Astana, 4 November, . Kurultai deputy Asylkhan Kozhakhmetov of the Ak Zhol party group has sent deputy prime minister and transport minister Assel Zhanassova and Prosecutor General Berik Asylov a request about containers being forcibly redirected at Dostyk station to terminals with higher tariffs, the Kurultai said.
According to the deputy, containers arriving from China on the narrow gauge are sent to the DostykTransTerminal without the consent of cargo owners, Kazakhstanskaya Pravda reports. Four terminals operate at the station — KedenTransService, Eurotransitterminal, DostykTransTerminal and Atasu; DostykTransTerminal, Kozhakhmetov said, is located 10 km from the station. “Instead of a free choice of services and competition, cargo owners face additional costs and non-transparent distribution of containers,” the deputy said.
Kozhakhmetov recalled that deputies raised the problem of idle containers in 2021 and obstacles in the supply of wagons in 2025, and called the practice contrary to the President’s instructions on developing transit.
What it means: The first deputy’s request to the new transport minister concerns cargo owners’ money at the main crossing with China.
Who benefits: Cargo owners and forwarders, if container distribution becomes transparent; replies from the ministry, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the terminal operator have not yet been published.
Background: In the Address of 28 October the President ordered transit to be turned into a business with domestic logistics operators.
We have also reported on Zhanassova’s appointment.
