Kazakhstan sees growing number of electric vehicles

More than 4,000 electric cars have been imported into Kazakhstan duty-free since the start of the year, ten times more than in 2022, the Finance Ministry reported. According to the State Revenue Committee, last year, by the decision of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the quota for the preferential import of green cars amounted to 10,000. This year, it increased by 5,000. Thus, the country’s residents are eligible to bring another 11,000 electric vehicles under the same conditions by year-end 2023. The thing is a buyer can use this opportunity once a year for the purchase of only one such vehicle. Just as important, the electric car must be imported for personal use.

“It is necessary to submit a passenger customs declaration in order to get customs clearance of an electric vehicle with an exemption from payment. Kazakh citizens can apply to the customs office and submit primary supporting documents, as well as goods-accompanying documents to a customs inspector. Of course, they can use paid services rendered by brokerage companies and sign a contract with them if they don’t have time,” said Magzhan Iskakov, spokesperson for the State Revenue Committee of the Kazakh Finance Ministry.

Electric car owners are also exempt from paying the recycling fee, but they will have to pay for its state registration. The rate is based on the age of the electric car. The older the vehicle, the higher the rate. For example, the payment for an electric car no older than two years will amount to only a quarter of one monthly calculation index. Registration fee of an electric car, which is two to three years old, will cost ten times more, slightly over 86,000 tenge, whereas an older electric car will require a little over 862,000 tenge.

“Exemption from customs duties and taxes was introduced in 2022, according to the decision of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission. Also, to date, the tax code provides for the exemption of individuals from paying vehicle taxes. So that the tax does not apply to electric cars,” Iskakov informed.

Despite the most favorable conditions, cars with an electric engine are still rare in the country. They need new special filling stations and a well-developed infrastructure. To this end, a special roadmap, designed until 2029, was drawn up last month.

“The roadmap has 15 paragraphs related to the establishment of regulatory and technical standards for the design and construction of the necessary infrastructure. The latter concerns domestic equipment production for charging electric vehicles, identifying the needs of charging stations and their installation sites. The roadmap also envisages the introduction of various incentive measures and mechanisms for the development of the electric vehicles use and the relevant infrastructure. The document will outline further work terms,” noted Meruyert Ibrayeva, spokesperson for the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development.

Meanwhile, a new Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles taps into the domestic market, planning to put on sale the first cars in the fourth quarter of this year. The parties have recently signed an agreement, as per which a whole network of dealer centers will appear in eight cities of the country.