Kazakhstan exports most of its oil through Russia


Astana (Reuters): Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss energy ties on a visit to Kazakhstan this week, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, a trip that comes amid trade tensions with the Central Asian nation, which exports most of its oil through Russia.
Kazakhstan, which has tried to distance itself from Moscow's war in Ukraine, remains highly dependent on Russia for exporting oil to Western markets and for imports of food, electricity and other products.
"Our countries are ... constructively cooperating in the oil and gas sector," Putin wrote in an article "Russia – Kazakhstan: a union demanded by life and looking to the future" for the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper and published on the Kremlin's website late on Tuesday.
Putin's article came after Kazakhstan's energy minister said on Monday his country could sharply increase its crude oil exports out of Turkey's port of Ceyhan, a move that would reduce the share of flows it currently sends via Russia.
Underscoring that more than 80% of Kazakhstan's oil is exported to foreign markets via Russia, Putin said he and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev always focused on "a specific result" in their talks.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists on Tuesday that Putin and Tokayev would sign a protocol on extending an agreement on oil supplies to Kazakhstan. He provided no further details.
NUCLEAR PLANT
Putin also said in his article that Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom - already involved in some projects in Kazakhstan - was "ready for new large-scale projects".
In October, Kazakhstan, a nation of 20 million, voted in favour of constructing its first nuclear power plant, under a Tokayev-backed plan that faced public criticism and concerns that Russia would be involved in the project.
Putin's visit also comes amid agricultural trade tensions following a Russian ban on imports of grain, fruit and other farm products from Kazakhstan in October. Moscow imposed the ban after Kazakhstan barred Russian wheat imports in August.
While Tokayev has made a number of gestures welcomed by Moscow such as initiating the creation of an international body to support the Russian language across the former Soviet space, his government has also sought to maintain friendly ties with the West.
Last month, Astana said it had no plans to join BRICS, the bloc of emerging economies that Putin hopes to build as a powerful counterweight to the West in global politics and trade.
Kazakhstan has also pledged to abide by Western sanctions on Russia, although some Kazakh companies have been caught skirting them.
Security was tight in Astana ahead of Putin's scheduled arrival on Wednesday, with whole blocks of the city cordoned off and military helicopters and fighter jets patrolling the sky.
Cricketer Junaid Zafar Khan dies of medical emergency during hot Adelaide match
- 6 hours ago

PTI to participate in National Security Committee meeting
- 6 hours ago
Weekend US tornadoes leave at least 40 dead
- 10 hours ago
Pakistan's tallest man, Nasir Soomro, passes away in Shikarpur
- 6 hours ago

Houthis launch twin attacks on USS Harry Truman
- 10 hours ago

Gold glitters, historic high in Pakistan
- 10 hours ago

TTP camps destroyed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during police operation
- 10 hours ago

Three Khawarij militants killed in Khyber District operation: ISPR
- 4 hours ago

Over 220 health facilities at risk of closure in Afghanistan, says WHO
- 5 hours ago

Pakistan, WB reaffirm commitment to economic reforms and sustainable development
- 5 hours ago
Trump administration begins mass layoffs at Voice of America and US-funded media outlets
- 6 hours ago
Five family members of SHO injured in grenade attack in Khuzdar
- 8 hours ago