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EU’s Central Asia Representative Reaffirms the Union’s Commitment to the Region

Teri Hakala, Special Representative of the European Union for Central Asia, has recently spoken about the EU's goals for its presence in the Central Asian region, and plans for the coming years. Speaking at the conference, "Turkmenistan and the EU: 30 years of cooperation", Ms Hakala said: "The EU has a very strong presence in the Central Asian region. And our goal is to contribute to the development and welfare of these countries and sustainability. In the next 30 years we plan to continue our work in Turkmenistan and in other Central Asian countries, partners, for the benefit of these countries and the EU." She also spoke about the EU-Central Asia Transport Investment Forum, which was held in Brussels earlier this year. "In January, the EU organized an investment forum and in March too there were discussions about our commitment and obligations related to the allocation of $10 billion from the EU for the Trans-Caspian Corridor project, which will help to expand trade relations, to include more and more people in their activities. This will contribute to the expansion of not only the transport corridor, but also the energy corridor," Ms Hakala added. The Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor is a route connecting Europe and Central Asia. It is expected that once complete, cargo will be delivered along it in just 15 days.

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Turkmenistan Plans to Create Powerful Bio-industry Sector

Turkmenistan intends to create a powerful bio-industry sector in all areas of biotechnology, Turkmenportal reports. President Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed a decree approving the State Program for comprehensive development of biotechnology in Turkmenistan for 2024-2028. Under the program, it is planned to implement priority innovation and investment projects, and widely deploy production in all sectors of bio-industry - from bio-pharmaceuticals to bio-chips. "The country's Academy of Sciences is already conducting topical developments in dozens of areas. In bio-pharmaceuticals, the medicinal properties of local plants are being studied. In food biotechnology, the production of fortified foods and drinks is underway. Agricultural biotechnology is being developed to increase crop yields. Scientists are working on biosensors and bio-chips for personalized medicine, bio-fuels and biodegradable materials. Microorganisms for soil bio-remediation are being studied. Turkmen know-how in the field of biotechnology is already attracting scientific interest in the world," the outlet said. The Presidential Decree also provides for a plan of measures to implement the State Program, which will be implemented by the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, relevant ministries and departments. The main purpose of the new document is to integrate science into the development of different sectors of the economy, stimulate the production of environmentally-friendly, energy-saving, import-substituting and export-oriented goods, and the formation of a competitive national bio-industry in the future.

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Large-Scale Cyberattacks on Kazakhstan Continue

Leaks of millions of citizens data, attacks by hackers, hourly calls from fraudsters - these are just some of the threats which have faced Kazakhstan over the past few months. Following the resignation – or dismissal depending on which source one believes - of the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and the Aerospace Industry, Bagdat Mussin, many wonder whether the authorities will be able to secure Kazakhstan's internet. The Times of Central Asia investigates. On May 9, AlmaTV, Kazakhstan’s largest internet and cable TV provider, suffered an attack by hackers which caused disruption to its’ services. “According to data received… the cause of the disruption was a large-scale and multi-level cyberattack," AlmaTV stated. The outage solely affected internet broadcasting, whilst analog, digital and satellite TV services were working normally. According to numerous sources, the broadcast of the Victory Day military parade in Moscow was interrupted by footage of an anti-Russian nature, alleged torture, and other explicit content. Officials in Kazakhstan have yet to commented. This is not the first scandal in the sphere of cybersecurity. In March of this year, the State Technical Service JSC discovered that personal data pertaining to over two million clients of the microfinance organization, zaimer.kz (MFO Robocash.kz LLP), had been compromised. Warnings about the leak were also received by people who had never used the company’s services. In the opinion of many analysts, the reaction of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and the Aerospace Industry was extremely late in coming, extremely vague, and in no way reassured Kazakhstanis about the safety of their private information. Mussin was accused of making excuses, poor-quality communication, failing to answer questions, and “babble talk.” In addition, back in February, foreign media, in particular CyberNews, reported that in leaked Chinese Government documents, data belonging to residents of Kazakhstan was found. The documents were related to spyware developed by the Chinese information security company, iSoon, and targeted social media platforms, telecommunications companies, and other such organizations. Allegedly, unknown assailants have posted a huge number of PRC government documents on GitHub. The information circulated also revealed sensitive data pertaining to several telecom operators in Kazakhstan. Also in February, a shocking statement by the Center for Analysis and Investigation of Cyberattacks (TSARKA) appeared, according to which a Chinese hacker group controlled the critical facets within Kazakhstan's IT infrastructure for almost two years. “On February 16, 2024, unknown persons published on the GitHub resource a leak of secret data from the Chinese company iSoon (aka Anxun), one of the contractors of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS). It is reported to be associated with Chengdu 404, a structure controlled by Chinese cyber intelligence known as APT41,” TSARKA said. “The attackers’ goal was both general information, such as databases, and targeted information of specific individuals: control of correspondence, calls and movement. Data analysis showed that the volume of stolen information is measured in terabytes.” The hackers managed to gain control over the event logs, call durations, IMEIs of devices, and...

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Kazakhstan Launches Battle against Counterfeit Medicines

From 1 July 1, 2024, in an effort to rid the country of counterfeit drugs flooding the local market, labeling of all medicines in Kazakhstan will become mandatory. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every tenth package of medicines distributed in developing countries is counterfeit, and in Kazakhstan, exceeds 10% of the volume of imported medicines. This is not only an economic issue, but one that poses a direct threat to people's lives and the health of the nation. Under the new initiative, all drugs will be assigned an electronic passport detailing both its source and path to the consumer. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan stated that the key aim of the project is to eradicate illegal trade in medicines, including those used within the state's medical programs and mandatory social health insurance. Confident that mandatory labeling will prove effective in dealing with gray imports in the pharmaceutical market, economist Andrei Chebotarev remarked, "When the manufacturer's goods are labeled, you can trace their route all the way to your home medicine cabinet. Everyone will know, for example, where the pills were produced and how they were imported into the country. At present, there is no guarantee that goods are genuine. Where was this medicine produced? In India, in Germany? It is almost impossible to check the source." In short, he continued, labeling is the surest way of "letting the cat out of the bag." Another positive impact of the introduction of labeling concerns an increase in tax revenues and customs duties. Pharmacies in Kazakhstan already sell drugs labeled with the DataMatrix code. Specialists believe that the pharmaceutical industry is ready to exit the shadow turnover. During the first two months of 2024, almost 5,000 tons of various drugs worth $275.7 million, were imported by Kazakhstan.

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A Steep Rise in Popularity of Women-Only Carriages on Kazakhstan’s Trains

Since the beginning of this year, some 70 thousand women in Kazakhstan have opted to travel by train in carriages designated as "women's cars". According to data provided by the national carrier "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy" (KTZ), this is a steep rise from the 34,000 who used the same carriages in 2023. Introduced at the beginning of 2021, the service which female travellers deem safer and more comfortable than mainstream carriages, has now been used by over 359 thousand women. Outlining the initiative, KTZh explained that tickets for women's cars , available on eight trains, are sold only to women and are staffed exclusively by female conductors. Any males travelling must be seven years' old or under. With reference to forward planning, the company stated, "A social survey is currently being conducted on the project. Once collated, the results should provide a better understanding of the needs and preferences of passengers, and subsequently, help determine a strategy for its future development." The need to launch women-only cars in Kazakhstan was spurred by public outrage following the rape of a female passenger by two conductors on a high-speed train travelling the 'Talgo' route between Astana and Aktobe in the fall of 2018. During the ensuing high-profile case in July 2019, conductors Zhetes Umbetaliyev and Kolkanat Kurmaniyazov were found guilty and sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

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Uzbekistan To Work With Hungary on Nuclear Projects

Hungary will train nuclear engineers from Uzbekistan to work in Uzbek power plants, the country's trade minister Peter Szijjarto announced during his recent visit to Tashkent. "Since we have several decades of experience in the field of nuclear power, we have already started training future Uzbek nuclear power specialists in Hungary," Sijjarto wrote on social media. He noted that if a contract with Rosatom is signed for the construction of a nuclear power plant on the territory of Uzbekistan, it will use the Hungarian technology of cooling on the basis of a "dry" cooling tower. A similar method is already used by the Hungarian company Eniox, which is ready to provide financing to Hungary's Eximbank Hungary in the amount of 130 million euros when participating in the Uzbek nuclear project. Hungary has now started construction of the Russian-designed Paksh-2 NPP of generation "3+" with two power units based on VVER-1200 reactors. Operating since 1982, the Paksh NPP will start to be decommissioned from 2032. "In the current energy crisis, the ability to produce nuclear energy has become extremely valuable. Without nuclear energy, Europe would not have a secure energy supply and affordable energy," Sijjarto emphasized. As the world's fifth-largest exporter of uranium, Uzbekistan is attracting Japanese and Chinese companies that are actively developing uranium in the republic, especially with a focus on black shale. According to data for 2022, Uzbekistan has reserves of 49,200 tons of uranium and about 32,900 tons of uranium in black shale. The deposits are mainly concentrated in sandstones of the Kyzylkum desert. Today, uranium mined in the country is exported abroad by companies such as Itochu (Japan), Cameco (Canada), CNEIC (China) and others.