Russian retailers Magnit and Lenta are in talks with their suppliers and other parties about importing goods via Kazakhstan, Russia’s southern neighbor and close partner, a Kazakh official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Ruble volatility and supply chain disruptions have hit the Russian market since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 in what Moscow says is a “special military operation” to degrade Kyiv military capabilities and root out what it calls dangerous nationalists.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces, while many foreign companies have ceased or suspended their Russian operations.
Working through intermediary companies in Kazakhstan could in theory allow Russian retailers to resolve some issues caused by sanctions, such as making payments in foreign currency.
Yerkebulan Orazalin, head of the entrepreneurship and investment department at the mayor’s office of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, said Magnit and Lenta were looking in particular at goods whose supply directly to Russia has been restricted, Kazakh news website Tengrinews.kz reported.
Read more:
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund CEO warns difficult market outlook from war, inflation
Russia says Israel supports neo-Nazis in row over Ukraine
Russia hits logistics center near Ukraine’s Odesa used to deliver foreign weapons
