They have tried it once before: creating a competitive, liberalised rail freight market. Kazakhstan’s latest attempt at that failed, but now the Central Asian country wants to give it another shot. The market could receive quite the overhaul, if the rail freight sector gets its way.
An already existing rail freight market plan envisages the entry of private carriers on the network from 2027 onwards. That much is known, but Kazakhstan is discussing more than that.
The Kazakh Association Rail Freight Carriers (ARFC), the Antimonopoly Agency, the Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Transport came together to discuss measures to improve the rail freight market. “The main goal: real competition in the sphere of rail freight transportation and sustainable, transparent rules of the game”, says ARFC.
The Kazakh transport ministry is looking for ways to improve rail freight, but is also in the midst of top-level changes. President Tokayev was not happy with its performance and fired the minister. Image: Shutterstock. © Cholpan
A list of problems
To ARFC, the problems in Kazakh rail freight are clear as day, and numerous. To start off with, the association points to the national operator, Kazakh Railways (KTZ). It dominates the market as a monopolist and “upsets the balance in access to infrastructure”, says ARFC. Private companies do not have a guaranteed way onto the mainline network.
Moreover, KTZ has a “blurred status”, providing a mixture of business and government services. Also in the legal field, there are no clear regulations for interaction between operators, complains ARFC.
Further problems include the absence of long-term contracts, low digitalisation and weak information integration.
How to resolve those problems?
The meeting between ARFC and the various government institutions took place on the orders of the president. The rail freight association has the ears of the highest political echelons, and is taking the opportunity to present its list of solutions.
That list, importantly, includes the separation of infrastructure management from the responsibilities of KTZ and transparent regulations governing access to the mainline network. ARFC is striving for equal opportunities to use Kazakhstan’s rail infrastructure.
Second, ARFC wants a change in tariff policies. “Losses and ‘hidden’ subsidies have long become chronic”, the association explains. “ARFC proposes to reject reduced tariffs without compensation and to switch to a model where infrastructure is financed transparently, and carriers work on market principles.”
In the summer of 2024, Roman Sklyar, the Kazakh deputy Prime Minister, revealed that KTZ transported nearly three quarters of all rail freight below the cost price. For that reason, tariff hikes were a necessity as part of an “improvement of the tariff policy in the rail freight sector”. Kazakhstan wants to make rail freight financially viable.
Regulations and opening up
Third, the association seeks to establish a clear regulatory framework for the market. That includes an independent regulator that should monitor competition conditions, access to infrastructure and tariff formation. Antitrust measures should also contribute to a fair and equal market for all operators, ARFC argues, while also stressing that a regulator should not operate under the auspices of KTZ or a government institution.
And lastly, the Kazakh carriers want to “fully open the market” and attract private capital. “After the implementation of access rules and institutional reforms, the market should be accessible to new carriers, including on transit routes”, the association says. “Competition is not a threat, it is the driver of efficiency, quality of service and the international transit potential of Kazakhstan.”
Private money should help with that: “Through PPPs, concessions and joint projects. Private investment in terminals, locomotives and wagons will not only speed up development, but also lower the pressure on the budget.”
In 2022, Kazakhstan also attempted to create a framework to liberalise the rail freight market. That effort failed. A legal frame defining how private and public carriers should interact was not completed before the deadline of the project was reached.
