In early June, after a visit to Kazakhstan by senior U.S. officials who persuaded the country's leadership to support sanctions against Russia, Kazakh banks began to frequently refuse to accept payments in rubles from Russian counterparties, and now it has come to foreign currency.
Source. This was reported by Forbes.
Russian companies have begun to receive refusals to transfer foreign currency payments from most major banks in Kazakhstan, importers say.
Control over all incoming and outgoing payments for the supply of goods has been sharply tightened, in some banks they are checked twice – by the internal control and compliance departments, and since mid-June, foreign currency payments have almost always been refused, says the manager of one of the companies involved in parallel imports. According to him, the problem exists with all ten largest banks in Kazakhstan.
"Officially, banks simply refer to anti-laundering laws, but unofficially, they politely ask us to enter their position, when they are being severely wagged at from across the ocean, and come up with a scheme that will not have a Russian trace," says another entrepreneur who supplies electronics to Russia.
According to him, they have to use a transit scheme through Kyrgyzstan – when the transfer goes to Kyrgyzstan and the goods are paid for by a Kyrgyz company.
This method costs an average of 5-6% of the payment.
The companies do not undertake to estimate what share of customers face refusals, but they claim that this is a massive phenomenon.
Since the spring of 2022, Kazakhstan has become one of the main hubs for the delivery of sanctioned products to Russia or simply parallel imports (smuggling). The country is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, which means that goods from its territory can be imported into Russia without customs clearance and with local certificates of conformity – this is how, for example, Coca-Cola beverages are supplied from Kazakhstani factories. Apple, Samsung, and LG equipment, cars from Chinese factories, and much more are delivered through Kazakhstan.
Background. As a reminder, journalists investigated and found that Russia receives Western technology through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan despite sanctions.