In Kyrgyzstan, mandatory vehicle evacuation is being launched.

It has been revealed how much forced evacuation of cars will cost in Bishkek

It has been revealed how much forced evacuation of cars that violate traffic rules will cost — 1,500 soms.

“The tariff has been adopted, the tender for forced evacuation in Bishkek and the Chui region has already been announced. The envelopes will be opened around December 10,” informed Talant Barpiyev, head of the Patrol Police Department, at today’s session of the Bishkek City Council.

It was previously planned that cars of traffic rule violators would be forcibly evacuated starting from April 29, 2017. Wheel clamps were also to be installed on them. There are only 10 clamps for all of Bishkek.

People in Kyrgyzstan are no longer surprised by how cars are parked. Iron horses are left on sidewalks and roadways. Even a fine of 1,000 soms for improper parking does not stop the brazen offenders.

In April 2016, a law on forced evacuation of vehicles was signed. It took a whole year to adopt the corresponding government decree.

Plans are being implemented

Decree No. 202 was adopted on April 4, 2017. The document instructs the Ministry of Internal Affairs to organize the evacuation process and conduct extensive informational and explanatory work among the population.

They have not yet started to inform the citizens of Kyrgyzstan. According to Nura Satybaldiev, head of the Coordination Department of the State Patrol Police, the informational work is planned “for this week.”

We are preparing a video. Several large screens have been installed in Bishkek, for example, in the Ala-Too Square area, where we intend to broadcast the video. We are also negotiating with large shopping centers.

Nur Satybaldiev
“At the same time, we will inform the population about the locations of specialized parking lots. We will develop stickers and brochures to inform car owners. When a car is evacuated from the place of violation, we will stick the stickers, possibly on the curbs. Informational signs will have a plaque with addresses and phone numbers,” he added.

Calculations are underway

“In addition, we are currently developing a methodology for calculating the cost of the vehicle evacuation service. We will send the package of documents to the antimonopoly committee to have the tariff approved by order,” he told IA “24.kg.”

According to preliminary data, the evacuation of a passenger car will cost 1,500–1,600 soms, while that of a cargo vehicle will be 3,500–5,000 soms.

“After the tariffs are approved, we will announce the tender. I think we will manage it within a month. We were told that the project should be launched by May 24,” he added.

Nur Satybaldiev lamented the difficulties in processing the documents. “Many officials, frankly speaking, refused because this will primarily hit their pockets. They have never paid from their own pockets, and now the winning company will demand payment for the service,” he admitted.

Evacuation rules

Forced evacuation of vehicles to a specialized parking lot is carried out for violating stopping and parking rules only in the presence of a “Tow Truck” road sign, in the absence of the driver in the vehicle or in immediate proximity to it.

The doors, trunk, hood, and fuel tank hatch of the forcibly evacuated vehicle are sealed, and the vehicle itself is subject to relocation to the nearest specialized parking lot.

The inspection protocol of the vehicle indicates:

— date, time, place, and grounds for conducting the inspection;

— position, surname, first name, badge number, and service ID of the employee of the traffic safety department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;

— address of the specialized parking lot;

— type, make, model of the vehicle;

— results of the external inspection, including a list of visible defects and damages to the vehicle.


What a specialized parking lot should be like

It should ensure the safe storage of vehicles, their loading and unloading using special equipment.

1 The parking lot should be equipped with:

— cash register equipment for transferring money for the costs of moving and storing detained vehicles;

— premises for service personnel and security;

— a fence that prevents unauthorized access;

— artificial lighting;

— toilets and containers for garbage collection;

— surveillance cameras with a full view of the area.

At the same time, recordings from the surveillance cameras must be stored for at least three months. The parking area should be marked, and the spaces numbered.

In addition, buildings and structures must be equipped with telephone communication, an emergency call button for the police, equipped with a regulatory number of primary fire extinguishing means, and have artificial lighting.

It is prohibited at the specialized parking lot:

— to allow unauthorized persons onto the territory;

— to place more vehicles than there are designated spaces, to violate their arrangement plan, to reduce the distance between them;

— to obstruct exit gates and passages;

— to carry out repair, forging, thermal, welding, painting works, to store flammable and lubricating materials;

— to warm up engines with an open flame (bonfires, torches, blowtorches), to use open sources of fire for lighting;

— to park vehicles on the covers of fire hydrant wells.

But there’s nowhere to park

There are many reasons why drivers leave their cars in prohibited places — from sheer audacity (“I need to stop just a step away from the office/cafe/store”) and ignorance of the rules to the lack of available parking spaces. “Parking spaces are already a headache for the city hall,” emphasize the State Patrol Police.

All guest parking spaces located along the roads in Bishkek are currently free. The fees for them were canceled in February 2014 by the then-mayor of Bishkek, Kubanychbek Kulmatov. Since then, they have not been able to resume the operation of these parking lots.

At the same time, some individuals, taking advantage of the situation, collect money from residents. In particular, on Shopokov Street in the Victory Square area. These poor parking attendants allow cars to be left “for a minute” in the second and even third rows.

For years, the city hall has been talking about plans to build multi-level parking lots to relieve the already congested roads. In the area of the Central Department Store, a site has even been fenced off for construction work. But this has not improved the situation.

What work is being done in this direction in other areas? “None, except for Shopokov Street. At all,” they briefly noted in the Department of Municipal Markets and Parking.

One can only hope that forced evacuation, which will cost offending drivers several times more than a regular fine, will somehow help restore order on the city roads.