Kazakhstan's Astana Motors, which invested more than $448 million in the new car plant, will direct all of its 2027 production to the domestic market, abandoning plans to export 60% of its production to Russia and other CIS countries, Nikkei Asia reports. The change in strategy was caused by the tightening of the rules for importing cars to the Russian Federation in October 2024 and the increase in the recycling fee from 5.8 thousand to 16 thousand dollars per car. If in 2023 Kazakhstan exported 8,860 locally assembled cars to Russia, then in the first seven months of 2026 all deliveries were stopped.

Kazakhstan's Astana Motors, which invested more than $448 million in the new car plant, will direct all of its 2027 production to the domestic market, abandoning plans to export 60% of its production to Russia and other CIS countries, Nikkei Asia reports. The change in strategy was caused by the tightening of the rules for importing cars to the Russian Federation in October 2024 and the increase in the recycling fee from 5.8 thousand to 16 thousand dollars per car. If in 2023 Kazakhstan exported 8,860 locally assembled cars to Russia, then in the first seven months of 2026 all deliveries were stopped.