BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev has signed a law cancelling an agreement under which his country would have received $100 million in aid from Kazakhstan to bring its customs and border-crossing infrastructure up to the standards of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), RFE/RL reports.

Kyrgyzstan’s presidential website said on November 16 that the Foreign Ministry had been ordered to inform Kazakhstan’s government about the new law.

Kyrgyzstan joined the EEU in August 2015. The Russian-led trade bloc also includes Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia.

Kazakhstan agreed in December 2016 to provide the $100 million aid package to Kyrgyzstan with the first disbursement to be released by the end of 2017. So far, Kazakhstan has not released any of the promised aid to Bishkek.

Relations between the Central Asian countries have deteriorated in recent months with outgoing President Atambayev accusing Kazakhstan of interfering in the campaign for Kyrgyzstan’s October 15 presidential election.

On October 7, Atambayev said Kazakh authorities were “meddling in Kyrgyzstan’s domestic affairs” by supporting opposition candidate Omurbek Babanov, the chief rival of Atambayev political ally Sooronbai Jeenbekov.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev met with Babanov in Kazakhstan in September.

According to official election results, Jeenbekov won the vote in the first round. He is scheduled to be sworn into office on November 24.

ASTANA (TCA) — On November 15, Azerbaijan’s capital Baku hosted the General Meeting of members of Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) International Association, which discussed increasing the volume of cargo transportation along this route and increasing its efficiency, the press office of Kazakhstan’s national railways company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) said.

Continue reading

ASTANA (TCA) — A train consisting of wagons of KTZ Express, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s national railways company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), on November 10 departed from the Finnish station Kouvola for the Chinese Xian through Kazakhstan, the press office of KTZ said.

Continue reading

KABUL (TCA) — A new report says that opium production in Afghanistan increased by 87 percent to a “record level” of 9,000 tons this year compared to last year’s level, RFE/RL reports.

Continue reading

ASHGABAT (TCA) — A workshop for canine officers and veterinarians on using service dogs to ensure border security in Turkmenistan, organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, concluded on 13 November near the Turkmen capital.

Continue reading

ASHGABAT (TCA) — Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Turkmenistan on November 15 signed an agreement on a major international trade and transport corridor that will connect Afghanistan directly to Europe. The document was signed at the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA VII) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

The Lapis Lazuli Corridor will begin in Afghanistan’s northern Aqina port in Faryab province and Torghandi in western Herat province and will run through to Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan. From there it will cross the Caspian Sea and will link the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Tbilisi and Georgia’s Black Sea ports of Batumi and Poti. It will then connect with Kars in eastern Turkey before linking to Istanbul and Europe, Afghanistan’s TOLOnews reported.

The agreement was finalized after three years of talks.

Signing the agreement for Afghanistan was acting foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani, who said that the signing of the Lapis Lazuli Corridor Agreement marked a milestone in Afghanistan’s efforts to achieve greater connectivity through improvement and building of infrastructure for increased trade across Eurasia.

The Afghan delegation at the RECCA summit said the signing of the agreement is a new page in trade and transit in the region and for Afghanistan.

“It is a trade and transit agreement between five nations. According to this agreement, Afghanistan can have access to Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey,” said Adela Raaz, deputy chairperson of economy at the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs.

Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said the Lapis Lazuli Corridor is the nearest and cheapest way to transport Afghanistan and Asian goods to Europe.

According to the ACCI, by using the corridor, Afghanistan’s goods will travel through Turkmenistan, across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, then Georgia, across the Black Sea and through Turkey to the Mediterranean and Europe.

The ACCI said that 80 percent of goods to Europe will be transported by railway and also across the Caspian and Black Sea by ship.