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Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has begun a strategic visit to Brussels as Astana seeks a much deeper strategic partnership with the European Union, positioning itself as a reliable supplier of energy and critical raw materials while offering new opportunities in AI, logistics and green technologies.
“We are in the heart of Eurasia. We border Russia, we border China, but we would like very much to strengthen our mutually beneficial ties with the European Union,” Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the EU Roman Vassilenko told Euronews in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, expressing his country’s main message for President Tokayev’s visit, as part of the constantly developing engagement between the EU and Central Asia.
“We have done a lot, but we can do much more,” he added in an interview with Euronews’ Europe Today morning show, describing the EU as one of Kazakhstan’s “key strategic partners globally.”
Vassilenko said Tokayev’s visit to Brussels carries a clear message: despite already strong relations, there is significant room for growth.
Trade and investment links between the two sides have expanded substantially in recent years. European companies have invested around $210 billion (€184bn) in Kazakhstan, largely in the energy sector.
However, the ambassador argued that the biggest untapped opportunities lie elsewhere. He highlighted transport and logistics, critical raw materials, AI, green hydrogen, renewable energy and finance as sectors with considerable potential for European investors.
Kazakhstan is also promoting itself as an emerging financial hub. The Astana International Financial Centre now hosts around 5,800 companies from across the globe, a development the ambassador said demonstrates the country’s growing attractiveness to international business.
Critical minerals are another pillar of Kazakhstan’s pitch to Europe. The country already produces 21 of the 34 raw materials identified as strategic under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.
Rather than merely exporting minerals, Kazakhstan wants European partners to invest in local processing and technology transfer.
“You bring investment and technologies. You not only extract but process critical raw material in Kazakhstan, and we both reap benefits from that,” Vassilenko said.
One major project has already been designated a strategic initiative by the European Commission.
According to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the project is expected to produce enough graphite for around 100,000 electric vehicle batteries annually once operational.
Energy security at the centre of EU-Kazakh relations
Energy security remains at the centre of the EU-Kazakhstan relationship. As Europe continues efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, Kazakhstan has emerged as one of Brussels’ most important alternative energy suppliers. The country is already the EU’s third-largest provider of crude oil.
Although Kazakhstan’s ability to expand exports is challenged by domestic production levels and transportation infrastructure, Vassilenko said that supplies could increase significantly over the coming years. Kazakhstan currently delivers around 65 million tonnes of crude to Europe annually, a figure he said could rise to approximately 100 million tonnes within four to five years.
But Kazakhstan’s ambitions extend beyond oil. The country plans to begin producing around 2 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually from 2030 in partnership with a German-Swedish company, potentially making it an important future supplier of clean energy to Europe.
“We’re keen to remain this important strategic partner for the European Union in its energy security,” the ambassador said, presenting Kazakhstan as a country increasingly determined to become not merely a bridge between Europe and Asia, but an indispensable partner in Europe’s economic and energy transition.