Kazakhstan denies imposing new export controls on Russia

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade denied reports that said Astana has banned the sale of 106 types of goods to Russia and imposed controls on dual-use or military items. ‘Kazakhstan officially declares its incorrectness,’ it said, in comments translated from Russian.

The 19 October denial by the ministry followed comments by the deputy minister of trade, Kairat Torebayev, who told reporters recently that the government had cracked down on exports to Russia so as to comply with Western sanctions. He explained, ‘We have limited only goods related to military purposes,’ including drones and their components, special electronics and microchips.

But the ministry’s official statement said, ‘Bans on the export of any goods to the Russian Federation in connection with anti-Russian sanctions have not been established.’

It explained there were controls on dual-use goods, but said this was nothing new. ‘Export control of dual-use goods has been carried out for over 20 years in accordance with international export control regimes,’ it said.

The ministry stressed that trade relations between Kazakhstan and Russia are ‘carried out in full accordance with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) treaty, the economic integration agreement that groups Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Armenia.

Kazakhstan, which shares a 7,000-kilometre border with Russia and remains a key trade partner of Moscow, is also considered a key sanctions-evasion hub by the United States.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed late last month that his country would not help Moscow circumvent Western sanctions, amid reports that Brussels had warned European companies and governments it could ban the sale of certain components to countries from where Moscow and Tehran are sourcing parts for drones and other weapons striking Ukrainian cities.

In April, the government in Astana announced it was implementing a new online tracking system for all goods moving in and out of its territory.

In June, a report by the US Congressional Research Service (‘CRS’) said that among Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan stood out as the main sanctions-evasion route into Russia for  imports that include dual-use goods as well as consumer goods containing components and microchips that Moscow may be using for military purposes.

https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mti/press/news/details/639268?lang=ru