Muscat Daily staff writer

November 12, 2016

The first batch of Kazakhstan livestock arrived in Oman by cargo flight. As many as 993 sheep from Kazakhstan were flown to the capital to mark the beginning of livestock trade between the two countries.

Saeed al Harthy, CEO of Desert Discovery company that imports sheep from Kazakhstan said, “Oman is a country where meat is an important source of food. People in Oman are conscious about the quality of meat they choose and pay heed to quality over money. We thought it to be an interesting idea to try a new variety of Kazakh grown sheep.” He added, “We plan to get more sheep and goats as well after we have received a positive response from markets outside the sultanate.”

Alexey Plotnikov, who initiated the investment in Oman, said, Kazakh livestock are tastier. “Currently, Oman imports livestock from New Zealand, Australia and Somalia and we think we are aptly priced to fit in a category that provides quality meat at an affordable price. “We plan to get more livestock in the future and also have a plan to get horses from Kazakhstan and export Arabian variety there.”

He added, “The Somalian variety typically ranges between RO30 and RO50. The Australian and New Zealand ones cost more than RO50 and Kazakhstan sheep will be about RO75. The sheep are heavy and weigh around 30kg on an average with good amount of meat for consumption.”