General information
Diplomatic relations were established on June 15, 1992.
In November 1993, the Embassy of Lithuania in Kazakhstan was opened.
In July 1995, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Lithuania was opened.
Since December 9, 2022, Timur Urazayev is an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Republic of Lithuania.
Since August 30, 2023, Egidijus Navikas is the Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Contacts at the highest level:
The First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Lithuania twice (with official visits on August 9, 1994, and April 4-5, 2001).
The Presidents of Lithuania visited Kazakhstan five times (official visits of Algirdas Brazauskas in November 1993 and on March 7, 1997, state visit of Valdas Adamkus on May 11, 2000, participation of Dalia Grybauskaitė in the OSCE Summit in Astana on December 1, 2010, and an official visit of Dalia Grybauskaitė on October 6, 2011).
Contacts at the high level:
In July 1993, the prime minister of Kazakhstan Sergey Tereshchenko visited Lithuania.
Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Adolfas Šleževičius visited the Republic of Kazakhstan 3 times (in September 1994, September 1995, and December 1995).
In November 2000, Deputy Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov visited Lithuania.
In May 2000, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov visited Vilnius.
In January 2006, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis visited Kazakhstan. In April and September 2007, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekūnas visited Kazakhstan.
In May 2008, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Gediminas Kirkilas visited Kazakhstan.
In January 2014, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov visited Lithuania.
Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Audrius Butkevičius visited Astana in May 2015.
On September 21, 2021, a meeting of Kazakh and Lithuanian Foreign ministers Mukhtar Tleuberdi and Gabrielius Landsbergis was held in New York City on the sidelines of the 76th UN GA.
In December 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis visited Kazakhstan.
Interparliamentary Cooperation
Visits to Lithuania:
In February 2001, an official visit of the Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zharmakhan Tuyakbay to Lithuania took place.
On May 27 – 29, 2022, the Chairman of the Mazhilis Committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.Kuspan and the Secretary of the Committee on International Relations, Defense and Security of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nursipatov visited Vilnius.
Visits to Kazakhstan:
On November 26, 2018, the Deputy Speaker of the Seimas (parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania Remigijus Žemaitaitis took part in the International Parliamentary Conference - “Astana Is the Center of Global Integration, Security and Peace”.
Groups of interparliamentary friendship and cooperation function in the Senate and the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Seimas of Lithuania.
On May 17, 2021, on the initiative of the Embassy, an online meeting of the groups of Interparliamentary cooperation of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Seimas of Lithuania was held.
On February 28 – March 2, 2022, the Lithuanian parliamentary delegation led by Vice-Speaker of the Seimas J. Jarutis paid a working visit to the cities of Astana and Karaganda.
On March 18 – 19, 2023, Vice-Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania J.Sabatauskas and Chairman of the interparliamentary friendship group “Kazakhstan-Lithuania” E.Pupinis took part in the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan as international observers.
Key Treaties and Agreements
The fundamental document is the “Treaty between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Lithuania on mutual understanding and cooperation” (Almaty, 07.11.1993).
There are basic agreements between the governments of Kazakhstan and Lithuania regulating economic cooperation between the two countries (trade and economic cooperation, encouragement and mutual protection of investments, avoidance of double taxation).
A number of intergovernmental documents regulate cooperation in the field of transport and logistics cooperation (international transportation of passengers and goods by road, air and rail).
Cultural and humanitarian relations are based on the intergovernmental agreement “On Cooperation in the Field of Education, Science, Culture and Art”.
Legal issues are regulated by the “Treaty between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Lithuania on legal assistance and legal relations in civil, family and criminal cases”. Among other documents, the intergovernmental agreement “On the Exemption of Holders of Diplomatic Passports from Visa Requirements” should be noted.
Trade and Economic Cooperation
As of 2017, Lithuania is among the top ten largest trading partners of Kazakhstan in the EU and the top thirty largest partners in the world. According to Lithuanian statistics, Kazakhstan is the 15th largest trading partner of Lithuania.
Bilateral trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the Republic of Lithuania decreased by 61.9 percent in 2023 (compared to 2022) and amounted to $223.6 million (exports of $92.9 million, imports of $130.7 million).
As of January 1, 2024, there are 176 legal entities in Kazakhstan (41 joint ventures, 135 with foreign participation). Most of them are the so-called small business, 128 companies (cars trade, logistics, construction, insurance, processing industry, real estate, etc.).
An important mechanism for enhancing cooperation is the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. So far, 13 meetings of the IGC have been held (the last one held by videoconference on September 6, 2021).
The Commission is co-chaired by Kairat Torebayev, vice-minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the Kazakh side, and Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, on the Lithuanian side. The Kazakh-Lithuanian IGC has working groups on road transport and tourism.
In autumn 2019 the Baltic-Kazakhstan Economic Association (Riga) established a branch in Lithuania.
On June 15, 2022, the Kazakhstan Union of Carriers “Kazlogistics” and the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists (KPL) signed an agreement on the creation of the Kazakh-Lithuanian Business Council.
Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation
The exchange of experience in education, science and healthcare is being actively carried out.
Close contacts and strategic partnership have been established between the leading universities of Kazakhstan and Lithuania. Every year about 200 Kazakh students study and train at Lithuanian universities (4 Lithuanian universities are included in the Bolashak program, besides, the Lithuanian universities provide various grants for Kazakh students).
Lithuanian professors, including former Minister of Education of Lithuania Dainius Pavalkis, held positions of rector and vice-rectors in three major medical universities of Kazakhstan (Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Karaganda).
The Lithuanian University of Health Sciences and Vilnius University are actively involved in the transfer of advanced medical standards to the Kazakhstan educational system.
Since 2019, the Embassy has regularly participated in the International Vilnius Book Fair with books by Kazakh authors in the Lithuanian language (The Way of Abay, Return of the Teacher, a collection of Kazakh fairy tales, etc.).
In the spring of 2019, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan organized the I Cultural Festival titled Kazakh Spring in Lithuania, which included the Days of Kazakh films, concerts, Nauryz celebrations, art exhibitions in the capital and other major cities of Lithuania.
Sports contacts are actively developing. For example, since 2017, the European Federation of “Kazaksha Kures” has been registered in Lithuania.
In August 2021, the first Togyzkumalak Federation in the country and the region was opened in the Lithuanian capital. Master classes in the game are organized on a regular basis, during which Lithuanian schoolchildren and students are taught the basics of the game.
An important factor of the rapprochement of the two countries is historical memory. Lithuania warmly remembers the role of ordinary people of Kazakhstan in saving Lithuanian families during the mass deportations after the war.
Since 2006, a Lithuanian youth expedition Mission Siberia has been visiting Kazakhstan, carrying out repair and cleaning work at the burial sites of Lithuanian exiles (20,000 Lithuanians were exiled to Kazakhstan during the USSR). On September 17, 2019, a memorial dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Kengir uprising was opened in Zhezkazgan (Karaganda region).
In September 2017, the Lithuanian center of culture and business titled Lithuanian Yard opened in Karaganda with a Lithuanian cuisine cafe, an art gallery, and a conference hall.
On December 6, 2021, the Embassy of Kazakhstan held a presentation of the book titled History of Kazakhstan (by Yerkin Abil), translated into Lithuanian.
In 2021, in the three major cities - Vilnius, Kainas and Klaipeda - there were a number of cultural events to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Independence of Kazakhstan, the 175th anniversary of Zhambyl Zhabaev, and the 150th anniversary of Kazhymukan Munaitpasov.
In May 2022, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan held Kazakh folk songs concerts in the cities of Vilnius and Kaunas (the cultural capital of Europe in 2022).
In October 2022, a concert of the artists of Kazakh State Philharmonic named after Zhambyl and the State Academic Dance Theater of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held in Vilnius.
On August 8, 2023, the Kazakhstan Agency for International Development “KazAID” and the Central Project Management Agency of Lithuania “CPVA” signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation.
On September 19, 2023, a Memorandum of Cooperation between the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences was signed in Vilnius.