Kazakhstan’s MFA invites international companies from Russia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for attracting foreign investments, has invited 401 international companies to relocate their business from Russia to Kazakhstan. All these companies previously announced their intention to leave Russia, according to Almas Aydarov, deputy foreign minister of Kazakhstan. While speaking to the members of the Senate, he reported that 67 companies agreed to relocate and 25 businesses have already done so.

The MFA never mentioned China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and Clariant, the Swiss producer of chemical products, as companies that plan to relocate their offices to Kazakhstan. However, both companies have done so just recently.

An updated list of companies that think about relocating to Kazakhstan now also includes Ozon and Usping, both Russian companies and South Korean Youngsan, which all had no plans for the relocation before. Ozon has already built a warehouse in Astana, Uspring is going to launch the production of springs in Uralsk while Youngsan will produce car seats for Hyundai vehicles in conjunction with Astana Motors in Almaty.

The MFA’s list also includes an assembling factory for the Lada Vesta, even though Russian AvtoVaz dropped this idea long ago and started Vesta production in Tolyatti in March 2023.

On the other hand, the list no longer includes French Air Liquid with its blue and green hydrogen projects.

According to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, in 2022, the amount of foreign direct investments in Kazakhstan grew by 17.7% and reached $28 billion, a record-high rate since 2012. Additional investments in the oil industry (+45.6%) and trade (+36%) were key drivers of the increase.