150 industrial projects worth 26 trillion rubles are being implemented in the EAEU

The industrialization map of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) already includes more than 150 projects in 25 industries worth more than 26 trillion rubles. This was stated by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during a speech at the plenary session of the Innoprom forum. Kazakhstan”. “I am convinced that our potential is even greater. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of such work, promote technology transfer, exchange of scientific and technical information and, in general, the implementation of large-scale priority tasks,” Mishustin said.

The Prime Minister recalled that at the end of last year, at the level of the heads of state of the “five”, a decision was made to create a pilot mechanism for financing industrial initiatives from the union budget. “Such a measure has not been used before. It will begin to operate after all essential conditions are finalized and agreed upon,” Mishustin emphasized. The condition for financing projects from the union budget is participation in cooperation projects of at least three EAEU countries. The selection criteria are planned to be approved in October at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, the Prime Minister noted.

“Strengthening technological sovereignty today is becoming one of the significant vectors of joint work in the Eurasian space. It is very important to combine resources and competencies to ensure the sustainability of production complexes, including to external factors,” Mishustin said.

On the territory of Kazakhstan, 30 projects have already been implemented with the participation of Russia, another 40 projects worth a total of $16 billion are under development, said Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov during the plenary session.

At the moment, Russia and Kazakhstan are actively working on 28 joint projects totaling more than $1.5 billion, said Azamat Panbaev, Chairman of the Industrial Development Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Development of Kazakhstan. The projects are mainly presented in such industries as metallurgy, chemical industry, mechanical engineering – especially railway and automobile. Panbaev expects that as a result of Innoprom, 20 new project agreements will be concluded.

“Russia has been and remains one of the largest investors in the Kazakh economy. The total volume of Russian capital investments is almost $17 billion. More than 30 large investment projects are being jointly implemented in all key sectors of the economy without exception” – indicated Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the XVIII Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan at the end of 2022.

One of the main problems in the implementation of joint projects between Russia and Kazakhstan remains financial interaction between companies – difficulties with bank transfers and transactions, Panbaev told Vedomosti on the sidelines of the exhibition. “Our banks are afraid of falling under sanctions – this is one of the problems. The second problem is the supply of equipment. Let’s say European countries limit the supply of equipment to the Russian Federation as much as possible,” he noted.

At the end of January-July 2023, the total trade turnover of the two countries amounted to $15.2 billion (1.1% more than the same period in 2022), Russian imports to Kazakhstan amounted to $9.4 billion, exports – $5.8 billion, should from data from the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan. At the end of 2022, the volume of Russian-Kazakh trade reached $26.97 billion, imports – $17.88 billion, exports – $9.1 billion. In 2021, trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $24.62 billion, imports from Russia – $17.6 billion, exports – $7.01 billion.