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Kyrgyz Farmers Urged to Supply Agricultural Products to China

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resources has urged more domestic businesses to establish and expand trade in agricultural produce with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Kyrgyz farmers and processors currently export wheat flour, cherries, melons, grapes and soybeans to China and to increase food exports, the ministry has issued a series of guidelines. Entrepreneurs and small-business owners must first be registered on the website of the General Customs Administration of the PRC, and to satisfy Chinese demand, ensure that their produce is devoid of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and harmful additives. "It should be noted that requirements on the Chinese side differ according to risks posed by individual plant products," warned the Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture, "and conducts a comprehensive inspection of produce provided by first-time exporters." In his address at an earlier conference in Bishkek, Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Du Dewen confirmed China's need for imports from organic agriculture vendors and plans to improve trade relations with Kyrgyzstan. According to the General Customs Administration, Kyrgyzstan increased its annual export to China by over two-fold in the first quarter of 2024, and total bilateral trade turnover stands at $4.5 billion per year. In a recent list provided by Chinese authorities, Beijing requires beef, poultry, fish, as well as cowhides, sheep, goats, and washed wool and cashmere.

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Kazakhstan and the Taliban Discuss Transport Links

Members of Kazakhstan's government and representatives of the Taliban have discussed expanding transportation links between Astana and Kabul, according to the Kazakh government's press service. The Kazakh side has said it's ready to participate in projects to develop the Trans-Afghan corridor: the construction of the railroad routes Termez - Mazar-e-Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar and Herat - Kandahar - Spin - Buldak. The projects, say Kazakh officials, will make it possible to reduce the cargo-transit time between the countries of the region almost 90%, as well as reducing the costs. Kazakhstan is ready to participate in the construction of a Trans-Afghan highway by supplying sleepers and fasteners to Afghanistan. Representatives of the national rail carrier Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, or KTZ, spoke about the new cargo delivery route. "Today we launched a pilot project to organize a new multimodal export route from Kazakhstan through Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and further by sea to the port of Jebel Ali in the UAE. The new route is organized with the participation of KTZ Express. The exporter is Kazakhstan's Bio Synergy, and the shipping partner is Pakistan's National Logistics Cell (NLC). The loading of cargo has already started in Pavlodar region. That cargo is aluminosilicate hollow microsphere. In Almaty, the cargo will be reloaded into containers and transferred to the cars of the Pakistani partner. From there by motor transport it will pass through Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to the port of Karachi in Pakistan. From there, two containers will be sent by sea to the port of Jebel Ali in the UAE," commented KTZ's managing director Bauyrzhan Urynbasarov. The parties also discussed the possibility of arranging more flights between the countries. Under earlier agreements, air carriers from Kazakhstan and Afghanistan have the right to perform three regular passenger/cargo flights per week. Kazakhstan is ready to consider accepting more flights from Afghan airlines. Over the past three years the volume of exports from Kazakhstan to Afghanistan has been steadily growing. In 2023, the volume of transportation by rail amounted to 2.7 million tons, of which 1.5 million tons was flour and grain. In December 2023 Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its list of banned organizations. According to the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Taliban was no longer classed as a banned organization "in accordance with the practice of the UN [United Nations]."

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Russian Comments Put Kazakhstan’s Oil Transit to Germany Under Threat

Russia has warned Kazakhstan about the possible suspension of Kazakh crude oil transshipment to Germany through the Druzhba oil pipeline system. The stated reason is the debt of Polish pipeline operator PERN, according to a report by Reuters. Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, claims that Russia's Transneft has warned its Kazakh partner KazTransOil about the suspension of oil deliveries to the Schwedt refinery. The reason for this demarche is the outstanding debts of Polish state pipeline operator PERN. If the Polish company doesn't pay for the services of oil acceptance and transfer at the Polish transit point Adamova Zastava on the border with Belarus by June, the transit will be stopped. The amount of the debt is unknown. PERN explained its version of the situation by citing western sanctions against Russia. Payment of money to the Russian side can lead to violations of the sanctions regime. According to comments made by the Kazakh Ministry of Energy, the Kazakh government itself looks at the possibility of transit suspension very negatively. KazTransOil said that the plan of deliveries to Germany remains unchanged, and that negotiations with all participants of the process are underway. Curiously, the Ministry of Energy denied the Reuters report, claiming that "the information does not correspond to reality." In early April it was reported that the Kazakh side intends to supply 1.2 million tons of oil to the Schwedt refinery by the end of the year. This would not be the first case involving a cessation of Kazakh oil transiting Russian territory. Earlier, there were repeated problems with the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in Novorossiysk, Russia, on the Black Sea. Some analysts believe that Russia uses oil transportation as an instrument to apply pressure to the Kazakh government.

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Samarkand to Host Asian Women’s Forum Next Month

The Asian Women's Forum will be held in Samarkand this May, where participants will discuss the situation surrounding women's rights in the countries of Central and Southeast Asia. The forum will discuss issues related to expanding women's rights, and reducing poverty in the region by involving women in entrepreneurship. Sessions will pay special attention to the role of parliaments in stimulating women's participation in business, gender-oriented budgeting, elimination of gender disparity, and eradication of all forms of violence against women and children. The participants will also focus on modern approaches and best practices in promoting the green economy, the impact of climate change on gender issues in the region -- as well as protection of women's rights and interests. Women are now a driving force in all aspects of life in Central Asia. Addressing the 78th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, Chairwoman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis (bicameral parliament) of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva said that "the attitude towards women has fundamentally changed in the country. Much attention is [being] paid to their education, mastering professions and foreign languages -- as well as to the development of women's entrepreneurship." To date, Uzbekistan has adopted more than 40 legal and regulatory acts to improve the status of women in society, established the National Agency for Social Protection, which, among other things, provides targeted assistance to women and works specifically on the social adaptation of women returned from conflict zones in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Kazakhstan Likely To Insist on Revisions to Kashagan Oil Contracts

Kazakhstan is demanding compensation for lost profits from the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the consortium that manages the Kashagan oil field, and arbitration claims have risen to $150 billion. Sources close to Kashagan told The Times of Central Asia that this should send the message to western energy companies that Kazakhstan is looking to revise previously signed contracts. While Bloomberg has reported the sum of the claims, citing people familiar with the matter, Kazakh government officials have declined to comment on the situation, claiming that it is a "commercial dispute." In April 2023, proceedings against the companies developing the Kashagan and Karachaganak fields began as part of a dispute over cost deductions from oil-sale proceeds of more than $13 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively. An additional $138 billion claim relates to the calculation of the cost of oil production "that was promised to the government but not delivered by the field developers," according to Bloomberg. The Ministry of Energy has not yet commented on the new claims. It states that the Kazakh authorities seek to maximize profits from their oil-production projects with the participation of foreign investors, but have been relatively flexible in previous disputes with oil corporations. International sources note that Eni, Shell, Exxon and TotalEnergies have already invested around $55 billion in Kashagan, and currently the field produces about 400,000 barrels of oil per day. NCOC investors, led by Italy's Eni, are convinced that production can be increased to 1.5 million barrels per day. NCOC has stated that it acts in strict compliance with the contract. Representatives of Eni confirmed that the Kazakh authorities have applied to the court for arbitration settlement, but did not disclose details. Earlier, Kazakhstan won a lawsuit against the Kashagan consortium which required them to pay $5.1 billion for damage to the environment. Kashagan is developed by the NCOC consortium, which includes the national company KazMunayGas (KMG) and several foreign energy companies: Eni, Shell (Great Britain), ExxonMobil (USA), Total (France), Inpex (Japan), and CNPC (China). Member of the Public Council of the Kazakh Ministry of Energy, Olzhas Baidildinov believes that the sharp increase in the amount of the lawsuit is a signal from the Kazakh side to the consortium to revise the contracts. "In my opinion, it's obvious that Kazakhstan wants to revise the terms of work on large consortia. At the same time, I have proposed many times to exchange the frozen assets of the Russian Federation for stakes in major projects: Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan. There is a nuance here: for example, the shares in Karachaganak and Kashagan are managed by PSA LLP, which is determined by the authorized body, while the share in Tengiz is managed by KazMunayGas. As we see, on Kashagan and Karachaganak there are arbitration claims filed in international arbitration, there is an environmental issue - but on Tengiz they are silent for some reason. This is either KMG's unprofessionalism, because the amount of investment expense is very high, or some other unknown issues that need...

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Rosatom Set to Build Small Nuclear Power Plants in Uzbekistan

Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosatom is ready to offer lower-capacity nuclear power plant (NPP) projects to Uzbekistan. That's according to comments made by Denis Manturov, Russia's Minister of Trade and Industry, at the fourth annual international industrial exhibition, Innoprom, Central Asia. “Currently, the Rosatom state corporation and the Uzatom agency are working out the general contract for the construction of a nuclear power plant. This is a large-scale and complex project. Rosatom is ready to offer Uzbekistan additional solutions, including solutions related to low-power nuclear power plants,” Manturov said. According to Manturov, who is also a Deputy Prime Minister, the site for the construction of the NPP has already been chosen, and the spot is located near Tuzkon Lake in the Jizzakh region, which studies have confirmed is a favorable place. In addition, the optimal technical configuration for the project has already been determined. Rosatom plans to build a complex consisting of two power units with VVER-1200 reactors. “Now, together with Uzbek and international experts, technical issues related to the integration of the nuclear power plant into the energy system, cooperation with renewable energy sources, reducing the volume of water for the use of the plant and maximum production of electricity are being considered taking into account the climatic characteristics of the region,” Manturov stated.