In the Kostanay region, 29 entrepreneurs were found to have exceeded the trade markup, according to the business information center Kapital.kz, citing the press service of the Ministry of Trade and Integration.
“The Department of Trade and Consumer Protection in the Kostanay region conducted a price monitoring of potatoes, resulting in significant changes in product pricing. Specifically, the price for washed potatoes in bags at one supermarket in the region was 421 tenge as of February 13, 2025. The monitoring revealed that the price increase was linked to a rise in the producer's ex-factory price. An additional analysis of potato prices sold by producers in the fourth quarter of 2024 showed a 31.6% increase in the ex-factory price from November to December 2024. As a result of this work, the price of potatoes was reduced,” the Ministry of Trade reported.
The monitoring also recorded instances of different prices for the same product. In response to these findings, the department sent the analysis results to the Anti-Monopoly Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Kostanay region, requesting an investigation into possible abuses of monopoly position and the establishment of unreasonably high prices, the agency explained.
Since the beginning of 2025, the Department of Trade and Consumer Protection in the Kostanay region has conducted 10 regional commissions to identify unproductive intermediaries, during which 29 entrepreneurs were found to have violated the 15% trade markup on socially significant products. Among them, 7 are engaged in potato trading: one was fined, and six received warnings, the ministry reported.
According to the Ministry of Trade, the price of potatoes in the region ranges from 150 to 300 tenge/kg, and retail outlets offer potatoes from the stabilization fund at a price of 150-154 tenge/kg. The potato reserves in the region amount to 12,128.3 tons, which is sufficient to meet the needs of the local population, the agency assured.
Recall that in January, 49 violations related to excessive trade markups were reported.
“To stabilize prices for socially significant food products, the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan is conducting comprehensive work. Since the beginning of the year, 20 regional commissions have been held to identify unproductive intermediaries, during which 49 violations regarding the exceeding of the 15% trade markup on potatoes, a socially significant product, have been identified. Appropriate administrative measures will be taken regarding all identified facts,” the information states.