ASTANA, August 17. /TASS/. Russia ranked first among all Kazakhstan’s trading partners in terms of import volumes to the republic in the first half of this year, according to data from Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics analyzed by TASS.

According to the bureau, imports from Russia accounted for 30.9% of all goods supplied to Kazakhstan in monetary terms from January to June. China took second place, accounting for 29.1% of total imports, followed by Germany with a 4.8% share.

Russia ranked third among Kazakhstan’s export partners, accounting for an 8.6% share. Meanwhile, in the first half of the year, China took the top spot with an 18.6% share, overtaking Italy, to which Kazakhstan exported 17.3% of its goods by value. That said, Italy had previously been Kazakhstan’s largest export partner as it held a 22.3% share during the same period last year, for instance, significantly ahead of China’s 17.8%.

Italy is a major buyer of hydrocarbons produced in Kazakhstan. These changes have occurred against the backdrop of a decline in the republic’s oil production this year and operational disruptions at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, through which Kazakhstan supplies the bulk of its oil to global markets, caused by drone attacks.