Russia's court orders to halt transit of Kazakh oil via major Caspian pipeline

Russia on Wednesday, July 6  halted exports of Kazakhstan oil via the major Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). A Moscow court ordered a 30-day suspension of the activity of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which transports the oil from the Black Sea via one of the world's largest pipelines through Kazakhstan. In late April, Russian federal agency Rostransnadzor that supervises pipelines conducted an audit of the company operating pipeline CPC-R. The audit that concluded in May “revealed a number of documentary violations under the Oil Spill Response (OSR) Plan.” The court ruled for a 30-day suspension.

The move came just weeks after Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg that he will not formally recognize the eastern separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk of Ukraine as "independent states." Syria, Russia's another ally, became the world's first country to do so. 

Tokayev told Putin that the right to self-determination guaranteed by the United Nations collides with the right of states to territorial integrity. This is why the island nations Taiwan, Kosovo, Abkhazia or South Ossetia are not recognised, Tokayev reminded in a speech that was speculated to have angered Russia's President Vladimir Putin. "This principle obviously applies to such quasi-state territories as Donetsk and Luhansk," Tokayev stressed.

However, as Kazakhstan's own oil export was suspended on Wednesday, Moscow explained that the suspension of the transit was necessitated by technical issues. This was confirmed by Russia’s consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzo. An appeal was also submitted at the court in the Russian city of Novorossiysk to defer the ruling. 

Nur-Sultan was 'ready to use its hydrocarbon potential'

CPC pipeline export is crucial for Kazakhstan despite that only 1% is imported into the country, while nearly 80% comes via Novorossiysk oil terminal. The move is surprising as it comes just a day after Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told European Council President Charles Michel that Nur-Sultan was “ready to use its hydrocarbon potential for the sake of stabilization of the global and European markets" as the two spoke over a phone call. Kazakh official Timur Suleimenov had also earlier asserted that Nur-Sultan will not assist Russia in avoiding Western sanctions as a response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Suleimenov told a conference that Kazakhstan will maintain economic ties with Russia within the Eurasian Economic Union, will continue pouring investments in Russia, but will not undermine the western sanctions. It is to be noted that Kazakhstan is Russia's biggest commercial partner, with an estimated 7,600-kilometer border between the two countries.