Nursultan Nazarbayev’s mediatory services

Victoria Panfilova, an observer of Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

The first state visit to Kazakhstan by the President of France Francois Hollande brought several political sensations. The possibility of building dialogue between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union was discussed at the talks with Nursultan Nazarbayev. The leaders of the two states discussed the Ukrainian crisis and expressed confidence that a compromise was possible. After that, the economic issues which were to be the focus of the agenda paled into insignificance.

This is a return visit to Kazakhstan by the President of France. Nazarbayev visited Paris in November 2012. He managed to find common grounds with the new President Francois Hollande and attract multimillion French investments into the Kazakhstan economy. France is the third-largest investor in Kazakhstan after the Netherlands and the USA. Direct investments of France in Kazakhstan amount to $13 billion. In 2007-2012 the sum of investments didn’t exceed $1 billion. The turnover between the countries is more than $6 billion, $5.4 billion of which are Kazakh exports and $600 million are French exports. “French companies invest in the oil and nuclear spheres, construction materials, the food industry, machine engineering, advertising, and so on. As far as I know, French companies are satisfied with the business climate in Kazakhstan and have no intention of leaving,” Marat Shibutov, a Kazakhstan expert, a representative of the Russian Association of Near-Border Cooperation, told Vestnik Kavkaza.

The main economic sector in which France invests mainly is energy. Since Kazakhstan became independent, Areva and Total have been present there. Total participated in the consortium of the North Caspian Operating Company; its share is 16.8%. The company produces oil in Kashagan. Areva and Kazatomprom produce uranium. The company produces 10,000 tons of uranium annually, and 4,000 tons are produced in Kazakhstan; its Kazakhstan office is the most profitable.

“According to the results of 2012, Kazakhstan took third place among oil exporters to France – 12.7% of French gasoline is produced from Kazakhstan oil,” Marat Shibutov says. He also notes that along with uranium and oil, the titanium produced at the Ust-Kamenogorsk Ore Mining and Smelting Plant is important for France. The titanium is used for building aircraft. “Military cooperation was developed under former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Astana purchased two Earth remote sensing satellites, which were launched. Later it purchased 20 ES-225/ES-725 helicopters. They planned to purchase Sagem Defense Securite unmanned aircraft and coastal missile systems for the Caspian Sea, but it didn’t happen, Shibutov states. According to him, when Francois Hollande came in power, the cooperation between the countries reduced. It seems Hollande’s visit is aimed at improving the situation.

As a result of the top-level talks, it was agreed that French companies would participate in the second stage of the Program of Industrial Innovative Development of the Country. As Nursultan Nazarbayev pointed out, Kazakhstan granted special benefits to participants of the program. Fifty business representatives, including the heads of Veolia, Total, EDF, Airbus Helicopters, and others, were included in the French presidential delegation.

At the same time, economic cooperation between the two countries could be adjusted. Since January 1st, 2015, Kazakhstan has been an active participant of the new integration union, the EaEU. Nazarbayev reminded that it was he, rather than the Russian President, who initiated the integration union. However, Kazakhstan won’t lose its independence and won’t be closed to cooperation with other organizations: “It won’t influence our independence, our political independence, and our multivectoral policy. We have finished all talks on accession to the WTO; we’ve signed an agreement on broader partnership and trade with the EU, and we are actively discussing our accession to the OECD.”

“Today it is an important and promising topic for all European countries, and the visits to Astana by EU leaders are a diplomatic practice,” Yuri Solozobov, a political scientist, the director for international programs of the Institute for National Strategy of Russia, told Vestnik Kavkaza.

The Ukrainian issue was one of the key topics. “We have similar positions with Francois Hollande on it. We want common grounds to be found for settlement of the crisis, which doesn’t help anyone, only worsens the international situation and negatively influences the economies of not only Europe and Asia, but also the whole world,” Nazarbayev said. “We believe there are opportunities for a compromise. I am ready to do my best… And the President of France supports our efforts in this sphere.”

Yuri Solozobov thinks that the President of Kazakhstan has many times presented important initiatives on a political settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. “Nurzultan Nazarbayev is a political heavy-weight and a prominent world politician. It is easy for him to communicate with both the East and the West. He has an image as a respected peacemaker and honest political player. He is an initiator of many important international formats: from the SCO to the OSCE, from CICMA to the OIC. By the way, it was Nazarbayev who provided for the participation of European politicians in the Minsk talks. It is important that the Kremlin listens to him attentively,” Solozobov said.

Nazarbayev publicly urged the West to stop confrontation with Russia. “Sanctions are a deadlock. I don’t believe we should come to a cold war and strict confrontation again,” Nazarbayev stated. The President of Kazakhstan recommended Hollande and other Western leaders “not to underestimate Russia’s power.” “It is the biggest and the richest country in the world. Of course it loses revenues due to sanctions, but oil, gas, and other resources remain in Russia. Crises don’t last long, any war comes to an end. So it is not the best option to corner each other,” Nazarbayev concluded.

Yuri Solobozov notes that the war of sanctions damages both Russia and Europe. “According to Alexei Meshkov, the deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, the EU could lose about 40 billion euros due to anti-Russian sanctions. Next year the sum could grow to 50 billion. According to Meshkov, Russian losses are similar. In nine months of the year the trade turnover between our countries decreased by 2-3%. Obviously the situation causes concern. The EU is the major trading partner of Russia; about a half of Russian turnover was on the European market. At the same time, Russia is in the top three of the EU's leading partners (after the USA and China),” Solobozov said.

Speaking about the confrontation, Nazarbayev stressed that Russia is open for dialogue, for any talks, even for the most unexpected ones. It doesn’t want to be closed to the world, it wants to cooperate. Nazarbayev noted that it opens a door to dialogue.

“Nursultan Nazarbayev confirmed his status as a master of world political chess again. At a critical moment in relations between Russia and the West the President of Kazakhstan took a brilliant step during Hollande’s visit to Astana. He made an unplanned meeting of Russia and France’s presidents possible and provided a start of the RF-EU dialogue,” Solozobov thinks.