Russia-Kazakhstan Bilateral Trade Relations: November 2025 Update

Kazakhstan and Russia have agreed to expand mutual trade in agricultural products and food at a meeting of their intergovernmental commission on cooperation (IGC) in Astana last week. The Kazakh delegation was headed by Deputy Prime Minister and National Economy Minister Serik Zhumangarin, and the Russian delegation was headed by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.

A statement issued after the discussions read, “Special attention was paid to issues in the agricultural sector. The parties discussed joint work on creating new competitive varieties of agricultural crops with high yields, resistance to external factors, and improved quality characteristics. An agreement was reached to expand mutual trade in agricultural products and food.”

The Russian side also expressed readiness to consider lifting phytosanitary restrictions on imports of flax and lentil seeds from Kazakhstan and to ensure the possibility of grain and legume transit with warehousing in Russia.

Prospects for increasing the amount of railway transportation were considered in connection with the launch in September of second tracks on the Dostyk-Moiynty section and the planned growth of transit along the China-Europe-China route. “An agreement was reached on a joint assessment of prospective cargo levels passing through Kazakh-Russian checkpoints, as well as on further promoting the development of the North-South international transport corridor to increase cargo flow in bilateral and transit traffic.

The Kazakh side also raised the issue of problems faced by Kazakh road carriers related to changes in Russian migration legislation that came into force on January 1, 2025. According to the new rules, the period of stay for foreign citizens without registration in Russia has been reduced from 180 to 90 days within a year. The Russian side has stated it will facilitate a speedy resolution of the issue regarding returning the period of stay for Kazakh drivers engaged in international transportation to the previous 180 days.

The meeting’s participants also discussed current issues of cooperation in fuel and energy, finance, oil and gas, industry, nuclear energy, standardization and metrology, tourism, education, communications, and information technology.

The next meeting of the commission will be held in 2026 in Omsk, Russia.

The Kazakh President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is also in Moscow this week to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. These are expected to focus on key issues concerning the development of Russian-Kazakh relations, strategic partnership and alliance in the political, trade and economic, and cultural and humanitarian spheres.