Another lawmaker in Russia has made remarks concerning Kazakhstan, which might create tension between the two countries, Orda.kz reports.
In a comment to the Russian National News Service, Mikhail Delyagin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, said that long delays in processing money transfers from Russia to Kazakhstan are “sabotage by the Kazakh authorities.”
“Slowing down the processing of transfers for two to three weeks is, in fact, sabotage,” Delyagin said. “Because for businesses, such delays in money transfers can be fatal. This is the position not of Kazakh banks, but of the leadership of Kazakhstan. If they were really afraid of [western] sanctions against the [Kazakh] banking sector, they would have chosen, given the intensity of [Russia’s] economic ties with Kazakhstan, a specialized bank that is not afraid of sanctions, which would initially have been sanctioned, and would have transferred all operations to it. Since they do not do this, this is a demonstration of the attitude of the Kazakh authorities towards both Russia and the future of [Kazakh-Russian] relations.”
The Russian parliamentarian did not explain why Kazakh banks should take unjustified risks and expose themselves to sanctions. The fact that there are currently no sanctioned banks in Kazakhstan (and no Kazakh bank has any desire to be sanctioned) escaped Mr. Delyagin’s attention.
The lawmaker called the slowdown in money transfers “a step in the policy of de-Russification of Kazakhstan.”
“This undermines bilateral economic cooperation, as well as Kazakh business which is focused on cooperation with Russia,” Delyagin said.
Kazakh authorities have not yet commented on Delyagin’s statements.
This is not the first statement of Russian parliamentarians against Kazakhstan. Late in March 2024, the leader of the party “A Just Russia – For Truth” Sergei Mironov called for the introduction by Russia of a visa regime with the countries of Central Asia, including Kazakhstan.
The Speaker of the Mazhilis (Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament), Erlan Koshanov, earlier agreed with the heads of the State Duma and the Federation Council of the Russian Federation that parliament deputies both in Russia and Kazakhstan will not allow statements that may harm interstate relations.
