Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), a leading stock exchange in Central Asia, announced that Moscow Exchange PJSC (MOEX) had disposed of its stake in KASE. This decision was likely caused by US sanctions, as the Moscow Exchange was sanctioned by the United States and the United Kingdom in June 2022. After being sanctioned, the Moscow Exchange suspended trading in dollars and euros.
As of June 1st, 2023, MOEX held 13.1% of KASE’s shares. The main shareholder in KASE is now the National Bank of Kazakhstan, with a 47% stake.
According to KASE, Kazakhstan has terminated its relationship with MOEX based on the Strategic Cooperation Agreement they signed on October 10th, 2018 and related agreements, and Vladimir Krekoten, a representative of MOEX, has resigned from the Board of Directors of KASE due to his early termination of his powers.
The severance of ties between the exchanges shows the strength of US sanctions, which affect economic relations between Russia and Kazakhstan.
By the end of 2023, Russia was a key trading partner for the Republic of Kazakhstan. According to the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan, Russia’s share of the republic’s trade in 2013 was 18.6%. By the end of that year, the volume of bilateral trade had reached $26 billion. Almost every second company with foreign investment in Kazakhstan was founded jointly with Russian companies, and the volume of Russian investments accumulated in the country’s economy reached $23.2 billion at the end of last year.
