Ust-Kamenogorsk residents are raising micro-loans in an active fashion under the “2020 Employment” programme.
They invest them in the development of beekeeping, one of the region’s oldest industries. The funds are not only spent on expanding beekeeping, building honey processing plants, but also on breeding activities.
Beekeeper Valery Kassymbayev: “I raised a nine million tenge loan at a preferential interest rate of 4.15% per annum. I spent it on a business project for purchasing additional 300 bee colonies. These funds also enabled us to increase the payroll and, thus, attract more highly-skilled professionals”.
Loan expert at employment centre Akerke Zhaksybayeva: “14 companies with 51 people on staff have opened this year. We request additional funds, since they are not enough and increasingly more people turn to our centre”.
A mechanised apiary enables to tour several honey-bearing areas in one season. Valery has increased his staff by 5 people. Several students from the local agricultural training school are undergoing internship here as well. The beekeeper has seriously decided to work on selective breeding of promising species. If things go well, Carpathian bees will be purchased exactly from this place in East Kazakhstan. The apiary has already begun to make a profit. The bees have multiplied in a few months and are popular among customers from Russia. Thanks to the loan, Valery plans to harvest up to 25 tonnes of honey this year.