Mishustin’s Talks with Kazakh Prime Minister Demonstrate Expansion of Russian-Kazakh Cooperation

At the end of April, in Moscow, the Chairman of the Russian Government Mikhail Mishustin held talks with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) Olzhas Bektenov. During the meeting, the heads of government of the two states discussed transit and transport cooperation, including within the framework of the international corridor “North-South”, interaction in the field of agriculture, environmental protection, energy and space, as well as cultural and humanitarian ties. As Mikhail Mishustin emphasized during the conversation with his Kazakh counterpart, Russia values ​​​​fraternal, good-neighborly, allied relations with Kazakhstan. It should be noted right away that the main focus of the negotiations was on the further development and strengthening of trade and economic cooperation and the practical implementation of the agreements reached earlier at the level of heads of state Vladimir Putin and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, including increasing mutual trade turnover this year to $30 billion. By the way, the past year was very successful in cooperation between Moscow and Astana: the volume of bilateral trade increased by almost 3% and reached $27.8 billion, and Russian supplies to Kazakhstan increased by 4.9%. These data are provided by the analytical center of the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan (AFK).

According to AFK, Russia’s share in total trade turnover with Kazakhstan increased to 20% in 2024 (from 19% in 2023). At the same time, in imports it increased from 28 to 31%, while in exports it decreased to 12% from 13% a year earlier, analysts emphasized. They also draw attention to the growth in the share of chemical products and metals in Kazakhstan’s exports to Russia. In the structure of Russian imports in 2024, the main increase came from textiles, precious metals and chemical products. In total, over the past four years, mutual trade between the countries has grown by 1.5 times. At the same time, more than 70% of mutual settlements are made in national currencies, which cannot but please Moscow and Astana. Today, Russia ranks second (after China) among Kazakhstan’s trading partners. In particular, recently, supplies of machinery, equipment, vehicles, mineral products and chemical products have increased in both directions. Moreover, according to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, “about 70% of mutual trade turnover is provided today through direct cooperation between the regions of Russia and Kazakhstan.”

In turn, Kazakhstan is among the five largest external trading partners of our country. Moreover, trade with Kazakhstan is very diversified, as previously stated by the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia Anton Alikhanov. “We are sometimes criticized in trade with individual countries, that we have a bias towards metal and raw materials. Trade with Kazakhstan is very diversified, here sometimes more than 80% is the so-called non-raw material non-energy exports,” Alikhanov said. It should be noted that the volume of mutual investments is consistently increasing. In 2024 alone, the inflow of Russian investments grew by 32%, and reached a historical level, exceeding $ 4 billion in one year. It is noteworthy that in this indicator, Russia has surpassed the Netherlands – the traditional leader in foreign investment in the Kazakh economy. Currently, more than 23 thousand companies with Russian participation are successfully operating in Kazakhstan, which is almost 40% of all companies with foreign participation in Kazakhstan. In total, Russian investors have invested more than $26 billion in direct investment into the Kazakh economy over the past 20 years. In turn, Kazakh companies have invested about $9 billion in the Russian economy over the same period.

Currently, business entities of the two countries have 171 joint projects worth $48 billion in industry, energy, space, transport infrastructure and the digital economy. The implementation of these projects will create about 45.4 thousand new jobs. Moreover, about 27 more joint projects worth $8 billion are currently being developed, with the creation of 8 thousand additional jobs.

It should be noted that one of the important areas of bilateral cooperation is interaction in the agro-industrial complex. According to the results of last year, as a result of the lifting of mutual restrictions on a bilateral basis, trade turnover in this area increased by 4.5% and amounted to $3.8 billion. In turn, in the transit and transport direction, the indicators of cargo flow along the Eastern branch of the international corridor “North-South” according to the results of last year increased to 2.4 million tons.

The above figures and facts indicate the close interconnection of the economies, significant opportunities for investment cooperation between the two countries. But these figures are not the ceiling of business relations between Russia and Kazakhstan. For example, at present, Kazakhstan, apparently, expects to attract Russian specialists to participate in the construction of the first nuclear power plant (NPP) in the country. In particular, this was recently stated by Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu at a meeting with the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov. The possibility of our country’s participation in this project was also discussed in November last year by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Let us recall that last fall, a referendum was held in Kazakhstan on the possibility of building a NPP. The construction of the station in the republic was supported by over 70% of those who participated in this vote. The cost of this project was initially estimated at $ 10-15 billion. Note that the authorities of Kazakhstan are considering several possible suppliers of nuclear technology. In particular, the option of creating an international consortium for the construction of a NPP was discussed.

One of the most important areas of cooperation between the two countries is space. Its basis is the joint use of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Among the priorities in this area is also the construction of the Baiterek space rocket complex to ensure the launch of promising launch vehicles. The implementation of this project should not only meet the domestic needs of Russia and Kazakhstan for launching spacecraft for various purposes into orbit, but will also allow our country to enter the international launch services market together with its Kazakh partners. Commenting on the results of the recent Moscow talks between Mikhail Mishustin and Olzhas Bektenov, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov noted that cooperation in various areas within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) remains an important component of Russian-Kazakh cooperation. In this regard, it is no coincidence that the prime ministers of the two countries discussed issues of promoting industrial cooperation projects of the EAEU in the field of IT technologies and production of building materials, as well as prospects for creating a single EAEU space for exchange transactions, where brokers and dealers will be able to work under licenses issued by authorized bodies of the countries of origin of these permits.

It should be noted that the tourism business is successfully developing – one of the most promising areas of cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan. For example, in 2024, the total tourist flow amounted to more than 4.8 million trips. Among Russians, Kazakhstan is among the top 3 most popular destinations abroad. Our countries are successfully developing cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Alliance of Mountain Resorts, which includes the Russian resort “Rosa Khutor” and the Kazakh “Shymbulyk” and “Oi-Karagay”.

In conclusion let one say a few words about the cultural cooperation between the two countries. Thus, this year Russia is holding traditional Days of Culture of Kazakhstan. Taking this opportunity, Mikhail Mishustin, at the above-mentioned negotiations with Olzhas Bektenov, invited his Kazakh friends to take part in the international music competition “Intervision”, which will be held in Moscow on September 20.

Sergey Saenko, International Observer

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