Construction of toll roads Astana-Temirtau, Almaty-Kapshagai to be started this year

"The first roads that we plan to try making toll roads are Astana-Temirtau and Almaty-Kapshagai roads. These roads have dense traffic and the user-pays principle of tolls can be applied there. We plan to launch the project this year," A.Zhumagaliyev said.

The Minister assured that the road user charging system was tested on a pilot project of Astana-Shchuchinsk road. "We will analyze the results of the road user charging system's functioning till May and launch it by May," the Minister explained.

According to A.Zhymagaliyev, the road maintenance expenses are high and budget funds are not enough. "According to our estimates, about 45 billion tenge is necessary for launching one network. The funds allocated from the budget are insufficient," the Minister noted.

For this reason, the Minister explained, the financing of roads will be conducted not only from the national budget but also by means of revenue-yielding bonds, pension funds and private investments. "A mechanism has already been developed for this purpose," the Minister said.

The Minister also noted positive trends in road repair works. Thus, 8 thousand km of roads were embraced with all kinds of repair in 2012. The embracement of the national roads was increased by 5% and of the local roads - by 18%. As a result, the condition of roads has improved by 4%.

Besides, construction of new roads in Kazakhstan allowed to increase the transit by 20%- from 960 thousand tons to 1.15 million.

The Minister also informed about the process of implementation of "Western Europe - Western China" project. Construction of 700 km of the road was completed this year. Totally, 35 thousand people and 4 thousand units of equipment were involved.

Source: Kazakh PM's websit