Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the national company KazAvtoZhol and warned its head, Darkhan Imashev, about possible personnel decisions. Despite stated plans to repair thousands of kilometers of highways, the head of government noted that many road quality problems remain unresolved, reports infohub.kz.

At a government meeting, Darkhan Imashev reported that by the end of 2026, more than 2,000 km of national roads are planned to be repaired and commissioned. In total, work is underway within 70 projects.

According to him, another 4,242 km are covered by medium repairs at 141 sites. About half of these sections are to be completed by the end of the year.

The head of KazAvtoZhol also said that contractors' responsibility for repair quality has been strengthened. The warranty period has been increased from two to five years, and over the past three years the work technology has changed.

"Previously, only the worn top layer of the road surface was renewed. Now the top layer of the road base is strengthened, after which two layers of asphalt concrete are laid. At the same time, the lower layers of the roadbed and base are not touched," he said.

After the report, Olzhas Bektenov said that Imashev had not mentioned many problems. The prime minister also recalled shortcomings in the road sector that the President of Kazakhstan had previously pointed out.

"The report is good. However, many problematic issues remain unresolved, and you did not mention them. All the shortcomings noted by the president directly relate to your work as well. Therefore, it is necessary to improve road quality. Work, or other people will work on this issue," Bektenov said.

Darkhan Imashev has headed KazAvtoZhol since December 2023. Shortly before his appointment, the merger of JSC NC KazAvtoZhol and LLP KazakhAvtodor was completed: previously one company was the customer of road works, the other the contractor. By presidential decree, they were merged into a single operator to eliminate duplication of functions and blurring of responsibility.

Under him, revenues from toll roads grew from 32 billion tenge in 2023 to 86 billion tenge in 2025. Currently, Kazakhstan has 26 toll sections with a total length of about 5,000 km, and over a year more than 70 million passages were recorded on them. The money is directed to the maintenance of the road network and infrastructure.

Darkhan Imashev himself has worked in the road sector since 2004: he started as a road foreman, then worked at KazakhAvtodor and the Ministry of Transport, was deputy akim of Karaganda, and worked in the construction industry.

Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the chairman of the board of JSC NC QazAvtoZhol, Darkhan Imashev, at a briefing in the government answered a question about road repairs in the cold season.