Kazakhstan is conquering its markets

Kazakhstan's decision to let the tenge float freely, which caused a 22 percent devaluation against the dollar, was greeted by local producers who had lost their market share against Russian competitors. The country has seen an increase in grain and coal imports recently, and car supplies from Russia have doubled in the first five months of this year.

Metals are another example. Imports of Russian steel products, which were insignificant in 2013, this year is equal to half of the country's total steel production. This was stated by Vijay Mahadevan, Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal Temirtau, who is extremely concerned about a similar situation in the metal market in Kazakhstan. His company has postponed plans to cut salaries by a quarter after the devaluation of the tenge.

“Free circulation of tenge will help Kazakh metallurgy and the coal mining industry to reclaim their traditional markets,” said Nikolay Radostovets, executive director of the Association of Kazakhstani Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises. In addition, Russia's ban on imports of European food, in response to sanctions due to the crisis in Ukraine, disrupted transit to Kazakhstan and Belarus.

According to the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in the near future there is no prospect of a single currency or deeper integration. He stated in April that neither his people nor the people of Kazakhstan are ready to become "a member of some kind of empire." At the same time, Nazarbayev spoke about the need to "develop a general plan of action in the face of lower energy prices and sanctions," but this issue was not resolved.

Kazakhstan did not inform Russia of its devaluation plan, according to Prime Minister Massimov. “It is Kazakhstan's sovereign right to make this kind of decision, which is why we did it on our own,” he said in an interview.

Nazarbayev avoids blaming Russia, saying only that some businesses have taken advantage of the currency imbalance. Kazakhstan is also struggling with a weakened currency in China, which is the country's second largest trading partner after Russia.