Lada near Otrar, Kazakhstan. (Wang)

The bustle of Kazakhstan’s biggest city makes it easy to forget that Kazakhstan has a remarkably low population density. But although the population has increased only slightly in Almaty, the amount of traffic here has risen steeply. From a time when there was no middle class and no easy way to acquire a car, oil-rich Kazakhstan has boomed into a country with strong economic potential, not to mention fertile ground for a budding middle class. The new economic conditions have meant higher wages and improved standards of living. They have also meant greater demand for cars, making the congestion on Almaty’s streets a symbol—if a frustrating one—of progress.

Today’s car culture in Kazakhstan scarcely resembles that of earlier years. During Soviet times and even after, “it was mainly officials of the Communist Party who were given the right to buy cars,” said Kim Schindler, Director of Finance and Accounting for the mining company JV Inkai’s Almaty branch. “Others had to put their names on a list and wait for months and even years before their name came up. Once it came up, you had to take the car which was available, no matter the color or make.”

Party officials were given Volgas—the Soviet luxury car— while others who could afford to acquired the lower status Ladas. Stocky and plain, the Lada was a Russian-made car built to withstand the severe climate and undeveloped roads of the Soviet Union. Since then, the number of different types and makes of cars has mushroomed. The Transportation Ministry recently reported that the national fleet of motor vehicles totals about 2,267,000. According to some analysts, this is just the beginning; the annual growth in new car sales has averaged about 45 percent in the past few years.

Vehicle numbers began to rise about a decade ago, but the boom, according to Schindler, “started to take off about three years ago because the banks started to give out personal loans and use the vehicle as collateral. The banks are charging between 12 and 16 percent on car loans in Kazakhstan and people are still buying.”

Today, a tally of Ladas can serve as a rough economic barometer. The roads of rural areas, for instance, have retained much of the old feel as the Soviet-era car continues to dominate the countryside’s landscape. By contrast, wealthier and car-thirsty families in Kazakhstan’s bigger cities have filled their streets with imported American, Japanese, and European vehicles.

“In the past a good car was more of a luxury,” said Yulia Kim, Communications Officer for the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan and an Almaty native. “Today almost everyone can buy a car. It’s only a brand and a car’s condition that makes a difference.”

The shift is physically noticeable: Ladas are being phased out by Japanese makes, Volgas exchanged for German brands like Mercedes Benz. Japanese makes are popular with the middle class because many have right-hand steering and sell for up to 50 percent less than the same left-handed vehicles, according to the U.S. Foreign and Commercial Service.

Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet government must still address the difficulties associated with the escalating vehicle count. “City congestion is a real problem. The infrastructure of roads cannot keep up with the explosion of vehicles,” noted Schindler.

The traffic problem is yet another symbol of changing times. “Certainly as the standard of living is improving and the average salary is increasing, more people are finding they can afford to make the car payment,” said Schindler. Likewise, this new social strata is taking vacations, buying designer clothing, and eating at fancy restaurants— indulgences that were unavailable only a few years ago.

“It has to do with the rising middle class,” emphasized Kim. The gridlocked streets, the crowded buses, the horn brigade—these are all striking indicators of social and economic progress. From Ladas to BMWs, Kazakhstan is quickly shifting gears out of the Soviet era and into the modern world.

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