Increased Imports from Russia and Belarus Intensify Competition in Kazakhstan
Imports from the EEU Increase
From January to June 2026, Belarusian food exports to Kazakhstan grew by more than 28% year-on-year. The supply mainly consisted of dairy and meat products, as well as sugar. According to the Federal Center for Agroexport, Russian agricultural exports to Kazakhstan increased by 77% over five years by 2024.
In the first six months of 2026, Russia supplied Kazakhstan with 4.6 million tons of agricultural products and food. This volume was approximately 1.4 times higher than the previous year, and the cost of supplies amounted to 2.1 billion dollars. For small Kazakhstani enterprises, competition is complicated by the need to supply large quantities to networks and offer comparable commercial terms.
Support for Local Products
The Belarusian National Food Security Doctrine aims for 85% of domestic products in retail. However, in August 2026, a temporary local product presence standard was set at 58% in the country. Kazakhstani experts suggest considering this approach while taking into account the internal market and EEU commitments.
The director of the "Kazakhstan Dairy Union," Vladimir Kozhevnikov, stated that local enterprises can compete with foreign suppliers on quality. According to him, they need stable demand, funding, a raw material base, and state support for increased production. He also called on retail networks to expand opportunities for Kazakhstani producers.
Political scientist Sultan Akimbekov considers the protection of national business a constant task for the state. "In any case, the state must protect the interests of national business, as all countries do," he said. He believes that the advantage of Russian and Belarusian companies is related not only to state support but also to production scale: large enterprises can offer networks larger volumes and more attractive terms.
Trade Statistics
There are already specific requirements for the share of domestic products for certain recipients of state support in Kazakhstan's domestic trade. However, such conditions do not guarantee equal access to all retail networks for small enterprises. Akimbekov also suggested more actively defending the interests of Kazakhstani producers at the EEU industry level and involving business representatives in this work.
According to the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan, imports from EEU countries increased by 11.2% to 14.35 billion dollars from January to August 2026. Kazakhstan's exports to the union's member states for the same period amounted to 6.64 billion dollars, a decrease of 0.2%. These figures account for all categories of goods, not just food products.
