Russia's Rosatom is selling its stakes in uranium deposits in Kazakhstan to Chinese-owned companies as the Central Asian nation looks to avoid any international sanctions against Russian-linked assets and a sign of China's growing influence in the region. Kazatomprom, the world's largest producer of uranium, said Uranium One Group -- a unit of Rosatom -- had sold its 49.98 percent stake in the Zarechnoye mine in the Turkistan region to Astana Mining Company, which is owned by China's State Nuclear Uranium Resources Development Company. Kazatomprom maintains its 49.99 percent stake in the venture. Kazatomprom chief Meirzhan Yussupov told The Financial Times in September that sanctions imposed on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine made it difficult to sell uranium to Western buyers.
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