are too many factors in agriculture that do not depend on the producer himself. We believe that these risks must be taken into account when assessing results," says the deputy.

According to the deputy, state support should work for the development of agriculture.

"Our position is clear. State support should work for the development of agriculture, and not create new administrative barriers for the farmer," Irgibayev emphasized.

Discussion about the return on state support

The question of how to assess the effectiveness of state support for the agro-industrial complex is also being discussed in the industry. At the end of September, the Public Council for the Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex proposed assessing state support by its return: out of 245 projects financed through preferential lending, 150 are already operating.

At the same time, the authorities are preparing a digital base for the issuance of support itself. At a government meeting on October 6, the prime minister instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to determine within a month the measures that could be assigned to farmers automatically, based on digital profiles of farms.

Author's conclusion

The dispute is about which indicators should be used to measure the result of state support. The Baqylauda criteria for farmers are still being discussed, and the ministry's response to the request has not yet been published.