Kazakhstan does not support US and EU sanctions against Russia, but is forced to comply with them because it is beneficial from an economic point of view, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin said at a briefing, Kursiv.kz reports.
“We are actually being hurt a lot. Many logistics and trade chains are broken due to this. We are not members of the coalition and do not support this unilateral sanctions policy, but we will comply with it because it is beneficial to us from an economic point of view. We have a small economy, naturally, we will not withstand sanctions pressure,” Zhumangarin said.
According to him, there is a working group in Kazakhstan that is in constant contact with the US authorities and the European Union on issues of compliance with anti-Russian sanctions.
Zhumangarin recalled that the EU Council recently introduced duties on agricultural products from Russia and Belarus. “We need to understand whether this will affect Kazakhstan,” since the republic exports “quite a lot” of wheat to the European Union.
“Within the framework of the ongoing sanctions policy, we manage to maintain our positions. First of all, the positions of our businessmen so that sanctions are not imposed on them,” added the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.
In June 2022, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that Kazakhstan “should not violate” anti-Russian sanctions, otherwise there is a risk of falling under secondary sanctions.
In February 2024, Kazakh companies Elem Group and Da Group 22 fell under secondary sanctions of the European Union and the United States for connections with Russia. The Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Kazakhstan stated that they knew about the introduction of restrictions. According to the department, these companies, starting from May and June 2023, were neither importing nor exporting. Moreover, one of the companies was in the process of liquidation in February.
CentralAsianLIGHT.org
June 5, 2024