DUSHANBE (TCA) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is committing new funds to address solid waste treatment issues in Tajikistan. By providing a 15-year sovereign-guaranteed loan of up to US$2 million to the state enterprise “Sanitary Cleaning of Urban Areas of Kulob”, the Bank will bring significant environmental benefits to this Tajik municipality, the EBRD said on December 29.

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ASTANA (TCA) — The first co-financing project in Kazakhstan for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Bank of China (BoC) is to take off following the BoC’s decision to join the transaction, the EBRD said.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan is planning to introduce alternative toll roads. The first pilot project will be the Bishkek—Chaldovar highway, bypassing Uzgen city in the south of the country.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Central Asia was the scene of intense geopolitical struggle and the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires, and later between the Soviet Union and the West, over Afghanistan and neighboring territories. Into the 21st century, Central Asia has become the area of a renewed geopolitical interest, dubbed the New Great Game, largely based on the region’s hydrocarbon and mineral wealth. On top of that, the region now is perhaps the most important node in the implementation of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative through which Beijing aims to get direct access to Western markets. Every week thousands of news appears in the world’s printed and online media and many of them may escape the attention of busy readers. At The Times of Central Asia, we strongly believe that more information can better contribute to peaceful development and better knowledge of this unique region. So we are presenting this Weekly Digest which compiles what other media have reported on Central Asia over the past week.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — It is impossible to expand access to education for children and education specialists without access to the Internet, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Sapar Isakov said at the recent international conference on prospects for digital government and digital education in the country.

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TASHKENT (TCA) — Russia’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation and the Government of Uzbekistan have signed a nuclear cooperation agreement.

Rosatom said the agreement was signed by the company’s Director General Alexey Likhachev and Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Nodir Otazhonov on December 29.

“The agreement paves the way for bilateral cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan in many aspects of civil nuclear energy. The collaboration could include creation and development of infrastructure in Uzbekistan, training, construction of nuclear power plants and research reactors, as well as operational and maintenance support during their life cycle,” Rosatom said in a statement.

The Russian company also said the agreement could also cover “exploration and mining of uranium, handling of uranium waste and the production of radioisotopes for use in medicine, agriculture and academic research.”

Likhachev said that Rosatom was ready to build a two-unit nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan and has offered to start training Uzbek nuclear experts-to-be at Moscow’s expense beginning in September 2018, RFE/RL reported.

In early November, during a visit to Tashkent by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a memorandum on cooperation between Rosatom and Uzbekistan’s Academy of Science was signed, along with an agreement on production and provision of nuclear fuel by Uzbekistan for Rosatom.