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Aral School

Learning to Live With the Aral Sea’s Changed Landscape

In February, participants from a new school in Nukus joined local foresters on the dried bed of the Aral Sea to plant saxaul. The shrubs can take root in salty ground and help hold down dust blowing across Karakalpakstan. Foresters from the Karauzyak State Forestry Department guided the work, drawing on years of experience in the region. The planting exercise, organized with the United Nations Development Programme, offered an early indication of how the Aral School intends to teach. Its participants work alongside people already responding to the sea’s retreat, learning from the landscape and those who live with its consequences. Now, the school is preparing for a second intake with a six-month residency in Nukus from January to June 2027. Architect and curator Joseph Grima will lead the program, which will focus on climate and landscape. Applications are open until October 25. Based in the capital of Uzbekistan’s autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, the school brings international practitioners together with participants from the region. The Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), which established it, announced the new intake and Grima’s appointment during an assembly at the Savitsky Museum in Nukus. The museum owes its remarkable collection to Igor Savitsky, who rescued thousands of works rejected by the Soviet authorities, finding them a refuge in remote Nukus. Gayane Umerova, chair of ACDF, and Grima spoke to The Times of Central Asia about the school’s long-term goals and how local people will help shape its work. “The Aral School was never conceived as a single cohort or a single event. It’s a long-term commitment by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) in line with the Government’s plan for Karakalpakstan,” she told The Times of Central Asia. “The programme is designed from the ground up to avoid simply taking knowledge without giving anything back. The cohorts live in Nukus for half a year, not for a two-week field trip, precisely so that the landscape and the people in it are teachers, not subjects.” “Participants would also work directly with local professional bodies and institutions,” Umerova said. “Local experts sit inside the programme’s design, not as guest lecturers brought in to validate conclusions already reached,” she said. [caption id="attachment_56453" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Group discussion with local community members - Aral School Assembly at the Aral School. Photo courtesy of ACDF.[/caption] Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea shrank as Soviet irrigation projects diverted water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya to grow cotton and other crops. The retreat devastated fishing communities and exposed a seabed contaminated by agricultural chemicals. Wind carried salt and dust across the surrounding land. In Moynaq, once a fishing port, fishermen dug channels through the sand to reach the retreating water. Eventually, they abandoned their grounded boats, leaving rusting hulls on what had been the seabed. [caption id="attachment_56373" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] Abandoned boats on the former Aral Sea bed at Moynaq. Photo: Stephen M. Bland[/caption] The consequences differ across the former sea. In Kazakhstan, the Kokaral Dam...

Nuclear Waste

Central Asia Makes Progress on Uranium Cleanup, but Major Risks Remain

Radioactive waste lies beside the river in Mailuu-Suu, a former uranium town in Kyrgyzstan’s picturesque mountain landscape. Engineers preparing to secure it found a problem inside one of its dams. Additional drilling revealed tailings within the dam structure itself. Two subsequent studies concluded that waste from two connected ponds would have to be moved to a safer location. The discovery changed the cleanup design and increased its cost, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s revised master plan. Material that planners had intended to secure in place could no longer safely remain there. Once known as Mailbox 200, the town was founded in 1946 for a secret Soviet uranium program. Its workforce included Germans treated as politically suspect and former Red Army soldiers punished for surrendering during World War II. Uranium mining and processing at Mailuu-Suu ended in the late 1960s, leaving waste buried along the river. Cleanup is expected to continue until 2032. Even then, the authorities will need to maintain the restored sites and check that contamination remains contained. Mailuu-Suu illustrates why Central Asia’s uranium cleanup has stretched across decades. The waste sits in places where rivers and unstable slopes can carry it beyond the original industrial sites. Making those places safer requires extensive engineering, followed by public oversight that must outlast the contractors. [caption id="attachment_56370" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Archival photograph of Mailuu-Suu’s old mill and uranium tailings; image: Peter Waggit/IAEA[/caption] The International Atomic Energy Agency’s latest assessment, published in January 2026, records substantial progress. Four out of seven priority sites have been remediated since the original regional plan was adopted in 2017. But Mailuu-Suu remains one of the largest and most complex projects, with work expected to extend beyond the updated regional plan’s 2030 horizon. Across the region, former uranium operations left radioactive residue after mining and processing ended. The IAEA describes facilities abandoned without adequate plans for safe closure. National governments inherited responsibility for sites where no private owner remained to pay for the work. The geography compounds the situation. The IAEA’s original planning framework identifies tailings ponds near major rivers in seismically active areas. Flooding or a landslide can undermine containment and lead to contaminated materials traveling downstream. The location of a deposit therefore helps determine the urgency and design of its cleanup. At Mailuu-Suu, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced a €23 million grant in 2023. The original design included soil covers two meters thick to reduce water entering the waste and prevent access to it. The project concerned more than two million cubic meters of tailings along the river and its tributaries. Following the devastating 2023 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Construction required further checks on the dams’ stability. Drilling revealed tailings inside the dam at pond seven. Subsequent studies found that the waste in ponds five and seven could not safely remain in place. The IAEA plan warns that a strong earthquake could cause the dam to collapse, allowing water-saturated waste to liquefy and enter the river....

Sports Education

Kazakh National University of Sports Joins Olympic Studies Network

The Kazakh National University of Sports in Astana says it has become the first university in Central Asia to join a global network of academic Olympic studies centers. It announced the recognition on September 17. The Academic Olympic Studies and Research Centres network connects institutions researching the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement. The university says around 80 such centers operate worldwide. Their work includes teaching, scientific events, and the publication of research. The network is coordinated by the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne and provides a forum for cooperation between academics in different countries. The university trains coaches, physical education teachers, sports managers, and other specialists. Its training also extends to staff for rehabilitation centers and organizers of mass sporting events. It is now developing a Center for Olympic Studies, Education and Legacy, which will focus on research into the history, values, and long-term impact of the Olympic Movement. Membership in the international network will allow the Astana center to work with universities and research centers overseas and exchange research and teaching practices, the university said. The university said support from the National Olympic Committee was an important condition for recognition. It is already working with Kazakhstan’s committee on projects involving Olympic education and research. The new center is intended to bring students and lecturers into discussion with researchers and sports professionals, making Olympic studies part of the university’s sports science and education work.

Uzbekgaz

SOCAR and BP Prepare for Exploration Drilling in Uzbekistan’s Ustyurt Region

Azerbaijan’s SOCAR, Britain’s BP, and state-owned Uzbekneftegaz are preparing for exploration drilling across six blocks in Uzbekistan’s Ustyurt region. Following completion of a 3D seismic survey, the next stage involves processing the data and selecting a site for the first exploration well. Drilling will help establish whether preliminary estimates of 100 million metric tons of oil and 35 billion cubic meters of gas could translate into commercially recoverable reserves. The work covered the Boyterak, Terengquduq, Birqori, Kharoy, Qoraqalpoq, and Qulboy blocks in the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The seismic survey covered more than 3,000 square kilometers, compared with a minimum commitment of 1,000 square kilometers. The partners reviewed the completed fieldwork and discussed preparations for exploration drilling at a managing committee meeting in Tashkent on September 7. The data still need to be processed and interpreted, and no drilling location or date has been announced. Total investment in the project has been estimated at approximately $2 billion, with development dependent on a commercial discovery. The partners remain at the exploration stage and have committed to drilling one well. Decisions on further investment will depend on its results. Uzbek officials expect the six blocks could contain around 100 million metric tons of oil and 35 billion cubic meters of gas. Potential annual oil production has been estimated at five million metric tons. All three figures remain projections: seismic data help identify promising structures, but drilling is needed to confirm the presence and characteristics of hydrocarbons. Uzbekistan’s Energy Ministry, SOCAR, and Uzbekneftegaz signed a production-sharing agreement covering the six blocks in July 2025. SOCAR was designated the operator. BP joined the project in May 2026, acquiring a 20% interest from each of the two original partners. The British company now holds 40%, while SOCAR and Uzbekneftegaz retain 30% each. The deal marks BP’s return to exploration in Uzbekistan, where it first signed exploration agreements with the same partners in 2018 before withdrawing in 2021. The acquisition coincided with BP’s renewed emphasis on oil and gas investment. The company had previously reduced its exploration portfolio as part of a shift toward low-carbon energy, but subsequently revised its strategy and refocused on its traditional business. When BP joined the project, its regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, Gio Cristofoli, said the company saw significant resource potential in Uzbekistan. He said participation in the agreement would expand BP’s exploration portfolio and support its long-term organic growth. For SOCAR, the Ustyurt survey is its largest seismic exploration project outside Azerbaijan. In June, the company reported that more than 80% of the seismic program had been completed and that initial results were providing insights into deeper geological structures. SOCAR announced the completion of fieldwork in July, with data processing expected to finish in the first quarter of 2027. The partners have developed a work plan through 2029. Uzbekneftegaz head Abdugani Sanginov previously proposed accelerating the project and beginning drilling by the end of 2027, but an approved drilling schedule has not been published. Uzbekistan needs to find...

YONAR

Artists Build a Temporary White Salt City in Karakalpakstan

For three days, a city appears on the Barsakelmes salt flat in Karakalpakstan. It has no permanent residents, shops, or spectators. There are tents and yurts, art installations, music, and several dozen people who have come to build, paint, perform, cook, and live together. Then the city disappears. The second international YONAR experimental art festival is taking place in Uzbekistan’s Kungrad District from September 17 to 19. Its site is about 200 kilometers from Nukus. Organizers call the temporary settlement White Salt City. There is no conventional festival audience: anyone who comes to YONAR becomes a participant. They can create an installation, play music, run a workshop, help build the camp, or take responsibility for part of the community’s daily life. Participation is free, subject to application. There is no commercial trade or advertising. After three days, participants are expected to dismantle the camp and remove their belongings and waste. YONAR follows a leave-no-trace principle: the salt flat should be left without signs of the temporary city. YONAR was created by the team behind Stihia, an electronic music, art, and science festival that originated in Karakalpakstan. Some of its principles clearly echo Burning Man: instead of a stage and an audience, there is a space created by the participants themselves; instead of commerce, exchange and communal living; instead of permanent architecture, structures built to last only a few days. The setting gives YONAR its particular character. The white surface of the salt flat has almost none of the usual landmarks. During the day, there is salt, horizon, and harsh light; at night, darkness and an open sky. Against this backdrop, even a temporary structure begins to look like part of the landscape. The first YONAR was held here on September 11-13, 2025. According to Uzbekistan’s Tourism Committee, 35 local and international participants created six major installations: Sphere, Monolith, Teleport, Statue of Amorphosis, Hologram of the Future, and Art Car Scorpion. Participants lived in five yurts, with generators providing electricity. At the end, Sphere and Teleport were burned, the other structures were dismantled, and the camp area was cleaned. This year’s theme is dreams. Surrealism, absurdity, and the space between reality and imagination come with an almost ready-made setting here: an empty salt horizon. More than 70 applications were submitted. Organizers expected around 40 participants from Tashkent, Nukus, Moynaq, Almaty, Bishkek, Berlin, Vienna, London, Moscow, and other cities. Barsakelmes is in Karakalpakstan, in the wider Aral Sea region. But describing the festival site simply as the dried bed of the Aral Sea would be misleading: YONAR takes place on the distinct Barsakelmes salt flat in Kungrad District. Outside Central Asia, Karakalpakstan has for decades appeared in the news largely alongside the words “Aral Sea,” “environmental disaster,” and “desertification.” YONAR uses the region’s stark landscape differently, as a space for contemporary art. The state is also taking an interest. The festival is being held with the support of Uzbekistan’s Tourism Committee. The Tourism Committee has announced familiarization tours for journalists, bloggers, and...

Pharmaceuticals

Kyrgyzstan Pharmaceutical Logistics Complex Begins Construction in Bishkek

Construction has begun in Bishkek on what officials describe as Kyrgyzstan’s first state pharmaceutical logistics complex of its level. The new warehouse is intended to improve the storage and distribution of medicines in a country where imports account for 97% of the market. The complex is being built for Kyrgyzpharmatsiya, a state-owned enterprise under the Ministry of Health that centrally procures and supplies medicines and medical products to public healthcare facilities. It will occupy a 7.1-hectare site. The project will cost 650 million som, or about $7.4 million. The facility will operate in accordance with international Good Distribution Practice, or GDP, standards, which set requirements for the storage, handling, and transportation of medicines to preserve their quality throughout the supply chain. The warehouse will form part of a broader overhaul of Kyrgyzstan’s national pharmaceutical supply system. Established in 2023, Kyrgyzpharmatsiya centralizes orders from public healthcare institutions and enters into direct contracts with manufacturers. Buying in larger volumes is intended to reduce the number of intermediaries and lower procurement costs. A unified state digital platform is also being developed to connect healthcare facilities’ requests with procurement, deliveries, and inventory data. Together with the warehouse, it is intended to provide traceability of medicines from the supplier to the healthcare facility. Funding for medicines and medical products in 2026 is budgeted at 6.8 billion som, or about $77.8 million, compared with 100 million som, or $1.1 million, in 2021. Kyrgyzstan, however, obtains nearly all of its medicines from abroad. Domestic producers account for only about 3% of the market, while medicine imports were projected to reach 34 billion som, or about $389 million, in 2025. This dependence leaves the market vulnerable to exchange-rate fluctuations, border delays, and disruptions affecting foreign suppliers. A domestic logistics center will not reduce the share of imports, but it could reduce storage losses, make it easier to maintain stocks of high-demand medicines, and speed up deliveries to hospitals. Illegal imports remain a separate problem. In November 2025, a Health Ministry official said that 2022 data put the share of smuggled medicines at around 30-40%, an estimate he said remained relevant. The figure is based on older data and should not be treated as a current measure of the market. The new complex addresses an important infrastructure gap, but by itself it does not guarantee lower prices or end shortages. The outcome will depend on procurement planning, contract transparency, and the distribution of medicines from the central warehouse to the regions.