Every time we pay taxes or customs duty on imported goods, we trigger a complex financial mechanism. Contrary to the myth of “road” or “pension” taxes, this money has no earmarked label. They flow into a single state budget, and from there, like rivers, they flow throughout the country, feeding the regions. Using the example of Kazakhstan and the young region of Zhetisu, let us examine how abstract figures in reports turn into real infrastructure and social benefits.
In the first years of independence, the country's budget was more like a survival fund. Customs checkpoints, especially on the border with China, became vital arteries supplying “live” money to the treasury. The priority was not development, but maintenance of basic functions: payment of pensions and salaries to public sector employees, and maintenance of the army. Large projects were rare and were more often realized with external loans.
The rise in oil prices changed everything. The National Fund, created in 2000, began to accumulate excess revenues, which allowed the budget, filled with taxes, to breathe more freely. Funds began to be more actively directed to the social sphere and infrastructure.
The key event of this period was the accession to the Customs Union (now EAEU) in 2010. Since then, import duties from all customs checkpoints go into the common pool of the EAEU. Kazakhstan receives its fixed share from this pool. This system guarantees the stability of revenues, regardless of which EAEU country the goods entered the common customs territory through.
The formation of Zhetisu Oblast in 2022 gave the region a new impetus. The region has its own regional budget, which now receives a portion of the taxes collected on its territory. This allows local authorities more flexibility in solving urgent problems.
However, the most capital-intensive projects are still financed from the republican budget. Such as the reconstruction of strategic highways “Taldykorgan - Ust-Kamenogorsk” and the highway “Almaty - Khorgos”, which has become part of the global transit corridor. Repair of roads leading to Alakol and Balkhash lakes directly affects the development of the tourist cluster. The development of FEZ “Khorgos - Eastern Gateway” not only creates jobs, but also generates significant tax and customs revenues to the republican budget, part of which is returned to the region through infrastructure financing.
In parallel, the digitalization of the tax and customs systems has made it possible to increase the collection of payments, channeling additional funds to the budget.
The tax system of the state is like a circulatory system. Every tenge of tax or customs duty paid is a drop of blood that nourishes the economy. For the young Zhetisu region, it is more important than ever that these streams are full-flowing and reach every vital point, turning into quality roads, modern schools and landscaped villages. And the key role in this process is played not only by the state, but also by an active, caring society.