Kyrgyzstan Features - The Times Of Central Asia

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Oil Refinery

Kyrgyzstan Advances Junda Refinery Modernization Amid Fuel Supply Strain

Kyrgyzstan’s largest oil refinery, Junda in Kara-Balta, is moving to the next stage of a modernization project worth nearly $194 million. The project has taken on added significance amid problems with fuel supplies from Russia, on which Kyrgyzstan remains heavily dependent. On August 25, Ravshanbek Sabirov, head of the National Investment Agency, signed an additional agreement with China’s Central Asia Energy Company. The document allows the next stage of the Junda modernization project to begin. Once upgraded, the refinery is expected to increase petroleum output and produce fuel meeting Euro 5 standards. The official announcement confirms the start of the new phase but does not specify its individual cost. Junda, also known as Zhongda, is located in Kara-Balta, about 60 kilometers west of Bishkek. The refinery is operated by the Kyrgyzstan-registered China Petrol Company Junda, which is 99% owned by China’s Central Asia Energy Company. The remaining 1% is held by Kyrgyzstan-registered Dade Service Company. The refinery, with an annual crude-processing capacity of 800,000 tons, began operating in 2014. Production halted in early 2020, and the plant remained idle for about four years. Before the shutdown, residents of Kara-Balta had repeatedly complained about air pollution and unpleasant odors from the facility. The shutdown lasted about four years, with production resuming in 2024. A new modernization program followed. A 2024 investment agreement initially put the cost of repairs and modernization at $160 million, while the company later cited an investment of more than $167 million. An additional agreement subsequently raised the project figure to $193.75 million. The refinery’s stated processing capacity remains 800,000 tons per year. The project’s timeline, however, remains unclear. An earlier supplementary agreement called for the modernization to be completed by July 31, 2026. That deadline has already passed, yet on August 25 the parties signed another agreement allowing the next phase to begin. The National Investment Agency has not explained whether the original deadline has formally been extended. President Sadyr Japarov has previously given a different target – 2028. He also said the Chinese side had allocated about $500 million for Junda, substantially more than the $193.75 million cited in the investment agreement. It is unclear whether the two figures refer to different stages or scopes of work. Japarov has also spoken about modernizing another refinery, Kyrgyz Petroleum Company in Manas, the city formerly known as Jalal-Abad. For Kyrgyzstan, the issue is not only fuel quality. Deputy Energy Minister Nasipbek Kerimov said in July that Kyrgyzstan consumes around 2 million tons of fuel and lubricants annually and that almost 95% has traditionally come from Russia. More recent government figures put average annual demand at more than 1.5 million tons, while Japarov has said Russia currently accounts for about 90% of consumption. That dependence has become particularly visible this summer. Disruptions at Russian refineries and reduced volumes available for export have pushed prices higher. Ukrainian drone strikes, refinery outages, and strong domestic demand have contributed to fuel shortages in Russia and restrictions on exports to some markets. Rising fuel...

Artificial Intelligence

Kyrgyzstan’s NineNineSix Takes On Global AI Voice Market

In February, Kani TTS 2, a text-to-speech (TTS) model developed by Kyrgyzstani startup NineNineSix, ranked among Hugging Face’s top three trending TTS models, according to Kyrgyzstan’s High Technology Park. Hugging Face is sometimes described as the “GitHub for AI.” At $5 per million characters, NineNineSix’s listed price is lower than several paid TTS offerings from ElevenLabs and OpenAI, while Google’s range includes both cheaper and more expensive models. The company illustrates how rapid advances in AI are creating opportunities for entrepreneurs from Central Asia. NineNineSix, whose name refers to the Kyrgyz Republic’s international calling code, +996, grew out of a problem its founders encountered when using third-party pre-trained models at their previous startup. Using its own data, the team fine-tuned those models but remained dissatisfied with the results. Those models sounded robotic and were too resource-intensive and slow, creating a bottleneck. The team concluded that building its own model was the only way to achieve the quality it needed. [caption id="attachment_54711" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Founders Ulan Abdurazakov, Nursultan Bakashov and Denis Pavlov[/caption] Not the First Try NineNineSix co-founder Nursultan Bakashov tells The Times of Central Asia: “Building our own models felt like the natural next chapter of the story we’d already started writing. In the age of AI, the only real choice is to do AI.” Bakashov founded the company in 2025 with Ulan Abdurazakov and Denis Pavlov. He and Abdurazakov had previously worked together, co-founding Makers Bootcamp with a third partner in 2019 to train people for careers in technology. Three years later, they left Makers Bootcamp to focus on AI. They became active in the Kyrgyz Republic’s AI community, organizing events and training for several years. The community now has more than 1,800 members. Their work there led to The Cramer Project, which they launched with Timur Turatali, formerly of EY and Citibank, and Pavlov, who had moved from Russia to the Kyrgyz Republic. The company developed AkylAI, which it describes as Kyrgyzstan’s first AI-powered smart speaker. The name refers to Akylai, a common female name in Kyrgyz; the element “ai” means “moon” and often appears in Kyrgyz names. In October 2023, AkylAI was named a winner in the Unicorn from KG program, run by the High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic. It also took part in Draper University’s Hero Training incubation program in Silicon Valley. The following year, AkylAI was selected for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s first Star Venture cohort in the Kyrgyz Republic. It was also presented at KIT Forum 2024, Bishkek’s flagship annual technology event. That year, The Cramer Project also tested CorePod, a smart speaker designed to support mental health and sleep. CorePod was intended as a global product, beginning with the United States market. The team says the company became the first Kyrgyzstani startup admitted to the LAUNCH incubator in May 2024. CorePod was later pitched to Jason Calacanis, a Silicon Valley angel investor, and featured on his This Week in Startups podcast. An upgraded version of AkylAI was presented...

Power Grid

August 14 Blackout: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan Continue to Dispute Its Cause

The blame game over Central Asia’s August 14 blackout continues. Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov says the large-scale blackout began with the shutdown of two generating units at the Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) in Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek does not dispute that the failure occurred but rejects the claim that it was the direct cause of the subsequent outages across several countries. Akkenzhenov identified the events in Kyrgyzstan as the starting point of the emergency. According to him, the initial disturbance occurred on August 14 at 2:37 p.m. Kazakhstan time, or 3:37 p.m. in Kyrgyzstan, when generating units No. 1 and No. 2 at the Toktogul HPP went offline. The loss of generation altered operating conditions in Central Asia’s interconnected power system and led to a redistribution of power flows in southern Kazakhstan. A government commission in Kazakhstan is expected to make the final determination. Kazakhstan’s grid operator KEGOC had earlier provided a more detailed chronology. At 2:37 p.m., three 500 kV transmission lines tripped, separating southern Kazakhstan and the Central Asian grid from the rest of Kazakhstan’s power system. About 2,810 MW of consumer load was temporarily cut off. KEGOC later said that immediately beforehand, two generating units at the Toktogul HPP, with a combined capacity of about 600 MW, had gone offline. The resulting changes in power flows overloaded Kazakhstan’s North–East–South transmission corridor, triggering emergency protection systems. Akkenzhenov said the protection systems had worked effectively and praised KEGOC’s response. Kazakhstan’s power system was restored in approximately 2.5 hours. Kyrgyzstan acknowledges that the two units went offline. The country’s Energy Ministry described the incident as the “initial disturbance” in the interconnected power system, but stressed that the first event in an emergency sequence cannot automatically be considered the cause of all subsequent outages. According to its account, by 3:55 p.m. Kyrgyzstan time — 2:55 p.m. in Kazakhstan — the frequency in the interconnected power system had returned to the normal 50 Hz. At that point, Kyrgyzstan was also supplying neighboring power systems with about 250 MW. Bishkek maintains that the outage affecting the Almaty power hub occurred after normal frequency had already been restored. Kyrgyz energy officials therefore consider it premature to directly attribute all subsequent events to the failure at the Toktogul HPP. The disagreement, therefore, is less about what happened first than about the causal link between the initial failure and the chain of outages that followed. Why the Regional Grid Is Vulnerable The vulnerability is rooted in the architecture of the region’s power system itself. During the Soviet period, its power plants and high-voltage transmission lines were designed to operate as a single interconnected system rather than around today’s national borders. Energy ties weakened after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but in recent years the countries have again expanded parallel operation of their power systems. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are connected through the Integrated Power System of Central Asia. Cross-border power flows are coordinated by the Energia Coordinating Dispatch Center in Tashkent. Hydropower in Kyrgyzstan and...

Podcast

Pannier and Hillard’s Spotlight on Central Asia: New Episode Out Now

As Managing Editor of The Times of Central Asia, I’m delighted that, in partnership with the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, we are the home of the Spotlight on Central Asia podcast. Chaired by seasoned broadcasters Bruce Pannier of RFE/RL’s long-running Majlis podcast and Michael Hillard of The Red Line, each fortnightly instalment will take you on a deep dive into the latest news, developments, security issues, and social trends across an increasingly pivotal region. This week, the team is covering one of Central Asia's leaders openly calling on Vladimir Putin to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, Russia moving to tear up a number of its military agreements with two Central Asian states, upcoming elections in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, a deepening crackdown on opposition media and journalists in Kazakhstan, and a growing wave of fighting in northern Afghanistan that is already beginning to spill across the border into neighbouring Tajikistan. Before turning to our main story this week, where we look back at the decade since Islam Karimov's death and Shavkat Mirziyoyev's rise to power, and ask just how much Uzbekistan has changed over the ten years since. Special guest: Central Asia journalist and author of Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan, Joanna Lillis.

World Nomad Games

Kok Boru and the Art of Being Noticed: The World Nomad Games as Kyrgyzstan’s Calling Card

A stampede throws up a great wall of dust as a scrum of white, sweating stallions tears past. A roar rises from the stands. With horsemen in hot pursuit, a rider bursts from the pack, swinging a 30-kilo plastic simulation of a goat carcass. As they charge toward the goal, the horses bare their teeth. This is the spectacle awaiting travelers from far and wide at this year’s World Nomad Games. For Kyrgyzstan, the Games are a source of pride. Born beside Lake Issyk-Kul, twelve years on, the sixth edition will see 100,000 visitors descend on a town of 13,000. The timing in 2026 makes the aspiration hard to ignore. The opening ceremony falls on Kyrgyzstan’s Independence Day, while leaders are also gathering in Bishkek for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Presidential spokesman Askat Alagozov has said 21 heads of state are expected. The Games will open before many of them in the new 51,000-seat Bishkek Arena. [caption id="attachment_54493" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Image: International Secretariat of the World Nomad Games[/caption] Kyrgyzstan has spent more than a decade building toward this goal. The initiative was approved at the Turkic Council summit in Bishkek in 2012 before the first Games were staged in Cholpon Ata in 2014. Then, there were 583 athletes from 19 countries. Kyrgyzstan hosted again in 2016 and 2018, before the event moved to Turkey in 2022 and Kazakhstan in 2024. That decision could have diluted Kyrgyzstan’s ownership. Instead, each foreign edition strengthened the identity of the event Kyrgyzstan had started. In December 2025, founder Askhat Akibaev transferred the intellectual property rights to the Kyrgyz state. Cabinet Chairman Adylbek Kasymaliev called the Games “the flagship of our state’s cultural diplomacy.” Akibaev explained the achievement succinctly after the first three editions. “We proved to ourselves and the world that a small country can do something global,” he told RFE/RL. Kyrgyzstan cannot match major powers through stadium budgets or international sports leagues, but the Games have given it access to an audience money alone could not buy. The cultural case has also gained international recognition. In 2021, UNESCO selected “Nomad games, rediscovering heritage, celebrating diversity” for its Register of Good Safeguarding Practices. The program was praised for reviving traditional games and passing knowledge to younger generations, while bonding contestants across borders. [caption id="attachment_54490" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Image: International Secretariat of the World Nomad Games[/caption] The numbers tell their own story. Astana brought together 2,500 athletes from 89 countries in 2024. This year, around 3,000 athletes are registered from 113 countries for 43 sports. Local organizers say the field now reaches far beyond states with a direct nomadic heritage, with newcomers expected from New Zealand and several African countries. Team GB offers one of the clearest examples. Britain competed in Astana in 2024, and is returning with a larger contingent. The team has expanded beyond tug-of-war and intellectual games into horseback archery and wrestling. The sole British competitor in the Alysh wrestling will be The Times of Central Asia contributor, Jonathan Campion. The British...

Opinion

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan Show What Diplomacy Can Deliver as Vast Rail Project with China Advances

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met on July 30 on the shores of Kyrgyzstan’s Lake Issyk-Kul, in Cholpon Ata, to sign the Treaty on Allied Relations. It was much more than business as usual. In their press conference, the leaders largely set aside the diplomatic boilerplate and expressions of mutual approbation that usually attend such summits. Instead, the meeting focused on putting a decisive end to mutual Kyrgyz-Uzbek grievances and rivalry, opting for dialogue over confrontation, stability over tension, and partnership over the quest for primacy in their bilateral relationship. Without ceding any of their sovereignty, they stressed that teamwork and shared responsibility—not the pursuit of great-power patronage or one-upmanship—are the surest way to advance common interests. Japarov, like Mirziyoyev, made clear that strategic-level collaboration always trumps short-term transactional gains. One of the biggest takeaways from the Japarov–Mirziyoyev summit was the confident demeanor and optimism with which they spoke about the future of Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations. Veering from his scripted notes and speaking in Russian to the press, Mirziyoyev said: “What an atmosphere we have today [here in Kyrgyzstan]. Look at what we're doing today— we're making history. This alliance — all of this will remain in history forever and ever.” Friendship, mutual respect, and hard work will produce “dynamic development” and “steady economic growth,” leading to “the well-being of peoples.” Business Development and Ahead of Schedule Once dismissed as an engineer's pipedream or a financier's nightmare, Japarov and Mirziyoyev said they’re staying the course on building strategic connectivity, energy, and water infrastructure, singling out the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway and the Kambarata-1 Hydropower Plant (HPP), projects that some considered unrealistic. The leaders made it plain that this railway will deliver huge benefits. As Mirziyoyev put it: "We will work together non-stop to develop trade and logistics infrastructure along this railway route." Beyond offering transit times faster than the northern routes, the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway will boost tourism and bring Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan hundreds of millions of dollars in transit revenue. Most importantly, it will unlock untapped economic resources, fueling new jobs, businesses, and logistics hubs along the corridor. After the Japarov-Mirziyoyev meetings, The Times of Central Asia spoke with Akramjon Nematov, First Deputy Director of Uzbekistan's Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies. Having been on site, he noted that the numbers and progress on the ground speak louder than any words or communiqués: "Construction is active at 83 of 107 planned sites on the Kyrgyz line, with over 10,000 workers and 7,000 units of heavy machinery deployed. Crews are drilling 26 tunnels through the Tian Shan, with over 13.5 kilometers of the main tunnel already cut, while 38 of 50 bridges are underway. The pace is staggering. I've watched this railway move Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations from friction to cooperation – and I measure progress not in words, but in cubic meters of earth moved." China has committed to supplying most of the capital and engineering capacity. The project carries a total capitalization of roughly $4.7 billion, structured as a $2.3...