Features - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1153 - 1158 of 3200

Aral Sea

Hope for the Northern Aral Sea as Restoration Efforts Continue

Between October 2024 and January 2025, one billion cubic meters of water will be directed to the Northern Aral Sea - 100 million cubic meters more than initially planned. Agreements with Central Asian countries will further increase this figure to 1.6 billion cubic meters by March. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the current water volume in the Northern Aral Sea stands at 22.1 billion cubic meters, up from 18.9 billion cubic meters at the beginning of 2022. By the end of 2025, this volume is projected to reach 23.4 billion cubic meters. The reservoir’s surface area has also expanded, reaching 3,065 square kilometers - an increase of 111 square kilometers over the past two years. The rising water levels have had a positive impact on the ecosystem: salinity has decreased, the population of 22 fish species has recovered, and the annual fish catch has reached 8,000 tons. Meanwhile, a project to preserve the Kokaral Dam and restore the Syr Darya River delta is nearing completion. Reconstruction work on dams between Lake Karashalan and the Syr Darya, the construction of the Tauir protective dam, and the renovation of the Karashalan-1 canal have already been completed. By the end of the year, the reconstruction of the Kokaral Dam is expected to be finished, further reducing salinity and stabilizing water levels in the Northern Aral Sea. Efforts to improve water efficiency in Kazakhstan’s Kyzylorda region have also contributed to the sea’s recovery. The use of laser leveling technology on rice fields has saved 200 million cubic meters of water, which has been redirected to the Northern Aral. The leveling of 55,000 hectares of rice fields has also boosted crop yields, increasing harvests from 40-55 centners per hectare to 70-80 centners per hectare. To encourage the adoption of water-saving technologies, the government has raised subsidies for infrastructure installation from 50% to 80% and increased compensation for irrigation water to as much as 85%, depending on the tariff. Reforestation efforts in the Aral Sea basin are also ongoing. Between 2021 and 2024, 4.4 million seedlings were planted on the dried-up seabed of the Large Aral Sea, covering 475,000 hectares. In 2025, an additional 428,000 hectares will be greened, bringing the total afforested area to 1.1 million hectares. Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) on January 1, 2024. As part of its leadership, the IFAS Executive Committee has approved a 2024-2026 work plan, which includes approximately 40 initiatives across 10 priority areas.

Finance

Single Securities Market to Be Launched in the EAEU

Last week, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council convened in Almaty, where the heads of government from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states agreed to standardize securities trading across their stock exchanges. The agreement is expected to further integrate the financial markets of the five member countries, according to Myktybek Abirov, vice president of the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange. “The main purpose of the agreement is to harmonize the rules and standards of securities circulation within the common economic space, which will facilitate financial market integration, improve investor access, and enhance liquidity,” the Kyrgyz Ministry of Economy and Commerce stated. “The adoption of such rules will create new opportunities for businesses and investors, expanding their reach and strengthening economic ties between EAEU countries.” Abirov told The Times of Central Asia that the agreement will allow both private and state-owned companies to list their securities on stock exchanges across EAEU member states. “This is a welcome development, as it gives our issuers access to other stock markets,” Abirov said. “They will be able to place their securities in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia, while investors will gain broader access to financial instruments, enabling them to diversify risks.” According to Abirov, efforts to establish a unified securities market within the EAEU have been ongoing for a decade. The newly reached agreement includes the mutual recognition of financial brokers across member states’ stock exchanges. “Each EAEU country currently has slightly different listing requirements. Now, the Eurasian Economic Commission has set unified standards that companies must meet,” he explained. “Securities that comply with these standards will be tradable on financial markets without additional procedures.” Private financial sector representatives have expressed unanimous support for the initiative, emphasizing that greater integration will be beneficial - provided that administrative and regulatory procedures are sufficiently streamlined. The key challenge now is ensuring effective implementation, they noted. Officials at the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange hope that the first such trades will take place this year. Meanwhile, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) has confirmed its readiness to list foreign securities under the new framework.

Migrant Workers

Half a World Away: Central Asian Workers on British Farms

Few countries have more patriotic supermarkets than Britain. Whether it’s a sortie through the sausage section, or browsing the fruit aisle, customers are almost guaranteed to be confronted with the red, white and blue of the Union Jack. In a country not famed for its food, it’s perhaps strange to see the national flag given such prominence. The practice is far less common in continental Europe. Nevertheless, over the past decade there has been a push, propelled by an odd alliance of environmentalists and nationalists, to source homegrown food. Retailers have cottoned onto this and seem glad to leave the customer with the warm, bucolic feeling that they have aided embattled farmers, reduced their carbon footprint, and even helped to correct the country’s balance of payments deficit by buying British. “Supermarkets get more than just the profit margin for the [British] fruit they sell,” says Dr Lydia Medland, a research fellow at Bristol University. “We call it farmwashing: they get publicity, they get kudos; they use this ripe, fresh, local image to sell more products.” There’s only one snag. The people who pick the fruit and vegetables which are then packaged up with British flags, are not exactly local. [caption id="attachment_28497" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] British flags adorn food packaging in the country's supermarkets.Images: Yvonne Mould (left); Elke Morgan (center and right)[/caption] Central Asia and Britain: An Unlikely Match Seasonal workers have been traveling to the island of Britain for over a hundred years. In the nineteenth century, farmers would travel across the Irish Sea to help bring in the harvest. However, in the late 1990s, the number of people arriving on seasonal visas began to rise significantly. This was followed in the 2000s by a spike in workers from Europe, taking advantage of visa-free access to Britain’s labor market under the auspices of the European Union. They served as a pool of flexible, cheap workers for a farming industry that was being increasingly squeezed by the buying power of the country’s major supermarket chains. When Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, the farming industry panicked at the prospect of losing much of this cut-price labor force. They successfully lobbied the government to relaunch the Seasonal Worker Visa program on a trial basis. Originally designed in the 1940s for European students, the scheme was repackaged to empower private recruitment agencies to hire workers from across the world to work in the fields for six months a year. When the visa debuted in 2018, 2,500 people came. By 2021 – the year that freedom of movement between Britain and the EU officially ended – the government had already raised the quota to 30,000. At the other end of Europe, the collapse in the value of the Russian Ruble since the start of 2023, combined with a crackdown on foreign laborers, has seen a mass exodus of Central Asians from Russia. By October 2024, there were around 30% fewer migrants in the country than there were on the eve of the Covid-19...

Starlink Internet

The Twilight of Starlink in Kazakhstan?

For every country in the world, the appearance of the internet has presented vast possibilities but also formidable challenges. This was especially true in Central Asia where the governments are obsessed with controlling information that can be accessed by the public. Kazakhstan is unique among the Central Asian states in that the Kazakh government has expended significant energy and resources to make Kazakhstan a modern country with a tech savvy population. Control over the internet remains an issue and has sparked a debate in Kazakhstan about the use of foreign telecommunications satellites. Countrywide Connections In late 2024, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development stirred controversy by proposing new regulations on imports of telecommunications equipment. One proposal would ban the use of equipment from foreign companies that do not have control centers inside Kazakhstan. In December 2024, the Digital Development Ministry specifically named Inmarsat, Thuraya, Iridium, and Starlink as targets for a usage ban. Kazakhstan actually has a national security law that “prohibits the establishment and operation of communication networks within Kazakhstan if their control centers are based outside the country.” However, Kazakhstan is a large country with most of its population living in roughly the eastern third of its territory. Cities, towns, and villages scattered across the western two-thirds of Kazakhstan are poorly connected to the internet and Kazakh authorities started discussions with Musk’s SpaceX about use of Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX with a network of satellites. In October 2023, Kazakh authorities “introduced broadband internet in ten rural schools using Starlink technology in a test mode.” The pilot project envisioned sending Starlink terminals to 2,000 schools. By April 2024, the system was already connecting 447 rural schools to the internet, and by August the number had climbed to 1,731 schools. Kill Switch Required In November 2023, the director of the Ministry of Digital Development’s Telecommunications Committee, Dias Tolegenov, warned citizens that private use of Starliink terminals was illegal in Kazakhstan. The “current version” of Starlink “violates current (Kazakh) legislation, as it does not meet safety requirements,” Telugenov said. This ban is still In effect. In May 2024, the director of Kazakhstan’s Kokterek Space Communications Center, Roman Ermashov, reiterated that according to Kazakhstan’s laws, “projects using foreign satellite communication systems in non-geostationary satellite orbits,” such as Starlink, must have “a gateway (interface) station on the territory of Kazakhstan.” SpaceX refused to install the station in Kazakhstan. “This is about safety,” Ermashov said, “Because if any information security incident occurs, such as a data leak, everyone turns to the state.” This comment by Ermashov cuts to the heart of the matter. During the mass unrest in Kazakhstan in January 2022, authorities cut off the internet around the country to prevent protesters from coordinating their actions or releasing information about what was happening to the world outside Kazakhstan. Later that same year, Tajikistan ‘s government cut off the internet connection to the eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast during unrest, and Uzbek authorities did the same to the western Karakalpakstan Republic when violence broke out...

USAID

USAID’s Retreat from Kazakhstan: Central Asia Braces for a New Power Struggle

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long been a key player in funding various projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, supporting both development initiatives and media organizations. However, under the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the agency's activities have been significantly curtailed. With USAID scaling back its operations, the question arises: Who will step in to fill the gap? USAID’s Departure: A Near Total Withdrawal While USAID is reducing its presence, it is not shutting down entirely. The Trump administration has announced plans to retain a mere 294 of the agency’s more than 10,000 employees worldwide, according to a BBC report. Following these drastic cuts, only twelve staff members will remain in USAID’s Africa bureau and eight in its Asia bureau. USAID’s website states that nearly all of its employees will be furloughed, foreign aid programs have been suspended, and control over the agency has effectively shifted to the U.S. State Department. The agency’s annual budget previously exceeded $50 billion. In Kazakhstan, USAID’s official website is now inaccessible. The platform contained key data, including lists of grant recipients - journalists, media professionals, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that received funding for various projects. While some USAID-backed initiatives supported modernization efforts, healthcare, and education, others were seen as promoting U.S. political interests. According to available data, in 2024, USAID allocated $15.2 million to Kazakhstan, distributed as follows: Healthcare - $8.8 million Democracy, human rights, and governance – $3.7 million Support programs - $1.39 million Peace and security - $833,000 Economic development - $438,000 Humanitarian assistance - $23,000 Education and social services - $4,000 Despite these allocations, Kazakhstan does not rank among the top ten recipients of USAID funding. The Trump administration has also disclosed additional details regarding U.S. foreign aid spending. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt stated that under President Joe Biden, $4.5 million was allocated to combat disinformation in Kazakhstan. Leavitt criticized such expenditures, claiming that alongside Kazakhstan’s disinformation initiatives, U.S. taxpayers had also funded projects such as gender reassignment programs in Guatemala ($2 million), tourism promotion in Egypt ($6 million), a new Sesame Street show in Iraq ($20 million). Reactions in Kazakhstan Public opinion in Kazakhstan regarding USAID's role is divided. Many officials and commentators have criticized what they perceive as foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs. Mazhilis Deputy Magerram Magerramov has accused USAID of lobbying for the interests of the LGBT community, citing U.S. officials, including Elon Musk and Donald Trump, who have labeled USAID a “criminal organization.” “Official White House statements claim that USAID has been unaccountable to U.S. taxpayers and has funneled huge sums into ‘absurd’ and ‘harmful’ projects. For example, between 2022 and 2025, USAID allocated $2 million to ‘strengthen human rights and equality’ in Central Asia. However, the program’s executor is the European International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association. We need full transparency regarding which funds are allocated, by whom, for what purposes, and who benefits from them. This must end in Kazakhstan,” Magerramov stated. The...

Banking

Powering the Green and Economic Revolution: An Interview With Andi Aranitasi, Head of the EBRD in Uzbekistan

As the Head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Uzbekistan, Andi Aranitasi plays a key role in driving the country’s economic transformation. Under his leadership, the EBRD has expanded its investments in key sectors such as energy, infrastructure, and private enterprise, supporting Uzbekistan’s shift toward a more open and sustainable economy. With a focus on green energy, digitalization, and financial reforms, Aranitasi’s efforts contribute to the nation’s long-term development and integration into global markets. In 2024, the EBRD set an investment record in Uzbekistan by signing off on 34 projects worth €938 million (US $960 million). The country once again became the leading recipient of the Bank’s funding in Central Asia, with 55% of the Bank’s investments going towards green economy projects. The EBRD has supported Central Asia's first renewable hydrogen facility by providing a $65 million financing package to a joint venture of ACWA Power and Uzkimyosanoat, which will help to decarbonize the fertilizer production sector in Uzbekistan. The Bank also organized an A/B loan of US$ 226 million for developing, designing, constructing, and operating a 200MW solar photovoltaic power plant and a 501MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in the Tashkent region. This is one of the most significant EBRD-supported BESS projects in the economies where the Bank operates. Its sovereign loan of $66.4 million to the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU) will support the construction of a 230 km 500 kV transmission line in the Navoi region. This project will help to eliminate bottlenecks in the grid, reduce electricity outages, and facilitate the integration of renewables. The EBRD’s sovereign loan of $238 million, meanwhile, will help rehabilitate a key road and build a bridge across the Amu Darya River in the Khorezm region, thus contributing to sustainable transport connections. The country’s financial sector attracted over €300 million from the EBRD through trade finance limits and loans to local financial institutions. It offered credit lines and risk-sharing agreements to such domestic lenders as Hamkorbank, Ipoteka Bank, TBC Bank Uzbekistan, and Uzbek Leasing International. Special attention was paid to the development and support of SMEs, including those needing energy efficiency improvements and owned and managed by youth and women. The EBRD also increased its equity investment in TBC Uzbekistan, the country’s first digital bank. Additionally, the EBRD and the government of Uzbekistan agreed to work jointly on the successful privatization of one of the country’s largest state-owned lenders, Asakabank. In 2024, the EBRD’s Advice for Small Business program in Uzbekistan launched 60 projects, increasing its outreach to domestic SMEs. Half of these were with women entrepreneurs, and over 40% were in rural areas. More than 80,000 entrepreneurs nationwide were reached through specialized training, networking, online outreach, and knowledge-sharing events. Throughout 2024, the EBRD was actively engaged in policy dialogue with the national authorities, which facilitated the approval of several key legal acts, such as laws on privatization, the electricity market, and subsoil use. TCA spoke with Andi Aranitasi. TCA: The EBRD has been involved...