YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. The traffic stops of motorists driving cars with Armenian license plates in Kazakhstan has nothing to do with Armenians, reassures Armenia’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan Gagik Ghalechyan.

“They [Kazakh nationals] are importing the vehicles, are driving with Armenian license plates and aren’t getting fined in the event of violating traffic laws,” the ambassador told ARMENPRESS, adding that 99% of the motorists who break the rules are Kazakh nationals.

Asked to comment on a footage published online showing a senior traffic police official of Nur-Sultan city ordering to “search Armenian cars” and threatening his subordinates with punishment for failing to give out tickets, the ambassador said the local police have launched an internal investigation and the official has been held to account.

“This all has nothing to do with Armenians, it is simply about the vehicles with Armenian license plates,” Ghalechyan said.

Local press previously addressed on numerous occasions the method used by Kazakh motorists to evade getting fined by driving vehicles with Armenian license plates, which apparently can't have fines registered on them in the local database. 

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan