A lot of businesses was set up in Kazakhstan twenty years ago in the wake of economic reforms. Many of them were not able to cope with the difficulties of the transition period, so they closed. Those who survived turned into competitive and social-oriented companies, and our country can be proud of them. Among these companies is the flagship of the Akmola region’s economy – Kokshetauminvody JSC, which is being run for already 20 years by Askar Kaznaviyevich Aliyev.
Today, Kokshetauminvody is a unique plant producing alcoholic and soft drinks with a more than a thousand workers, working for it. Five modern bottling lines produce 70 thousand liters of alcoholic drinks and 170 thousand liters of soft drinks a day. More than 30,000 retail outlets throughout Kazakhstan offer high-class products to millions of Kazakhstan people. Being a backbone enterprise of the Kokshetau town and among the three largest taxpayers of the Akmola region, the company pays more than 15 million tenge of taxes and other mandatory payments a day to the state budget.
The time preceeding the establishment of the company was marked by an acute shortage of all types of goods. There was the deficit for almost everything, especially for mineral water in northern Kazakhstan. At that time, a decision was made to search for mineral springs in the vicinity of Kokshetau – the land of a thousand of lakes, to meet the demand for water of the local population and country, in general. The solution was found. The company explored the area of the Burabai conservation and discovered mineral springs underground, so it developed wells to extract the mineral water. Soon, the production of the first mineral water Kulager Arasan started, named after the legendary racer Kulager, about whom Akan Sera, who lived in the Akmola region and was the Kazakh “akyn”, an improvising poet and singer in the Kazakh culture, sang in his song. In parallel, the production of carbonated soft drinks started. In 1996, the Kentekol underground water deposits were discovered on the territory of the Kokshetau national park, and after a while the company launched the production of the first table water in Kazakhstan, named Turan.
In 1997 the company set a goal to start producing alcoholic beverages with the purest natural water and malt spirit as a basis. This is how a 100 % Kazakhstani brand Haoma appeared, named so on the suggestion of the great Kazakh archaeologist Kemal Akishev, the man who uncovered the greatness of the steppe civilization to the modern generation. At the core of the brand name interpretation there is a legend about the Saks-Haomovargs, the ancestors of the Kazakhs, known for their abilities to cook the divine drink "Haoma". In 1999, the products of Kokshetauminvody were given the first appraisal from experts. A Special sort of vodka "Haoma" was awarded a Gold Medal at the International Tasting Competition for Distilled Beverages INTERDRINKS 99 in Moscow.
In 2001–2007 the company began a large-scale trade expansion. During this period, in addition to the already operating branch office in in Karaganda, there were opened branch offices in the cities of Astana, Kostanai, Petropavlovsk, Almaty, Pavlodar, Ekibastuz, Semei, and Ust-Kamenogorsk.
The last five years for Kokshetauminvody were marked by modernization in the area of technology, management and technical areas. Starting from the year 2008, the company underwent systemic changes in order to improve management; also, the automated process of production of soft drinks and mineral water was introduced. The laboratory of the plant is upgraded with modern equipment. All the process manufacturing line, from the raw material to the end product, is subjected to continuous quality control. In 2010 the company completed in record time a project of construction of a new soft drink producing plant, implemented under the Program of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development of Kazakhstan. At that plant, the company set a bottling line from Krones AG, one of the world's leading manufacturers of equipment for the food industry, with a capacity of 12 thousand bottles an hour. The innovative aspect of the project was that for the first time in Kazakhstan there was introduced the newest system of microbiological water filtration Pall. The system is equipped with a cascade of nanopolymeric cartridges, allowing cleaning water without altering its natural properties and chemical composition.
The launch of the new production line into operation made it possible to expand the range of soft drinks to meet the growing consumer’s demand. So, new products appeared such as the Ice Tea Turan and juice drinks Turan. Today, Kokshetauminvody produces 61 nonalcoholic brands and 43 alcoholic brands.
Kokshetauminvody is a fully vertically integrated company. The company has its own deposits of underground water and mineral springs, own branch network, covering ten regions in Northern and Central Kazakhstan, also distribution networks in nine regions of Western and Southern Kazakhstan, and sales offices in the Russian Federation. Also, the company applies modern technologies of production.
The quality control system, operating at the plant, deserves special attention. Back in 2007, Kokshetauminvody introduced the international food safety management standard ISO 22000, and in 2011 the company was given the diploma "The best food safety management system" in Kazakhstan by the Association for Certification "Russian Register".
As a result, the Kokshetauminvody beverages were given many awards for their high quality and unique taste at the international tasting competitions. Of 75 awards given, the most significant are the gold medals given at the international competition The Best Vodka of the Year to the brands Original Haoma, special vodka Haoma Baksy, and Haoma Miras.
According to tradition, the award-winners of the competition exhibit their products in the museum of the history of vodka at the unique historical and architectural complex Izmailovsky Kremlin. Today, beneath the arches of the museum 5 types of Haoma vodka are exhibited.
The solid team of people who work well together at Kokshetauminvody plays an important role in the company’s success. The plant workers are confident in the future, they feel part of a large happy family. The basis of stability is a collective agreement. It provides for various salaries and emoluments schemes that are aimed at improving the productivity and financial incentives of the personnel. Allowances are provided for professionalism and sound performance of duties, while the organizational structure is built in such a way as to boost the professional growth and career development of the employees. A special focus in the contract is the promotion of those workers who decided to devote their life to working for Kokshetauminvody. Those employees, who have been working in the company for 7 years and have achieved certain results, are given the status of a Kokshetauminvody veteran and are encouraged by extra financial incentives paid to them. At the moment, more than 200 veterans are working in the company. This is a quarter of the total number of people working for Kokshetauminvody.
A special focus for Kokshetauminvody is the participation in projects of national importance, positively affecting the quality of life of all Kazakhstani people. From the beginning of its operation, the company has been actively involved in clinical studies of mineral water. Some important state standards as to the techniques and methodology applied in the production of mineral and table water were developed with the direct participation of Kokshetauminvody. The company is a regular participant of meetings devoted to issues of the related industry in the framework of the Customs Union. The results of years of studies formed the basis of the program "Healthy Water for Children", which’s implementation was initiated and is funded by Kokshetauminvody. Under this program, the company supplies table biogenic water Turan to schools and kindergartens in the city of Astana. The project is implemented jointly with the authorities of Astana, Institute for Nutrition Problems under the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition, ministries of healthcare and education, committee for protection of children’s rights and committee for technical regulation and metrology of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Having proved the status as a socially responsible enterprise in Kazakhstan, the company has been donating for many years to hundreds of public organizations in the Akmola region of Kazakhstan. Among them is Public Association for Mercy and Health in the Republic of Kazakhstan, PA Council of Veterans, PA branch Alliance of Veterans of the Akmola Region in Kazakhstan, PA Union of Afghan War Veterans in Kokshetau, Private Foundation Kosagaly Batyr, and many others.
Continuous development of the company, production of high quality products, introduction of innovative technologies, and implementation of social programs – all this makes the company focus on keeping the competitiveness bar high and maintaining the reputation of a social-oriented enterprise. These are exactly the principles Kokshetauminvody has been based on in its work for over 20 years, contributing to the economic development of independent Kazakhstan.
