The Central Bank of Kazakhstan announced the negative impact on the economy of sanctions against Russia

Western sanctions against Russia create problems for Kazakhstan and negatively affect economic activity in the region. About this to the local edition of ORDA declared Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Akylzhan Baimagambetov.

According to him, the government of Kazakhstan is trying to stop attempts when Russia uses the country to circumvent sanctions. Baimagambetov noted that import volumes have grown, but this does not indicate that goods are being shipped to Russia. Basically, goods from China are imported into the country, which do not fall under any sanctions. According to the deputy chairman of the National Bank, in nominal terms, the volume of exports to Russia did not grow, but its structural changes took place. In particular, the export of raw materials decreased.

“We are trying to maintain a neutral position towards Russia. Nevertheless, Russia is our largest trading partner. Therefore, we are trying to use a balanced approach here, because the sanctions against Russia also create problems for us. To some extent, they have a negative impact on economic activity in certain areas,” added the representative of the National Bank. In his opinion, secondary sanctions against any country affect the entire region.

On May 10, it became known that the ambassadors of the EU countries, when discussing a new package of sanctions against Russia, raised the issue of imposing restrictions on companies from third countries, and reducing the re-export of sanctioned goods to the Russian Federation. It included companies from Kazakhstan, as well as China, Iran and Uzbekistan.