Business & Economy - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 49 - 54 of 2559

Fuel Shortages

Tajikistan Offers Farmers Subsidized Diesel as Fuel Shortages Deepen

Tajikistan’s Ministry of Agriculture says farmers will be able to purchase diesel at a subsidized price of approximately $1.20 per liter through the Agency for State Material Reserves as fuel shortages intensify across the country. Speaking at a press conference on July 9, First Deputy Agriculture Minister Nurali Asozoda acknowledged that fuel supplies remained under pressure throughout the region. Tajikistan imports most of its petroleum products and liquefied gas from Russia, leaving it vulnerable to disruptions in the Russian fuel market. According to Asozoda, the agency is selling diesel to agricultural producers for about $1.20 per liter, while AI-92 gasoline is available for approximately $0.99 per liter. Commercial filling stations are charging considerably more. Diesel prices have risen to around $1.40-1.66 per liter, while some stations have reported shortages. Asozoda added that the lower prices apply only to fuel distributed through the agency. He said reserve stocks were available in several regions and that agricultural producers could apply to buy fuel. In some cases, farms may also receive diesel on deferred-payment terms to allow them to complete the harvest. Deputy Agriculture Minister Bahrom Ahmadzada said the ministry had submitted proposals to the government in May to support farmers affected by the shortage. One proposal would establish dedicated fuel distribution points operated by the agency in rural districts. The initiative is currently under government review. Authorities are also seeking to diversify Tajikistan’s fuel imports. According to Ahmadzoda, negotiations are underway with Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia. He said an agreement had already been reached to import 10,000 tons of fuel from Iraq, while discussions with Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia were also progressing. The ministry said it was monitoring the fuel situation daily in coordination with the agency and other government bodies. The shortage became more visible in early July, when several filling stations in Dushanbe ran out of diesel. Others limited sales to 20 liters per vehicle. The supply squeeze is particularly serious for agriculture. Farmers rely on diesel to harvest crops, transport produce, and prepare fields for the next planting season. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, fuel shortages are spreading across Central Asia. The pressure has affected gasoline and diesel supplies, along with jet fuel, natural gas, coal, and electricity planning. Seasonal fuel pressure is common, but this year’s shortages have appeared unusually early. They are closely linked to disruptions in Russia, the main fuel supplier for much of the region.

Almaty-Issyk-Kul Flights

Direct Flights Between Almaty and Lake Issyk-Kul Resume

Kyrgyzstan’s state-owned Asman Airlines will resume seasonal direct flights between Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan’s leading summer tourist destination. One-hour flights will begin on July 10 and arrive at Issyk-Kul International Airport in the village of Tamchy on the lake’s northern shore. The service will operate twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, in partnership with tour operator Kompas, Asman Airlines’ official partner in Kazakhstan. Round-trip fares start at $120. Asman Airlines currently operates three Dash 8 Q400 aircraft, Canadian-made short-haul turboprop planes capable of carrying up to 80 passengers over distances of up to 2,000 kilometers. The aircraft are used on domestic routes across Kyrgyzstan after the airline recently restored air links between Bishkek and several remote regional centers. Lake Issyk-Kul remains one of the most popular summer destinations for tourists from across Central Asia, particularly residents of Almaty looking for short weekend trips. The Almaty-Tamchy route is expected to make travel easier for visitors from southern Kazakhstan by significantly reducing travel time during the peak holiday season. By road, the journey from Almaty to Issyk-Kul currently covers more than 460 kilometers via Bishkek and usually takes around eight hours. Efforts to shorten the overland route are continuing. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have been advancing a long-discussed highway project intended to directly connect Almaty with Issyk-Kul. Although the two locations are only about 80 kilometers apart in a straight line, mountain ranges force travelers to make a long detour through the Kyrgyz capital. Issyk-Kul has also become more accessible to travelers from Kazakhstan’s capital. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport, FlyArystan began regular flights between Astana and Issyk-Kul on July 3. The flights operate twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, using an Airbus A320. On July 8, Asman Airlines also launched a seasonal direct service between Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s capital, and Lake Issyk-Kul.

Energy Investment

Kazakhstan’s Energy Sector Without Local Business: The Anatomy of Major Projects

In late June 2026, construction began on a 1 GW wind power plant in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl Region. The project is valued at $1.4 billion. Companies based in the United Arab Emirates, Masdar and W Solar, hold 80% of the project, while Kazakhstan’s quasi-state sector holds the remaining 20% through Qazaq Green Power and the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund. This ownership model has become typical across Kazakhstan’s energy industry. Nearly all major new energy infrastructure projects rely on foreign capital. The country’s largest renewable energy developments involve international investors, including France’s TotalEnergies and Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power. Even when agreements collapse, the government continues to rely on foreign partners. After financing problems ended cooperation with Russia’s Inter RAO, construction of new thermal power plants in Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk was quickly reassigned to a Kazakh-Singapore consortium. A similar pattern appears across the sector: foreign investors provide most of the capital and technology, while Kazakhstan’s state-linked companies take minority stakes through Samruk-Kazyna or its subsidiaries This has created an unusual situation. Despite an acute shortage of generating capacity and guaranteed long-term demand, Kazakhstan’s largest private businesses have largely stayed away from electricity generation. Instead, domestic capital continues to favor sectors with greater liquidity and shorter investment horizons, ranging from finance to residential real estate. The reasons lie in straightforward economics, where financing costs and regulatory conditions outweigh the sector’s potential returns. The Financial Equation Power generation is one of the most capital-intensive infrastructure industries, with investment payback periods typically ranging from 10 to 15 years. Such projects require access to long-term financing at low interest rates. For Kazakhstan’s private sector, those financing instruments are largely unavailable. Under the National Bank’s tight monetary policy, with the benchmark interest rate standing at 17%, commercial borrowing costs for businesses routinely exceed 20% annually. Financing the construction of a power plant with local-currency loans at those rates is, mathematically, unviable. Such projects are virtually guaranteed to become unprofitable. Rather than engaging in complex, long-term infrastructure financing, Kazakhstan’s banking sector has increasingly concentrated on faster and more profitable lending. Official statistics from the National Bank of Kazakhstan illustrate this imbalance. As of May 2026, banks’ claims on households had reached approximately $60 billion, while lending to non-financial private enterprises, the real economy,stood at about $29 billion, less than half that amount. In practice, commercial banks have largely withdrawn from financing major industrial investment projects, preferring consumer lending with higher liquidity and quicker returns. Foreign corporations, meanwhile, enter Kazakhstan with access to international capital markets. They secure financing from global development institutions or sovereign wealth funds in their home countries at significantly lower borrowing costs. As a result, domestic private investors often lose the competitive race before projects even reach the investment decision stage. Unequal Conditions for Investors A second obstacle for domestic investors lies in Kazakhstan’s regulatory framework. Electricity tariffs have historically been kept under government control to limit inflationary pressures and avoid sharp increases in household utility bills and production costs. To attract major international energy companies,...

Fuel Imports

Fuel Squeeze Leaves Kyrgyzstan Competing for Costly Alternatives

Kyrgyzstan is moving to secure alternative fuel supplies from China and Belarus as disruptions in Russia’s refining sector expose Bishkek’s dependence on a single supplier. The new arrangements may ease immediate pressure, but they also show how costly and limited Kyrgyzstan’s options remain. First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Daniyar Amangeldiyev said China has confirmed a contract to supply the first 3,000 tons of jet fuel, while negotiations are under way for an additional 5,000 tons of diesel fuel. The government has also signed agreements with Belarus covering 3,000 tons of jet fuel and approximately 10,000 tons of diesel. On July 1, the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) extended the zero customs duty regime within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) for gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, marine fuel, and other petroleum products for another year. EEC Minister of Trade Andrey Slepnev said the previous zero rates had expired on June 30 and that proposals from several member states to extend them were quickly coordinated. “The zero rates have been extended for another year,” he said. That buys time but does not remove the main risk. Russian refining disruptions, seasonal demand, and export controls could still reduce the flow of petroleum products to Kyrgyzstan. Imports from alternative suppliers are also likely to come at higher prices and on less favorable terms than those traditionally offered by Moscow. Russia has been Kyrgyzstan’s primary fuel supplier for decades. The country began receiving Russian petroleum products at preferential prices on October 10, 2000, when the prime ministers of Russia and Kyrgyzstan, Mikhail Kasyanov and Amangeldy Muraliev, signed an intergovernmental agreement in Astana governing indirect taxation in bilateral trade. Since then, Kyrgyzstan has received basic petroleum products duty-free at domestic Russian prices. In 2011, then-adviser to the Kyrgyz prime minister Farid Niyazov told the news outlet 24.kg that Russia would supply all petroleum products to Kyrgyzstan indefinitely without export duties, except aviation fuel. “At present, Russia’s export duty on these fuel products is $245 per ton. You can imagine how much we would otherwise have to pay for fuel,” he said. The 2000 bilateral agreement was terminated in 2015 after Kyrgyzstan joined the EAEU. Since then, the country has operated under the union’s common customs rules as well as bilateral agreements with Russia. This has left Kyrgyzstan heavily dependent on a single supplier. According to official statements and industry estimates, more than 90% of the country’s fuel consumption for households and agriculture is currently covered by Russian imports. Despite Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak’s assurances that domestic fuel reserves remain sufficient, shortages began to emerge in Russia in early June. Russia has since moved to tighten exports further as refinery disruptions have continued. As a result, Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers has begun searching for alternative suppliers while introducing daily monitoring of existing fuel deliveries. Rising gasoline and diesel prices had already prompted the government to introduce temporary state regulation of motor fuel prices in late May. It has since rolled...

TCA Interviews

Kazakhstan Seeking to Turn Transit Routes Into Investment Growth, Vice Minister Says

The development of transport and logistics has become one of the main priorities of Kazakhstan's economic policy as the country seeks to turn its position between China, Russia, the Caspian Sea, and Europe into long-term growth. Government transport data show the broader transport and warehousing sector grew in January-May 2026, although rail freight and cargo turnover remained under pressure. Large-scale rail, road, port, warehouse, and digital projects now sit at the center of that effort. The sector requires tens of billions of dollars in investment, while the reshaping of Eurasian supply chains since 2022 has raised the importance of the Middle Corridor and Caspian-linked routes. Can Kazakhstan attract the capital needed to implement large-scale infrastructure projects? How will changing investment priorities affect regional development? And how could new investment reshape the country's transport market? The Times of Central Asia discussed these questions with Maksat Kaliakparov, vice minister of transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan. TCA: How would you assess the current investment attractiveness of Kazakhstan's transport sector? How much foreign investment has the industry attracted recently? Maksat Kaliakparov: The investment attractiveness of the sector is high and continues to strengthen. In 2025 alone, gross foreign direct investment into Kazakhstan's economy reached $20.5 billion, an increase of 14.4% compared with the previous year. Investment is increasingly flowing into transport and logistics alongside manufacturing, digital infrastructure, and the financial sector. The transportation and warehousing sector was among the country's fastest-growing industries in January-May 2026, expanding by 8.4%. Investor interest is also reflected in the fact that, in 2025, Kazakhstan signed 88 commercial agreements worth more than $69.5 billion with partners from China, the UAE, the United States, and European countries. A significant share of these funds will be directed toward transport and logistics projects. More broadly, Kazakhstan's investment policy framework includes a target of increasing annual foreign direct investment inflows to $25.5 billion while raising investment in fixed capital to 25.1% of GDP. TCA: Which segments of the industry are currently attracting the greatest investor interest: railways, highways, aviation, ports, warehousing, or digital logistics? Which areas will require the largest investments in the coming years? Maksat Kaliakparov: Investor interest is spread across several major segments. Railways remain a key priority. Kazakhstan is implementing modernization and new construction projects, including the recently commissioned Dostyk-Moyynty railway section, as well as the Darbaza-Maktaaral and Moyynty-Kyzylzhar lines. By 2030, the country plans to build or modernize approximately 5,000 kilometers of railway infrastructure. Maritime and port logistics are also attracting substantial investment. Expansion is underway at the ports of Aktau and Kuryk, while a new container hub in Aktau is being built with the participation of China's Lianyungang Port Group. The project is expected to increase capacity to 240,000 TEU by the end of 2026. Road infrastructure has secured a landmark private investment through the Car Park Transformer roadside service network. Warehouse and multimodal logistics continue to develop, including through Kazakhstan's terminal at Georgia's Port of Poti. Digitalization is another important area. In particular, the pilot Smart...

Maritime Transport

Turkmenistan and Damen Shipyards Discuss Caspian Port Cooperation

Turkmenistan has held talks with Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Group about increasing their collaboration at the Turkmenbashi port on the Caspian Sea. The talks come as Turkmenistan seeks a larger role in the Middle Corridor, a trade network linking Asia and Europe via Central Asia and the Caucasus. The talks took place this week during a visit by Ambassador Sapar Palvanov to the headquarters of Damen Shipyards Group in the Netherlands, according to the Turkmen embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Palvanov is also Turkmenistan’s ambassador to Luxembourg and the Netherlands, as well as head of Turkmenistan’s mission to NATO in Brussels. “The discussions focused on prospects for expanding cooperation between Turkmenistan and Damen Shipyards, including the possibility of joint vessel construction at the shipbuilding facility of the Turkmenbashi International Seaport,” the embassy said. “Particular attention was given to further cooperation in the field of dredging.” Engineers from Damen, a major global shipbuilder, have already worked with their counterparts in Turkmenistan. The country’s Agency of Maritime and River Transport said in 2024 that the Balkan Shipyard in Turkmenbashi would begin assembly of the Damen CSD 650 dredger under Damen’s supervision. At the time, the agency described the assembly as the first step toward “localizing” the production of Damen dredgers in Turkmenistan. “Damen dredgers are in high demand in Turkmenistan, where they are used for dredging, construction and repair of port facilities, and for sand and gravel extraction,” it said. Dredging is important for trade across the Caspian Sea because of declining water levels that could make it more difficult to access ports and navigation channels. In an analysis published by Carnegie Politika last year, writer Aida Amangeldina cited a report saying the Caspian Sea’s level began falling in 1995 and dropped by about two meters between 2006 and 2024. “The Caspian Sea’s falling level is driven by multiple factors including the regulation of river inflows, desalination, and hydrocarbon contamination,” Amangeldina wrote. “The primary cause, however, is climate change, which has led to reduced precipitation and increased evaporation across the drainage basin, exacerbating water loss.”