Our People > Vagit Ismailov

Vagit Ismailov

Journalist

Vagit Ismailov is a Kazakhstani journalist. He has worked in leading regional and national publications.

Articles

Kashagan Oil Field

Kazakhstan Resumes Collection of $5.2 Billion Kashagan Fine

Kazakhstan has restarted enforcement proceedings to collect a 2.3 trillion tenge ($5.22 billion) environmental fine from North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), operator of the Kashagan oil field, ending a three-week procedural pause. The proceedings resumed on September 29, according to the Justice Ministry’s online enforcement database. NCOC continues to reject both the allegations behind the fine and the penalty itself, and says it is challenging them through available legal channels. Collection had been suspended on September 7 after NCOC challenged the actions of a state enforcement officer. The Specialized Interdistrict Administrative Court of Atyrau Region requested the enforcement case materials, which required the collection process to stop while the documents were before the court. The Justice Ministry said at the time that the pause was procedural and that collection would resume. The court later rejected NCOC’s claim seeking to overturn the enforcement proceedings. The ruling was reported on September 28, and the enforcement status changed to active on the following day. The fine stems from a 2022 environmental inspection at Kashagan’s onshore facilities in the Atyrau Region that identified about ten alleged violations. Inspectors said more than 1.7 million metric tons of sulfur had accumulated at the Bolashak processing complex, while the operator’s permit allowed storage of no more than 730,000 tons. NCOC has maintained that its sulfur handling complied with Kazakh law and the permits issued for the project. Internal documents reported earlier by The Times of Central Asia showed that Eni had warned as early as 2017 that the project risked exceeding its permitted sulfur-storage capacity. The dispute has moved through several rounds of domestic litigation. The original penalty order was overturned in 2025 because of procedural defects, without dismissing the underlying environmental allegations. Regulators then reissued the penalty. The Atyrau Regional Court upheld the fine on June 19, clearing the way for compulsory enforcement after NCOC did not pay by the July deadline. Kazakhstan then stepped up pressure on the consortium. Enforcement proceedings began in July, and authorities froze NCOC property and vehicles. The company’s managing director was also warned of possible administrative and criminal liability for failure to comply with the court ruling. The domestic enforcement process is running alongside international arbitration. NCOC’s six foreign shareholders have challenged the penalty through treaty arbitration. Separately, NCOC said in July that a tribunal operating under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law had issued interim measures barring enforcement while that arbitration remained pending. Kazakhstan’s Justice Ministry rejected NCOC’s interpretation of the interim order. It argued that the commercial arbitration tribunal could not prevent the state from enforcing environmental law and a final domestic court judgment. NCOC has continued to maintain that enforcement should not proceed while the arbitration is unresolved. Kashagan is one of Kazakhstan’s largest oil fields and one of the biggest oil discoveries of recent decades. Recoverable reserves are estimated at between 9 billion and 13 billion barrels. The field produced 18.2 million tons of oil in 2025. The consortium brings together...

3 days ago

Chemical Safety

22 Uzbek Pupils Hospitalized After Cotton Field Spraying Near School

Twenty-two pupils in southern Uzbekistan were hospitalized after chemicals were sprayed on a cotton field beside their school, the Interior Ministry said. Seven remained in hospital as of September 29, while 15 had been discharged. The children, all in grades 10 and 11 at School No. 51 in Guzar district, Kashkadarya region, fell ill on September 23. They were taken to the district medical center around midday with nausea and headaches. The ministry said the Shokhmalik Shermurod Ugli farm had sprayed the nearby field at about 9 a.m. It used Agro Augron, a chemical applied to make cotton plants shed their leaves before harvesting. Twenty hectares of the farm’s 88 hectares lie close to the school. Investigators suspect the pupils inhaled chemical fumes and have ordered expert examinations. The authorities have opened a criminal case under Article 201, Part 1, of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code, concerning violations of rules for handling harmful chemicals. The Kashkadarya regional police investigation department is conducting the inquiry.

5 days ago

Rule of law

Uzbekistan Strikes Down Ten-Day Border Detention Without Court Approval

Uzbekistan’s Constitutional Court has struck down provisions allowing people accused of breaking border rules to be held for up to ten days without a judge’s approval. The decision followed complaints about detention beyond the constitution’s 48-hour limit. The court adopted its ruling on September 22. It took effect on September 25, removing the legal basis for extended detention periods. The case reached the court through parliamentary ombudsman Feruza Eshmatova. Her office received six complaints in 2025–2026 concerning alleged unlawful administrative detention lasting more than 48 hours, according to the court’s account of the case. The challenged provisions were part of Article 288 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility. They covered violations of border regulations and rules at state border checkpoints. Officials could hold a person for up to three hours to prepare a report. If they needed to establish the person’s identity or clarify the circumstances, they could extend detention to three days, though they had to notify a prosecutor in writing within 24 hours. For someone without identity documents, a prosecutor could authorize detention for up to ten days. Neither extension required officials to seek a court order. The ombudsman challenged those powers under Article 27 of the Constitution, which bars detention beyond 48 hours without a judicial decision. The court agreed that the longer periods breached that guarantee. It also identified a gap in the code: the provisions contained no mechanism for obtaining judicial approval when officials wanted to hold someone longer. Notification or authorization by a prosecutor “must not replace a court decision,” the court said in its published account of the ruling. The decision concerns how long the authorities can hold someone without judicial oversight. It does not abolish border offenses or prevent detention beyond 48 hours when a court authorizes it. According to Gazeta, the ruling is final and cannot be appealed. The body responsible for the legislation has one month to bring it into line with the constitution. The court did not prescribe the replacement wording. The ombudsman’s office has also reported unlawful detention elsewhere this month. In a separate case in Nukus district, monitors found three people held without sufficient grounds at a medical facility for intoxicated people. None of the three was intoxicated. Police inspectors had taken them there while awaiting a court decision on placement in a special reception facility. Following the ombudsman’s intervention, one inspector received a disciplinary sanction. The cases of two others were referred for disciplinary consideration, and the materials were sent to the district prosecutor for a preliminary inquiry.

5 days ago

Military Deaths

Deaths During Caspian Military Drills: Kazakhstan Investigates Commanders’ Actions

Fourteen servicemen in Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces were killed during military exercises on the Caspian Sea on September 24, and five Armed Forces officials were detained. On the same evening, around 100 relatives and Aktau residents gathered outside the city morgue as a serviceman read out the names of the dead. People demanded the chance to identify the bodies, and screams and crying could be heard after some names. September 25 was declared a day of national mourning in Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Defense later reported that 17 had been swept into the sea; three were rescued, one of whom was hospitalized, and 14 died. A criminal case was opened under provisions covering negligence in the performance of military duties resulting in serious consequences and violations of navigation rules. The Khazar Qorgany 2026 exercises began on September 22 in Kazakhstan’s sector of the Caspian Sea. More than 500 military personnel took part, along with ships and boats from the Naval Forces, hydrographic vessels, Coast Guard units of the National Security Committee’s Border Service, and Air Defense Forces aircraft. Relatives of one serviceman said that officials from the akimat, the local executive authority, the police, and the military enlistment office came to the family’s home to tell them their son had died. Members of other families said that some of the conscripts were about a week away from completing their military service. Based on the published birth dates of 12 servicemen on the Ministry of Defense’s initial list, they were between 19 and 23 years old; nine were born in 2006 or 2007. Among those killed was 20-year-old sailor Serzhan Ayapbergen from the Mangystau region. Before joining the military, he competed in sambo and judo, won silver at the Kazakhstan championship and the Commonwealth of Independent States Games in sambo, won judo competitions, and earned the title of Candidate for Master of Sport. Deaths among military personnel in peacetime have been debated in Kazakhstan for years. In April 2023, First Deputy Chief Military Prosecutor Maksat Kaziyev said that 270 servicemen had died since the beginning of 2020: 78 in 2020, 96 in 2021, 85 in 2022, and another 11 in the first months of 2023. According to prosecutors, 36% of the deaths were related to illness, 24% to road accidents, and 20% to suicide. Between 2018 and 2022, 86 suicides and 20 attempted suicides were recorded among military personnel. These figures cover career military personnel, contract soldiers, and conscripts, and include different causes of death. They do not show how many people died specifically while performing military duties. The deaths of conscripts, young men performing compulsory military service, are particularly sensitive in Kazakhstan. [caption id="attachment_57024" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Detention of the suspected commander / Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan[/caption] In November 2025, journalists questioned Defense Minister Dauren Kosanov about deaths among servicemen, hazing in Kazakhstan’s armed forces, and violence in military units. After a reporter said that news of serious incidents appeared almost every month, Kosanov responded with apparent...

1 week ago

Uranium Supply

Kazatomprom Secures New Uranium Block as Nuclear Demand Expands

Kazakhstan has granted its state-controlled uranium producer Kazatomprom six-year exploration rights to the Kyzyltu block in the Kyzylorda region, where preliminary resources are estimated at around 10,000 metric tons. Kazatomprom announced the exploration license on September 21 and said geological exploration would begin shortly to determine the block’s commercial potential. Kazakhstan remains the world’s largest uranium producer, accounting for roughly 40% of global mine production. Kazatomprom reported output of 25,839 metric tons in 2025 on a 100% basis, including its partners’ shares. The new exploration rights follow a wider effort by Kazatomprom to replenish its resource base. In March, the company outlined six prospective exploration areas covering more than 1,000 square kilometers, with planned exploration spending through 2030 of $155 million to $176 million. The company is also pursuing longer-term supply agreements with overseas buyers. An August outlook from Bloomberg Intelligence expects Kazatomprom and Canada’s Cameco to provide much of the increase in global uranium mine production during the remainder of this decade. Bloomberg estimates mined supply could rise 23% from 2025 levels to around 193 million pounds of U₃O₈ annually during 2028–2031. It estimates Kazatomprom could reach around 80 million pounds of U₃O₈ annually if sufficient sulfuric acid is available. In this base scenario, the uranium market could remain in surplus through 2031 before moving into deficit from 2032, as demand rises and depletion of low-cost reserves in Kazakhstan and Canada constrains supply. New mines generally require long development periods, limiting the ability of supply to respond quickly to higher demand. China is the largest near-term source of additional demand, accounting for 45% of nuclear capacity currently under construction or planned and has set a target of 110 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2030. The United States and European Union are also major markets for Central Asian uranium. U.S. civilian reactor operators purchased 46.9 million pounds of U₃O₈ equivalent in 2025, with Kazakhstan accounting for 28% of deliveries and Uzbekistan 7%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. EU utilities purchased 14,678 metric tons of natural uranium in 2025, with Kazakhstan accounting for 20.3% of deliveries and Uzbekistan 10.4%, according to the Euratom Supply Agency. The European Commission’s nuclear investment assessment projects EU nuclear capacity rising from 98 gigawatts in 2025 to around 109 gigawatts by 2050. Kazakhstan also retains a production-cost advantage. Bloomberg attributes this largely to the widespread use of in-situ recovery, which allows uranium to be extracted without conventional open-pit or underground mining. Sulfuric Acid Supply Remains a Constraint Kazatomprom’s September 21 announcement also addressed Russian sulfuric-acid deliveries, an important issue because the chemical is used extensively in Kazakhstan’s in-situ uranium operations. The company said Russian measures introduced on September 12 had changed export approval procedures through the end of 2026, but had not prohibited exports. Russian suppliers had confirmed their intention to fulfill existing 2026 contracts and were seeking the necessary approvals. Kazatomprom said it did not expect the changes to have a material effect on its 2026 operations or production guidance. Talks over supplies...

1 week ago

NVIDIA

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Set for First Visit to Kazakhstan in October

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang is set to make his first visit to Kazakhstan on October 23, as the country expands its artificial intelligence infrastructure. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development announced the visit on September 23. Huang is scheduled to hold a fireside chat with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev at the alem.ai International Center for Artificial Intelligence in Astana. The event will close Kazakhstan’s AI Month program. The ministry said the discussion will cover developments in artificial intelligence, technology trends, the training of AI specialists, and Central Asia’s role in the global technology sector. The visit comes amid rapidly expanding ties between NVIDIA and Kazakhstan. In June, Kazakhstan announced agreements worth up to $10 billion connected to the Data Center Valley project under development in Ekibastuz. U.S.-based Firebird is developing the project using NVIDIA technology. NVIDIA Vice President Rev Lebaredian and Firebird co-founders Razmig Hovaghimian and Alexander Yesayan took part in talks with Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. The project is planned to include a computing cluster of around 100,000 advanced GPUs, including NVIDIA GB300 and Vera Rubin systems. Kazakh officials initially allocated 300 megawatts of power capacity for the development, while the wider site is designed to scale to as much as one gigawatt. The first Data Center Valley facility is scheduled to begin operating in June 2027. The initial facility is planned at 50 megawatts, with the larger campus expanding in stages as additional customers and investment are secured. In July, the government said partners were rolling out 250 megawatts of infrastructure at the Ekibastuz project. Kazakhstan is already operating NVIDIA-based high-performance computing infrastructure. Two Kazakh systems appeared on the June 2026 TOP500 ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Alem.Cloud ranked 104th and AI-Farabium 122nd, with both systems using NVIDIA H200 accelerators. Kazakhstan has also announced a separate $2 billion sovereign AI hub to be operated by Freedom Holding using NVIDIA technology. The planned project would occupy a site with 100 megawatts of available power, with Freedom Holding as the principal financing and implementation partner. Visit Caps AI Month Huang’s visit is scheduled to conclude a month of AI-related events beginning September 23. The program includes HackAlem AI, the AI & Digital Bridge 2026 forum, and a meeting of Kazakhstan’s Council for the Development of Artificial Intelligence. Lebaredian is expected to participate in the AI Council meeting on October 1. Huang’s visit comes as Kazakhstan accelerates an AI infrastructure buildout already spanning NVIDIA-powered supercomputers, large-scale data centers, dedicated power capacity, and plans for tens of thousands of advanced processors.

1 week ago

Karakalpakstan Festival YONAR White Salt City

Artists Build a Temporary White Salt City in Karakalpakstan

For three days, a city appears on the Barsakelmes salt flat in Karakalpakstan. It has no permanent residents, shops, or spectators. There are tents and yurts, art installations, music, and several dozen people who have come to build, paint, perform, cook, and live together. Then the city disappears. The second international YONAR experimental art festival is taking place in Uzbekistan’s Kungrad District from September 17 to 19. Its site is about 200 kilometers from Nukus. Organizers call the temporary settlement White Salt City. There is no conventional festival audience: anyone who comes to YONAR becomes a participant. They can create an installation, play music, run a workshop, help build the camp, or take responsibility for part of the community’s daily life. Participation is free, subject to application. There is no commercial trade or advertising. After three days, participants are expected to dismantle the camp and remove their belongings and waste. YONAR follows a leave-no-trace principle: the salt flat should be left without signs of the temporary city. YONAR was created by the team behind Stihia, an electronic music, art, and science festival that originated in Karakalpakstan. Some of its principles clearly echo Burning Man: instead of a stage and an audience, there is a space created by the participants themselves; instead of commerce, exchange and communal living; instead of permanent architecture, structures built to last only a few days. The setting gives YONAR its particular character. The white surface of the salt flat has almost none of the usual landmarks. During the day, there is salt, horizon, and harsh light; at night, darkness and an open sky. Against this backdrop, even a temporary structure begins to look like part of the landscape. The first YONAR was held here on September 11-13, 2025. According to Uzbekistan’s Tourism Committee, 35 local and international participants created six major installations: Sphere, Monolith, Teleport, Statue of Amorphosis, Hologram of the Future, and Art Car Scorpion. Participants lived in five yurts, with generators providing electricity. At the end, Sphere and Teleport were burned, the other structures were dismantled, and the camp area was cleaned. This year’s theme is dreams. Surrealism, absurdity, and the space between reality and imagination come with an almost ready-made setting here: an empty salt horizon. More than 70 applications were submitted. Organizers expected around 40 participants from Tashkent, Nukus, Moynaq, Almaty, Bishkek, Berlin, Vienna, London, Moscow, and other cities. Barsakelmes is in Karakalpakstan, in the wider Aral Sea region. But describing the festival site simply as the dried bed of the Aral Sea would be misleading: YONAR takes place on the distinct Barsakelmes salt flat in Kungrad District. Outside Central Asia, Karakalpakstan has for decades appeared in the news largely alongside the words “Aral Sea,” “environmental disaster,” and “desertification.” YONAR uses the region’s stark landscape differently, as a space for contemporary art. The state is also taking an interest. The festival is being held with the support of Uzbekistan’s Tourism Committee. The Tourism Committee has announced familiarization tours for journalists, bloggers, and...

2 weeks ago

Almaty Museum of Arts

Almaty Museum of Arts Begins Centre Pompidou Partnership With The Clock

A year after opening, Almaty Museum of Arts (ALMA) has brought one of contemporary art’s best-known works to Kazakhstan: Christian Marclay’s The Clock, a 24-hour artwork assembled from thousands of film and television clips. The installation, jointly owned by Centre Pompidou, Tate, and the Israel Museum, marks the beginning of a long-term partnership between the Almaty museum and its Paris counterpart. The Clock opened to the public on September 12 and will run through October 12. The work is being shown in Central Asia for the first time. Marclay created it in 2010 from thousands of fragments of films and television programs showing clocks or referring to time. Together, they form exactly 24 hours of screen time synchronized with the real world. If a visitor watches The Clock in Almaty at 3:42 p.m., it is also 3:42 p.m. on screen. In 2011, the work won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale. A year later, it was jointly acquired by Centre Pompidou, Tate in London, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Clock has since been shown at major museums around the world. Four 24-hour screenings are scheduled in Almaty, on September 19 and 26, and October 3 and 10. “Cooperation with Centre Pompidou is not a one-off event, but the beginning of a long story,” museum founder Nurlan Smagulov said in the museum’s announcement of the exhibition. ALMA opened on September 12, 2025. At its core is Smagulov’s collection of more than 700 works of modern Kazakh art, assembled over the past three decades. It includes works by Salikhitdin Aitbayev, Sergey Kalmykov, Yerbossyn Meldibekov, and other leading Kazakh and Kazakhstan-based artists. According to the museum, more than 460,000 people visited ALMA during its first year. The museum staged four major exhibition projects, including a solo exhibition by video art pioneer Bill Viola. For its first anniversary, it opened Müsinder, an exhibition spanning seven decades of Kazakh sculpture. More than 110 other events included lectures, discussions, concerts, and film screenings. The museum also published three books. The arrival of The Clock marks a new stage in the young museum’s international ambitions. Centre Pompidou has been expanding its presence beyond Paris for more than a decade. Its Paris building is closed for renovation until 2030, giving added scope to its international exhibition program. Málaga opened in 2015, and a project in Shanghai followed in 2019. Centre Pompidou Hanwha opened in Seoul in June 2026, while KANAL–Centre Pompidou is due to open in Brussels in November. Another site is planned for Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, in 2028. The model varies between locations, with Centre Pompidou providing works from its collection, expertise, and jointly developed programs rather than simply reproducing its Paris museum abroad. Almaty is pursuing a different model again. There will be no Pompidou branch here: ALMA remains an independent private museum. For now, the partnership can be seen quite literally – in a darkened gallery where Marclay’s screen keeps Almaty time. The museum says its international network will expand again...

3 weeks ago

Kazakhstan Courts South Korean Investment During Tokayev’s Seoul Visit

Kazakhstan is using President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s state visit to Seoul to press for deeper South Korean involvement in its critical-minerals sector, seeking to extend a relationship already built around cars, energy, and infrastructure into mining and processing. On September 15, Tokayev is holding talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, with a packed agenda that includes trade, energy, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence. The two sides are expected to exchange 13 bilateral memorandums of understanding following the meeting. Ahead of the visit, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency that artificial intelligence and critical minerals were among the promising areas for expanded cooperation. South Korea is a major producer of cars, batteries, electronics, and semiconductors, but is heavily dependent on imported critical minerals and other raw materials. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, has a large mineral resource base and is seeking foreign technology and capital for exploration, mining, and processing. On September 14, Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, met South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan in Seoul. They discussed oil and gas projects, energy, and the mining and metallurgical sector. Zhakupov held separate talks with Kwon Yi Kyun, president of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), focused on geological exploration and the extraction of critical minerals. KIGAM has been cooperating with Tau-Ken Samruk since 2024, when it signed a memorandum with the Kazakh mining company and the Ministry of Industry and Construction. The two sides are exploring opportunities in mineral resources and processing technologies. Kazakhstan and South Korea are also establishing a joint research center in Almaty to study rare-earth elements and other strategically important metals.. The center is intended to support research into processing technologies and train specialists. Korean business is already well established in energy. Hyundai Engineering is part of the consortium selected to build a gas processing plant at the Karachaganak field with an annual capacity of 5 billion cubic meters. QazaqGaz is leading the project, with Hyundai Engineering and Italy’s SICIM serving as EPC contractors. The presence of South Korea’s automotive industry in Kazakhstan dates back even further. Hyundai vehicles are produced in Almaty, while Kia opened a $310 million plant in Kostanay in 2025 with capacity to produce up to 70,000 vehicles a year. South Korea and the Broader Region Seoul is stepping up its engagement with Central Asia as a whole. On September 14, South Korea held its first industry ministerial meeting with the five countries of the region, with critical minerals and supply chains among the main topics. The first South Korea-Central Asia Summit is scheduled for September 16. Major economies are already competing for mineral projects in the region. China has long been involved in mining and processing, the European Union is developing raw-material partnerships with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and the United States is stepping up its work on critical minerals. South Korea is also gaining a financial tool for such projects. In May, Korea Eximbank and the state-backed...

3 weeks ago

Central Asia-South Korea summit 2026

South Korea and Uzbekistan Sign 13 Agreements as Seoul Deepens Cooperation Across Central Asia

Uzbekistan and South Korea signed 13 cooperation documents during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to Seoul on September 14, covering areas including critical minerals, artificial intelligence, rail transport and defense. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will host the first summit with all five Central Asian states on September 16. The five Central Asian presidents due to attend are Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan’s Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Kyrgyzstan’s Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan’s Emomali Rahmon, and Turkmenistan’s Serdar Berdimuhamedov. Mirziyoyev’s talks opened a series of bilateral meetings running through September 16, with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan scheduled for September 15, and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan the following morning. Among the Uzbek agreements is a memorandum to launch feasibility studies under South Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund on the introduction of eight high-speed train sets and the establishment of a national genome and biobank center. The projects’ scope will depend on the studies’ findings. Uzbekistan had already agreed to purchase six high-speed trains from Hyundai Rotem in 2024. The Export-Import Bank of Korea and Uzbekistan’s investment ministry also agreed to identify potential projects and explore financing in six priority areas. These include critical minerals, AI and data centers, smart cities, an industrial complex for Korean companies, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, and food, beauty and cultural industries. The presidents also agreed to use the Korea–Uzbekistan Rare Metals Center as a base for strengthening cooperation across exploration, development and processing. They agreed to expand cooperation on the use of AI in manufacturing. The package includes a defense cooperation contract involving Korea Aerospace Industries and an Uzbek counterpart. The South Korean government’s published summary did not identify the equipment or disclose the contract’s value. The agreements build on South Korea’s established economic presence across Central Asia. Its foreign ministry identifies Kazakhstan as its largest investment destination in the region, based on investment data through 2023. Kazakhstan’s industry ministry has put bilateral industrial cooperation at 46 joint projects worth about $3.9 billion, covering Hyundai and Kia vehicle production, Hyundai trucks and buses, ferroalloys and Samsung home appliances. Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan, part of Kazakhstan’s Astana Motors, produced 52,040 vehicles in Almaty in 2025, while Kia Qazaqstan began operating in Kostanay late that year, according to TCA’s reporting on Kazakhstan’s automotive industry. Korean companies are also involved in transport infrastructure and urban development. A Turkish–South Korean consortium secured the Big Almaty Ring Road public-private partnership, while South Korean partners are involved in the planned K Smart City district at Alatau. South Korean companies have participated in major industrial projects in Turkmenistan, including the Kiyanly gas chemical complex and gas processing facilities at the Galkynysh field. Daewoo Engineering & Construction is working on a mineral fertilizer production complex in Turkmenabat, where South Korea’s ambassador reviewed construction preparations in June. Turkmenistan’s foreign ministry has also highlighted Korean participation in transport infrastructure and shipbuilding. In Kyrgyzstan, South Korea has provided technical assistance to the textile sector and committed funding for a five-year digital-transformation program starting in 2026. The two governments are also examining potential cooperation involving Kyrgyzstan’s antimony...

3 weeks ago

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