Business & Economy - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 2658

World Nomad Games

Western Tourism Interest Grows Around World Nomad Games

More than 3,000 athletes from 104 countries gathered in Bishkek on August 31 as the World Nomad Games returned to Kyrgyzstan, a sharp increase from the 583 competitors from 19 countries who attended the inaugural event at Issyk-Kul 12 years ago. Tour operators are also seeing more Western travelers, many using the Games as the centerpiece of a longer journey through Central Asia. Around 30,000 people attended the opening ceremony before the sporting and cultural programs moved to Issyk-Kul. Ahead of the Games, Kyrgyzstan’s State Agency for Tourism Development projected more than 100,000 guests over the course of the event. Late on September 2, organizers reported that around 150,000 people had visited Kyrchyn during the first two days, though they provided no methodology or breakdown between domestic and foreign visitors. Kyrgyzstan’s foreign tourism market remains predominantly regional, with more than 95% of foreign tourists in recent years coming from neighboring Central Asian countries and Russia. Arrivals from Europe and the United States have nevertheless been rising, according to the Tourism Development Fund. Western interest in the World Nomad Games was already apparent in 2024, when packages offered by Regent Holidays and Wild Frontiers, both based in the United Kingdom, sold out months before the fifth Games in Kazakhstan. Ak-Sai Travel, a Kyrgyzstan-based tour operator, is offering two itineraries built around this year’s Games. Asked whether the company has seen a significant rise in Western visitors, its chief marketing officer, Aikanysh Akynbekova, told TCA, “Yes. We have seen growing interest from Western markets over the past few years, particularly since international travel fully recovered after the pandemic.” Akynbekova identified Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Spain, and Switzerland as the company’s strongest Western markets. She attributed the increase to improved air connections and greater media coverage of Central Asia, along with growing interest in nature and cultural travel. Demand for Ak-Sai’s Games itineraries has been particularly strong among people already considering a trip to Central Asia. Many of its Western customers are visiting Kyrgyzstan or the region for the first time and are looking for less crowded destinations and meaningful cultural experiences. “For most travelers, the Games are an important highlight rather than the only reason for visiting,” Akynbekova said. The itineraries combine the event with travel through Kyrgyzstan, including its mountain landscapes and historical sites. MIR Corporation, a Seattle-based tour operator, is running one scheduled small-group tour for the Games. Andrew Barron, the company’s director of service and support for retail tours, said 11 of the 16 places had been booked, all by travelers from the U.S. For most of the group, the Games are the principal reason for traveling, although about half are also visiting elsewhere in Central Asia before or after the event. Barron knew that roughly a third had visited the region before, but could not say how many of the others were first-time visitors. Bookings opened in fall 2025, but most were made during 2026, about half since the spring. MIR continued to receive last-minute inquiries during...

Oil Supply

Kyrgyzstan Fuel Supply Shifts Toward Domestic Refining

Kyrgyzstan is trying to reduce its dependence on imported gasoline and diesel by refining more fuel at home. The country still relies overwhelmingly on Russia for its motor fuels, but in August it received 35,000 tons of crude through a newly opened transit route across Kazakhstan – more crude in one month than Kyrgyzstan imported during the whole of 2025, when trade data recorded about 26,400 tons. The oil is believed to be Russian, meaning the shift does not reduce Kyrgyzstan’s dependence on Russian energy itself. Instead, it gives Bishkek another option: importing crude rather than finished fuel and using its own refineries to turn it into gasoline and diesel. That reduces its exposure to disruptions at Russian refineries and could eventually make it easier to bring in crude from other countries. KazTransOil, Kazakhstan’s trunk oil pipeline operator, launched the new route on August 15. The crude is carried by pipeline to the Shagyr loading point in Kazakhstan, then transferred to railway tank cars for the final leg to Kyrgyzstan. KazTransOil has not disclosed the oil’s origin, but industry publication InfoTEK and Kazakh media identify it as Russian. That would fit with an earlier KazTransOil tariff arrangement for moving Russian crude from the border through Shagyr to Kyrgyzstan, which remained in force until 2023. Timely Diversification For Kyrgyzstan, the new route has emerged at a particularly sensitive time. Kyrgyzstan has traditionally sourced around 90-95% of its fuel and lubricants from Russia. For years, this arrangement allowed Bishkek to buy Russian petroleum products without export duties within annually agreed volumes, but it also left the domestic market heavily dependent on conditions at Russian refineries. In 2026, Ukrainian drone attacks and other disruptions to Russian refineries constrained available supplies of gasoline and diesel. Fuel prices in Kyrgyzstan were rising at the same time. One way to reduce that risk is to process more crude domestically. Kyrgyzstan produces too little oil to do this on its own: output was around 262,400 tons in 2025, while the country’s largest refinery, Junda, alone has annual processing capacity of 800,000 tons. Junda is located in Kara-Balta, around 60 kilometers from Bishkek, and is controlled by a Chinese investor. The refinery is undergoing a modernization program under an investment agreement worth nearly $194 million. Once completed, the upgrade is expected to increase production and allow the plant to produce Euro 5-standard fuels, with lower sulfur content and stricter vehicle-emissions requirements. Kazakhstan has also agreed to supply Kyrgyzstan with fuel oil for processing at its refineries. The two countries agreed on monthly shipments of 15,000-20,000 tons of fuel oil, a heavy petroleum product that can undergo further processing. Kyrgyz authorities expect to use it to produce gasoline and diesel. The country’s second major refinery, Kyrgyz Petroleum Company in the city of Manas, formerly known as Jalal-Abad, can process up to 500,000 tons of crude a year. The plant currently produces mainly AI-80, a low-octane gasoline for which domestic demand has largely disappeared. Following modernization, the refinery plans to...

Nuclear Power Plant

Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plant Contract Signed with Rosatom

Kazakhstan has formalized plans to build its first nuclear power plant, signing the main construction contract with Russia’s Rosatom for a two-reactor facility near Lake Balkhash. The plant, preliminarily estimated to cost around $16.4 billion, will have a combined capacity of about 2.4 gigawatts, with most of the financing expected to come through a Russian state export loan. Rosatom was selected to lead the project in June 2025, meaning the latest agreement formalizes a decision made more than a year ago. Major construction work is expected to begin in 2027. The contract was signed on September 3 in Vladivostok during the Eastern Economic Forum. Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants, the state-owned company established to implement nuclear projects, signed the agreement with Atomstroyexport, Rosatom’s engineering subsidiary. The contract covers engineering, equipment supply, and construction of the plant. Almassadam Satkaliyev, chairman of Kazakhstan’s Atomic Energy Agency, said after the signing that Rosatom is expected to obtain the necessary site license in 2027, allowing construction to begin. He had previously identified 2034 as the target for bringing the first unit online, while the full construction cycle is expected to take about a decade. The nuclear power plant will be built near the village of Ulken on the western shore of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometers from Almaty. It will consist of two Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors with a combined capacity of around 2.4 gigawatts. That is equivalent to about 9% of Kazakhstan’s current installed generating capacity. Site preparation began in the summer of 2025. Specialists started engineering surveys and drilling wells to study the site’s suitability for the plant. Kazakhstan is returning to nuclear power generation after more than a quarter of a century. The Soviet-built BN-350 reactor in Aktau, which supplied electricity and district heating and supported large-scale seawater desalination, ceased operations in 1999. Kazakhstan has had no operating nuclear power reactors since then. In October 2024, the construction of a new nuclear power plant was put to a nationwide referendum, with a majority of participating voters supporting the proposal. In June 2025, Kazakhstan selected Rosatom to lead the international consortium for the project. The Russian proposal ranked first among four options considered, alongside bids from China’s CNNC, France’s EDF, and South Korea’s KHNP. The preliminary cost of the nuclear power plant is estimated at around $16.4 billion. Of that amount, approximately $14.4 billion is expected to cover the two generating units, with another roughly $2 billion allocated for infrastructure, physical protection systems, and fuel for the warranty period. Most of the project is expected to be financed through a Russian state export loan. The detailed financing terms have not yet been made public. Kazakhstan is also allocating its own funds. The draft national budget for 2027-2029 earmarks 818.3 billion tenge, or about $1.7 billion, to increase the capital of Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants. Of that amount, 247.9 billion tenge is planned for 2027, 303.1 billion for 2028, and 267.3 billion for 2029. Kazakh authorities intend to involve domestic companies in construction, equipment manufacturing, and the...

Geology

Kazakhstan Mineral Deposits: 54 New Sites Added to State Register

Kazakhstan is looking beyond its traditional strengths in oil, gold, and iron ore as it expands its mineral resource base. Fifty-four deposits were added to the state register in 2024 and 2025, while geologists are focusing more closely on lithium, tungsten, and rare earth elements as demand grows alongside clean-energy and high-tech manufacturing. The state register is Kazakhstan’s official inventory of mineral deposits, recording their resources and reserves, level of exploration and development, and changes resulting from extraction or reassessment. In 2024, 35 deposits were added to the register for the first time, followed by another 19 a year later. Across the same two-year period, exploration and reassessments added 262.2 million tons of iron ore, 199 million tons of oil, 157.2 tons of gold, and 22 billion cubic meters of gas to the country’s recorded resources and reserves. The register now includes around 10,000 deposits. The recorded resource base also increased for silver, copper, zinc, lead, chromium ore, manganese, and phosphorite. Geologists are also turning their attention to metals that have traditionally remained in the shadow of Kazakhstan’s main extractive industries. The country is assessing its potential for lithium, tungsten, molybdenum, and other rare metals and rare earth elements. Among the deposits under study are Karaoba, which contains tungsten, and the Karagailyaktas, Akhmetkino, and Akhmirovskoye lithium deposits. Several major molybdenum deposits are located in the Karaganda Region. A separate exploration program focuses on rare earth elements, which are used in permanent magnets, electric motors, electronics, wind turbines, and a range of defense technologies. Studies have been completed at 11 exploration sites, while four prospective areas within Kuyrektykol have forecast resources estimated at 935,400 tons. The government identifies Kuyrektykol in the Karaganda Region as the most promising of these sites. Geologists have identified lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and yttrium there. In 2025, officials said the wider Zhana Kazakhstan area, which encompasses almost all of Kuyrektykol, could contain more than 20 million tons of rare earth metals at depths of up to 300 meters. Much of this, however, remains at the geological assessment stage. The forecast resource estimates still need to be confirmed through further exploration before they can be treated as mineable reserves and the economics of extraction can be determined. Kazakhstan could also find growing demand abroad for these resources. The United States and the European Union are seeking new sources of critical minerals and trying to reduce their dependence on China, particularly in rare earth processing. Astana, meanwhile, is encouraging foreign partners to go beyond buying raw materials and invest in processing inside Kazakhstan. The search for new deposits is also becoming more expensive and more ambitious. Over the next three years, Kazakhstan plans to invest more than $470 million in state-funded geological exploration – more than it spent over the previous 15 years. The program includes new geological mapping, while broader modernization efforts include digitizing historical geological data and using artificial intelligence to help identify promising areas. Only a fraction of identified resources, however, ultimately make the transition to...

Nuclear Power Plant

Uzbekistan Nuclear Power Plant Targets More Local Production in $9.5 Billion Project

Construction is underway on Uzbekistan’s first nuclear power plant, a $9.5 billion project in the Jizzakh Region. The government wants Uzbek companies to take on a larger share of construction and equipment production, while work is also beginning on infrastructure and a new town alongside the plant. The project entered the construction phase on June 4. Excavation for the reactor building has now been completed, with more than 1 million cubic meters of soil removed. Uzbek-made products are currently expected to account for 21% of the project, or about $1.9 billion. Authorities want to raise that share to at least 30%, while local companies are expected to carry out 65% of construction and installation work. The government says up to 7,000 Uzbek workers and specialists could be involved at different stages of construction. For now, however, the project remains reliant on foreign expertise: the general contractor is Atomstroyexport, the engineering division of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom. As part of the push to increase local participation, authorities plan to create a 200-hectare industrial zone in the Forish District. It could host at least 100 joint ventures, with local production established in 15 areas, including through the transfer of foreign technology. The government is also preparing tax and customs incentives intended to encourage local production. The Jizzakh project has expanded significantly since it was first agreed. The original deal with Rosatom envisaged a small nuclear power plant consisting of six RITM-200N reactors. The concept was later revised: the integrated complex is now planned to combine two large VVER-1000 units with two RITM-200N small modular reactors. The plant will also require extensive supporting infrastructure, including new power lines, 120 kilometers of water pipelines, 40 kilometers of roads, and 11 kilometers of railway. Authorities want locally produced goods and services to account for 60%-70% of this infrastructure work. A separate town for plant employees and their families is planned next to the site. Around 10,000 homes and apartments for nearly 33,000 people are expected to be built on 200 hectares. Uzbekistan is also developing the technical and regulatory capacity needed to oversee a project of this scale. The government is considering a joint venture with foreign engineering companies to provide independent technical assessments during construction. In June, a mission from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Uzbekistan to review the country’s progress in developing the national infrastructure needed for a nuclear power program. The reliance on foreign expertise has also prompted efforts to train a domestic nuclear workforce. Since 2023, 216 students have graduated from the Tashkent branch of Russia’s National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. Of these, 83 are continuing their master’s or postgraduate studies at institutions abroad. Around 100 more future nuclear industry specialists are studying at four higher education institutions in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan’s nuclear plans are developing as electricity consumption grows rapidly. The country is simultaneously building solar and wind power plants, developing hydropower, and seeking to reduce the amount of natural gas burned to generate electricity. The nuclear plant is...

Turkmenistan Gas

Turkmenistan Gas Expansion in Caspian Advances with Petronas

Turkmenistan is expanding offshore gas development in the Caspian Sea, while increasing production at existing fields and seeking new markets for its gas. Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas has secured two new offshore blocks after nearly 30 years in the country, while UAE-based XRG has joined it in the existing Block I project. Petronas Expands in the Caspian Petronas reported in late August that it had signed agreements covering offshore Blocks 19 and 20 in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. The agreements themselves were signed in June. Turkmenistan also plans geological surveys at four additional blocks — 11, 12, 13, and 14. The size of their reserves, future investment, and potential production timelines have not been disclosed. Petronas is Malaysia’s national oil and gas company and one of the largest foreign investors in Turkmenistan’s energy sector. It entered the country in 1996 and has since developed a group of offshore fields known as Block I. Over three decades, five offshore platforms have been built and around 40 exploration, appraisal, and production wells drilled in the area. According to Turkmenistan’s state oil company Türkmennebit, operations have produced more than 44 billion cubic meters of gas and 16 million tons of liquid hydrocarbons. In 2025, XRG joined the project. The international energy investment company was established by ADNOC, the state-owned oil and gas group of Abu Dhabi. Petronas retained operatorship and a 57% interest, XRG acquired 38%, and the remaining 5% is held by Turkmenistan’s state-owned Hazarnebit. The gas produced by the project is sold to state-owned Türkmengaz, which controls the country’s gas sector. The offshore fields currently produce around 11.3 million cubic meters of gas per day, while their resource base is estimated at around 200 billion cubic meters. A new well began producing at the Magtymguly field in August. The well produced more than 1.3 million cubic meters of gas and around 130 tons of gas condensate per day. Galkynysh and China The Caspian projects account for only part of Turkmenistan’s gas industry. Much larger volumes are produced in the east of the country, home to Galkynysh, one of the world’s largest natural gas fields. In April, Turkmenistan launched another stage of the field’s development with CNPC, China’s state-owned oil and gas company. The project, worth around $5.1 billion, is expected to add another 10 billion cubic meters a year to Galkynysh’s production capacity. The two projects reflect different strands of Turkmenistan’s gas strategy. China remains the main buyer of Turkmen gas, receiving around 30 billion cubic meters annually through the Central Asia-China gas pipeline. In the Caspian Sea, meanwhile, Turkmenistan is attracting capital and technology from Malaysian and Emirati companies. Seeking New Export Routes As production expands, Ashgabat is also trying to diversify its export markets. Most of the country’s gas export infrastructure is currently oriented toward China, prompting Turkmenistan to spend years exploring alternative routes. One is TAPI, the planned gas pipeline running through Afghanistan toward Pakistan and India. In recent months, work has advanced most actively on...