The Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan, Amaniyaz Yerzhanov, explained at the corridors of the government why American cars brought from Armenia are popular among Kazakhs, NUR.KZ reported.

“We know through our information channels that about 60,000 cars have been brought to Armenia from the United States,” Yerzhanov said. “To get them, our citizens get temporary residence in Armenia, buy those cars already as Armenian citizens—that is, without paying any additional customs duties—and bring [them] to Kazakhstan and drive here at us, with Armenian license plates.”

He added that these cars are almost two times cheaper than the ones that are imported to Kazakhstan from elsewhere.

So, since there is a demand among the Kazakh population, the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan proposes to legalize these cars’ purchase from Armenia.

“So that in the future our citizens will have no problems before the law, with law enforcement agencies,” the Kazakh official concluded. “It’s better to bring [these cars from Armenia] in, register [them], and drive [them] legally.”