Kazakhstan will not be a tool to circumvent US and EU sanctions against Russia, Timur Suleimenov, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan, said.
In an interview with Euractiv, he called the purpose of his visit to the EU “to demonstrate to our European partners that Kazakhstan will not be a tool to circumvent sanctions against Russia by the US and the EU.”
“We will comply with the sanctions. Despite the fact that we are part of an economic union with Russia, Belarus and other countries, we are also part of the international community. Therefore, the last thing we want is for Kazakhstan to be subject to secondary US and EU sanctions,” he stressed. Suleimenov.
“We will do our best to control the sanctioned goods. We will do our best to control any investment in Kazakhstan by individuals or organizations that are under sanctions, and this is what we wanted to openly convey to the Europeans,” he said.
On March 14, Kazakhstan will send the first batch of humanitarian aid to the population of Ukraine, the Kazakh interdepartmental commission said on Sunday.
“The Commission on International Humanitarian Aid made a decision to allocate a batch of medical supplies to the population of Ukraine … The issue of delivering humanitarian cargo along the route Almaty-Katowice (Poland) by aircraft has been worked out. Humanitarian aid to citizens of Ukraine will be sent by two flights on March 14 and March 15, 2022 from the airport of Almaty,” the message says.
The total weight of humanitarian aid will be 28.2 tonnes and 17 types of medicines: antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, antitussive and antihypertensive drugs, the report says.
General damage, including the expenses to repair buildings and restore property damaged and destroyed as a result of the January events in Kazakhstan, has been estimated at 136.8 billion tenge ($313.6 million), the press service for the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development said on Saturday. “According to the estimates of the commission created at the president’s instruction, throughout the country, damage has reached 136.8 billion tenge, including not only expenses to repair buildings, but also to recover damaged property,” the press service said.
According to the ministry, the state body suffered damage of 54,6 billion tenge ($125.1 million) out of the aforementioned amount, and 1,923 businsses suffered damage of 82.2 billion tenge ($188.4 million).
About 150 Ukrainian citizens have applied to the Ukrainian embassy in Kazakhstan for assistance in repatriation, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko said.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine cooperates with the Kazakh authorities and the governments of foreign states to protect the interests of Ukrainians in Kazakhstan. About 150 citizens have applied to the Ukrainian embassy for assistance in returning to their homeland. At the same time, due to the gradual stabilization of the security situation, some compatriots report changes in their plans and decide to stay on the territory of Kazakhstan,” Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday. According to him, international flights with Nur-Sultan have been fully restored, with the exception of some flights of European airlines. “Regular flights to Kyiv are planned for January 13 and 16, which our citizens can use,” the speaker said.
He pointed out that transport links are also being restored, including rail, between major Kazakhstani cities.
“The Ukrainian embassy has agreed with the Kazakh railway on the possibility of purchasing group tickets for Ukrainian citizens who wish to arrive in Nur-Sultan for a further flight to Kyiv. The diplomats also agreed with Air Astana on the possibility of free rebooking of tickets for canceled flights from Almaty to new flights from Nur-Sultan,” Nikolenko said.
He said that the Foreign Ministry recommends that Ukrainians who wish to use this option to check in advance the availability of seats and the dates of flights from Nur-Sultan.
“According to the Kazakh side, the Astana international airport is also ready to resume full-fledged work. The exact time of opening the airport will be announced additionally,” he said.
Nikolenko said that there are no Ukrainians among the victims or detainees during the recent events in Kazakhstan. The Embassy of Ukraine maintains regular contact with citizens, will continue to provide them with consular assistance and inform them about possible ways to leave the country.
International freight traffic with Kazakhstan is operating as normal, head of Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin has said.
“Now there are 219 Ukrainian freight cars in Kazakhstan. This is not a lot, about 0.1% of the total fleet of Ukrainian freight cars. Of these, 90 cars are owned by Ukrzaliznytsia and another 139 are private freight cars. All of them normally move through the KTZ (Kazakhstan Railways, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy) network and, I hope, will soon return to Ukraine in the same way, in a normal mode,” he wrote on Telegram.
He noted that the railways of Kazakhstan are an important partner for Ukrzaliznytsia.
“This is about 2 million tonnes of freight traffic per year, which is transported by rail between Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Almost half of the total freight traffic is Kazakh coal, which is now so necessary for Ukraine,” Kamyshin wrote.
According to him, the employees of KTZ ensure the stable operation of the railway in the current difficult circumstances.
“Freight traffic is working as usual. Confirmation of this is a freight train that left China on December 31 and arrived at TIS today. Interstate joints are operating normally. The dispatching office providing transportation activities operates around the clock. Passenger traffic is temporarily restricted in three western regions,” the head of Ukrzaliznytsia said.
Citizens of Ukraine are asked to refrain from traveling to Kazakhstan in connection with the introduction of a state of emergency in the period from January 5 to January 19, 2022, the Embassy of Ukraine in Kazakhstan said.
“In connection with the introduction of a state of emergency from January 5 to January 19, 2022 in Almaty, Almaty and Mangystau regions, we recommend that you refrain from arriving in Kazakhstan, and citizens in Kazakhstan should refrain from visiting crowded places during the state of emergency in the country,” the Embassy said on its Facebook page.
As reported, protest rallies against the sharp increase in prices for liquefied gas began in Kazakhstan in Zhanaozen (a city in Mangystau region in western Kazakhstan) on January 2. They then escalated into massive protests across the country with economic and political demands. On January 4, protesters clashed with security officials in Almaty.
President of the country Kassym-Jomart Tokayev introduced a state of emergency in Almaty, Mangystau and Almaty regions for the period until January 19 and a curfew, which will operate from 23:00 to 07:00.
On the morning of January 5, the government of Kazakhstan was dismissed.
