Astana progress: Russia and Kazakhstan reached consensus on 30 issues on the joint agenda

Trade turnover between Russia and Kazakhstan in 2024 will exceed Br2.6 trillion, said Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Olzhas Bektenov. On January 30, the Russian delegation held talks with members of the Kazakh government in Astana, Mishustin also met with the country's President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev. The parties, in particular, discussed cooperation in the transportation and logistics sector and energy. An important topic remains the participation of Rosatom in the construction of nuclear power plants in Kazakhstan. The expert community believes that the Russian company has good chances to be included in the project.

Mishustin's talks with the Kazakh government

Russia has been consistently strengthening bilateral relations with Kazakhstan. Ahead of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting to be held in Alma-Ata on January 30-31, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin held talks in Astana with his Kazakh counterpart Olzhas Bektenov. Also, the Russian prime minister met with the president of the republic Kasym-Jomart Tokayev. The Russian delegation, in particular, included Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Deputy Minister of Transportation Dmitry Zverev and Director General of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev.

A special place on the agenda of the governments of both countries was given to economic issues - Russia and Kazakhstan remain the largest trading partners. Last year, mutual trade turnover exceeded 2.6 trillion rubles, or 13.7 trillion tenge. The countries want to strengthen transportation links and eliminate all trade and logistics barriers. Alexei Ovechruk told reporters that the talks, in particular, discussed the modernization of checkpoints on the Russian-Kazakh border, as well as the construction of new highways.

- The most important transit routes of Eurasia pass through the territories of Kazakhstan and Russia. We pay great attention to the development of the North-South international corridor. I am convinced that in the future it will become a global transportation artery in the interests of the states of the entire Eurasian region. Kazakhstan will turn into a real crossroads of Eurasia," Mikhail Mishustin said at the talks with Olzhas Bektenov. - Russia is the leading foreign trade partner of Kazakhstan.

At the same time, Moscow is already the largest investor in the republic's economy. Over the past 20 years, Russian companies have invested in it more than $25 billion in direct investments. During the same period, Kazakhstani business has invested $8.7 billion in the Russian economy.

- Only for nine months of last year the gross inflow of Russian investments amounted to 43%. And the total amount today is $2.8 bln. Over 23 thousand companies with Russian participation operate in Kazakhstan. This is almost 40% of the total number of enterprises with foreign capital, - said Olzhas Bektenov.

At the same time, work has already been launched to include Kazakhstani enterprises in Russian supply chains. The countries have reached agreements on the construction of facilities for the production of mineral fertilizers (EuroChem MCC), tires (Tatneft PJSC), iron castings and components for truck bridges (KAMAZ PJSC), as well as on the localization in the Karaganda region of the production of vaccine "Sputnik V".

At the meeting with Kasym-Jomart Tokayev, Mikhail Mishustin noted that the governments of Russia and Kazakhstan reached consensus on 30 issues on the joint agenda. The leader of the republic praised the work of the Cabinet under the leadership of the Russian Prime Minister. In addition, he said that he plans to fly to Moscow on May 9 and expects to meet with Vladimir Putin.

Another outcome of the negotiations may be an agreement on partial lifting of restrictions on exports of meat and meat products from Kazakhstan to Russia.

- Today we agreed with our Russian colleagues and lifted this restriction on the southern and southeastern regions. Now we are working on the removal of restrictions from the entire territory of Kazakhstan, - said Vice-Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Azat Sultanov.

Cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan in the energy sector

The Astana talks also touched on cooperation in the nuclear sector. Last year, Kazakhstan held a referendum in which the majority of those who voted (about 71%) were in favor of building a nuclear power plant in the country. President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev recently said that against the backdrop of growing energy shortages, Kazakhstan should start creating a nuclear cluster of several plants. Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev told reporters that a Kazakh delegation recently visited the Leningrad nuclear power plant "with a deep dive not only into nuclear technology, but in general into the whole structure of Russia's nuclear power industry."

- We can conclude from the context of the discussions today at the meeting of our heads of government that we are moving toward joint solutions," he said.

It is not ruled out that a new nuclear power plant may be built with the participation of Rosatom. At the same time, Russian competitors are companies from China, South Korea and France.

- "From the point of view of our established infrastructure, geographical proximity, similarity of all our standards, Rosatom's participation is the most optimal option," Stanislav Pritchin, a senior researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies of IMEMO RAS, told Izvestia. - Yes, there are political aspects. If we proceed purely from technological aspects, this is the best option for Kazakhstan because Kazatomprom works closely with Rosatom on uranium, its processing and enrichment.

By the way, Russian universities train specialists for nuclear generation, who then work in Kazakhstan. Russian participation in the construction of nuclear power plants will allow to actually close the cycle of uranium use and promote the development of a full-fledged nuclear cluster by training local specialists, the analyst said.

In addition, last April Moscow and Astana signed an agreement on the construction of three combined heat and power plants (CHP) in Kazakhstan's Kokshetau, Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk. They are expected to be operational in 2028.

Western pressure on Kazakhstan

Russian-Kazakh relations are also characterized by dense political cooperation. Earlier this year, Kasym-Jomart Tokayev noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the most trips to Kazakhstan - 33 visits. As for Tokayev, he visited Russia five times last year alone. In November 2024, during Putin's state visit to Kazakhstan, 19 documents were signed in the fields of economics, transportation, justice, healthcare and information.

Kazakhstan is an important member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as a military ally of the Russian Federation through the Collective Security Treaty Organization. At the same time, Western countries do not abandon their attempts to weaken political and economic interaction between the two countries.

- A key problematic point is Kazakhstan's strong dependence on Western markets for oil exports. Its largest buyers are Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Of course, this creates conditions for certain pressure on the republic and its companies that cooperate with Russian business," Sergei Margulis, a senior lecturer at the Department of International Politics and Foreign Regional Studies of the ION Presidential Academy, told Izvestia.

In addition, the EU does not rule out that sanctions will be imposed on Kazakh legal entities trading with Russia as part of the new 16th package of anti-Russian measures. Some companies have already fallen under the US and EU restrictions last year. Earlier this year, one of Gazprom Neft's subsidiaries, Gazpromneft-Kazakhstan, fell under U.S. restrictions.