WEST KAZAKHSTAN REGION – A recently opened pig farm has allowed many former residents of Shchapovo Village in the Zelenovski District to return after leaving in the 1990s due to economic decline following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Shchapovo Village was once a thriving community supported by the local industrial association “Ural Poultry,” which provided jobs for local residents. But that association shut down in the 1990s, and many residents moved in search of work to the oblast centre Uralsk.
The new farm, however, is once again providing jobs for the local community.
“The matter is that the local sausage shop was idle for a lack of raw materials, and it was decided to build a pig farm,” said Valery Kadraliyev, head of the Shchapovo Farming Partnership.
“In 2009, we received an investment loan and began construction of the farm on the land plot allocated near the village. By the end of 2011, the project was successfully put into operation, and in the spring, we brought seed stock, which already in October produced a pig crop,” said Kadraliyev.
“During construction of the facility, more than 80 jobs for the local population were created as stipulated in the contract with the management of the pig complex,” said Aitkali Abzhan, akim (mayor) of the district. “Today, this complex employs 20 local residents. The villagers have stable and decent salaries, which they receive regularly. Moreover, in this partnership, we have a good and reliable social partner, which helps solve many problems in our district.”
Among those employed in the farming partnership is Oleg Sharafutdinov, who, like many of his fellow villagers in search of work, traveled for several years all over the western regions of the country. Now, thanks to this project, he has stable work.
“Our complex is a high-tech and automated enterprise. We constantly see the results of our labour. A good pig yield and solid weight gain are the factors of success and our salary and bonuses largely depend on them. We like our work,” said Sharafutdinov.
His colleagues, veterinarian Vladimir Yashkov and farm employees Vladimir Zherikhovsky, Akushtap Netaliyeva, Batyrbek Sariyev and Miram Bekkaliyev agree with him.
The farm is equipped with modern European technology installed by the Polish company Wesstron. And taking into account that last year 860 tonnes of meat was produced and the total stock reached 10,000 animals, it can be said that the company has already achieved its production capacity.
