Kazakhstan’s high-voltage equipment rule complicates exports from Russia’s Urals

National certification requirement creates bottleneck

Kazakhstan’s new technical regulation on the safety of high-voltage equipment is creating uncertainty for Russian manufacturers that supply the country’s expanding power infrastructure. The rules were due to take effect on June 8, 2026, and require imported switchgear assemblies, transformer substations, current-limiting reactors and other complex equipment to undergo mandatory certification in Kazakhstan.

Under the regulation, test reports must come from laboratories authorized exclusively through Kazakhstan’s national accreditation system. Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that Kazakhstan currently has no centers authorized to conduct the required tests. Exporters therefore cannot rely on Russian documentation, while having no operational route to obtain the necessary certification locally.

The gap affects suppliers beyond Russia and could also delay projects for customers in Kazakhstan and elsewhere in Central Asia. MVZ-Elektro sales director Georgy Sanatin said Kazakhstan represents about 15% of the company’s exports. The manufacturer signed another contract in the spring for execution after the regulation’s intended effective date and asked Kazakhstan’s accreditation and trade authorities to clarify the compliance procedure.

EAEU rules do not cover high-voltage products

The Eurasian Economic Union has a common technical regulation for low-voltage equipment, TR CU 004/2011, but no equivalent framework for high-voltage products. Kazakhstan can consequently apply national requirements under Article 53 of the EAEU Treaty. Manufacturers argue, however, that unilateral restrictions conflict with Article 28, which provides for the free movement of goods within the union.

Creating a common regime is technically difficult. The market covers three voltage ranges—6–35, 100–500 and 500–750 kV—with different products, participants and testing procedures. Russia decided at the end of 2023 to build a national high-voltage equipment testing center in Istra, outside Moscow. Its first laboratory is scheduled to enter service in 2029, with full commissioning planned for 2034.

Kazakhstan does have industrial laboratories, including facilities associated with Alageum Electric Group plants. Sanatin said they lack sufficient capacity to test all high-voltage equipment ratings. Some Russian producers may also be reluctant to send products to manufacturers’ laboratories because of concerns about reverse engineering.

Producers seek delay and mutual recognition

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration told MVZ-Elektro that the regulation’s developer planned to suspend it until February 1, 2027. That would provide temporary relief but would not resolve the testing gap. As of June 30, 2026, no local laboratory had applied to expand its accreditation scope through Kazakhstan’s national system, according to the correspondence cited by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Russian manufacturers propose a transition period under which Kazakhstan would recognize certificates and test results issued by Russian organizations included in the EAEU register of conformity-assessment bodies. Another option would be to authorize Russian laboratories to participate in Kazakhstan’s approval procedures until sufficient domestic testing infrastructure is available.

Industry expert Zhargal Sushkeev said abandoning the Kazakh market would hurt both sides: Russian suppliers would redirect sales to other friendly countries, while Kazakh buyers might face alternative imports costing three times as much. The report also noted that certification barriers can alter competition across the EAEU; foreign industrial locomotives certified in Kazakhstan are being offered to Russian metals and mining companies at prices 40% below Russian alternatives.

The commercial exposure is significant for the Urals engineering base. According to the Sverdlovsk region’s industry ministry, local electrical-equipment manufacturers supplied domestic and foreign markets with products worth 93.7 billion rubles in 2025. More than ten large and medium-sized plants in the Middle Urals produce high-voltage equipment used at sites including data centers serving HALYK BANK and KASPI BANK and the KamLit KZ cast-iron plant. Exporters now need a workable certification route before the proposed suspension expires.