Kazakhstan Plans to Increase Agricultural Exports to Russia

Kazakhstan is working to boost its agricultural exports to Russia as part of its strategy to strengthen trade relations. On January 21, Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov held talks with Russian Minister Oksana Lut in Moscow, focusing on removing restrictions on the import and transit of agricultural products between the two nations.

Trade turnover in agricultural goods between the two countries reached $3.4 billion from January to November 2024, marking a 4.3% increase compared to the same period in the previous year, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.

According to Saparov, Russia remains Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner in the agricultural sector. Over the first 11 months of 2024, Kazakhstan’s agricultural exports to Russia totaled $502.9 million. “Kazakhstan is interested in increasing the presence of its agricultural products on the Russian market,” Saparov said.

In recent months, both countries have made progress in easing trade restrictions. Kazakhstan has lifted all restrictions on Russian agricultural products, while Russia this month removed temporary bans on tomato imports from 36 Kazakh enterprises. Discussions are ongoing to further relax restrictions on the import and transit of Kazakh livestock and plant products.

The Moscow meeting concluded with the signing of an action plan to enhance Russian-Kazakh agro-industrial cooperation. Key elements of the plan include:

• Preparing a joint project to establish an agrobiotechnopark.
• Creating a favorable framework for mutual food supplies.
• Finalizing the integration of veterinary and phytosanitary control information systems.

These measures are expected to strengthen agricultural trade between the two countries and support the development of new joint projects in the agro-industrial sector.