The issue of growth of technical hemp was discussed at a meeting of the Secretariat of the Committee of the manufacturing industry NCE RK

Discussion of this subject was held with the participation of interested state bodies, business and trade associations. The regions of Kazakhstan and the city of Kiev also joined the debate via video conference.

Moderator of the meeting, Deputy Secretary of the Committee of the manufacturing industry NCE RK "Atameken" Batyrbek Aubakirov noted that the meeting was held within the framework of import substitution policies. And one of the main issues on the agenda, is production of paper with the use of industrial hemp.

"To date, import of office paper accounts approximately for 100 million US dollars. Meanwhile, the proper usage of the capacity of raw materials could enable production of paper in Kazakhstan, thereby increasing revenue, reducing unemployment rate, and shift from dependence on imports", - said B. Aubakirov.

CEO of “Kagaz Shahary SEZ” Maxim Skrynnik is in solidarity with him. According to him, today Kazakhstan purchases office paper in Russia and Finland, on which it spends more than 30 billion a year. "Our goal is to create the conditions for the construction of the plant for the production of a full cycle of paper and completely abandon the dependence on raw materials", - said the businessman.

"In search of raw materials, we have conducted studies. We explored the possibility of production of paper from recycled materials, but abandoned this idea, since it is not possible to produce good quality paper. The second option is production of paper from bulrush, the third one is production of paper from flax and wheat. But these options didn’t suit for technical reasons due to lack of fiber fortress. Then, in the course of research, we came across something special, and it was a big surprise even for me. Colleagues from agriculture body have prompted us to explore the technical hemp. I did not take the idea seriously immediately. However, studies have shown that you can produce from hemp not only the unique cellulose for the full range of paper materials - from the banknote up to the packaging and office paper, but also a very good textile and food products ", - he said.

Skrynnik said that the staff of the paper mill studied the world experience in the use of hemp for industrial purposes, they met with representatives of the business, investors, government agencies and research institutions in different countries. "Huge work was carried out. We've arranged the meeting to say that we are armed with international experience. Speaking briefly, we have received only positive feedback about the plant, which is now going through the global renaissance ", - he said.

"Industrialists and farmers from different parts of the world confirmed that it is a promising crop production. They particularly noted the unique climate of Kazakhstan for its cultivation", - said the businessman.

According to him, today, many foreign investors are ready to cooperate with Kazakhstan in this direction. "We have already some agreements with partners who are willing and are ready to come to our market and to deliver a range of modern facilities, as well as to revive the textile enterprises, which are experience difficulties in Kazakhstan", - said Skrynnik.

However, according to the head of Kagaz Shahary, it is necessary to improve the legislation of RK for smooth development of the industry. "First and foremost, it is necessary to change the attitude towards this plant. Kazakhstan law treats all varieties of cannabis as a narcotic. And this is not the case. There are non-narcotic variety, which we plan to do. In these sorts the content of psychoactive substance is so small that it can’t have any psychoactive effects on the human body", - he said.

President of the Association "Ukrainian industrial hemp" Alexander Ignatyuk described the experience of his country in this regard. "Ukrainian breeding allowed to withdraw such varieties, which are not even theoretically socially dangerous", - he said.

Ignatyuk added that about 50 thousand different products are produced from non-narcotic hemp. "Thanks to God that you have stakeholders who are willing to work on the production of paper. This experience is not new, it is applied in Italy, Switzerland and France. Thus, these countries reserve their forests. The global market for non-narcotic hemp over the past 10 years has risen from zero to a few hundred billion dollars ",  - he said.

Deputy Director of the Department for production and processing of crop production of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Ilyasov, in turn, said that his department has nothing against the cultivation of industrial hemp. "Culture has a great potential, we do not deny it. In Soviet times it was cultivated in our country, then for obvious reasons its production has been reduced to zero. MOA clearly "supports" the production of industrial hemp", - he said.

Chief Expert of the Office of chemical and pharmaceutical industries of the Committee of Industrial Development and Industrial Safety of the Ministry for Investment and Development of Kazakhstan Didar Osemanov voiced concrete proposals of the Ministry for amendments to the law "On Drugs". According to him, the amendments should be: "The cultivation and harvesting of cannabis plantsm containing narcotic drugs THC - tetrahydrocannabinol of less than 0.3%, and their use for commercial purposes is allowed and is not covered by the law in accordance with international conventions". "We also consider it appropriate to eliminate the need for the establishment of quotas for processing of technical non-drug hemp for industrial purposes and withdraw from the application of the Law on Narcotic Drugs, the concept of non-narcotic hemp for industrial purposes", - the expert added.

Daulet Rakhimbekov, deputy head of the operational-search control office of the Department of Anti-Narcotics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan has expressed interest in sharing experiences with the relevant agencies of the Ukrainian colleagues in terms of the rules governing the issue of legislation.