How to Import a New Chinese EV into Kazakhstan in 2026

Updated 27 Oct 2026. Craveuo sells new-energy vehicles FOB China through authorised exporters. We do not handle destination customs, so use a licensed Kazakh customs broker. Nothing here is a promise or a quote from Craveuo.

Short answer

Kazakhstan accepts new Chinese electric cars, but who may import them depends on the route: a company can clear a new car only under a vehicle type approval (OTTS) and only if it is the named holder, while a private person may import one car a year for personal use. The duty-free EV quota ended in 2025, so in 2026 expect 16% VAT plus either 15% duty or 0% duty on the WTO-list route, about 16% to 34% of the car value, or a 27% single payment on a one-off personal import (to be confirmed with a licensed customs broker). Only left-hand-drive cars can be registered, and Craveuo requires an end-user declaration, payment from the buyer's own country and proof of local registration on every Kazakhstan order.

Who can import a new car

• Companies and sole proprietors. Since 1 December 2024, new cars can be imported only under an OTTS (vehicle type approval), and the declarant must be the person named in that approval. Cars under three years old can therefore be brought in only by the OTTS holders, in practice official distributors and dealers (Minfin announcement of 18 Nov 2024, as reported by Respublika). A trading company without an OTTS cannot clear a new car for sale. Companies clear cars under the OTTS with a customs rate of 15% (Kursiv, 28 Sep 2026).
• Private persons. A private person can import one car a year for personal use, registered with an SBKTS (individual vehicle safety certificate) (Kolesa, Dec 2024; Kursiv, 28 Sep 2026). For brands with no official distributor in the Eurasian Economic Union, there is no OTTS, and private import with an SBKTS per car is the route (Respublika, Nov 2024, which gives Li Auto as an example). Commercial use of a personally imported car is not allowed (Kolesa, Dec 2024).
• Age and standards. Since 26 Sep 2026 the electronic vehicle passport (ЭПТС) for private imports under a passenger customs declaration is accepted only for cars less than five years old. A draft requiring Euro 5 for private imports is not in force yet (Kursiv, 28 Sep 2026).

We do not supply cars to Russia and do not accept orders for onward shipment to Russia

Compliance first: what Craveuo requires

Kazakhstan is one of the countries named in European investigations of cars sent on paper to Central Asia and the Caucasus but suspected to have a sanctioned final destination; the EU anti-fraud office OLAF counted 766 vehicles in its case, and the EU export ban covers electric and hybrid cars (auto.pub, 30 Sep 2026; European Commission, 11th sanctions package, 23 Jun 2023). Because of this, for every order to Kazakhstan Craveuo asks for:

1. A signed end-user declaration that the car stays in Kazakhstan and will not be resold or transferred to any sanctioned destination.
2. Payment only from a bank account in the buyer's own country, in the buyer's own name. We do not accept third-party or other-country payers.
3. The VIN recorded in the contract, and a copy of the Kazakh registration certificate and plates once the car is registered.

We screen buyers and end users against sanction lists and may decline an order. This is a business policy, not legal advice. Cars cleared on the WTO-rate route also cannot be taken out of Kazakhstan to other Union states (see below).

Duty, VAT and fees

• The duty-free quota is over. Kazakhstan's duty-free quota of 15,000 electric cars for 2025 was used up on 15 Oct 2025 (inbusiness.kz, quoting the State Revenue Committee, KGD). A KGD expert said that from 2026 EVs are imported "on the general basis" and that the Union decided not to extend the quota (BES.media, 24 Feb 2026). In December 2025 the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council agreed 2026 duty-free quotas only for Belarus (20,000), Armenia (15,000) and Kyrgyzstan (15,000), and bars transferring those cars to citizens or residents of Kazakhstan (Pravo.by, 12 Dec 2025).
• Conflict. One media piece from Sep 2025 said duty stays at 0% under Kazakhstan's own WTO exemption list (Kolesa, 2025), while the KGD expert above describes the general regime. Both can be true: the 0% duty exists only on the WTO-list route below. Which cars are on the list is to be confirmed with a customs broker.
• Three routes for individuals in 2026, per KGD's reply to BES.media (11 Nov 2025):

1. WTO route: customs fee of 6 MRP plus 16% VAT, no duty. It applies to cars on the exemption list of EEC Council Decision No. 59, and these cars cannot be exported to other Union states.
2. Union common tariff: customs fee of 6 MRP, 15% duty on customs value and 16% VAT.
3. Passenger customs declaration for a personal one-off import: a single payment of 27% of customs value. A later article quotes the same KGD expert at 31% for this route, which we could not reconcile (BES.media, 24 Feb 2026).

• VAT. 16% from 1 Jan 2026, up from 12% (Kursiv, 16 Sep 2025, citing Article 503 of the Tax Code; BES.media).
• Customs fee. 6 MRP. With an MRP of 4,325 tenge for 2026, taken from a draft budget, that is 25,950 tenge (BES.media, 11 Nov 2025). Check the final MRP.
• Recycling fee (утильсбор). Pure electric cars are reported to have a coefficient of zero, so the fee is 0 (Finance.kz, Sep 2026). That article cites a calculation method but no legal text, so it is to be confirmed with the operator. Hybrids pay by engine size.
• Companies. We found no separate KGD table for legal entities beyond the 15% rate under OTTS clearance, so the company rate and VAT treatment are to be confirmed.

Estimate for a USD 30,000 CIF electric car (individual routes)

The tenge figures use 520 tenge per dollar, the rate BES.media used. Excluded: freight to the border, insurance, broker, certification, registration and inland transport. Confirm every line with a licensed customs broker.

Certification and registration

• OTTS or SBKTS. The OTTS requirement rests on the Union technical regulation on wheeled vehicle safety of 9 Dec 2011 (Respublika). We found no list of Chinese electric models that already hold an OTTS in Kazakhstan, so this is to be confirmed per model.
• Electronic vehicle passport. Registration needs an ЭПТС record. We found no official step list, so the documents and fees are to be confirmed with the broker.
• Registration. A pilot let the seller, usually a dealer, file first registration online through eGov, with the VIN, followed by one visit to a public service centre for the certificate and plates. The pilot was announced to run to 31 Aug 2026 (Digital Business, 16 Oct 2025), and its status now is to be confirmed.
• Left-hand drive only. The law bans first registration of right-hand-drive vehicles, and import of such cars has been barred since 2007 (Digital Business, 22 Sep 2026). Registration of right-hand-drive cars has been prohibited since 2007 while use was not (Tengrinews, 8 Jan 2024). Order left-hand drive.

Shipping

Kazakhstan has no sea coast, so cars arrive by rail or truck through the border crossings with China. We found no reliable 2026 transit time for new cars from China to Kazakhstan, so this is to be confirmed with a forwarder. Ask whether the forwarder can carry electric cars on the chosen route, because dangerous-goods rules for batteries differ by mode.

Payment and fraud

• Sign a written contract before any deposit.
• Pay only to the seller's named account, after checking the seller's identity.
• If bank details change, verify by phone using a number you already hold.
• Be wary of prices far below market and of sellers who refuse a contract.