Visit of an EU Ambassadors’ Delegation to Pavlodar Region

On 19 September this year, a delegation of EU ambassadors and trade counsellors, together with member companies of the BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce, visited Pavlodar Region. The visit was organised by the BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan.

The delegation included President of the BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan Denis Van den Weghe, EU Ambassador to Kazakhstan Kestutis Jankauskas, German Ambassador to Kazakhstan Monika Iwersen, Latvian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Ina Mangule, Czech Ambassador to Kazakhstan Pavol Šepeľák, Estonian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Toomas Tirs, representatives of the embassies of Romania and Sweden, as well as BeNeLux Chamber members Alugal and MLC Trading.

As part of the visit, the delegation toured the plants of Aluminium of Kazakhstan JSC and Kazakhstan Electrolysis Plant JSC, both part of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), and held a meeting with the leadership of the Pavlodar Region Akimat.

An industrial tour took place at the Pavlodar Aluminium Plant, during which delegates were shown the main production shops and the unique alumina production technology combining the Bayer and sintering methods.

Vladimir Krasnoyarsky, General Director of Aluminium of Kazakhstan JSC, told the European representatives about the modernisation of the plant's equipment in line with global best practice, and shared the company's main environmental and social programmes.

During the visit to the Kazakhstan Electrolysis Plant, the European delegates were impressed by the plant's annual production capacity: 1.4 million tonnes of alumina and 250,000 tonnes of high-quality aluminium. The EU diplomatic representatives noted potential areas for cooperation regarding supplies of finished products (aluminium ingots) to leading EU countries, as well as opportunities for bringing new technologies into ERG from European countries.

In the afternoon, the delegation, led by EU Delegation Ambassador K. Jankauskas, met with Deputy Akim of Pavlodar Region A. Kurmanova to discuss possible EU investment projects in Pavlodar Region and further development of direct trade and economic ties. During the meeting, the EU side noted significant interest in deepening cooperation in agriculture, environmental protection and waste management, transport and logistics, metallurgy and petrochemicals.

The Pavlodar Region Akimat leadership noted that Pavlodar Region is a major industrial centre of the republic. Favourable conditions have been created for foreign investors, including the provision of all types of utilities within the free economic zone. Sectors important for comprehensive partnership — rare-earth metal mining and renewable energy production — were also discussed separately.

The parties agreed to promote priority investment projects of the Pavlodar region through the BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce platform.

It should be noted that the European Union is Kazakhstan's leading trade partner and largest investor.