The United States may impose sanctions on Kazakh banks and companies for helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions.
Source. This was stated on Monday by Assistant Deputy Treasury Secretary Elizabeth Rosenberg, who arrived for talks in Astana, moscowtimes.eu reports.
"There is a growing risk for the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as for companies and banks," she said, specifying that these are secondary sanctions, i.e. fines for violating the sanctions regime.
By the end of 2022, Kazakhstan increased its supply of goods to Russia by 25% and became one of the major "hubs" for parallel imports, which the Russian government estimated at tens of billions of dollars.
For example, the export of washing machines to Russia amounted to almost 100 thousand units per year, although in 2021 there were no exports at all. Semiconductor supplies from Kazakhstan jumped more than 300 times to $3.7 million.
According to Rosenberg, who arrived in Kazakhstan at the head of a delegation of US Treasury officials, such trade has risks and the US intends to clearly warn Kazakh officials about this.
Prior to that, the US Treasury delegation visited European countries, where they shared intelligence on how Russia circumvents the sanctions regime. Banks in Austria, Italy, Germany, and France received guidance on how to stop violating sanctions.
After Kazakhstan, U.S. officials intend to travel to Uzbekistan for the same purpose. The main task is to strengthen the implementation of sanctions and to counter money laundering and terrorist financing, the US Treasury reported.
Background. To recap, according to Politiсo, the EU wants to establish ties with Kazakhstan so that it stops helping Russia circumvent sanctions.