Peskov: Kazakhstan Russia-friendly, sanctions not decided yet
With a new draft resolution presented by the Kazakhstan government, questions arise about the two countries' relationship and political proximity.
On Wednesday, the Kazakh finance ministry unveiled a draft regulation to track the movement of goods from Kazakhstan to Russia. This comes with a possibility that the country would disallow the export of goods that were prohibited by the country of origin from being delivered to Russia, according to an official document published online.
"The state revenue authority, no later than one calendar day following the day of submission of the application, certifies copies of the submitted electronic invoices or refuses to certify them," the draft bill read.
A record of goods movement would be carried out by the Kazakh state revenue authorities by the certification of electronic invoice copies made by taxpayers exporting produce from Kazakhstan to Russia.
However, the certification of copies may be refused if "the country of origin of goods is a state that imposed a ban on import of certain types of goods to Russia."
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia and Kazakhstan are friendly countries that are in constant contact, and no decisions have been made yet on Kazakhstan's part to support the sanctions against Moscow.
The Kazakh Finance Ministry has previously made rules for accounting for the movement of goods exported to Russia while raising the possibility that they will refuse to permit the export of sanctioned goods.
“No decisions have been made so far. On the contrary, an absolute intention is being declared to further expand our interaction, to respond together to the challenges that come from abroad and to minimize the consequences of these unfriendly actions. So far, this is what we proceed from,” Peskov said, recalling that the respective governments "are in constant contact" on a regular basis and at the highest level.