Kazakhstan introduces a system of tracking the movement of goods to avoid circumventing sanctions

On April 1, Kazakhstan is to launch a system that will track the entire chain of goods from border to border online to prevent the circumvention of sanctions against Russia.

Source. This was reported by The Financial Times with reference to a senior Kazakh official.

According to him, Astana understands all the risks of secondary sanctions, so it closely monitors mutual trade with all partners.

At the same time, he noted that the government of Kazakhstan does not impose any sanctions or restrictions on trade with Russia. However, it will not allow circumventing Western sanctions and will not become a platform for such circumvention.

The other day, Reuters reported, citing several sources, that in recent weeks, Russian companies have been more actively asking their Kazakh partners to help them circumvent Western sanctions and import necessary goods. Two of the agency's interlocutors attributed the growing interest to reports of Turkey's plans to stop the transit of sanctioned goods.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of foreign corporations, companies and brands have announced the closure of their businesses in Russia, halting imports from abroad. In response, the Russian authorities allowed foreign goods to be imported into the country through third countries as part of parallel imports, i.e. without the permission of the right holder.

Over the past year, trade turnover between Russia and Kazakhstan has increased significantly. It is assumed that goods included in the sanctions lists, including those that can be used in the military industry, are imported to Russia through Kazakhstan.

Background. Read more about this in the article "Kazakh business helps Russia to circumvent sanctions".