Kazakhstan Featurees - The Times Of Central Asia

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Middle Corridor

Kazakhstan Expands Middle Corridor Fleet as Caspian Sea Levels Fall

Containers are piling up on Kazakhstan's Caspian coast as they await shipment to Azerbaijan. A shortage of vessels and weather-related restrictions are delaying cargo along the Middle Corridor, a trade route connecting China and Europe while bypassing Russia. Kazakhstan plans to acquire five vessels and has ordered another six to expand maritime freight capacity. At the same time, falling Caspian Sea levels are limiting how much cargo existing ships can carry and complicating port operations. Yerkin Nygmetov, CEO of KTZ Express Shipping, described the container backlog at the New Silk Way international transport forum, held in Astana on October 15–16. According to Nygmetov, adverse weather conditions can restrict operations at Kazakhstan's ports for a total of up to 75 days a year. Freight Volumes Rise as Vessels Face Delays The Middle Corridor, officially known as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, runs through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. From there, cargo continues to Turkey and Europe, including via the Black Sea. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the route attracted increased interest from companies seeking to reduce their dependence on transit through Russia. According to Kazakhstan's national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), container traffic along the Middle Corridor reached 44,200 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in January–August 2026, an increase of 58% from a year earlier. A TEU is a standard measure of container capacity equivalent to one 20-foot container, approximately six meters long. During the same period, 419 container trains departed China along the route, compared with 228 a year earlier. The maritime section requires containers to be transferred from trains onto vessels in Kazakhstan and then back onto railcars in Azerbaijan. Waiting for an available ship increases delivery times, particularly during periods of heavy cargo arrivals. The World Bank has assessed the corridor's potential for growth. According to a study published in September, investments in transport infrastructure and better coordination of logistics procedures could more than triple trade volumes along the Trans-Caspian Corridor by 2040 and cut delivery times in half. The bank also projects that implementing the proposed measures could increase the combined GDP of nine countries connected to the route by 3.3% and create two million jobs. Kazakhstan Orders Vessels from China and Azerbaijan KTZ Express Shipping, a subsidiary of KTZ, plans to acquire five container vessels in 2026. Another six multipurpose dry cargo and container ships have been ordered from shipyards in China and Azerbaijan. By 2028, the company aims to expand its own fleet to 13 vessels with a combined deadweight tonnage of 96,000 metric tons. Deadweight tonnage refers to the maximum weight a vessel can carry, including cargo, fuel, supplies, and other variable loads. On October 15, Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund confirmed that two dry cargo vessels would be built at the Baku Shipyard under contracts signed in April 2026. Another four vessels have been ordered from China's Jiangsu Haizhongzhou Shipping Industry. Each is designed to carry up to 537 TEUs, with a deadweight tonnage of 9,900 metric tons. The...

Art and Culture

Threading a New Canon: Interview with Batima Zaurbekova

How does an artist born in a remote village in Kazakhstan become one of the country’s most recognized artists? “I realised that if I put in the work, I can achieve everything,” says Batima Zaurbekova, a pioneer of Kazakh tapestry, as she walks through Threads of Heritage at the Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum of Arts in Almaty. The exhibition runs from September 25 to November 8, 2026. An energetic lady with a strong personality and a playful attitude, Zaurbekova is the subject of a retrospective marking her 80th birthday and consecrating a lifetime of artistic production, at a time when Kazakhstan, event after event, is gaining ever greater international cultural recognition. Video: TCA. Narration: Naima Morelli. It is indeed a momentous time to be in the art world in Kazakhstan. At the forefront of the discourses on de-coloniality in the arts, and among those contributing to a new canon of contemporary art, Kazakh artists like Zaurbekova embody what is truest to their culture and local specificity, letting it flow in the global discourse. [caption id="attachment_58628" align="alignnone" width="936"] Detail of Batima Zaurbekova’s The Bride’s Farewell (2003). Credit: Naima Morelli.[/caption] The passion with which Zaurbekova describes even the smallest technical details reveals her deep love for weaving. That devotion is also a political stance in the face of the Western canon of art history. The reclamation of an art canon which would belong to Central Asia started in the second half of the 20th century, when artists worldwide challenged the relegation of textiles to the category of craft. Starting from the very local arts of felt and weaving, and against the canon of Soviet painting, a generation of artists recovered something that was truly theirs and called it by its name: not simply craft, but art in its own right, with Zaurbekova at the heart of that movement. [caption id="attachment_58629" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Entrance display for Threads of Heritage at the Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum of Arts in Almaty. Credit: Kirill Fedorov.[/caption] A matriarchal line While today biennales and fair around the world look for those artists whose cultural background is legible in their art, it wasn’t always like that. When Zaurbekova began weaving in the late 1960s, her teachers strongly discouraged her from devoting herself to weaving. Her teachers, many of whom had trained in Leningrad and Moscow, saw her as a painter, at a time when textiles were still considered a “lower” type of art, and far too slow and demanding. “I’d spend fifteen hours every day for days on end working on just one tapestry, and my teachers would tell me: ‘It’s so slow! In the same amount of time you could have painted three paintings already!” she tells me, laughing. They used to scold her with a Kazakh saying for it: “You’re digging a huge well with a small needle.” Zaurbekova was born in 1946 in Furmanovka, in the Moiynkum district of the Jambyl region, and grew up in Merke, where her family moved when she was in fifth...

Tobacco

Kazakhstan Vape Ban Faces a Test Under Eurasian Economic Union Rules

Kazakhstan banned vapes two years ago, but anti-tobacco organizations now fear that new rules being developed by the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) could allow them back onto the market. Public health advocates have appealed to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, accusing the government's economic officials of attempting to weaken the restrictions. Undermining Prohibition? Since June 2024, Kazakhstan has prohibited the production, import, and sale of electronic cigarettes, vaping liquids, and certain smokeless tobacco products. This includes snus, a form of tobacco placed under the upper lip. Violations can result in criminal prosecution. The EAEU, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, is developing a common technical regulation for nicotine-containing products allowing manufacturers to operate under common standards across several national markets. The Coalition for a Smoke-Free Kazakhstan argues that the regulation, being developed at Armenia's initiative, could create a legal basis for resuming trade in products currently banned in Kazakhstan. However, a version of the proposed draft prepared by Russia's Agriculture Ministry in November 2025 explicitly states that products cannot be placed on the market in EAEU member states where their circulation is prohibited under national law. Compliance with common technical standards would therefore not, by itself, authorize vape sales in Kazakhstan. It remains unclear whether this provision has been retained in the text currently under negotiation. A Boon for the Treasury The coalition also accused Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin of pressuring the Ministry of Health. According to the activists, he has been pushing for approval of the regulation despite the ministry's objections. In July, Zhumangarin met with executives from Philip Morris International, a multinational tobacco company with manufacturing operations in Kazakhstan. According to the government, the deputy prime minister supported common EAEU rules that would take national legislation and public health commitments into account. The company presented plans to establish a laboratory in Kazakhstan to test nicotine-containing products, with the facility also intended to serve markets in other countries. The tobacco industry generates substantial revenue for Kazakhstan's budget. In 2025, excise taxes on tobacco products totaled 330.7 billion tenge (approximately $735 million). During the first three months of 2026, Kazakhstan exported $42.5 million worth of cigarettes. The Hookah Lobby In spring 2026, Kazakhstan also debated relaxing its anti-tobacco legislation by allowing hookah smoking in licensed restaurants and other food-service establishments. Hookah smoking has been prohibited in enclosed public places since 2020. Supporters of legalization argued that the restrictions had driven the hookah business underground. According to their estimates, approximately 22,000 establishments offer hookahs. They projected that licensing would generate more than 16 billion tenge annually (approximately $35.5 million) in government revenue. The anti-tobacco coalition opposed the proposal. Its leader, Jamilya Sadykova, warned that licensing would effectively legalize tobacco use in places where the government is supposed to protect customers and employees from smoke exposure. In August, the World Health Organization supported maintaining the existing ban. Nevertheless, hookahs continue to be offered in cafes and specialized establishments, and customers are periodically fined during police raids....

Logistics

Kazakhstan’s Warehouse Market Faces Mismatch Between Supply and Demand

Central Asia is seeking a larger role in trade between China and Europe by offering alternative shipping routes that bypass Russia. However, growing interest in transit has not been matched by balanced development of warehouse infrastructure. Some transport hubs face shortages of modern facilities, while others have vacant space. For international freight operators and retailers, this means additional costs. For investors, it raises the risk of financing warehouses that may struggle to attract tenants. These contradictions were discussed on October 15 in Almaty at the Central Asia Warehouse Summit 2026, organized by consulting firm IBC Global. The summit brought together industry representatives and investors. Research presented at the event showed a growing disconnect between warehouse construction and actual demand. Vacant Warehouses Exist, but Not Where They Are Needed According to IBC Global, the vacancy rate for modern warehouse space in Kazakhstan is about 5%. This gives tenants more options when choosing facilities and negotiating rents. However, the national figure masks significant differences between cities and types of warehouse space. Industry estimates put Astana's shortage of modern warehouse space at approximately 350,000–400,000 square meters. Separately, property consultancy Bright Rich reported that Almaty's warehouse vacancy rate had reached 13.3% in May 2026. These estimates come from different periods and surveys, and should not be treated as directly comparable. Class A warehouses are modern facilities with high ceilings, loading docks, security systems, and infrastructure designed to handle large volumes of goods. Kazakhstan's warehouse market is nevertheless expanding rapidly. According to an IBC Global ranking presented at the summit, the total area of Class A warehouses covered by its research increased by 39% over the past year to 730,000 square meters. More than half of that space, approximately 400,000 square meters, is controlled by the five largest property owners. Their facilities are concentrated mainly in Almaty and Almaty Region, Astana, and Shymkent. Developers Continue Building Despite Weaker Demand A survey of more than 100 warehouse market participants across four Central Asian countries revealed a gap between developers' plans and tenants' expectations. According to IBC Global, 81% of developers intend to launch new projects or complete facilities already under construction within the next twelve months. Yet 62% of developers surveyed identified weak tenant demand as the main obstacle to market development, while 52% cited the high cost and limited availability of financing. IBC Global's market sentiment index for Kazakhstan stood at 48.1 points in the third quarter of 2026, below the neutral threshold of 50. However, 52% of respondents expect supply and demand to move closer to equilibrium over the next year. The risks are particularly high for speculative developments launched without a tenant already under contract. Developers expect to secure customers after construction is completed, but by then business requirements and market rental rates may have changed. One alternative is the build-to-suit model, in which a facility is constructed to meet the requirements of a specific tenant. Its location, size, equipment, and operating conditions are agreed upon in advance. This reduces vacancy risk for...

Harassment Laws

Sexual Harassment in Kazakhstan: Why Are Such Cases Difficult to Track?

A woman who said she was sexually harassed on a bus in Astana decided against going to the police because she feared she would be unable to prove what had happened. Instead, she confronted the man and photographed him. "It wasn't an accidental touch because the bus was crowded. He was groping me," she wrote on Threads. Police identified the 46-year-old man after discovering her post. A court sentenced him to ten days of administrative detention for indecent behavior on public transport. On October 13, a court in the capital had imposed the same penalty on an inDrive driver who had asked a female passenger intimate questions and propositioned her for sex during a ride. The woman also took to Threads to describe the incident. The court classified the driver's actions as petty hooliganism. Why Sexual Harassment is Prosecuted as Petty Hooliganism Kazakhstan does not have a comprehensive legal provision specifically addressing sexual harassment of adults in public places. Depending on the circumstances, law enforcement authorities may apply administrative or criminal law. Article 434 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, which covers petty hooliganism, is used in cases of this kind. It applies to offensive harassment of others and other conduct that disturbs public order, including obscene language. The law does not distinguish sexual harassment from other forms of offensive behavior. A first offense is punishable by a fine of 20 times the monthly calculation index (MCI) or 20 to 60 hours of community service. Alternatively, courts can impose five to 15 days of administrative detention. The MCI is a government-set unit used to calculate fines and certain other payments. In 2026, it stands at 4,325 tenge, making a fine of 20 MCI equal to 86,500 tenge, or approximately $190. In August 2023, an Almaty moped rider was held administratively liable under the petty hooliganism provision after slapping a woman he did not know on the buttocks. Because these incidents are recorded alongside other public order violations, official statistics do not show how many cases specifically involve unwanted sexual conduct. Criminal law provides more serious penalties for certain forms of sexual coercion. Article 123 of the Criminal Code addresses coercion into sexual acts through blackmail or threats against property. It also covers exploitation of a victim's financial or other dependence. It does not cover every instance of unwanted touching or verbal sexual harassment. In April 2024, Kazakhstan amended legislation protecting women and children, including provisions establishing criminal liability for sexual harassment of children under 16. The amendments did not create an equivalent standalone offense covering all forms of sexual harassment of adults in public places. Workplace Sexual Harassment Legislation Is Being Developed The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population has developed amendments that would introduce a definition of workplace sexual harassment into national labor legislation for the first time. The proposals would establish employers' responsibilities for preventing such conduct and create legal grounds for dismissing offenders. However, they would not establish a separate criminal or administrative penalty...

LRT

Almaty Builds New Tram Line as Residents Question Costs and Delays

Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city with a population of more than two million, is laying tram tracks again, more than a decade after shutting down its old network. The authorities aim to open the first 18.3-kilometer light rail transit (LRT) line in December 2027. The city has allocated 61.4 billion tenge (approximately $136 million) for construction in 2026, but the authorities have yet to disclose the project's total cost. As construction closes streets and disrupts traffic, some residents are questioning why the city dismantled its old tram system only to build a new one. The Project The new line will run from an industrial area in western Almaty through central districts to the Almaty-2 railway station and the Raiymbek Batyr transport hub. Unlike the elevated LRT system in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, Almaty's tracks will be laid at street level, separated from road traffic by curbs. City authorities say a ground-level line is less expensive than the elevated system in Astana. The project is being built by Kazakhstan's Integra Construction KZ. China's CRRC is being considered as a supplier of rolling stock, with the parties signing a memorandum of intent in June. The proposed five-section trams would carry up to 283 passengers each. City officials estimate that the line could carry more than 100,000 passengers a day, slightly below the roughly 122,000 passengers Almaty's metro handles on a typical weekday. [caption id="attachment_58784" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] The groundwork for the new tram line along Tole Bi Street, Almaty. Image: TCA[/caption] Public Opinion Speaking to The Times of Central Asia (TCA), 25-year-old entrepreneur Sanzhar Uvashev questioned the need for the new project after the dismantling of the previous tram network. “There used to be trams running through the city. Then they removed them, and now they want to build an LRT. Why remove one system only to build practically the same thing again?” he said. Tram services in Almaty ended on October 31, 2015. An inspection found the tracks to be unsafe after 43 derailments had occurred over just nine and a half months. The city decided to discontinue operations on the old network. By May 2026, workers were removing the remaining rails on Tole Bi Street to make way for new construction. Abai Kazbayev, a 40-year-old actor who also spoke to TCA, does not oppose bringing trams back but fears another prolonged construction project. “Perhaps it really will help ease traffic congestion in the future. The main thing is that construction doesn't drag on for years again,” he said. [caption id="attachment_58786" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Sections of the street are closed periodically, while hoardings advertise the coming trams. Image: TCA[/caption] Why Not Expand the Metro? Raushan Otan, a 46-year-old art historian interviewed by TCA, believes the city should focus on expanding its existing subway system. “It would make much more sense to continue building the metro and developing the transport system we already have,” she said. Construction of Almaty's metro began in 1988, during the Soviet era. It welcomed its first passengers in 2011, 20 years...