Russian Ambassador: Sanctions Have Not Affected Economic Ties Between Russia and Kazakhstan

22 December 2023

 

The Russian ambassador to Kazakhstan, Alexei Borodavkin, has stated that the sanctions imposed by the West against Russia have not impeded trade and economic ties between Kazakhstan and Russia, according to an interview with Izvestia newspaper.

 

"We can confidently state that the illegal anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the collective West do not work in terms of stopping the development of integration ties in the trade and economic sphere between our countries. Last year, the Russian-Kazakh trade turnover reached a record high of 1.8 trillion rubles. In January-September 2023, the volume of mutual trade increased by 17% to Br1.5 trillion by the same period last year," said Borodavkin.

 

He highlighted the growing interest of Russian businesses in implementing projects in Kazakhstan, noting that Russian entrepreneurs are involved in all sectors of Kazakhstan's economic complex. "If we count not by jurisdiction, but by the country of the original origin of capital, the investment of Russian companies in the Kazakh economic complex exceeds $50 billion. This year, Russia's investments in the economy of Kazakhstan continue to grow: for six months they have added almost 20%, that is, $1.1 billion," added the diplomat.

 

Borodavkin emphasized that business structures from both countries continue to launch mutually beneficial integration projects. Some of the notable projects include gasification of the north-eastern regions of Kazakhstan with Russian fuel, gas supplies to Uzbekistan via the Central Asia-Center pipeline in reverse mode through Kazakhstan, and the expansion of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium infrastructure to ensure stable transportation of Kazakhstani oil to foreign markets. Other initiatives involve increasing the supply of Kazakhstani oil to Europe through the Druzhba pipeline, Lukoil's development of fields in the Kazakh part of the Caspian Sea, and collaborative efforts by Sibur and Tatneft in forming an oil and gas chemical cluster in the west of Kazakhstan.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: Federation Council

Based on materials TASS