Big Almaty ring road kicks off in Kazakhstan

The project was launched three years ago by a Turkish-Korean consortium / gov.kz

The Big Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD) project has been officially kicked off. After the opening ceremony, ten cargo tracks, ten buses and dozens of light vehicles marked with the BAKAD logo went along the new road toward Kaskelen, a small town west of Almaty.

«The new road is bound to be the key element of the Western China-Western Europe transport corridor, which is going to boost the economic development of the entire region. In addition, the ring road is an effective tool to reduce the burden on the road system of Almaty and its suburbs,» Governor of the Almaty region Marat Sultangaziyev stated at the new road’s opening ceremony.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development, motorists will be able to cover 66 kilometers of the road in 30 minutes. The road was built at the expense of investors and will be under warranty for 16 years, the agency highlighted.

The new road will require payment. One hour of ride costs $2.77 for medium-duty trucks, $3.31 for heavy-duty trucks (class 7) and $5.54 for class 8 heavy-duty trucks.

Drivers can also buy a monthly pass for $3.85 for passenger vehicles and from $19.23 to $65.37 for buses and trucks. An annual pass will cost $76.90 for light vehicles and from $230.71 to $769.03 for buses and trucks.

BAKAD is the biggest road project in the sphere of public-private partnership in both Kazakhstan and the entire region of Central Asia. The cost of construction was $334 million. The project was financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank and the Eurasian Development Bank. The concession agreement on the project was signed in 2018 for a period of 20 years. The construction itself started in May 2019.

The project’s concessionaire is BAKAD Investments and Operations, LLP, a company established by a Turkish-Korean consortium formed by Alsim Alarko Sanayi Tesisleri ve Ticaret A. Ş., Makyol Inşaat Sanayi Turizm ve Ticaret A., Korea Expressway Corporation and SK ecoplant Co., LTD.