In recent weeks, Russian companies have bombarded their Kazakh partners with new requests to help them bypass Western sanctions and import badly needed goods, the newspaper writes Reuters citing your sources.
After Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year, the West imposed sweeping sanctions on the Russian economy worth an estimated $2,1 trillion, prompting Moscow to seek workarounds to import technology and goods.
With the sale of thousands of goods in the Russian Federation banned by the West, traders have created an extensive supply network through third countries to circumvent the restrictions. Many goods go through Turkey and the former Soviet republics, economists say.
The seven sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said they had seen an increase in requests from Russians to help ship everything from bearings and aircraft parts to rare-earth metals through Kazakhstan to Russia.
Two sources linked Russia's increased interest in sanctioned goods to reports of Turkey's plans to crack down on the transit of sanctioned goods through its territory.
RARE-EARTH METALS
"It means the boom is just beginning," said one foreign trade businessman.
Another Kazakh businessman said he had been offered $1 million to help transport a truckload of rare earth metals from Australia.
"From telephones and bearings to aircraft parts and rare earth metals," the entrepreneur said, and gave examples of requests he said he has turned down.
The Russians have a very long shopping list that includes industrial equipment, railway bearings, advanced electronics, radio equipment, turbines, aircraft parts, raw materials and even bank card materials, the sources said, with some Russian firms looking to establish long-term partnerships to circumvent sanctions.
According to Russian law, compliance with Western sanctions is a crime, and the disruption of sanctions has become a profitable industry for some entrepreneurs.
President Vladimir Putin joked that Western luxuries are still available in Moscow, even though they are more expensive.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during a visit to the region this month urged Central Asian countries to maintain sanctions and promised to help them deal with collateral damage.
But a Central Asian official, speaking to reporters during Blinken's visit, said governments could do little to stop traders from re-exporting goods to Russia.
"I go to the office of a European company and ask about certain equipment, they say they can't sell it because it might end up in Russia," said one Kazakh industrial equipment businessman.
"When I go out, I get a call from a Turkish company offering the same equipment."
Turkey, a NATO ally, said last month that it had not exports products that Russia could use in military action, following US warnings about exporting chemicals, microchips and other items. Ankara also said it would not allow violations of Western sanctions in or through Turkey and was taking steps to prevent it.
DEVELOPMENT OF TRADE
Russia remains Kazakhstan's largest trading partner. Last year, Kazakh exports to Russia increased by a quarter to 8,8 billion dollars.
Exports of plastic pipes, a type of which Russia has had trouble producing or supplying, more than tripled to $12 million last year.
At the same time, Kazakhstan dramatically increased its imports of computers from European countries and Taiwan, although it is unclear how many of them were then re-exported to Russia.
Sometimes even the law is not broken, sources say. Often complex elements include sanctioned components, but are not themselves prohibited. Trade growth is so sharp that Kazakh customs are overwhelmed, they added.
Another source said that Russian banks imported equipment and plastic needed for the production of bank cards through Kazakhstan.
But such a business is associated with additional costs. Kazakh businessmen who resell goods to Russia are usually entitled to a 12% VAT refund, but those transporting "suspicious items" do not report it to authorities to avoid exposing the entire supply chain, the businessman said.
However, one source used a Russian proverb to explain why he decided to engage in illegal trade: "For some, war is grief and misery, and for others, it is a path to prosperity."
