ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh officials say more than 50 international companies have relocated from Russia to Kazakhstan since Moscow launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February.
Prime Minister Alikhan Smaiylov told reporters on October 19 that another 56 international companies that have left Russia in recent months had "expressed their willingness to settle in Kazakhstan."
President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev added that officials in the country's largest city, Almaty, should settle the relocated companies around the financial capital of the oil-rich Central Asian state.
"This will significantly help the economy of our country. Discuss this with the government and the companies," Toqaev told Almaty city officials.
After Russia launched its full-scale aggression against Ukraine in late February, more than a thousand international companies stopped or suspended their operations in Russia, while 320 international companies fully left the Russian market.
Kazakhstan also became a prime destination for Russian citizens who fled the country to evade a military mobilization announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 21.
