Smuggling of almost 170,000 face masks from Kazakhstan to Russia, Mongolia foiled

AKIPRESS.COM - Around 168,000 medical face masks were attempted to be smuggled from Kazakhstan through Pavlodar region. Six attempts of masks smuggling were made between February 16 and March 11.
Almost 160,000 masks were attempted to be smuggled to Russia, around 8,000 masks to Mongolia, Pavlodarnews.kz reported.
Kazakhstan has banned export of medical masks, coveralls, respirators, white coats, gloves since January 29.
The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan tasked domestic producers to increase production of face masks and other protective supplies.
Coronavirus was not registered in Kazakhstan yet, however, chief sanitary inspector of Kazakhstan said the COVID-19 is expected in Kazakhstan between March 11 and 16, according to forecasts made by scholars.