The parliament of Kazakhstan wants to reform its national rail operator Kazakh Railways (KTZ). The parliament filed a request to remove infrastructure management from the company’s competencies and to increase procedural and strategic transparency. The request follows years of rail fee hikes that raise concern about the country’s competitiveness.
As rail freight increasingly transits Kazakhstan amid changing commodity flows, the Kazakh parliament worries that frequent increases in rail transportation fees undermine the country’s competitiveness as a rail transit country. Since 2016, Kazakh railway fees have more than doubled. In 2023, KTZ increased its fees three times, and a price hike has already taken place in 2024.
KTZ has requested an increase in price limits for the coming years. According to parliamentarian Mukash Iskandirov, this causes deep concern for domestic exporters. Increased rail freight fees may lead to a fall in competitiveness, loss of markets and production losses.
As part of the desired reforms, Kazakh parliament now wants to remove rail infrastructure management from KTZ’s responsibilities and transfer it to the transport ministry. It also wants to enforce transparency about KTZ’s activities, business strategy and finances.
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