BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 23. The volume of road traffic passing through Kazakhstan’s checkpoints on the external border of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has increased more than 2.6 times over the past three years, the Kazakh government said.
The government noted that 118.6 billion tenge (about $264.8 million) has been allocated for the modernization of border checkpoints over the past three years.
During this period, 11 road checkpoints on Kazakhstan’s external EAEU border were upgraded. The work included construction and installation, infrastructure expansion, and the installation of modern inspection equipment.
At some checkpoints, the number of traffic lanes was increased from two to six. Entry and exit areas were reorganized, while freight and passenger traffic flows were separated.
Modern inspection and screening systems, automatic weight and dimension control systems, radiation monitoring equipment, video surveillance, and vehicle identification systems were installed.
Some control procedures have been switched to a non-stop format, with the required parameters recorded while vehicles are moving and automatically transmitted to information systems.
As a result of infrastructure expansion and automation, the combined capacity of road checkpoints increased from around 2 million to 5 million vehicles per year. At the same time, the average processing time for freight vehicles decreased from nine hours to around 30 minutes.
The expanded capacity of the checkpoints has contributed to sustained growth in traffic flows.
Around 640,000 vehicles passed through road checkpoints on Kazakhstan’s external EAEU border in 2022. The figure exceeded 1 million in 2023, reached 1.4 million in 2024 and rose to 1.7 million in 2025.
"Growth continues in 2026: nearly 1.3 million vehicles passed through the checkpoints in the first eight months, which is 19.3 percent more than in the same period last year," the government said.
The modernization of nine road checkpoints on the external EAEU border was completed in 2025. The modernization of the Zhibek Zholy checkpoint on the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border is scheduled for completion in October 2026.
At the same time, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport continues to upgrade road checkpoints on the country's internal EAEU borders.
There are currently 70 checkpoints operating along Kazakhstan's state border, including 51 road, five railway, 10 air, and three sea checkpoints, as well as one checkpoint at the Khorgos International Center for Cross-Border Cooperation.
Of the 51 road checkpoints, 14 are located on the external EAEU border, while 37 are located on the borders with Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
