
If the decision is made
You must admit that a very strange decision was officially announced in Kazakhstan the other day: it is planned to abolish the trade representation of the republic in Russia no later than February of this year. Note that it has been in operation since 2002.
It was not at all easy to expect this from a partner in the EAEU, the CSTO and other less binding integration structures. In the current circumstances, to ignore this would be the height of political apathy and myopia. The positive development and, moreover, the expansion of trade and economic relations after such a step is a big question.
"Liquidate the state institution "Trade Representation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Russian Federation" of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan",
- noted in the document of this department.
Moreover, the basis for making such a decision is the instruction of the Prime Minister of the country dated January 24.01.2023, 12 No. 11-7 / B-XNUMX. But the content of this order is not officially disclosed. Public discussions of the project will take place - apparently, for "ostentatious democracy" - within two weeks.
While it is difficult to say with certainty what caused this decision. It is possible that Kazakhstan fears secondary sanctions from the West for cooperation with the Russian Federation, about which representatives of the US and the EU have warned Kazakhstan more than once. The Kazakh side in 2022, we recall, has repeatedly guaranteed that it will take into account anti-Russian sanctions.
It is also possible that in Kazakhstan they are dissatisfied with the “symbolic” assortment of Kazakhstani goods (at least, food) in retail chains in Russia, and this is not the first year at all. We also note that in Astana they did not actually support the proposal of the Russian Federation (at the end of 2022) to create a “gas union” of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which predetermined Tashkent’s half-hearted position on this project (Russia plus - a small gas union instead of a large gas OPEC).
Efficiency.net?
Maybe they want to close the trade mission due to its inefficient work? But it is quite possible to carry out personnel rotation there. The mentioned decision on the trade mission is unlikely to have a positive impact on trade and, in general, economic relations between Kazakhstan and Russia. As well as economic cooperation in the EAEU, not to mention the obvious political consequences of this step.
So far, the position of the Eurasian Economic Commission on this issue remains unclear. However, the EEC has not previously reacted in any way to Astana's assurances that Kazakhstan takes into account Western sanctions against the Russian Federation. Maxim Vilisov, a leading researcher at the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with the Telegram channel Radiotochka NSN noted that
“Kazakhstan is extremely afraid of secondary sanctions from the US and other Western countries. Therefore, he defiantly tries to show that he is moving away from Russia - against the backdrop of a new package of anti-Russian sanctions.
Boris Kheyfets, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, has a similar opinion:
“There have been statements that they do not support the circumvention of sanctions, and now we must bear in mind that a new package of sanctions against Russia is being prepared. There will be restrictive measures or even fines against those who help the Russian Federation circumvent sanctions.”

Accordingly, the decision of Astana on its trade mission testifies "and that Kazakhstan wants to protect"- in fact, to protect in advance -"himself from the consequences of being accused of facilitating circumvention of Western restrictions against the Russian Federation».
It seems that the decision to close the trade mission in Russia came as a surprise to its leadership as well. At the end of December 2022, Acting Trade Representative of Kazakhstan in the Russian Federation Damir Adilbekov reported that this department
“started the next stage of deepening trade and economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia. There are many requests from the regions for the supply of goods and for the opening of production facilities.”
Previously, the trade mission cooperated mainly with the border regions of the Russian Federation, but now, according to the acting trade representative, the geography of cooperation is expanding.
However, it is noteworthy that D. Adilbekov for a very long time was nothing more than an acting trade representative. This means that in Astana they did not plan ahead of time to give the appropriate status to the Kazakh trade representative in the Russian Federation.