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Uzbekistan Economy Oil & Gas Central Asia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Finance

Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan in the realities of Central Asia’s economic development

LONDON (TCA) — Increasing discrepancies between a growing avalanche of economic forecasts by more and more institutional lenders and sideliners for the wider Central Asian region have revived the debate on criteria used in macroeconomic assessments. Sharing a border with the world’s most dangerous troublemaker Afghanistan can hardly be considered a comfortable thought. Yet, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan (Kyrgyzstan has no direct frontier with Afghanistan but its southernmost areas are only a short distance away from it) have shown economic performance over the last couple of years that even among so-called emerging economies looks exemplary. Continue reading

9 years ago

Export/Import Economy Oil & Gas Kazakhstan Investments Finance

Kazakhstan: forecast and realities in economic development

BISHKEK (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s economy, Central Asia’s largest, witnessed an overall economic growth of 4.2 per cent on-year through the first half of the current year, according to the country’s national statistics agency. In the first quarter of the year, growth stood at 3.6 per cent, and in the first half of 2016 at only 0.1 per cent. Continue reading

9 years ago

Economy Kyrgyzstan Election Power succession Government Politics

Kyrgyzstan presidential election: leading party poised to reinforce its position

BISHKEK (TCA) — The cards may not have been completely shuffled but it is already clear who hold the trump card in the upcoming presidential polls in Kyrgyzstan scheduled for October 15: current Prime Minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov and outgoing President Almazbek Atambayev. The former is the leading candidate for the presidency, while the latter may occupy the post of PM in a new coalition government to be formed after the polls. Continue reading

9 years ago

Investments Energy Caspian Kazakhstan Oil & Gas Central Asia

Kazakhstan and Eurasia new oil consortium in a multi-billion Caspian project

LONDON (TCA) — In a move presented as glorious and spectacular, oil companies from Russia (Rosneft), China (CNPC), Kazakhstan (Kazmunaygas), Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Italy (Eni) have teamed up to form a consortium for the exploration and exploitation of what is expected to be a new “giant” located in the very heart of the northern Caspian tectonic structure. The project, if successful and market demand to remain unchanged, should prolong the position of Kazakhstan as a global-scale oil supplier from 2040 till 2080. The Kazakhs are committed to contribute in the order of a billion greenbacks each year from now to the project. No overall picture of the total price tag has been presented so far. Continue reading

9 years ago

Oil & Gas Atomic Energy Wind power Solar Energy Renewable energy Caspian Uzbekistan Central Asia Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Energy

Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan need to redirect investment flows as combustibles’ future spells doom

LONDON (TCA) — The wider Caspian region, which comprises the Caspian littoral states and the lands to their east, is sitting on a vast riches of subsoil resources of which combustibles are made to quench the world’s ever increasing thirst for energy. Those who dedicate their lives and/or cash to such resources hardly ever miss an occasion to stress the need for them, downplaying the growing importance of alternative resources, located not under but on and above the earth’s surface and being infinite. Continue reading

9 years ago

Information Social Central Asia Uzbekistan Kazakhstan Culture Education Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan to switch from Cyrillic to Latin: social and economic realities versus political zeal

ALMATY/BISHKEK (TCA) — Language is one of those issues over which emotions often prevail over the voice of reason. Yet, coexistence of more than one language on a single national territory is far more common than many people seem to think. Continue reading

9 years ago

Russia Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan Pakistan SCO Shanghai organization India Military Economy Security Terrorism China Central Asia

Shanghai Eight: assessing a multi-headed chimaera

LONDON (TCA) — All eyes of the world seem to be focused on Kazakhstan and its less known capital of Astana for once. The coincidence is the opening of the World Exhibition EXPO-2017 and a quite unique political summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which strikes attention by the absence of any western “leader” – no Trump, no May, no Merkel, no Macron here, and even Erdogan is staying home. Continue reading

9 years ago

Russia Turkmenistan Kazakhstan Central Asia Oil & Gas Azerbaijan Iran Caspian

Caspian Sea dispute: where solutions jump ahead of problems

LONDON (TCA) — A fair division of the Caspian seabed including exploitation rights has been subject to debate for a quarter of a century now, with time and again the governments of littoral states — Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Russia — assuring that they were on the brink of clinching a comprehensive agreement. At the bottom of the dispute is the question whether or not the Caspian waters should be seen as a lake or a sea. In the former case, international law requires a convention signed by all littoral states, dividing the entire waterbed into sections. The sea-option prescribes that each coastal state has authority over the waters down to 20 nautical miles from the shore, beyond which navigation is free and fishing and other exploitation rights should be either unlimited or defined by either bi- or multilateral agreements. Continue reading

9 years ago

Stock Market Privatization Economy Oil & Gas Kazakhstan Finance

Assessing Kazakhstan’s new campaign to attract capital

ALMATY (TCA) — Following the so-called People’s IPO campaign, which is now widely considered to have been disappointing, a new “privatisation” scheme has been announced by the Kazakh government earlier this year. But as time goes by and timing remains uncertain, many insiders and sideliners start casting doubts on whether either domestic or foreign investors see any point of purchasing stock in companies due to remain out of their control. In other words: rather than contributing to structural economic reform this is considered just one more attempt to fill the dwindling reserves in the state coffers without giving much in return. Continue reading

9 years ago

Taliban Military Uzbekistan Afghanistan Islamic State Security Terrorism Central Asia Tajikistan

Tajikistan under attack from Taliban and Daesh forces

OSH, Kyrgyzstan (TCA) — Terrorist forces are now on the threshold of Tajikistan, threatening the country’s vital infrastructure and territorial control. Continue reading

9 years ago

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