The kremlin continues to lose influence in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is cutting off russia’s opportunities to launder money and bypass sanctions through Kazakh banks.
▫️President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reported that around $14 billion was laundered from a “neighboring country” through one of Kazakhstan’s banks. While he did not explicitly name russia, it is clear to moscow which country he meant.
▫️These remarks came amid tightening restrictions on russians who have been using Kazakh banks to evade sanctions and launder funds. Recently, Kazakhstan banned the remote issuance of ID numbers to non-residents—mostly russians—introduced mandatory biometrics, monthly identification, limits, and other measures.
Since the start of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has been systematically reducing russian influence and economic dependence, without formally breaking alliance relations.
Despite russian propaganda claims of moscow’s growing role in a multipolar world, the war in Ukraine is actually eroding the kremlin’s influence in the post-soviet space.
