French President Emmanuel Macron (Photo: AFP).
Macron's visit to the two countries aims to expand France's influence in a region with close ties to Russia and increasingly closer to China, Politico on November 1 quoted an Elysée Palace official.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are France's largest and third-largest suppliers of uranium, respectively. Uranium is burned to fuel nuclear plants in France.
The trip comes amid tensions between France and its current major EU suppliers Niger and Russia.
In the summer of 2022, the military seized power in Niger, which supplies 15% of France’s uranium needs, raising questions about whether the African country can continue to be a reliable supplier. Instability has also cast a shadow over uranium imports from Russia since Moscow launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“Niger has raised questions, and Russia could raise questions in the long term if the EU imposes sanctions on the nuclear sector. Macron’s visit to Central Asia helps to hedge against those concerns,” said Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, an energy expert at the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris.
Russia's nuclear sector has not yet been targeted by EU sanctions, but the bloc's member states are continuing to distance themselves from Moscow.
The EU's uranium imports from Russia last year fell by 16% compared to 2021, while uranium from Kazakhstan increased by more than 14%.
Earlier this year, Yerzhan Mukanov, CEO of state nuclear company Kazatomprom, told Politico that he had seen growing interest from Europe, adding that Kazakhstan “intends to become a significant contributor to the European nuclear market.”
French nuclear company Orano is active in Kazakhstan, where it has operated uranium mines since the 1990s, and more recently in Uzbekistan.
Orano chairman Claude Imauven will accompany Mr Macron on the trip along with 14 other French executives, including Luc Remont, head of energy giant EDF.
Elysée officials said new contracts and business partnerships would be announced during the trip, including in the energy sector.
EDF has also positioned itself as the nuclear reactor supplier for Kazakhstan's first nuclear plant.
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