ASTANA (AFP) — Russia's ally Kazakhstan has pulled out of business deals worth billions of dollars in Georgia, a state company official said Thursday, the month after a conflict between Russia and Georgia.
State energy company Kazmunaigaz has abandoned plans to build a refinery in the Georgian port city of Batumi, while its subsidiary Kaztransgaz has cancelled the purchase of Georgian gas distributor Tbilgaz, the official said.
Referring to the refinery deal, the Kazmunaigaz official told AFP: "It's because of economic considerations. The capacity of the Rompetrol refinery is enough for us... The decision does not have any political subtext."
The project was valued at around five billion dollars (3.4 billion euros).
The official, who asked not to be identified, also said that Kaztransgaz out of economic considerations had cancelled its purchase of Tbilgaz, a deal worth an estimated 12.5 million dollars when agreed in 2006.
Observers in the Russian media said the cancellations could be due to pressure from Russia.
Kazakh Agriculture Minister Akhylbek Kurishbayev on Monday said Kazakhstan would not build a planned grain storage facility in Poti, another Georgian port, saying this was due to political instability in the region.
Kazakhstan has voiced some support for Russia's military action in Georgia but has stopped short of joining Russia in recognising the independence of the two Georgian separatist regions at the heart of the conflict.
The former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, which has rich oil and gas reserves, is one of the leading states of the Central Asian region.
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