NUR-SULTAN, January 11. /TASS/. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the government on Tuesday to sort out the ‘mess’ on the customs border, primarily with China.
"Much of the potential to raise revenue from the budget lies in the enforcement of customs, especially on the border with China. It’s a real mess there. Automobiles are not inspected, taxes and duties are not paid. The difference in mirror statistics with China’s customs authorities has topped billions of dollars," he said, addressing the Mazhilis (lower house of parliament), adding that certain authorized operators exist whose status makes them untouchable. That said, the country has forfeited billions of tenge in lost tax revenues, the Kazakh leader noted.
Protests erupted in various Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots that involved attacks on police officers, service members, and government buildings in many cities of the country, first and foremost in Almaty. Thousands of people were injured, and the number of casualties remains unknown. The CSTO sent peacekeepers to the Central Asian country following Tokayev’s request. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, had been generally restored to all of the country’s regions by January 7.