Queuing for success in Kazakhstan

A new company in Kazakhstan charges customers to take their places in the country's notorious queues.

For a small hourly fee, it provides people to stand in line for clients and then phone them when they are nearly at the front. It also offers a more expensive service where the client gives the company power of attorney to take care of everything.

The company was set by two entrepreneurs in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, reports the Express-K newspaper.Queues to see state officials for personal business, such as applying for ID papers and driving licenses and registering property, are notorious in Kazakhstan.

"We can stand any kind of a queue," says Ruslan Akkuzhin, deputy director of the company. "As a rule, the worst queues are related to real estate issues.". The two directors currently do all of the work themselves but say they may soon have to expand.