Even though Kazakhstan is officially neutral in the war between Russia and Ukraine, it provides humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and takes measures to support the Ukrainian people. The Republic of Kazakhstan supports the cessation of bloodshed in Ukraine “based on the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of states in accordance with the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations”.

Kazakhstan refused to recognise the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk ‘people’s republics’ and did not support the russian aggression against Ukraine. The country also rejected russia’s request to join its troops in the offensive against Ukraine. The government of Kazakhstan has stated that citizens of the country will face criminal liability at homeland in case of participation in the war in Ukraine.

Although Kazakhstan has not joined the Western sanctions against russia, it is actively preventing the use of its territory to circumvent these restrictions in an effort to avoid secondary sanctions. After Sberbank, Alfa-Bank and VTB were subjected to US sanctions, several tens of millions of dollars in correspondent accounts of their subsidiaries were seized in Kazakhstan. As a result, the largest russian state-owned bank (Sberbank) was forced to withdraw from the country.

The Republic of Kazakhstan has imposed restrictions on the export of 106 types of goods due to Western sanctions. These include goods from both Kazakh and foreign manufacturers. Among the goods that were subjected to export restrictions are spare parts for drones, specialised electronics, chips, etc.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Humanitarian Support Centre of Ukraine in Kazakhstan, with the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Kazakhstan, has sent 250 generators and over 500 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and other essential items, to Ukraine from the people of Kazakhstan. The efforts of Kazakhstani volunteers are aimed at supporting the civilian population of Ukraine, providing hospitals, orphanages and other institutions with the necessary resources.

Additionally, three ambulances purchased with funds from Kazakh business with the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine in Kazakhstan were transferred to Ukraine.  They will save the lives of civilians in the East and South of the country.

Kazakhstani volunteers also implemented a project to install traditional yurts in different cities of Ukraine. These yurts served as warming centres and places to provide humanitarian aid during the cold season, when Ukrainian infrastructure was under attack.

The Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Kazakhstan also joined the Ukrainian Book for Ukrainian Children campaign under the patronage of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska and printed 19 children’s books in Ukrainian with a total print run of 3.800 copies. The books will be distributed free of charge to Ukrainian children temporarily residing in the country as a result of the war, and will also be donated to Ukrainian communities in Kazakhstan and children’s libraries. These actions symbolise the solidarity of the Kazakh people with Ukrainians.

Kazakhstan remains a perspective trade partner for Dnipropetrovsk region, despite the decline in foreign trade due to the war. The exports of goods from Dnipropetrovsk region totalled $16.8 million and decreased by 33.5% compared to 2022. The region’s share is 6.3% of the national figure for Kazakhstan. The country’s enterprises are most interested in machinery and equipment, plastics and polymers, ferrous metal products, soap and detergents, etc.

69 enterprises in Dnipropetrovsk region exported their products to the Kazakh market, including metallurgical, processing and machine-building companies.

TOP 5 companies in terms of exported products are as follows:

In turn, 34 importers in the region mostly purchased Kazakh goods, namely oil and its distillation products, seeds and fruits of oilseeds, zinc and zinc products, fertilisers, etc. Imports of goods from Kazakhstan to Dnipropetrovsk region totalled $23.1 million. The region’s share is 8.7% of Ukraine’s total imports from Kazakhstan.

TOP-5 importers by volume of imported products are as follows:

Import operations were mainly carried out by the mining and metallurgical, machine-building enterpices, food and processing industries.  

Source: information for the article was taken from open online resources