Kazakh toll road programme: The government in Astana may turn to private investors to help it achieve its goal of introducing toll charges to approximately 7,000 km of roads – or about one-third of the country’s entire network – by 2020, its Vice Minister of Investment and Development Zhenis Kassymbek announced last week.
The roads in question are the main arterial routes used by commercial trucks and lorries, including those from Astana to Temirtau and Pavlodar and the Almaty to Kapchagai highway. The government is also planning to introduce tolling on the roads from Shymkent to Blagoveshensk and Kyzylorda, he said, and is considering installing open payment devices for trucks with load capacities over 12 tonnes on some of the country’s smaller roads. The toll programme is part of the country’s Nurly Zohl (Path to the Future) economic policy and may present opportunities for private-sector investment. The Astana Times