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Middle Corridor

Kazakhstan Middle Corridor Railway Cuts Detour, but Caspian Bottlenecks Remain

Kazakhstan expects to complete the roughly 323-kilometer Moyynty-Kyzylzhar railway across the Karaganda and Ulytau regions of central Kazakhstan by the end of 2026. The new line will shorten the Middle Corridor by 149 kilometers and ease congestion on the existing route via Zharyk. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy said in July that 202.5 kilometers of track had been laid. For the China-Europe route, however, the next test is the Caspian Sea. Containers must be transferred from trains at ports in Kazakhstan to ships bound for Azerbaijan, then returned to rail. The speed and regularity of these transfers will determine whether the hours saved within Kazakhstan translate into shorter delivery times. What the New Line Changes Moyynty-Kyzylzhar will give transit trains a more direct route from the Chinese border toward the Caspian and ease pressure on the Moyynty-Zharyk section, where east-west freight competes with domestic traffic. The project is designed to accommodate double-stack container trains and includes provisions for future expansion and electrification. The World Bank projects that capacity on the section will rise from 14 to 28 pairs of freight trains per day, while transit time via the new route is targeted to fall from eight hours to six by 2031. In February, the World Bank approved an $846 million guarantee intended to mobilize $1.41 billion in commercial financing for the project. Across Kazakhstan, the time savings will be more modest. Transit from Dostyk, on the Chinese border, to Aktau is expected to fall from about 72 hours to 68 hours by 2031. Farther west, the country is also modernizing the Shalkar-Beineu and Beineu-Mangystau sections leading toward the Caspian ports. The Caspian Remains a Bottleneck The European Union (EU) aims to reduce transit time along the Trans-Caspian route to no more than 15 days. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has estimated that the route has the potential to move cargo between China and Europe in around 18 days, but infrastructure and connectivity constraints have produced transit times ranging from 14 to 60 days. For shippers, reliability is as important as speed. Freight Is Growing Faster Than Caspian Capacity Pressure on the Caspian section is already increasing. In 2025, Kazmortransflot carried 59,400 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) on the Aktau-Baku-Aktau feeder route, more than 15% above the 2024 level of 51,400 TEU. In May 2026, container traffic between Aktau and Azerbaijan reached a company record of 7,451 TEU. Kazakhstan is expanding its port infrastructure as well. The EBRD and the EU are financing upgrades at Aktau, including two dedicated container berths and new handling equipment. The project is expected to double the port’s container-handling capacity. Caspian fleet capacity is another constraint as rail freight grows. Falling Caspian Sea levels are also limiting how fully some vessels can be loaded. From an Alternative to Russia to a Commercial Route After 2022, geopolitics increased demand for the Middle Corridor. It offered Europe a route to Central Asia and China that bypasses Russia, while providing Kazakhstan with another connection to European markets. The corridor increasingly has to compete on commercial terms....

5 days ago

Tourism

Tajikistan Creates Tourism Fund as Visitor Numbers Rise

Tajikistan has created a dedicated fund to reinvest money collected from tourists and travel companies in the country’s tourism industry. The move comes amid rising visitor numbers, with nearly 890,000 foreign tourists visiting the country in the first half of 2026, up 16.7% from a year earlier. The tourist fee predates the fund, which the government formally established by a resolution adopted on July 1. The fund will be used to improve tourism infrastructure and service standards. The money will be kept in a separate account at the Ministry of Finance’s Central Treasury, while the Tourism Development Committee is required to report to the government every six months on how the funds are used. Tourism permit fees and fines for nonpayment will provide additional revenue. The fund will also receive 5% of the value of outbound tour packages sold to citizens of Tajikistan, channeling money from trips abroad into tourism development at home. For foreign travelers, the fee depends on the type of accommodation and is based on Tajikistan’s “calculation indicator,” a government-set benchmark used for official charges. In 2026, one calculation indicator is set at 78 somoni, or about $8.40. Under the current rates, the fee is 0.2 of the indicator per day at hotels and similar accommodation, and 0.15 at guesthouses and hostels. That works out to 15.6 somoni a day in the first category and 11.7 somoni in the second, roughly $1.70 and $1.30 respectively. The charge is small relative to the overall cost of a trip to destinations such as the Pamirs. The government resolution does not state how much revenue the fund is expected to collect. Uzbekistan was the largest source market, accounting for more than half of the total, or 510,400 tourists. Russia accounted for 175,800 and Kyrgyzstan for 89,000. Another 23,100 came from Kazakhstan and 22,700 from China. The committee expects Tajikistan to receive more than 2 million foreign tourists in 2026. Russia remains one of the country’s main source markets. Russian tour operators report growing demand for the Pamir Highway and the Wakhan Corridor. The Fann Mountains and combined trips through Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also popular. Operators cite expensive airfares and insufficient tourist infrastructure as obstacles familiar to independent travelers. Tajikistan has difficulty competing with Uzbekistan for travelers drawn primarily by the architecture of its Silk Road cities. Its appeal lies elsewhere, particularly in trekking and road trips through the mountains. Some infrastructure problems have eased in recent years as electronic visas and eSIM services have become available and more hotels and restaurants are operating. Tourist information centers have opened, and sections of the Pamir Highway are being repaired. Service quality outside Dushanbe and Khujand, however, remains uneven. There are also security concerns for travelers heading toward the Afghan border. Some of the country’s most spectacular routes pass through the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. After attacks from Afghan territory killed Chinese citizens in late 2025, Dushanbe increased security in border areas. The fund’s effectiveness will depend on how much it raises and...

5 days ago

Swimming

Tashkent to Host Uzbekistan’s First Swimming World Cup Event

Tashkent will host a World Aquatics Swimming World Cup event for the first time from October 8 to 10, as Uzbekistan prepares to join the international swimming circuit. The competition will be the second leg of the 2026 Swimming World Cup, which World Aquatics has branded the Silk Road Tour. The series begins in Baku on October 1 before moving to Tashkent and concluding in Astana from October 15 to 17. More than 750 swimmers representing over 50 national federations are expected to compete across the three events. The series has a total prize pool of $1.2 million, with additional bonuses available for world records and swimmers who win the same event at all three stops. The tour will also serve as preparation for the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m), which will be held in Beijing from December 1 to 6. Competition in Tashkent will take place at the Aquatic Palace in the capital’s new Olympic City. World Aquatics officials inspected the venue in January as preparations for the event continued. “Taking the Swimming World Cup to Uzbekistan for the first time ever is a very exciting milestone for World Aquatics,” World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam said. Tashkent has previously hosted international competitions in other aquatic disciplines, including World Aquatics artistic swimming events in 2017 and 2018. The October competition will mark Uzbekistan’s first appearance as a host on the Swimming World Cup circuit.

6 days ago

Drone Strike Russia's War Baikonur Ukraine

Ukrainian Military Says Strike Hit Rocket Workshop Linked to Baikonur

Ukraine’s General Staff said on Wednesday that its August 15 missile strike on a Russian space center had hit an engine-assembling workshop for Soyuz rockets as well as an aircraft maintenance facility. The Ukrainian military said its assessment was based “on the analysis of additional data,” while Russia has acknowledged an industrial facility in the area was attacked without specifying whether there was damage to the Progress Rocket Space Center. The assessment follows the posting online of satellite imagery apparently showing damage from the missile strike. The Progress center produces Soyuz-2 rockets that are regularly launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Independent confirmation of the extent of damage from the strike in Russia’s Samara region, as well as whether the strike might affect future Soyuz launches from Baikonur, remain difficult. The Ukrainian General Staff statement also said a fire spanning about 5,000 square meters was recorded as a result of the strike on the Progress center, which it described as an important military target. The center “is one of the key enterprises in the Russian rocket and space industry, involved in the production of ‘Soyuz’ family rockets,” the statement said. “The company's products are used, among other things, to launch spacecraft into orbit and to deploy Russian satellite communication groups for the benefit of the Russian army.”

6 days ago

AI Content Creation

Kazakhstani AI Creator Alissa Kamorskaya on the Rise of AI Animation

Kazakhstani model and AI content creator Alissa Kamorskaya runs Chudno, a school and agency specializing in AI-generated content. Kamorskaya began publishing AI cartoons in February 2026, and one of her videos has since received more than 30 million views on Instagram. The Times of Central Asia spoke with her about the rise of AI animation and the role of social media algorithms in driving views. TCA: You began creating AI cartoons before the format became widespread in Kazakhstan. Why do you think your most-viewed video attracted such a large audience? Alissa: I think several factors played a role. One was that when I made my most-viewed cartoons, almost no one in the post-Soviet space was using this format. I posted my first one on February 3 this year. I wanted to tell my followers how I met my husband, but I simply didn’t have any video footage to illustrate it, so I decided to turn it into a cartoon. The views quickly took off, my social media audience started growing, and I realized it was a very promising niche. AI cartoons have now become hugely popular. You can see animated videos recommended on social media getting as many as 100 million views. They have spread across social media so quickly that it feels as though AI cartoons have been around for a long time. In reality, broadly speaking, they have only been this widespread for about six months. TCA: Why does animation work so well with a mass audience? Alissa: I think it’s because animation is almost universal. Very often it doesn’t need words at all. A cartoon can be understood by someone of any age, from any country, speaking any language. Someone could be sitting somewhere in Cambodia, see the video, and still understand what is happening. So the potential audience for this kind of content is enormous. TCA: Do you see that in the geographic breakdown of your audience? Alissa: I analyzed the statistics for several videos and noticed that a lot of viewers come from Turkey and Iran. I think that is partly connected to how my characters look. They have dark hair and darker skin, so viewers in those countries may find them more familiar-looking. I often see comments in Turkish under the videos, and I can tell that people recognize themselves in these characters. Visual identification is very important here. It works much like it does in movies, or when we were children and picked a favorite character and said, “I’ll be this one.” We want to recognize ourselves in characters and identify with them. TCA: Before AI animation, you ran a conventional blog for about five years. Why did cartoons change things so dramatically? Alissa: I had been blogging for about five years, constantly filming myself, and my audience barely grew. For several years, my follower count stayed at around 3,000. Everything changed only when I switched from making what I personally liked to what interested a much wider range of people. I used...

6 days ago

Women's History

Opinion: A Century Apart, Two Official Visions of Uzbek Womanhood

A century ago, in 1926, the Russian-language Uzbek newspaper Pravda Vostoka published an appeal to the “working women of the Soviet East” written by Clara Zetkin – a Marxist and a women’s rights advocate from Germany. In its appeal for women’s unveiling, it asked where the mullahs had been while women suffered through the “dark past” and promised that Soviet law now shone “bright rays” over a liberated and free Soviet present. It closed not with a tribute to women, but with a slogan: “Forward to socialism! Always ready to fight for world revolution!” There was a significant problem with this text. Literacy among Uzbek women was extremely low, particularly in rural areas, and those who could read generally read Uzbek rather than Russian. Historian Marianne Kamp documents this gap in her book The New Woman in Uzbekistan. The article calling women to political consciousness was, therefore, not directly accessible to the overwhelming majority of its stated audience. That gap is not just a flaw in the propaganda or evidence of its exaggerated reach. Rather, it explains how the propaganda worked. A Russian newspaper speaking to Uzbek women who largely could not read it depended on party cadres, activists, public readings, meetings, and other literate intermediaries who could disseminate the message in Uzbek. It did not address an existing constituency so much as construct one – handing local organisers a model of the politically awakened Soviet woman they were expected to promote in villages where practically no woman could have read the article herself. [caption id="attachment_54189" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Uzbek women in the old city of Tashkent before going out into the street on International Women’s Day, March 8, 1924. Photo: Public domain.[/caption] The “working women of the Soviet East” were therefore both an audience and an emerging political category. That category served a larger claim the Soviet state was making about Central Asia: that the region was “backward” and required revolutionary socialist transformation. In Soviet rhetoric, as in some earlier Russian imperial writing, the condition of women became one of the principal measures by which a society’s level of development was judged. A society’s position on the imagined path from feudalism to modernity could be read from whether its women were veiled or unveiled, secluded or employed, illiterate or educated. Transforming women’s appearance and public role offered the state an especially visible means of demonstrating that Central Asia was leaving its supposedly backward past behind. This does not mean that Soviet female emancipation was merely an empty disguise for imperial domination. Many contemporary works by historians such as Adrienne Edgar, Marianne Kamp, and Shoshana Keller showcase the genuine changes produced by Soviet literacy campaigns, education, employment, family law, and women’s political participation. Soviet gender policy did not simply reproduce the restrained paternalism of the tsarist administration. It attempted, and in many ways succeeded, at a much more radical transformation in the realm of gender politics. What it does complicate is who was doing the defining. It is tempting to read...

6 days ago

Digital Finance

Opinion: Tajikistan’s Digital Finance Boom Faces Its Next Challenge – Keeping Money Digital

Tajikistan’s e-wallet numbers are striking. As of June 30, 2026, 28 credit financial institutions reported 19.8 million electronic wallets, up 25.9% from a year earlier. In the first half of 2026, e-wallets were used for 14.6 million non-cash transactions worth 3.6 billion somoni. But those figures should not be read as if 19.8 million people are actively using wallets. The National Bank of Tajikistan’s published aggregate data do not state how many wallets belong to unique users or how many are active. Nor do they show how usage is distributed among them. Without that denominator, the headline figure tells us much less about actual use. Tajikistan has clearly expanded digital access. It now needs a clearer picture of usage and stronger reasons for people and businesses to keep money inside the digital system. I call this the shift from digital access to digital retention. The headline number is 19.8 million wallets out of an official population of 10.721 million as of January 1, 2026. The more useful number would be how many are meaningfully active. Do Not Confuse Registration With Usage A registered wallet is an access point, not proof of financial behavior. One person may hold several wallets, and some may sit dormant. Usage may also be concentrated among a smaller group of frequent users. Without active-wallet and unique-user data, none of those possibilities should be assumed as fact. What we can say is that non-cash activity is growing. The National Bank reports that cashless payments for goods and services made with electronic payment instruments reached 41% in the first half of 2026, 13 percentage points higher than a year earlier. It also reports 9,425 POS terminals at trade and service points and 33,620 QR codes. That 41% figure covers electronic payment instruments, including bank cards and e-wallets. It is not an e-wallet usage rate. To understand how wallets are actually being used, Tajikistan needs a clearer view of active wallets, transaction frequency, and what happens to money after it enters a digital account. Trust Is Part of the Infrastructure For many people, the move from cash to bank cards was already a significant behavioral change. They learned to trust money represented by a balance on a screen rather than notes in a hand. Wallets, QR payments and app-based financial services require another layer of trust. Users need to know where their money is and whether a payment went through. They also need a clear route when something goes wrong. Fees should be easy to understand. This is why simplicity is part of financial trust, not merely user experience. Tajikistan’s Financial Literacy Program for 2026–2030 makes the same connection at a policy level. It links financial literacy and consumer protection with public confidence as digital financial services expand. A good digital-finance service should be usable by ordinary people without making money feel harder to understand. Users should not need fintech expertise to trust the product. Merchants Need a Reason Not to Cash Out Consumers are only one part of...

7 days ago

Space Center Strike

Satellite Images Suggest Damage at Russian Space Center Linked to Kazakhstan’s Baikonur

Satellite imagery purportedly showing damage from a Ukrainian missile strike at a key Russian space center is circulating online, although there is no independent confirmation of whether Soyuz rocket facilities at the site were hit. Without providing details, Russia has acknowledged that industrial infrastructure was hit in an attack late last week in the Samara region, but has not publicly identified any impact on the Progress Rocket Space Center in Samara. Ukraine says it targeted the site because it supports Russia’s war effort. The Progress facility also makes Soyuz-2 rockets that are regularly launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver spacecraft to the International Space Station. ExileNova+, a Ukrainian channel that tracks damage assessments and other aspects of the war with Russia, posted what it said was a satellite image of damage to a building involved in Soyuz rocket production. “Two hits were recorded on building 106A, where onboard electronics, control systems, cable networks, and instrument compartments for the rockets are assembled. Building 106B, where the final assembly takes place, is located nearby,” ExileNova+ said on Telegram. There was no independent confirmation of the claims about damage at building 106A. Business Insider, a U.S. publication, published a satellite image that it said shows a hole in the roof of a Progress center building, as well as damage to the exterior. The publication said the image was obtained from U.S. firm Vantor. For now, it is difficult to assess how the missile strike in Samara could affect future Soyuz launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which Russia leases from Kazakhstan. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said a launch pad at Baikonur was damaged during the liftoff of a crewed spacecraft in late November 2025 but was repaired in early 2026. Soyuz rockets then launched Russian spacecraft from Baikonur in March and April of this year. “The extent of the damage at Progress and its impact on future Soyuz launches will likely become clearer over time. Even a temporary disruption could complicate a production schedule already expected to rely on existing rocket stocks to meet growing demand,” Alison Sayer wrote in an analysis for ISR University, a team of former U.S. Department of Defense professionals, national security experts, and others. Roscosmos is a civilian entity, but Russia’s military relies on satellites and other space infrastructure provided or operated by the country’s space industry. Tracking platform Orbital Radar identifies the Russian Aerospace Forces, a branch of the Russian military, as the operator of multiple Soyuz-2 launches, including launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

7 days ago

Middle Corridor

Insider’s View: Why Uzbekistan’s Caspian Push Might Be Beneficial for Georgia

Over the past year, Georgia has shifted its focus towards Central Asia, establishing strategic partnerships with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The country has long-term plans for the region in several development areas, including trade and transport logistics. However, the current phase of Georgian–Central Asian relations is not solely based on economic pragmatism. It should also be viewed as a means of preserving sovereignty in the face of global challenges that are catalyzing the old-world order to collapse. In this context, strategic connectivity can be defined as a vital component of small states’ long-term stability and security, placing it on a par with defense capabilities. By intensifying political and economic ties with Tbilisi, Tashkent is seeking to reinforce the Western orientation of its foreign policy. This is necessary to successfully balance between the major powers and minimize the risk of becoming overly dependent on neighboring Russia or China, for example. However, this move should not be perceived as a counter to the geopolitical ambitions of non-regional actors in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. It is devoid of political overtones and reflects the parties’ desire to strengthen their sovereignty based on shared economic interests and opportunities. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor) is the key driver in this dynamic, and its significance extends far beyond transport connectivity. It is a mutually beneficial initiative whose ultimate goal is to ensure regional stability and sustainable economic growth. Thus, Uzbekistan gains an alternative route to the European Union market — the country’s third-largest trading partner — via the Georgian ports of Poti and Batumi on the Black Sea coast. Meanwhile, the Trans-Caspian route provides Georgia with access to the rapidly growing markets of East and South Asia via Uzbekistan and neighboring countries. The new transit corridor concepts promoted by Uzbekistan in the context of the expanding Central Asian partnership deserve special attention. Tashkent and Tbilisi have enormous potential to develop transport cooperation by establishing intercontinental logistics chains: China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Turkey/EU, and India–Pakistan–Afghanistan–Uzbekistan–Kazakhstan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–EU. Both projects involve connecting the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway and the Trans-Afghan Railway Corridor (the Kabul Corridor), which are an absolute priority for Uzbekistan, with the Middle Corridor. This will significantly increase the republic’s exports of transport services by attracting additional transit flows from the South Caucasus, Turkey and Europe, while also expanding the freight base for the aforementioned railway corridors. The issue of jointly promoting new trade routes along the east-west and north-south axes (from Europe to China and India, respectively) through Uzbekistan requires ongoing expert discussion to amplify its relevance. To fully realize its own transit potential, it is insufficient for Uzbekistan to focus solely on the infrastructure development of the Middle Corridor. This is because, even after the launch of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, the country’s ability to attract additional transit cargo flows would remain very limited due to Kazakhstan’s dominance in rail transport between the EU, Central Asia, and China via the Caspian Sea. For Uzbekistan, it is far more important to extend the Middle Corridor to China and India. This would...

1 week ago

Astana Finance Days 2026

Astana Finance Days 2026 to Draw Global Investors to Kazakhstan

Astana will host the ninth Astana Finance Days on September 9–10. This year, organizers expect more than 5,500 participants from over 80 countries, and the geography of the guests reflects the markets Kazakhstan has increasingly looked to for capital: the United States and Europe, China and Hong Kong, the Gulf states, and its Central Asian neighbors. The announced speakers include representatives of BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Brookfield, FTSE Russell, Bloomberg, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and China International Capital Corporation. Representatives of Binance, Mastercard, and Telegram/TON are also expected. Kazakhstan will be represented by National Bank Governor Timur Suleimenov, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev, Freedom Holding Corp. CEO Timur Turlov, and others. This year’s agenda reflects the region’s continuing search for new sources of financing: capital markets, investment products, financing for the real economy, regulation, financial technology, and cross-border investment. The forum will be held under the theme “Delivering Impact. Capital in Action.” Astana Finance Days was launched in 2018 alongside the establishment of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). The first forum was closely linked to the creation of Kazakhstan’s new financial hub, but the range of participants has expanded considerably over the past eight years. Last year, AFD attracted more than 5,500 participants from 82 countries. They included representatives of investment firms managing approximately $1.5 trillion in combined assets. Over two days, the forum hosted 40 events featuring 160 speakers, while the Astana International Exchange announced four listings and seven agreements were signed. China and Hong Kong stand out in the 2026 guest list. Representatives of the Hong Kong Investment Corporation, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchange, and CICC are expected in Astana. BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and Brookfield are also represented. Kazakhstan has increasingly sought investment from the West, China, and the Middle East, so the range of institutions represented may be more significant than the overall attendance figure. There is another reason AFD goes beyond a conventional financial conference. The AIFC was established as a separate jurisdiction with its own court, regulator, and legal framework based on the principles of English common law. Kazakhstan designed it to make it easier for foreign businesses to enter the local market and raise capital. Thousands of companies from dozens of countries are now registered with the AIFC, and Astana Finance Days has effectively become an annual meeting point between businesses operating within this system and potential investors and new partners. Investment will not be the only subject under discussion in September. The program includes digital asset regulation, new financial technologies, capital markets, and corporate financing. A separate AFD Exhibition will bring together banks, asset managers, investment firms, and fintech projects. The Times of Central Asia is a media partner of Astana Finance Days 2026. Special coverage coming soon.

1 week ago

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