BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 28. Kazakhstan needs
to complete the high-quality reconstruction of all road border
checkpoints in 2027, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in his
Address to the People of Kazakhstan, according to the presidential
press service.
"We need to create a unified, modern and highly developed
network of railways and roads that will connect all regions of
Kazakhstan and strengthen the country's transit potential. This is
a strategic task," he said.
Tokayev noted that cargo transportation through Kazakhstan
increases every year, making further improvements to road
infrastructure necessary, particularly in the northern regions.
"Therefore, we now need to begin expanding the
Kokshetau-Petropavlovsk highway," he said.
The president also called for support for domestic road freight
operators, noting that more than half of road transit through
Kazakhstan is handled by foreign carriers. He said the government
would take appropriate measures to address the issue.
The main goal, Tokayev said, is to strengthen the country's road
infrastructure capacity and increase citizens' incomes.
He stressed the need to complete the reconstruction of all road
border checkpoints next year, adding that progress on this work had
been slow until recently.
"We face an urgent task: ensuring high-quality construction of
all roads, both national and local," Tokayev said.
He criticized central and local executive bodies for shifting
responsibility for road construction and allowing the issue to
remain unresolved.
"Therefore, I instruct the Government, through the Ministry of
Transport, to oversee all roads, whether national roads, which
account for around 26% of the total, or local roads administered by
akimats. Let me repeat: we need very high-quality roads. References
to the quality of bitumen or crushed stone will not be accepted,"
Tokayev added.
