Thousands of trucks carrying goods from China have accumulated at the Kazakhstan-Russia border. Inspections are focused on identifying sanctioned products and dual-use goods, as reported by the newspaper Kommersant.
According to Maxim Yemelin, deputy head of the logistics department at SLK company, the formation of traffic jams began in mid-September. This information was confirmed by Alexey Chernyshev, commercial director of the transport company AKFA.
Yemelin clarified that Kazakh customs officers almost always (in 99% of cases) inspect trucks carrying dual-use goods and "suspicious" cargo subject to sanctions—electronics, drones, their spare parts, clothing, and products of Western brands. As a result, many carriers are forced to send their vehicles to parking lots while waiting for a favorable moment to cross the border. Vehicles that do not raise questions from Kazakh customs officers pass through inspection in three to five days.
As Yaroslav Belousov, director of international transport operations at FM Logistic in Russia, noted in a conversation with Kommersant, the strengthening of border control is being carried out jointly—Kazakh and Russian customs services are conducting raids to identify "unscrupulous shippers and carriers."
Alexander Azatyan, head of the logistics department at YM Trans Group, reported the accumulation of approximately 2,000–3,000 trucks at the Mashlakovo automobile checkpoint. An anonymous source from the publication estimated the scale of the queue at 7,500 trucks.
As early as September 23, the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS) explained that the traffic jam on the exit from Russia to Kazakhstan was due to "additional inspection measures by the Kazakh side." At the same time, the FCS assured that there is no inbound queue into Russia.
Two days later, on September 25, the press service of the Russian customs service stated that the work of FCS employees at the border with Kazakhstan "does not create traffic jams or congestion."