ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 7. During a visit to the Mangystau Region, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Finance, Ernur Erzhanov, and State Revenue Committee leaders toured the "Tazhen" and "Temir Baba" border checkpoints, Trend reports via the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan.
The Tazhen checkpoint is located on the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border in the western part of the country. This is the one and only gateway on wheels linking Central Asia to the far reaches of Russia and Europe. The lion's share of traffic through Tazhen is made up of transit cargo, a whopping 90 percent, making its way to Russia and beyond to third countries, including Europe. Additionally, there's a steady stream of labor migrants from Uzbekistan heading to Russia, keeping the wheels turning.
Construction and technical upgrades are currently underway at the site, including the expansion of traffic lanes, installation of modern inspection and screening complexes, automatic weighing systems, and digital control systems. Despite being under reconstruction, the checkpoint continues to operate as usual, ensuring stable cargo flow.
“Monitoring of project implementation will be maintained on a continuous basis until full completion,” underscored the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Finance.
Following the on-site meeting, specific directives were issued aimed at accelerating construction work and improving the efficiency of customs checkpoints. Contractors were instructed to quickly increase the number of workers and equipment involved at the sites to speed up modernization efforts. The State Revenue Committee was also tasked with reviewing the possibility of holding the heads of the Tazhen and Temir Baba customs posts disciplinarily accountable for identified violations in their current operations.
The Temir Baba checkpoint serves as the sole vehicular transit point facilitating cross-border movement between the sovereign state of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Turkmenistan. The strategic geolocation facilitates foreign carriers in leveraging a transit corridor via Turkmenistan, enabling access to Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the UAE, and other regional markets. As a result, all commodities and consumables originating from Europe destined for these locales are processed through the Temir Baba checkpoint, which is in proximity to the “Garabogaz” checkpoint.
