The national chamber of entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan states that the 11th package of EU sanctions, imposing a ban on the import of trailers and semi-trailers registered in Russia, will have a positive impact on the domestic road transport industry, QazMonitor reports citing the chamber's press service.
Murat Amrin, the deputy chair of the national chamber of entrepreneurs, said that the volume of cargo transported by Kazakh carriers will increase since the activities of Russian operators in the EU will be suspended. The sanctions are expected to reduce competition for direct transportation without transshipments from the EU to Central Asia.
At the same time, the chamber notes risks that may arise for domestic carriers with the influx of Russian and Belarusian vehicles into Kazakhstan.
"There are additional risks that the sanctions are now being circumvented by the relocation of transport companies to Kazakhstan, thereby displacing domestic carriers. For example, if we take the results of 2021, about 1,000 companies were registered for international transportation with the use of permit forms. By the end of 2022, this number had increased to about 2,600 companies," added Amrin.
He also noted that from February 2023, new rules for admission to international transportation came into force, which tightened the requirements for admission and issuance of international transportation permit forms. These changes affected both foreign and domestic companies.