Who is Making Millions on Meat if Farmers Are Barely Surviving?

Friday, 21 November 2025, 14:21 Product prices remain high Agriculture in Kyrgyzstan does not always generate profit and is often associated with losses. This is how economist Iskender Sharsheev commented to Vesti.kg on the continuing rise in meat prices on the domestic market. “In 2016 I calculated the value chain of products produced in agriculture. And I found that it was loss-making and unprofitable, can you imagine? I travelled around Chui region, Talas region. I visited several regions. I met with people, looked at their calculations and found out that agriculture is far from always profitable. It is a very loss-making business,” he said. Since then, the cost of running farms, keeping livestock, feed and producing goods has only increased. “I have serious questions about how our population even manages to survive. Very often farming is a family business. A grandfather did it, then the father, the brother. All the funds that farmers have are tied up in turnover. The state has to support them. And this situation is not only in Kyrgyzstan. It is the same all over the world. The profit goes to large farms and corporations. The introduction of modern technologies and fertilizers makes the work easier, but farmers still do not earn big incomes. That is why livestock producers are forced to raise prices for their products. Very often they operate at a loss,” the economist believes. To clarify: in Kyrgyzstan, prices for products, including meat, continue to rise. The price cap introduced by the Cabinet of Ministers has not had any effect, many Kyrgyzstanis believe. For this reason, Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Ministers and Chairman of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) Kamchybek Tashiev was forced to step in, warning about the consequences for speculation on the market. Read more: https://vesti.kg/zxc/item/145849-kto-zarabatyvaet-milliony-na-myase-esli-fermery-edva-vyzhivayut.html - Who is making millions on meat if farmers are barely surviving? - Vesti.kg - News of Kyrgyzstan