A small group of Kazakh investors that leased a dilapidated dairy plant in the foothills of the Tien Shen mountains in 1995 has since grown to be the biggest dairy producer in Central Asia. FoodMaster is one of Kazakhstan’s few business successes outside the natural resources sector.

With seven plants now operating, including two in Ukraine and Moldova, the company produces annual sales of milk, yoghurt, cheese and kefir (a runny yoghurt) worth $60m and is attracting strategic foreign investors.