As new and heavier sanctions hit Russia every day, Kazakhstan is no longer a bystander of the geopolitical crisis.
Another suggestion on sanctions against Kazakhstan
Drew Sullivan, editor, and co-founder of Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project believes that all countries in the Eurasian Economic Union should be sanctioned along with Russia.
Kazakhstan’s oil caught in Russian export problems
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which ships 1.2% of the world's oil from Kazakhstan (1.2 million barrels of oil per day) to global markets, has been caught in Russian sanctions.
Buyers avoid CPC oil since it is loaded together with Russian grades from a Russian port, which makes it difficult to find insurance for the ships.
India refuses to buy Kazakhstan’s oil
India's top refiner Indian Oil Corp will no longer accept cargoes of Russian crude oil and Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend cargoes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis due to sanctions and insurance risks, S&P Global reports.
India accounts for 5% of Kazakhstan's oil sales. Last year, the oil export to India amounted to 3.2 million tons worth $1.5 billion
Free On Board means that the seller delivers the goods on board the vessel nominated by the buyer at the named port of shipment or procures the goods already delivered. The risk of loss of or damage to the goods passes when the goods are on board the vessel, and the buyer bears all costs from that moment onwards.
Experts say that India didn’t refuse to buy Kazakhstan’s oil completely. If they do not want to buy oil on FOB terms, there are 11 other options for sale and delivery. So the problem is solvable
British OneWeb Internet satellites will not be launched from Baikonur
36 OneWeb broadband spacecraft had been scheduled to launch on March 4 atop a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome.
According to Space.com, Roscosmos announced on March 2 that it would not go ahead with the launch unless OneWeb guaranteed that the satellites would not be used for military purposes.
OneWeb and the UK government will not meet the demands. The company has now pulled its employees out of Baikonur.
Tourism: fewer travelers for Kazakhstan
Chairman of the Corporate Fund Touristik Kamkor Inna Rey expressed concern about inbound tourism in Kazakhstan:
"As for travel to Kazakhstan - it's very frustrating. We have waited so long for the opening of the borders, we have had precautions for so long, all the preferential regimes for crossing the borders have been stopped. As soon as we got rid of most of the problems, as soon as the country started opening up to resume travel, that's when a situation happens that will stop foreigners. They have always been wary of traveling, thinking that we are not safe enough here. Probably now they will be even warier of traveling in our direction."
She also added that there will probably be problems now with increased flight times to various destinations.
Cars and other goods
Toyota will suspend operations at its only factory in Russia and stop shipping vehicles to the country. It means that Kazakhstan will not get the Camry and RAV4 models. However, in addition to Russia, other Toyota models are also supplied to Kazakhstan from Japan, Turkey, the United States, and Thailand
Kazakhstan’s cargoes are not accepted at international ports. Shipping companies refuse to accept the goods. The response to this situation was the creation of an operational headquarters by the country’s entrepreneurs and logistics and transport hotline at the Ministry of Industry
What about local entrepreneurs?
Dzhamal Khayretdinov is an entrepreneur from Almaty. He heads the department of the Almaty Automobile Center, which is one of the joint Kazakh-Russian enterprises. The company produces buses and specialized vehicles: vans, trailers, dump trucks, and truck cranes.
According to him, after Kazakhstan joined the Eurasian Economic Union, the export volume and range of goods increased. Business went well and the company was planning to expand, but then hostilities in Ukraine began.
"Now I'm afraid we'll just close down. Russian entrepreneurs are already hinting that they might declare bankruptcy because importers have started refusing to supply materials to Russia since February 24. About 100 people in my department alone will lose their jobs. Already since yesterday, materials have gone up in price. Naturally, we will also have to raise prices. We won't get any subsidies from the state."
