Currently, Kazakhstan is providing 90% of grain imports to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. However, Russia vows to actively enter these markets, announced the chief of the Russian Union of Grain Exporters, Eduard Zernin, in his remarks at the Caspian & Central Asia Grain Forum, which was held this week in Tashkent, Eldala reported.

The Kazakhstan railways with the beginning of mass cleaning cannot satisfy the demand for deliveries. The shipment timelines of grain, flour and other types of agricultural products are being violated, which deprives Kazakhstani suppliers of the status of reliable partners and pushes Central Asian buyers to the Russian traders.

“We cannot establish normal exports at a time when our counterparties in Central Asia and Afghanistan are sitting with empty warehouses and waiting for our deliveries. Meanwhile, Russia is declaring that it is ready to provide smooth supplies to this region and replace our volumes. So far, our partners are waiting for us to solve our problems with the railway. But if this does not happen in the near future, they will get tired of waiting and simply switch to grain from Russia,” said Yevgeny Karabanov, official representative of the Kazakh grain union.

One of the reasons for the current collapse in Kazakhstan's railway networks is the growth in the transit of goods from China to Europe. This trend is explained simply - the transit tariff allows you to earn twice as much as the transportation of Kazakhstani goods.

“As a result, Chinese container trains are transiting through the territory of Kazakhstan at a speed of 1,000 kilometers per day. And in order to ensure such pace, they are given priority in servicing by mainline traction locomotives. And our exports are choking. Here is such a question of priorities - to support the business of one's country or a neighboring one,” explained Yevgeny Karabanov.

At the same time, Kazakh food producers have not been able to receive their cargoes stuck in Chinese ports since July. This puts many businesses on the brink of closure. But for China, it is more important to ensure the shipment of goods of its own production for export, and not the transit of goods through its territory.

“Kazakh railway workers have the opposite approach. And while the situation is developing in this way, Russia has access to traditional markets for Kazakhstan. The threat of their loss by Kazakh agricultural producers is more real than ever,” he concluded.