Kazakhstan is already Germany’s most important economic partner in Central Asia. The Chancellor sees further potential.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is striving for closer economic cooperation with the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. He wants to “do everything to improve the opportunities for economic relations,” said Scholz at a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the capital Astana. He particularly emphasized the “resilient, precise and continuous cooperation” in the raw materials sector.
Oil deliveries to PCK refinery extended
With a share of 11.7 percent, Kazakhstan is Germany’s third-largest oil supplier after Norway and the USA and has partially compensated for the loss of Russian deliveries to the PCK refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg, following the attack on Ukraine.
On the sidelines of the visit, an extension of these deliveries – currently 100,000 tons of crude oil per month – was agreed. “The Federal Government welcomes the continued supply of the PCK refinery beyond 2024,” said a government spokesman. “We thank Kazakhstan for its support.”
Tokayev: “New level” of relations
Tokayev said the Chancellor’s visit would take relations between the two countries “to a new level.” “Our bilateral cooperation will be expanded in the spirit of a strategic partnership.”
During the visit, agreements were also signed on the cooperation of the Kazakh National Bank with the Bundesbank, as well as on the establishment of an Institute of Science and Technology at the German-Kazakh University in Almaty and a German-language school.
Country with above-average growth rates
Kazakhstan, with its 20 million inhabitants, is the ninth largest country in the world in terms of area and Germany’s most important economic partner in the region. Thanks in particular to trade with its important neighbors Russia and China, the country has experienced above-average economic growth for years.
The German government is not only interested in oil, but also in gas reserves in Kazakhstan and, in the long term, in hydrogen produced from renewable energies. The country, which is led in an authoritarian manner by Tokayev, also has uranium, iron ore, zinc, copper and gold.
Joint press meeting cancelled at short notice
Like the other authoritarian states in the region, Kazakhstan is also criticized for its human rights situation. Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are severely restricted. An originally planned joint press meeting between Tokayev and Scholz was canceled at short notice by the Kazakh side. In Uzbekistan, the Chancellor’s first stop on his three-day trip, no joint press meeting was planned from the outset.
Balancing act between Russia and the West
For the Central Asian states, expanded relations with the West are a balancing act. On the one hand, they are closely intertwined with Russia economically. On the other hand, they emphasize that they support the Western states’ sanctions regime against Russia. However, it is questionable how serious Kazakhstan is about this.
Exports from there to Russia have increased significantly since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This raises suspicions that companies from Western countries are deliberately trying to circumvent economic sanctions against Russia by going via these countries. Kazakhstan has a border with Russia that is more than 7,600 kilometers long – one of the longest land borders in the world.
Scholz insists on compliance with sanctions
Scholz made it clear on Monday in Uzbekistan that he wanted to address the circumvention of sanctions during his trip. “This is a principle for us and we discuss it again and again so that we achieve good practice in the interests of the objective we are pursuing with the sanctions,” he said.
Source: Stern
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