Kazakhstan is one of the most active post-Soviet states in building roads. Over the past decade, KZT4 trillion ($8.55 billion) has been spent on highway construction in the country, yet in a world ranking of road quality Kazakhstan stands 93rd out of 141 countries there are plans to roll out a toll system on another 2,400 kilometers of federal roads Aktobe–Russian border (toward the city of Orenburg) According to the national company in charge of federal and international roads in Kazakhstan the toll system will be introduced only after repair work is completed and the roads fully comply with regulatory requirements attention is being paid to transit routes when introducing tolls This is especially relevant in the context of the government’s plans to develop freight transit through Kazakhstan and make the country a regional transport and logistics hub tolls are expected to become a significant contributor to the country’s budget there are 17 toll road sections with a total length of more than 3,200 kilometers help finance the maintenance of federal roads KZT60 billion ($130 million) is required annually to maintain the country’s roads road maintenance is financed by taxes allocated for transport but this is not enough in Kazakhstan – it is one of the largest countries in the world meaning its road infrastructure remains underutilized road maintenance in the country was financed from the state budget the toll system will be gradually introduced on 11,000 kilometers of road by 2029 as reconstruction work is completed which aims to support year-round maintenance should reduce the burden on the budget and eventually lead to self-sufficiency within the highway industry car owners resent the introduction of tolls on federal highways including a transparent approach to collecting tolls with flexible terms that are agreed by market participants the international practice of discounts on travel on highways at different times of the day or on weekdays and weekends for different types of vehicles could be applied These measures would be welcomed by both motorists and freight carriers This could also significantly relieve congestion at payment collection points Building modern highways means not only significantly cutting down travel time, but also improving safety. According to statistics almost ten times fewer accidents occur on toll roads versus free ones and there are 20 times fewer injuries or fatalities Kazakhstan’s statistics agency reports that the number of traffic accidents on the country’s roads decreased from an average of 23,359 to 15,886 from 2013-23 (excluding 2020 and 2021 when road restrictions were in place due to the pandemic quarantine) Developing the country’s network of roads will help people travel between populated areas faster and contribute to the development of regions and whole sectors of the economy the government is betting on roads as the most widespread and popular means for transporting passengers and freight (in particular A high-quality road infrastructure would go a long way towards attracting new freight flows providing the shortest east-west and north-south land routes and becoming a significant source of income for the country as part of his working trip to Aktobe and Atyrau regions inspected the progress of reconstruction of the Aktobe - Atyrau - Astrakhan highway reconstruction of 164 km of the Atyrau - Makat section was carried out 733 km of the highway is being reconstructed at the sections Aktobe - Kandyagash Atyrau - border with the Russian Federation The section Aktobe - Kandyagash (96 km) includes 78 km of the 1st category road with 4-lane traffic and 18 km of the bypass of the city of Kandyagash of the 2nd category with 2-lane traffic it is planned to provide 18 km of travel on the new surface At the section Kandyagash - Makat (360 km) the final works on the laying of asphalt concrete and the arrangement of the road are underway it is planned to fully provide travel on the new surface along the entire length of the site the route from Aktobe to Atyrau will be halved – earlier due to the unsatisfactory state of the Aktobe-Atyrau section drivers had to go to the neighboring region through Uralsk The section Atyrau - border with the Russian Federation (in the direction of Astrakhan) with a total length of 277 km is a road of republican significance of the III category built in the 1970s with an axle load of 8 tons Due to the increased traffic intensity of heavy transit vehicles the construction of structural layers of pavement The work is planned to be completed in 2022 construction and reconstruction in Kazakhstan covered 8.4 thousand km of roads About 200 thousand people are involved in road construction work In this year work will be completed on 5.1 thousand km of roads in the country The rest of the work is rolling and will be completed in 2022 Stay updated about the events of the Prime minister and the Government of Kazakhstan - subscribe to the official Telegram channel