Меню
General information
October 20, 1992 - diplomatic relations were established between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Croatia.
In 1995-1997 the Representative office of Croatia, headed by the representative of the Chamber of Commerce K. Khromin, functioned in Almaty.
In 2003, the Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan was opened in Zagreb.
December 19, 2007 - The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan signed a Decree on the opening of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Croatia.
Since June 16, 2023 the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Croatia is Akylbek Kamaldinov.
In December 2018, the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in the Republic of Kazakhstan was opened.
Since February 6, 2019, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Croatia to the Republic of Kazakhstan is Refik Šabanović.
High level contacts
The Former President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev visited Croatia twice (with official visits on July 18-20, 2001 and July 11, 2006).
President K.Tokayev did not pay official visits to Croatia.
Presidents of Croatia visited Kazakhstan four times (Stjepan Mesić with the official visit on April 18-21, 2002, at the inauguration of the President of Kazakhstan on January 10-11, 2006, with a working visit in July 2007. Ivo Josipović once to participate in the OSCE Summit in December 2010).
The Former President Stjepan Mesić participated in the work of the Astana Economic Forum in 2011 and 2017, the International Forum "Nazarbayev’s readings – New Kazakhstan in the new world" in 2012 and in 2019 he visited Kazakhstan as an independent observer at the presidential election and as head of the business delegation of Croatia.
The Former President of Croatia Ivo Josipović took part in the 4th meeting of the Astana Club on November 12-13, 2018.
On April 30, 2019, the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia Maria Peičinović Burić paid an official visit to Kazakhstan, met with the Chairperson of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Chairman of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. There also were organized foreign policy consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries.
Inter-parliamentary cooperation
The Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan has a group for cooperation with Croatia. The head of the group is the Secretary of the Committee on International Affairs, Defense and Security Aidos Syrym.
A friendship group with Kazakhstan functions in the Sabor of the Republic of Croatia, the head is a member of the Interparliamentary Cooperation Committee of the Sabor Ivan Kirin.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Health and Social Policy of the Sabor I. Ćelić took part in the 4th meeting of the speakers of the parliaments of the Eurasian countries on the topic "Greater Eurasia: Dialogue. Trust. Partnership" (September 23-24, 2019).
Vice-Speaker of the Croatian Sabor Davorko Vidović, as an independent observer, took part in the presidential elections of the Republic of Kazakhstan, held on November 20, 2022. The prospects of Kazakh-Croatian inter-parliamentary cooperation were discussed on November 21 at the meeting of D.Vidović with the chairman of the Committee on International Affairs, Defense and Security of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Aigul Kuspan. The parliamentarians agreed to strengthen bilateral relations.
The following representatives of the Croatian Parliament participated as observers from the OSCE PA in the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan on March 19, 2023: the head of the Croatian delegation to the OSCE PA, MP Davor Bernardić, MP Hrvoje Šimić, MP Zvonimir Troskot (alternate member of delegation), Secretary of the Croatian delegation to the OSCE PA Olgica Tolić (March 16-20, Astana and Almaty).
Trade and economic cooperation
According to the data of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the trade turnover between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Croatia in 2023 amounted to 432 million US dollars, including exports from the Republic of Kazakhstan - 397,98 million, imports from the Republic of Croatia - 34,03 million. The share of Kazakh oil in the structure of trade turnover amounted to 396,48 million US dollars.
The export structure is dominated by oil, petroleum products and unalloyed aluminum. Imports from Croatia mainly consist of medicines, electrical goods, cosmetics, hygiene products, food, building materials, etc.
In 2022, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Croatia amounted to 361.4 million dollars, including exports to Croatia - 340.9 million, imports 20.5 million (in 2021 - 680.9 million, including imports 661.8 million, exports 19.1 million).
18 Croatian companies are successfully operating in Kazakhstan in the fields of construction, IT technologies, trade and services.
The main mechanism of interaction between countries on the economic track is the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation. The Co-chairs: from the Kazakh side - Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.Kuantyrov, from the Croatian side - Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Croatia D.Habjian.
On January 25, 2024, the first meeting of the Kazakh-Croatian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation was held in Zagreb.
The Sides are working on the creation of the Kazakh-Croatian Business Council and holding a Business Forum in the first quarter of 2024.
Cultural and humanitarian cooperation
An important mechanism for the development of cultural ties is the activity of the Croatian-Kazakh Friendship Society with the participation of prominent public figures, representatives of science, education and culture of Croatia (the Chairman of the Society is Andrija Karafillipović).
A regular guest of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions is the President of the Islamic Society of Croatia, Chief Mufti, Dr. Aziz Ef. Hassanović (participated in 2015, 2018 and 2022).
The Embassy actively cooperates with the head of the Croatian “Memory” Association Damir Jašarević, who is engaged in the search for military graves and the identification of the names of the dead and missing during the Second World War. As part of this work, with the support of the Embassy, on August 8, 2022, a Memorandum was signed between the Croatian “Memory” Association and the Kazakh public association "Atamnyn Amanaty" to join efforts in perpetuating the memory of the dead and missing during the war.
Kazakhstan traditionally participates in the International Festival of Culture "Marco Polo". The early modern cinema of Kazakhstan at the Marco Polo Art Festival was presented by the films of Akan Satayev and Yermek Tursunov - "Zhauzhurek myng Bala", "Kelin" and "The Road to Mother", as well as the film directed by Doskhan Zholzhaksynov "Kunanbai".
Youth football teams from Kazakhstan ("Turan", "Caspian", "Astana", "Atyrau", etc.) annually take part in the international children's and youth tournament "Dalmatinko Cup", held in the Croatian city of Split.
In 2023, Abai KazNPU signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the University of Zagreb.
On April 11, 2023, as part of the Nauryz celebration, a concert of the ethno-folklore ensemble TURAN was successfully held in Zagreb. The special atmosphere was given by the exhibition, in which the colorful interior of the yurt was presented for the first time for residents of the capital of Croatia.
The Embassy regularly holds thematic exhibitions of paintings and photographs, book presentations and other events within the framework of cultural and humanitarian cooperation. On October 23, 2023, a cultural program was organized in Zagreb with a photo exhibition, showing videos about the tourist potential of the country. The event made it possible to get acquainted with ancient Kazakh instruments - kobyz, sybyzgy, zhetygen, sherter, dombra and others as part of a musical performance by the TURAN ensemble.