16:05, 16 августа 2024, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Baktygul OSMONALIEVA
The country is pursuing a new policy regarding Western sanctions against Russia. The country «won’t blindly follow the sanctions» if this jeopardizes the interests of the state. Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin said in an interview with Bloomberg.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, some sanctions have disproportionately harmed the republic. Companies that fell under U.S. restrictions are closing, and Western countries, as he noted, have done little to compensate for the damage.
We will not allow our own producers to be banned from trade.
Serik Zhumangarin
Kazakhstan hasn’t joined a ban on selling ball bearings — which have a dual military and civilian use — since a local plant produces them to a specification that’s traditionally used only in eastern Europe and former Soviet countries, according to Zhumangarin.
As Bloomberg stresses, although Kazakhstan has opposed the US-led campaign of sanctions over the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, senior officials like Zhumangarin didn’t previously challenge the curbs in public.
While hinting that Kazakhstan compliance may have exceptions, Zhumangarin made clear it will still continue to abide by the rules because it «won’t withstand» being targeted by sanctions.