Kazakh oil will still get on the world market – Russia reversed its decision
CPC accuses of environmental violations at production facilities, which are detected by Rostransnadzor during the audit. However, there are political implications to this story.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is investigating as soon as possible to identify violations of Rostransnadzor. Krasnodar court changed the decision to suspend the operation of the Kazakh pipeline. All this happened against the background of the publication project Kazakh law on the ban on the import of sanctioned goods into Russia. True, document quickly removed.
For Kazakhstan, if you look at exports, one of the main partners is China. Based on 2020 data, Kazakhstan exported goods worth $9 billion. This is several billion more than imports from China. Oil, gas and metals are supplied there. But another important partner for Kazakhstan is Italy, where raw materials remain through the Caspian pipeline. If only Russia is in place, if you look specifically at Kazakhstani exports. That is, it is important for the country to maintain relations with eastern and western partners. Therefore, Kazakhstan does not want to be used for a bypass, so that it would not be the same as with Belarus, through which European food went to Russia.
The phrase “Belarusian shrimp” has disappeared among the people. True, this does not mean that it is now impossible to import anything into Russia through Kazakhstan. There are goods that have not been sued. And if, for example, Taiwan banned the supply of chips to Russia, because they were infected with the help of American technology, this does not mean that smartphones cannot be imported. Nevertheless, the Kazakh customs reacted quickly to those goods that fell under the verdict, Georgy Vlastopulo, CEO of Optimal Logistics, notes:
George Vlastopulo CEO of Optimal Logistics
There have already been reports of an attempt to bypass with the help of Kazakhstan. How wrote Media, when the production of trucks with republican numbers was stopped in Europe, our companies began to register in Kazakhstan. Which, by the way, caused discontent of some populated deputies. In addition, Kazakh banks tightened rules for issuing cards to foreigners, and somewhere accounts for non-residents and outside closed ones. On the other hand, Russia remains a vulnerable trade partner of Kazakhstan: in terms of imports of the Russian Federation, it is in first place for it (primarily industrial equipment). And the Kazakhstani document that caused a stir about a possible ban on the supply of sanctioned goods to Russia through the country was quickly removed from the official website.
As for some statements by President Tokayev, Kazakhstan immediately marked his mistake about the DNR and LNR. And this assumption may have a separate reason related to the recent change of the elite in Kazakhstan, political scientist and diplomat Oleg Bartsits suggests:
Oleg Bartsits political scientist and diplomat
But it is also important to remember that Kazakhstan is dependent on foreign technologies. And in the same birthplace of Tengiz, from where oil flows to Europe through the Caspian pipeline, 75% is supposedly owned by Chevron and ExxonMobil. And the Americans are investing in oil production in Kazakhstan. Chevron was going to invest $2 billion this year alone. In general, the US is the second largest investor in Kazakhstan. The first place, oddly enough, belongs to the Netherlands. But actually not very strange, because, as he wrote RBC, most likely, both Kazakh and Russian companies work through Dutch structures. In general, as usual, everything is complicated.