Aq Jol: "Excessive Bank Caution Hinders Kazakhstan's Exporters"

Aq Jol faction members have sent a parliamentary inquiry to Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and National Bank Chair Timur Suleimenov regarding banking restrictions on exports, Orda reports.

Faction leader Azat Peruashev reported increasing appeals from machine-building enterprises facing serious difficulties exporting their products.

The main issue is Kazakhstan's banks refusing to provide credit and process payments for businesses with Russian partners.

Financial institutions fear exported products could fall under US and EU sanctions lists, and banks are concerned about secondary sanctions.

Therefore, banks began demanding guarantee letters from factories refusing to export products to Russia, under threat of closing credit lines, explained MP Azat Peruashev.

The banks reference explanations from EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan, who recently visited Kazakhstan.

He stated the European Commission would not impose sanctions on products manufactured in Kazakhstan and exported to Russia.

Their goal is to restrict the re-export of sanctioned European products through Kazakhstan.

However, banks find these explanations unconvincing.

Representatives of major banks believe that the decisive factor is not the fact of re-export or production of goods, but their inclusion in the sanctions list, which creates a risk of secondary sanctions, if not from the European Commission, then from the USA, up to disconnection from the international SWIFT banking system. As a result of this situation, the export of these factories' products to the Russian Federation decreased by 15 percent last year, party representatives explained.

While state bodies have no official prohibitions, this is the banks' own initiative.

Deputies believe they are operating on a principle of "excessive caution."

Aq Jol has asked the government to protect local manufacturers' interests and develop recommendations for banks.

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