Features - The Times Of Central Asia

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Air Pollution

“Close Your Windows, Avoid Outdoor Exercise” – Residents Fear Air Pollution in Tashkent

On the afternoon of January 27th local time, the level of PM2.5 (fine particles) pollution in the air in Tashkent surpassed the level recommended by the World Health Organization by 23.2 times, according to data from the U.S. Embassy Tashkent AirNow monitoring station. This ranked Uzbekistan’s capital as the third worst city in the world for air pollution, leading to warnings to “avoid outdoor exercise, close your windows, wear a mask outdoors, and run an air purifier.” Thirty-times thinner than a human hair, PM2.5 particles are widely regarded as the most harmful to health.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="14067" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]Tashkent has been grappling with a serious air pollution crisis for years, and has been consistently ranked among the cities with the highest levels of air pollution worldwide. Several factors contribute to the escalating levels of air pollution in Tashkent. The Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan has highlighted increasing emissions from coal-burning heat and power plants, motor vehicles, illegal tree felling, and unauthorized construction activities as the key contributors. The number of vehicles in Tashkent has also increased by 32% from 3.14 million in 2021 to 4.6 million in 2023. The majority of these vehicles use A-80 gasoline, a fuel type that does not meet international standards and emits a significant number of pollutants. Moreover, coal usage for electricity generation has also increased, rising from 3.9 million tons in 2019 to 6.7 million tons by the end of 2023, whilst Tashkent's geographical location, surrounded by mountains, exacerbates the problem as it prevents the polluted air from being dispersed by wind.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="14068" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]In response to this environmental crisis, earlier this month the Ministry proposed several measures including banning motor fuel below the Euro-4 standard, restricting the movement of heavy cargo vehicles during rush hours, banning vehicles manufactured before 2010, promoting electric vehicles, reducing congestion by implementing an odd-even scheme for vehicle movement, pedestrianizing city centers, transitioning public transport to electric and gas-cylinder fuel, imposing a moratorium on construction except for facilities of social and state significance, banning the use of coal for industrial purposes in the Tashkent region, and creating a “green belt” around the city.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="13668" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]Despite these proposed measures, with such commitments having been made previously, many remain unconvinced about the government's commitment to combating air pollution. "It is now safer to live in Chernobyl than in Tashkent,” Journalist Nikita Makarenko wrote on Telegram. “Where are the measures to reduce cars? Where are the paid parking lots; where are the measures to raise the price of owning a car? Where is the public transport?" Earlier this month, activists in the capital staged a protest to voice their concerns, complaining that the city feels like it is covered in a constant layer of fog which “smells like smoke” and fearing that the government’s response may prove to be a “one-off,” when a long-term strategy is desperately needed. Tashkent is not alone in the region –...

Aral Sea Parallels Loom Over Lake Balkhash

Located 175 miles north-west of the country’s largest city, Almaty, Kazakhstan’s Lake Balkhash is the fifteenth largest lake in the world. The remains of an ancient sea which once covered vast tracts of land, on its shores in the city of Balkhash, a mixture of around 68,000 mostly ethnic Kazakhs and Russians eke out a living, predominantly through fishing and mining. But like its’ sister body of water, the Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash is under threat with its inflow sources diminishing. Fed by glaciers in Xinjiang, China, the Ili River has traditionally accounted for the vast majority of Lake Balkhash’s inflow, but according to research, as of 2021 China was blocking 40% of the river’s inflow, leading to a rise in anti-Chinese sentiments in Kazakhstan. In 1910, Lake Balkhash had an estimated surface area of 23,464 km². As recently as the 1960s, fishermen were netting a catch of over 30,000 tons annually, but by the 1990s, this had fallen to 6,600 tons of significantly less sought-after types of fish. Between 1970 and 1987 alone, the water level fell by 2.2 meters, with projects aimed at halting this decline abandoned as the Soviet Union fell into stagnation before dissolving. Currently, the lake covers a surface area of between 16,400 and 17,000 km². Falling water levels have also led to the appearance of new islands and impacted biodiversity, with 12 types of bird and 22 vertebrates indigenous to the region listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan as endangered, whilst the Caspian tiger is, in all likelihood, extinct. Meanwhile, contamination from mining, both local and upstream in China, have led to the lake being classified as “very dirty.”[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="12326" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]With desertification now affecting one-third of the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, which includes Almaty, the resultant dust storms are leading to an increase in the lake’s salinity, with silt from these storms further affecting inflow. Parallels to the Aral Sea – arguably the worst man-made environmental disaster in modern history – are all too apparent. Spanning across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea was once the fourth largest inland body of water in the world, covering 68,000 km². The destruction of the Aral Sea first dates back as far as the U.S. Civil War, when, finding his supply of American cotton under threat, the Russian tsar decided to use the sea’s tributaries to irrigate Central Asia and create his own cotton bowl. With 1.8 million liters of water needed for every bale of cotton, the water soon began to run out. By 2007, the Aral had shrunk to one-tenth its original size. Up until the late-1990s, the land surrounding the Aral Sea was still cotton fields; today, it’s largely an expanse of salinized grey emptiness. The desiccation of the landscape has led to vast toxic dust-storms that ravage around 1.5 million square kilometers. Spreading nitrates and carcinogens, these storms - visible from space - used to occur once every five years, but now strike ten times a year.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="13441" img_size="full"...

President Mirziyoyev Meets Xi Jinping on State Visit to China

Late on Tuesday night, the President of Uzbekistan’s press service reported that the head of state's plane had landed at Shoudou International Airport, where he was greeted by China's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Sun Yeli and other officials. The president's state visit started on Wednesday with a meeting with the Premier of the State Council, Li Qiang, wherein they discussed the expansion of economic interaction, participation of Chinese companies in privatization in Uzbekistan, increasing the number of flights, and other issues. Many important points were raised at the meeting, such as the 50% increase in trade turnover between China and Uzbekistan over the past year, reaching $14 billion, and the volume of Chinese investment in the Uzbek economy exceeding this same figure. The two parties set their sights on making this figure reach $20 billion. As planned within the framework of the state visit, Mirziyoyev also held meetings with a number of major Chinese corporations important for Uzbekistan. Jin Liqun, President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), discussed the expansion of strategic partnership, Dai Houliang, Chairman of the CNPC oil and gas corporation, talked about the implementation of promising projects in Uzbekistan on the construction of underground gas storage facilities and modernization of gas transportation systems, drilling technologies and the training of specialists, and Xi Guohua, head of the Chinese corporation CITIC, discussed the expansion of the portfolio of joint projects. Mirziyoyev also received Wu Fulin, Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of China, to discuss the bank's plan to open a regional office in Tashkent and prepare new promising projects for the development of transport and social infrastructure, industry, and in the private sector. At the main event of the visit, Mirziyoyev and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a document which was described on President Mirziyoyev’s website as made possible by a "powerful breakthrough in bilateral relations" in recent years. The agreement includes cooperation in the field of environmental protection; technical and economic cooperation; cooperation in the development of human resources; cooperation between state scientific research institutions; cooperation in the field of teaching the Chinese language; a protocol on deepening cooperation on China-Central Asia-Europe railway and the development of cooperation in the field of new electric vehicles; cooperation in the field of poverty reduction; a protocol on further strengthening of scientific and technical cooperation; on cooperation in the field of standardization, etc. The two sides agreed to continue to comprehensively strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and further enrich their strategic partnership.

China and Uzbekistan Cement Strategic Partnership

During their talks in Beijing on January 24th, Chinese president Xi Jinping and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev upgraded ties between China and Uzbekistan to an “all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership”. During negotiations the two leaders announced that in recent years a strong breakthrough has been made in bilateral relations, with the strengthening of political dialogue and mutual support on key issues. The presidents highlighted the growth in mutual trade, as well as economic and investment cooperation, with the volume of Chinese investments in the economy of Uzbekistan having grown fivefold and the number of joint ventures having tripled in recent years. It was noted that at the end of last year two new solar power plants with a capacity of 1000 megawatts were put into operation in Uzbekistan with the participation of Chinese companies. Mr Mirziyoyev welcomed new agreements on expanding financial instruments to support investment projects in Uzbekistan, as well as the decision of the Export–Import Bank of China to open a regional office for Central Asia in Tashkent. The leaders welcomed the intensification of exchanges between the regions of Uzbekistan and the provinces of China. To coordinate cooperation in this direction, they have agreed to establish the Council of Regions of Uzbekistan and China. The Chinese and Uzbek presidents also emphasized the importance of bringing forward the start of construction work for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which is designed to be an important component of the transcontinental transport and transit route as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

European Parliament calls for close cooperation with strategically important Central Asia

At the regular plenary session held on January 17 this year, the European Parliament supported the adoption of the resolution "EU Strategy for Central Asia: New Opportunities for Strengthening Partnership". One of the MEPs Carsten Lücke wrote in his Instagram that the resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority. More specifically, the voting results were divided as follows: "for" voted 54 deputies, "against" - 42, "abstained" - 44. Aydos Sarymna, a deputy of Kazakhstan's Mazhilis, noted in a message on his Telegram channel that this resolution is a planned document of the European Parliament, according to which the deputies gave their own assessment of the implementation of the "New EU Strategy for Central Asia". The opinion of both government officials and ordinary citizens of the Central Asian countries was taken into account when drawing up the "papers". In addition, the official emphasized the distinctive tone felt in the updated resolution. Central Asia, he said, is seen in it as no other than a region that has successfully shaped its regional identity. Among other things, it has managed to unite its capabilities in trade, investment, business and other spheres. Among other things, Sarym writes that the European Parliament recognizes the unity of global and regional challenges for both the European Union and the Central Asian region. And this, in turn, creates new opportunities for long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation. In this regard, the EU Parliament strongly encourages its countries to strengthen cooperation and promote strategic, political and economic partnership with Central Asia, especially given its geopolitical importance.

Kambarata

The World Bank will help Kyrgyzstan to build Kambarata HPP-1

Kyrgyz Finance Minister Almaz Baketaev met with World Bank Regional Director for Central Asia Tatyana Proskuryakova. The parties discussed Kyrgyzstan's projects on improving irrigation, as well as renewable energy in Kyrgyzstan and construction of Kambar-Ata-1 HPP in Jalal-Abad region, the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic reported. At the meeting in the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance, the WB staff said that they are ready to provide Kyrgyzstan with $5 million for a feasibility study of the new HPP project, consulting services, as well as updating the preparatory work. In turn, the Minister of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic emphasized that the financing agreement was approved by the Kyrgyz Parliament. According to the Ministry of Finance, the World Bank will provide the republic with 3 million dollars as an interest-free loan for 50 years with a grace period of 10 years, and 2 million dollars in the form of a grant. It should be noted that at present at Kambarata HPP-1 preparatory work is underway to provide electricity to the facility under construction, access roads, transportation tunnels and bridges are being built on the right bank of the Naryn River, which will provide access to the site of construction of the main structures of the HPP and shift camp for hydro construction workers. According to official data, more than 20 million dollars was allocated from the Kyrgyz republican budget for the preparatory work. The cost of the entire project, according to a feasibility study developed 10 years ago, is about $3 billion. But, as the Kyrgyz Ministry of Energy said earlier, the exact cost of all the works will be known after updating the existing feasibility study, for which the World Bank has allocated money. The estimated construction time for the new hydropower plant is nine years. Commissioning of the first hydroelectric unit according to the calculations will be made in seven years, provided that the construction is continuously financed. The World Bank said that Kambarata HPP-1 will be one of the most cost-effective projects to expand clean energy resources in Kyrgyzstan and throughout Central Asia. In addition, the project has the potential to address the country's energy security and generate significant revenues from electricity exports. "Kambarata HPP-1 is a critical project with the potential to bring enormous benefits in clean energy production, regional cooperation, water security, and environmental protection throughout Central Asia. The World Bank's technical assistance will help the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers utilize the country's rich hydropower potential for the benefit of the people and the region, while strengthening the governance and financial sustainability of the energy sector," said WB Regional Director for Central Asia Tatiana Proskuryakova. According to her, the money from the WB will be used to update previous studies on the construction of a new hydropower plant to confirm the technical feasibility and economic viability of the project. Also, a mechanism will be developed to distribute benefits from the sale of electricity, so that part of the income could be directed to various socio-economic...