Kazakhstan's President Offers Capital Investment in Russian Enterprises

The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev, has suggested that money in Kazakh banks be used for investments in projects in Russia.

At the moment, the money is "overheating" Kazakhstan's banks and it "needs an outlet for investment projects in Russia," Nazarbayev told a forum of Russian and Kazakh borderland regions in the Siberian city of Omsk.

Pointing out that trade between the two countries currently added up to $5 billion, the Kazakh president told of the necessity of rebuilding and expanding economic links that declined after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

For him, "tariffs and anti-dumping enactments by governments have lowered trade between our countries." Among other things, he noted, decisions made within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community, which comprises Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, are often not being implemented. A case in point, he said, involves coal from the Kazakh deposit of Ekibastuz, which is bought by more than 50 power plants in Russia, yet is liable to extra customs duties when brought into the country.