Kazakhstan has virtually stopped exporting passenger cars to Russia: in June 2026, the export volume amounted to just $72, compared to $111,400 in May and $5.5 million in April. These figures are reported by the Bureau of National Statistics, according to infohub.kz.
At the beginning of the year, car exports to the neighboring country were measured in millions of dollars: $1 million in January, $1.5 million in February, and the same in March. In April, the figure rose to $5.5 million, after which a sharp decline began: in May to $111,400, and in June to a symbolic $72.
One of the factors influencing the situation was the restriction on transferring electric vehicles imported into Kazakhstan under preferential conditions to Russians. Such cars are prohibited from being transferred to Russian citizens and persons permanently residing there for three years.
In addition, back in late 2025, the Federal Customs Service of Russia intensified checks on the correctness of calculating the recycling fee for cars imported from Kazakhstan, including vehicles of Kazakh production - Kia, Hyundai, and Skoda. In some cases, owners were required to pay the difference in customs payments.
In April, Kazakhstan approved new recycling fee coefficients for cars from Russia and Belarus, which came into effect on May 8. For a passenger car with an engine displacement of 1-2 liters, the base rate is about 216,000 tenge. For cars from other countries, a coefficient of 3.5 is applied, while for Russian and Belarusian cars it is 136. As a result, the fee reaches approximately 29.4 million tenge, or more than $63,000.
This amount exceeds the cost of most Russian cars. Amid the new restrictions and checks, car supplies from Kazakhstan to Russia have become significantly less attractive.
Earlier, the publication "Kursiv Avto" reported that in Kazakhstan it was proposed to imprison "gray" car dealers.