Kazakhstan–Russia relations

Kazakhstan–Russia relations refers to bilateral foreign relations between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. Kazakhstan has an embassy in Moscow, a consulate-general in Saint Petersburg, Astrakhan and Omsk. Russia has an embassy in Nur-Sultan and consulates in Almaty and Oral. Nur-Sultan and Moscow are military and political allies.

Kazakhstan–Russia relations

Kazakhstan
Russia
Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

Country comparison
 Russian Federation  Kazakhstan
Coat of Arms
Flag
Population 144554993 (2017 estimate) 18050488 (2017 estimate)
Area 17075400 km2 (6592800 sq mi) 2724900 km2 (1052100 sq mi)
Population Density 8/km2 (21/sq mi) 6.49/km2 (16.8/sq mi)
Time zones 9 2
Capital Moscow Nur-Sultan
Largest City Moscow (pop. 11503501, 15500100 Metro) Almaty (pop. 1703481, 2460420 Metro)
Government Federal semi-presidential
constitutional republic		 Unitary dominant-party presidential republic
Official language Russian (de facto and de jure) Kazakh; Russian
Main religions 41% Russian Orthodox, 13% non-religious, 6.5% Islam, 4.1% unaffiliated Christian, 1.5% other Orthodox, 3.4% other religions (2012 Census) 70.4% Islam, 24.7% Christianity, 4.2% Unaffiliated, 0.3% Folk religion, 0.2% Buddhism, 0.1% Other religions (2010)
Ethnic groups 80.90% Russians, 3.96% other Indo-Europeans, 8.75% Turkic peoples, 3.78% Caucasians, 1.76% Finno-Ugric peoples and others (2010 Census) 63.6% Kazakh, 23.3% Russian, 2.9% Uzbek, 2.0% Ukrainian, 1.4% Uyghur, 1.2% Tatar, 1.1% German, 4.5% others (2010 census)

Overview
Vladimir Putin in Kazakhstan, October 2000.

Kazakhstan and Russia are both founding members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and are additionally part of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Both also founded the Eurasian Economic Union with Belarus. Following the collapse of the USSR, the issue of nuclear weapons was central to diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Russia, the West and the broader international community.[1] In recent years, Kazakhstan has attempted to balance ties between both sides by selling petroleum and natural gas to its northern neighbor at artificially low prices, allowing heavy investment from Russian businesses, and concluding an agreement over the Baikonur Cosmodrome while simultaneously assisting the West in the War on Terror.

According to a survey conducted by the Central Asia Barometer, 87% of Kazakhs have a favorable view of Russia, with 8% holding an unfavorable view. The survey also found that 88 percent support closer relations with Russia, compared to 6 percent who do not.[2]

Border agreements

In January 2005 President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed an agreement approving an official map of the border. On May 23, 2009, the two countries placed their first boundary marker on the 7,591 km (4,717 mi) border between Kazakhstan's Atyrau and Russia's Astrakhan provinces.[3] The demarcation is expected to take 10 to 15 years to complete.

Controversies

Statehood

In 2013, President Vladimir Putin raised controversy when he claimed that “Kazakhs had never had statehood”, in what seemed to be an apparent response to growing nationalism among Kazakhstanis.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Putin's remarks on the matter led to a severe response from President Nazarbayev, who announced that the country would celebrate the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate, which effectively refutes Putin's claim that a Kazakh nation has never existed. He also threatened to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union, saying that the independence of the country is his "most precious treasure" and that Kazakh's "will never surrender" their independence.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Trade relations

Overall money flow in a trade between Kazakhstan-Russia in 2018 is $18 219 255 476, which is more than 2017's numbers by 5,68% . Export to Kazakhstan was: 12 923 333 532 which is more than 2017's numbers by 4,86%. Export to Russia was: 5 295 921 944 which is more than 2017's numbers by 7,71%.[19]

Main products of trade are: machinery, mineral products, metal, chemicals, agricultural supplies, shoes.[19] The influx of Russian direct investment in the Republic of Kazakhstan for the period 2005–2014. amounted to 9.1 billion US dollars, and Kazakhstan in Russia - 2.9 billion US dollars.[20]

One of the most active and large scale relations are in fuel sphere. The transit of Kazakh oil through Russia is also carried out within the framework of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). At 50 percent, CPC is owned by the governments of Russia and Kazakhstan, and by 50 percent - by mining companies that financed the commissioning of the first phase of the project.[20]

Big Russian companies like Lukoil ($5 billion), Gazprom ($1 billion), INTER RAO UES ($0.2 billion) invest in the Kazakhstan's economy. United States), Rusal ($0.4 billion). Rosatom State Corporation, Rosneft OJSC, Bank VTB OJSC, VEB, Mechel OJSC, Severstal OJSC invest to Kazakhstan's economy.[20]

See also

References
  1. Zabortseva, Yelena Nikolayevna (2016). "Russia's Relations with Kazakhstan: Rethinking Ex-Soviet Transitions in the Emerging World System". London-New York: Routledge. pp. 58–77. ISBN 9781315668727.
  2. "Love with Nuances: Kazakhstani Views on Russia" (PDF). PONARS Eurasia. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  3. "Demarcation of Russian-Kazakh border begun - Durham University". Dur.ac.uk. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  4. Casey Michel. "Putin's Chilling Kazakhstan Comments". The Diplomat. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  5. Ian Traynor. "Kazakhstan is latest Russian neighbour to feel Putin's chilly nationalist rhetoric | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  6. Dolgov, Anna (2014-09-01). "Kazakhs Worried After Putin Questions History of Country's Independence". Themoscowtimes.com. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  7. "Vladimir Putin Continues Soviet Rhetoric by Questioning Kazakhstan's 'Created' Independence". Ibtimes.co.uk. 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  8. "As Kazakhstan's Leader Asserts Independence, Did Putin Just Say, 'Not So Fast'?". EurasiaNet.org. 2014-08-30. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  9. "Kazakhstan creates its own Game of Thrones to defy Putin and Borat | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  10. "New Kazakh TV series a riposte to Putin and Borat". Al Jazeera English. 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  11. "Kazakhstan Celebrates Statehood in Riposte to Russia". EurasiaNet.org. 2015-01-06. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2016-03-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Putin Downplays Kazakh Independence, Sparks Angry Reaction". Rferl.org. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  14. Michel, Casey (2015-01-19). "Eurasian Economic Union: Putin's Geopolitical Project Already Failing". New Republic. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  15. "The Crimea Model: Will Russia Annex the Northern Region of Kazakhstan?". Moderndiplomacy.eu. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  16. "Russian and Kazakh Leaders Exchange Worrying Statements". Cacianalyst.org. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  17. "Nazarbayev's Severe Response to Putin". Lragir.am. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  18. "Nazarbayev vs Putin". YouTube. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  19. "Торговля между Россией и Казахстаном в 2018 г." russian-trade.com (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  20. "Торгово-экономические связи | Двусторонние отношения | Посольство Российской Федерации в Республике Казахстан". www.rfembassy.kz. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
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