Kazakhstan probes Russian Railways branch over inflated service prices

Kazakhstan’s antimonopoly authority has opened an investigation into the Petropavlovsk branch of Russian Railways (RZD) over allegations of excessively high charges for electronic wagon scale inspections.

The probe follows a complaint from Agrimer Mamlutka, claiming the service price rose nearly 10% since January 2025 to 845,000 tenge ($1,605), more than double the roughly 391,000 tenge ($743) charged elsewhere in Kazakhstan, Caliber.Az reports per Kazakhstani media.

An unscheduled audit covering 2024 and early 2025 uncovered indications of monopolistic pricing in breach of competition laws, officials said.

The investigation is expected to take between three and five months to complete.

This case highlights growing scrutiny over pricing practices by foreign state-owned enterprises operating in Kazakhstan.

Russian Railways is a key player in the country’s rail infrastructure, with significant regional operations.

By Aghakazim Guliyev