Estonia and Kazakhstan

Bilateral relations

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Kazakhstan were established on 27 May 1992. The Estonian Embassy in Astana was opened in 2011. The Estonian ambassador to Kazakhstan is Jaan Hein who presented his credentials to President Nazarbayev on 12 September 2011. In 2009 Bibigul Balpyk became the first Estonian honorary consul in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Estonia Galymzhan Koishybayev presented his credentials to President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in February 2009 and he resides in Vilnius. An embassy consular section was opened in Tallinn in March 2011.

Good and operative relations reign between Estonia and Kazakhstan, and co-operation between institutions of the two countries has been established. In 2010 an intergovernmental commission began its work, with the goal of discussing bilateral co-operation in the economic, educational and research sectors in accordance with the agreement for economic, research and technical co-operation that came into effect in 2010.

Visits

Bilateral treaties

• Agreement on mutual understanding and cooperation (entered into force on 25 May 1995).
• Agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion (came into force 19 Jul 2000).
• Agreement on international road transport (came into force 18 Dec 2002).
• Agreement on cooperation in the field of railway transport (came into force 29 Mar 2003).
• Agreement on cooperation in the fight against organized crime and other forms of crime (signed 2 Jun 2004, provisionally applicable from the moment of signing).
• Agreement on co-operation in the field of culture and humanities (came into force 9 June 2006).
• Agreement on economic, research and technical co-operation (came into force 4 March 2010).
• Agreement on co-operation in combating organized and other forms of crime (came into force 16 January 2012).

Economic relations

The agreement on economic, research and technical co-operation between Estonia and Kazakhstan coming into force in 2010 was very important for the development of economic relations. On the basis of the agreement an Estonia-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission came together for the first time in 2010; its second session took place in February 2011 in Astana. The delegations were led by Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts and Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Rapil Zhoshybayev. Working groups were created to develop co-operation in the sectors that were of the most interest to both sides – transport and transit as well as energy and information technology.

The third session of the commission took place from 27-28 August 2012 in Tallinn. The Estonian delegation was once again led by Minister Juhan Parts while the delegation from Kazakhstan was led for the first time by Minister of Transportation and Communications Askar Zhumagaliyev. The plenary session of the commission included general economic relations between Estonia and Kazakhstan, including trade, transport and communications, statistics, agriculture, education and research, health care, culture and sports, and the fight against cyber crime. In addition to the plenary session, many expert meetings in the aforementioned sectors took place in Tallinn, during which concrete opportunities for intensifying future co-operation were discussed. During the plenary session both Estonia and Kazakhstan expressed satisfaction over the development thus far of bilateral communication, since co-operation has grown quickly and expanded significantly. 

TRADE

Estonian-Kazakhstan trade 2005-2011 (in million EUR)

All economic figures originate from the Statistical Office of Estonia
 

The steady growth in trade seen in earlier years slowed in 2009, but grew again in 2010. While in 2009 Kazakhstan was Estonia’s 31st trade partner with 0.3% of total trade, in 2010 it rose to 21st place with 0.8% of total trade. In 2011 Kazakhstan’s share of Estonia’s total trade was once again more modest with 0.55%, which put it in 27^th place. In 2012 trade recovered a bit and Kazakhstan rose one place among Estonia’s trade partners to occupy 26^th place, with a total trade turnover of 133.9 million (0.5% of total trade). Among Estonia’s export partners Kazakhstan was in 22^nd place (0.7% of all exports) with a turnover of 86.2 million euros and among import partners in 26^th place (0.3% of imports) with a turnover of 47.6 million.

Main export articles in 2012 (% of total exports):

• Machinery and equipment  – 70.5%
• Foodstuff and beverages (alcohol, canned fish and other fish products) -– 9.3%
• Metals and metal products – 5.9%

Main import articles in 2012 (% of total imports):

• Mineral products (petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals) – 98.0%
• Plant products – 1.2%

INVESTMENTS

As of 31 December 2011 (according to Bank of Estonia data), Estonian directs investments to Kazakhstan amounted to 8 million EUR (0.2% of Estonia’s direct investments abroad). Investments were primarily made in trade, financial and insurance activity, real estate, transport and inventory, etc.

The balance of Kazakhstan’s direct investments in Estonia as of 31 December 2011 was 0.9 million EUR. Investments primarily went to wholesale and retail trade, management and aid activity, and financial and insurance activity.

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