Kazakhstan expected to significantly increase car exports to Eurasian Economic Union countries

· by · in

International Business News – Anuar Shukumov, representative of the Kazakhstan Automobile Business Association (AKAB), said at the 10th Kazakhstan Machinery Manufacturing Forum that Kazakh automakers are expected to significantly increase their auto exports to the Eurasian Economic Union countries.

Anuar Shukumov believes that Kazakh automakers can take advantage of the cessation of operations by foreign auto companies in Russia. The Eurasian Economic Union countries have a potential market of 1 million vehicles, mainly the Russian market, but this requires an increase in the scale of available financing for domestic auto assemblers.

Anuar Shukumov said that in the context of the geopolitical situation, Kazakhstan does have an opportunity to gain a presence in the market of the Eurasian Economic Union countries. But achieving this requires providing affordable financing to increase working capital in export-oriented industries. Considering the current state of the Eurasian Economic Union’s auto market, Kazakhstan’s auto export potential may be as high as 1 million units.

From January to August 2021, Kazakhstan will export 5,436 vehicles, with a total export value of 64.6 billion tenge. The cars are mainly exported to Uzbekistan, Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In 2021, the whole of Kazakhstan will export 12,103 vehicles, 8,122 in 2020, 2,631 in 2019, and 329 in 2018. In eight months, Kazakhstan produced 68,248 cars, 92,795 cars in 2021, 75,235 in 2020, 49,587 in 2019, and 31,788 in 2018.

July data from the Association of Automobile Manufacturers in Europe (AEB) showed that Russian car sales fell by 82% in June and by 56.9% in the January-June period. By the end of 2022, the gloomy forecast is for car sales to fall to 470,000 units from 1.6 million in 2021, but according to the January-August data, Russian car sales fell by 60.7%, with a total of 410,548 units sold.

Ilyas Ospanov, chairman of the Industrial Development Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, said at a press conference on September 22 that it is planned that by the end of 2022, the production of automobiles in Kazakhstan will reach about 100,000 vehicles.