San Francisco / Moscow, 24 October. On the eve of Republic Day, San Francisco City Hall and the Transneft building in Moscow were lit up in blue and gold, the colours of Kazakhstan's State Flag, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the United States and KazTransOil reported.
The embassy posted a video on Instagram of the illuminated dome and façade of City Hall against the night-time city and called the lighting a beautiful gesture of attention to Kazakhstan and to the friendship between the two countries. Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the US Magzhan Ilyassov congratulated Kazakhstanis in three languages: "Келе жатқан Республика күні құтты болсын!", "Всех с наступающим Днём Республики!" and "Happy Republic Day!"
In Moscow, architectural lighting was switched on at the building of Transneft. KazTransOil described it as a gesture of attention to the national holiday and a reflection of friendly relations between the two countries. The companies have a long partnership in oil transport: Kazakh oil is exported across Russian territory and Russian oil transits Kazakh territory, and they also cooperate on oil supplies to Kazakhstan's refineries. KazTransOil thanked Transneft for the greeting and for years of partnership.
So on the same evening the Republic Day greeting shone both on an American city hall and on the head office of a Russian pipeline operator.
What it means: Kazakhstan's holiday was marked with a symbolic gesture in two countries with which the republic has different but important ties: diplomacy in the US, oil transit in Russia.
Who benefits: For Kazakh diplomacy and KazTransOil, an occasion to recall their partnerships. For the partners, a gesture that costs nothing but electricity.
Background: Republic Day is celebrated on 25 October: on that day in 1990 the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of the Kazakh SSR was adopted, setting out for the first time the political and legal foundations of Kazakhstan as an independent state. Oil from the KazTransOil system that passes through Transneft is exported as the KEBCO grade, separately from Russian Urals since 2022.
We have also reported that Tokayev said on the eve of Republic Day that GDP was approaching $350 billion.
