Kazakhstan Featurees - The Times Of Central Asia

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EBRD Invests Record €2.26 Billion in Central Asia in 2024

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) reached a record level of investment in Central Asia in 2024, contributing €2.26 billion to 121 projects across six countries in the region. This was nearly double the amount invested in 2023. Additionally, the EBRD attracted €784 million from co-financiers, bringing the total investment in the region’s economy to over €3 billion. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan Lead in Funding Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were the largest recipients of EBRD funding, securing €938 million and €913 million, respectively. These two nations ranked as the fifth and sixth largest destinations for EBRD investments globally in 2024. Other countries in the immediate region also benefited from significant funding, with Mongolia receiving €264 million, Tajikistan €88 million, and the Kyrgyz Republic €52 million. Focus on Sustainable Infrastructure and Green Economy The majority of EBRD investments in Central Asia supported sustainable infrastructure projects, accounting for 61% of the total. Another 24% was channeled to local banks to assist small businesses, women entrepreneurs, and youth-focused initiatives, as well as projects promoting climate resilience and resource efficiency. The remaining 15% was allocated to private-sector companies. In alignment with the Paris Agreement, 58% of EBRD investments in the region went to projects promoting a green economy. Milestones in 2024 The EBRD achieved several notable milestones in 2024: Total investments in Kazakhstan surpassed €10 billion. Uzbekistan reached €5 billion in cumulative EBRD funding. Both Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic exceeded €1 billion in total investments since the EBRD began operations in the region 30 years ago. Landmark Projects The EBRD financed several groundbreaking projects in Central Asia during 2024, including: Uzbekistan: €59 million for a renewable hydrogen facility aimed at decarbonizing the fertilizer sector. Kazakhstan: €96.4 million for a new wastewater treatment plant in Aktobe, the largest municipal project supported by the EBRD in the region. Mongolia: €11.3 million to support the first green bond issued by a local bank. Investments in Energy Infrastructure Significant funding was also allocated to improving electricity grids across the region: In Kazakhstan, €252 million was used to construct 600 km of transmission lines. In Uzbekistan, €60.3 million supported the development of a 230 km transmission line in the Navoi region. In the Kyrgyz Republic, €14 million upgraded power infrastructure in Osh and Issyk-Kul. In Tajikistan, €31 million was allocated to improve a transformer in the Sugd region. Investments in Health and Transportation The EBRD also provided substantial funding for healthcare and infrastructure projects: Kazakhstan: €365 million for a hospital project. Uzbekistan: €216 million for a road and bridge project in the Khorezm region. Mongolia: €39.2 million for a hospital in Darkhan. Support for Small Businesses The EBRD continued its efforts to empower small businesses in Central Asia, providing advisory services to more than 450 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Over 8,000 SMEs benefited from training and mentoring programs. In Tajikistan, the EBRD launched its Star Venture initiative, allocating €28 million to 25 high-growth companies through agreements with local banks. The EBRD’s Legacy in Central Asia As the...

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Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Power Move and Implications for the West

Kazakhstan’s recent referendum approving the construction of its first nuclear power plant (NPP) is a watershed moment. More than a domestic policy decision, this move puts into relief Kazakhstan's strategy for positioning itself as a linchpin in the diversification of global energy supply chains, with the world's largest uranium reserves accounting for nearly 40% of the global supply and a key geographic location. The country's ambitions align with the broader resurgence of nuclear power as an indispensable component of a sustainable energy future, countering decades of stagnation in the West and challenging the dominance of Russia and China. The renewed attention on nuclear energy arises from a convergence of systemic and technological factors. Environmental pressures to reduce reliance on fossil fuels such as gas and coal have left energy producers searching for scalable, reliable alternatives. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar, while important, remain limited by intermittency and storage challenges. At the same time, safety concerns rooted in historical disasters — Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima — have been mitigated by advances in reactor technology. A growing public recognition of nuclear power's viability has resulted. In this context, Kazakhstan's entry into the nuclear power arena is logical. Enhancing its ability to integrate uranium extraction with downstream nuclear fuel production would underscore its potential to play a central role in addressing global energy needs. By fostering international partnerships, Kazakhstan can leverage its resource wealth to become a critical supplier for advanced economies looking to diversify their energy mix. Kazakhstan's move comes at a time of shifting geoeconomic dynamics in the nuclear energy sector. Over the past three decades, Russia and China have consolidated their dominance, exploiting the West’s inertia. Russia has used NPP construction as a geoeconomic tool, creating dependence in such countries as Turkey and Uzbekistan. China, meanwhile, has aggressively developed its domestic nuclear infrastructure while securing global uranium supplies, particularly through investments in Africa and Central Asia. By contrast, Western nations have lagged behind, plagued by fragmented project management, skilled labor shortages, and political resistance. Anti-nuclear movements, many of which gained momentum during the Cold War with Soviet backing, have continued to stymie development in Europe and North America. The resulting industrial inertia has left Western economies vulnerable, with insufficient capacity to meet rising energy demands or counterbalance Russian and Chinese influence. Kazakhstan's emergence offers the West a rare opportunity to reverse this trend. The country’s multi-vector diplomatic strategy, emphasizing balanced relations with global powers, makes it an ideal partner for rebalancing energy supply chains. Kazakhstan’s role in global energy extends beyond uranium. The country’s geological resources overlap with deposits of rare-earth elements (REEs), which are vital for advanced defense technologies, renewable energy systems, and high-tech manufacturing. The shared extraction technologies and logistical infrastructure for uranium and REEs present opportunities for integrated resource development. NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program could play a pivotal role in this regard. By incorporating rare-earth mining and supply chain security into NATO’s Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection (CEIP) framework, member states could...

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Register of Corrupt Officials to Be Created in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is set to establish a public register of officials convicted of bribery and other corruption-related offenses. Some parliamentary deputies are also proposing additional measures, including banning convicted individuals from leaving the country to ensure they return stolen funds. The Kazakhstani parliament is currently reviewing amendments to anti-corruption legislation. Among the proposals, according to Albina Mautova of the Prosecutor General's Office, is the creation of a public register of individuals convicted of corruption offenses. This registry will be accessible to all citizens through the anti-corruption agency's website. “This register will include individuals who have committed serious and particularly serious corruption offenses. Inclusion in the register will be based on the presence of a conviction that has entered into legal force. Removal from the register will occur only in the event of an acquittal or the expungement of the criminal record,” Mautova explained. The legislative amendments also aim to broaden the scope of criminal liability related to bribery. According to Ulan Sarkulov, deputy chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency, the new provisions would criminalize not only the act of receiving or giving bribes but also the promise or extortion of a bribe. Sarkulov emphasized that these measures are designed to have a preventive effect by addressing bribery at its earliest stages before damage is caused to the state. However, Sarkulov acknowledged the challenges of enforcement. “The investigative practices of other countries show that proving the promise or extortion of a bribe is difficult. There will never be widespread prosecutions here. International experience demonstrates only a handful of such cases globally,” he noted. Mazhilis deputy Azat Peruashev has called for an additional provision to bar convicted corrupt officials from leaving Kazakhstan. He argues that such a restriction would help recover stolen assets taken out of the country. “As our experience in recovering capital shows, the most effective measure is a ban on traveling abroad. Major corrupt officials often don’t simply take bribes in cash; they transfer funds to offshore accounts, re-hide them, and make it nearly impossible to trace. Sometimes, even our law enforcement agencies are unaware of how much money they have or where it’s located,” Peruashev stated. He further explained, “These individuals serve reduced sentences or pay fines, then go abroad to access the billions they’ve stolen—wealth they could never have earned legally. If they’re forced to remain in Kazakhstan, they will be more likely to return the stolen funds if they want to use them.” The Times of Central Asia previously reported that, according to Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Kazakhstan was ranked as the least corrupt country in Central Asia, marking a significant achievement in the region's fight against corruption.

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Trump Nominee Marco Rubio Signals Support for Normalizing Central Asia Trade

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state says the Jackson-Vanik amendment, a 50-year-old law that imposes some restrictions on trade with several countries in Central Asia, is “a relic of an era that’s passed.” U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who spoke on Wednesday during a confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also described China, a key economic partner in Central Asia, as a threat and an adversary. Rubio, known as a hawk on national security issues, had harsh words too for what he called chaos-sowing “dictators” in Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang. Tough language aside, Rubio’s interactions with his fellow senators were relatively smooth, suggesting his path to the secretary of state job is open as the United States prepares for Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Central Asian nations have been watching for what to expect when Trump returns for a second term in the White House, and they got an encouraging glimpse in Rubio’s testimony. In the Washington hearing, Senator Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, told Rubio that he and Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, have been working to rescind the Jackson-Vanik amendment in Central Asia. The 1974 law, passed at the height of the Cold War, aimed to promote human rights in countries that were part of the Soviet bloc by preventing normal trade relations with “non-market economies” that restrict emigration. But Daines argued that it is outdated in the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, especially as Central Asia becomes more important because of its energy resources and geopolitical influence. “I realize you have a lot of priorities on your plate when you will be confirmed as our secretary,” Daines said to Rubio. He added that rescinding the amendment in the region would be a big step “that Central Asia needs right now to grow.” In response, Rubio said that permanent removal of the amendment in Central Asia would require legislative approval and he mentioned an initiative by Senators Chris Murphy (Connecticut Democrat) and Todd Young (Indiana Republican) that also seeks to peal the measure for Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. “I think this is a relic of an era that’s passed,” Rubio said of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. “There are some that argue that we should use it as leverage for human rights concessions, or leverage to get them to go stronger in our way” against Russia, he said. However, the Florida senator said, Kazakhstan is a market economy and therefore meets conditions for removal from the amendment’s restrictions. He added: “So we will work with you on this because I think it’s important.” Kazakhstan became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2015, two years after Tajikistan joined the group. Uzbekistan has been signing individual agreements with countries and hopes to join the WTO by 2026. Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Russia are among former Soviet states that were subject to the Jackson-Vanik amendment but later achieved normal trade relations status with the United States. Russia, however, is currently under Western...

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Cyber Déjà Vu: Is Russia Spying on Kazakhstan Again?

Another espionage scandal is gaining traction in the Western media, with Kazakhstan once again at its center. Within Kazakhstan, however, the topic of Russian cyber activities against the country is receiving minimal attention in the press. While Akorda seeks to navigate its delicate relationship with the Kremlin, any overt allegations of espionage might provoke Moscow’s powerful propaganda machine, which continues to exert significant influence over public opinion in Kazakhstan. This time, the intrigue is unfolding in cyberspace, where a hacker group identified as UAC-0063, potentially linked to the Kremlin-backed Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group known as APT28, has been implicated in spying on diplomatic institutions across Central Asia. The group’s activities, which can be traced back to at least 2021, have targeted not only Kazakhstan, but also Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and other countries. Their previous targets include diplomatic, non-profit, academic, energy, and defense organizations in Ukraine, Israel, India, and the wider Central Asian region. According to a cyber espionage investigation by Sekoia, UAC-0063 hackers infiltrated Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs by leveraging official documents, such as emails, draft memos, and internal administrative communications. These documents — likely used to deliver malware — were either stolen in prior cyber operations, obtained from open sources, or acquired through other unknown means. Sekoia identified around two dozen such documents, dating from 2021 to October 2024, which primarily addressed Kazakhstan’s diplomatic cooperation and economic relations with other countries. The researchers suggest this campaign is part of a broader, Kremlin-backed global cyber espionage operation targeting Central Asia, with a particular focus on Kazakhstan's foreign relations. This latest revelation is a reminder of other episodes. One prominent ongoing case involves individuals in London who stand accused of preparing actions at the behest of Russia against Kazakhstan's diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom and targeting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s son. Even more striking is the echo of the Pegasus spyware scandal, which emerged in 2021. An investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed that the Israeli-developed Pegasus spyware was used to monitor a wide range of individuals in Kazakhstan, including independent journalists, activists, human rights defenders, and high-ranking officials. Among the targets were President Tokayev, then-Prime Minister Askar Mamin, former Akim of Almaty Bakytzhan Sagintayev, and several of Kazakhstan’s wealthiest business-people. At the time, public suspicion fell upon Karim Massimov, the former chief of the National Security Committee (KNB), as the perpetrator of the Pegasus surveillance. However, the issue faded into obscurity following the unrest of January 2022, the events of which were officially described as an attempted coup d’état. To this day, no definitive answers have been provided about who orchestrated the Pegasus cyberattacks or their motives. Now, with fresh reports of Russian-linked malware targeting Kazakhstan’s cyber-security, it appears that history may be repeating itself. The key question which remains - is this merely a case of déjà vu, or could it signal the groundwork for a new effort to destabilize Kazakhstan?

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Kazakh President Proposes Solutions to Climate Threats at Abu Dhabi Summit

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev participated in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week summit, where global leaders and experts convened to address pressing challenges in sustainable development. In his address, Tokayev highlighted the urgent threats posed by climate change, desertification, biodiversity loss, and food insecurity - issues exacerbated by geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global supply chains. Kazakhstan’s Strategy for Sustainability Tokayev presented Kazakhstan’s roadmap for tackling these challenges, focusing on digitalization, major infrastructure projects, and nuclear energy. Noting that global energy systems account for 75% of greenhouse gas emissions, he underscored Kazakhstan’s commitment to green energy development. The country is collaborating with international partners, including Masdar, Total, and Eni, to implement projects to generate 43 GW of renewable energy. Additionally, Tokayev highlighted the strategic importance of constructing Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, an initiative supported through a national referendum. Regional Connectivity and Transport Infrastructure Addressing the role of transportation in sustainable development, Tokayev emphasized Kazakhstan’s position as a key transit hub in Eurasia. He called for further development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor to enhance regional connectivity and strengthen global supply chains. Sustainable transport infrastructure, he argued, is essential for driving economic growth across the region. Climate and Food Security in Central Asia Tokayev devoted significant attention to the challenges facing Central Asia, particularly the impact of global warming on ecosystems and agriculture. He proposed the introduction of water-saving technologies, the modernization of irrigation systems, and the application of artificial intelligence to better manage water resources. On food security, Tokayev outlined Kazakhstan’s plan to advance sustainable agricultural practices and technologies, aiming to mitigate climate risks while ensuring reliable food supplies. A Global Paradigm Shift Tokayev called on the international community to adopt a new development paradigm based on green finance, the transfer of climate-friendly technologies, and the integration of artificial intelligence with environmental priorities. He emphasized that aligning these strategies could significantly boost global GDP by 2030 while addressing environmental challenges. Summit Collaboration and Hope for the Future The Kazakh President concluded his speech by expressing optimism that the summit could serve as a turning point in harmonizing global priorities for sustainable development. The event featured participation from other prominent leaders, including Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Razan Al Mubarak. Together, the dignitaries reinforced the need for global cooperation in confronting environmental and economic challenges.