President talks about alternative routes of transporting Kazakh oil

Al Jazeera: Last year S&P Global said that about 80% of Kazakhstan's oil flows through the CPC pipeline to Russia. Is that something that you think you need to change? Does it represent a strategic vulnerability for Kazakhstan?

- We should bear in mind that Russia is a strategic partner of Kazakhstan, our immediate neighbour and ally of Kazakhstan. We share the longest border with Russia in the world and, of course, we count on Russia as our strategic partner and we count particularly on CPC. Just recently I had a telephone conversation with President Putin, and we have been talking, frankly speaking, about CPC, how it's going to be used in the future. And I believe that CPC will be continuously serving as a good instrument of shipping or transporting our oil through Russia to the European market as well as beyond.

Al Jazeera: So you're not concerned about the impact of the war in Ukraine and what that means for your ability to send your oil to Europe through that pipeline?

- Yes, of course, we take into account what is happening in Ukraine, its impact, I mean, the impact of the military conflict between both Russia and Ukraine on our strategic plans with regard to natural resources and their export to the international market. But at the same time, we have a strong belief in our strategic partnership with Russia. But it doesn't mean that we are focusing only on the one transportation link or transportation route. That's why you are right, absolutely, mentioning other routes, and the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, the Middle Corridor. But practically speaking, in terms of the amount of oil which is being transported or exported abroad, still, of course, the priority is being made on CPC and should be made on CPC.

Earlier it was reported that Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov met with Director General of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) Nikolay Gorban on Monday to discuss the current and promising investment programs.