Page 508 – The Times Of Central Asia

31 Oct 2024

Central Asia, Tajikistan Justice, Home, Tajikistan International Affairs, Justice, Life & Culture, Tajikistan, Tajikistan Features, Tajikistan Home

Tajik-Born Artist Sabina Rosas Found Dead in U.S. Hotel

November 15, 2024
By Sadokat Jalolova

Sabina Rosas, a 33-year-old artist also known as Sabina Khorramdel, was found murdered in a hotel room in the Hamptons in the state of New York, according to the British tabloid the Daily Mail. Born in Tajikistan, Rosas moved to the U.S. in 2009. Her body was discovered on October 28 by staff at the Shou Sugi Ban House spa hotel.

Police suspect her partner, 56-year-old Thomas Gannon, in the murder. Gannon was later found dead at his Pennsylvania home, with authorities confirming he had died by suicide. The couple had been seen together at a spa in Water Mill, where CCTV captured Gannon leaving alone. Suffolk County police have described Rosas’s murder as a domestic incident.

In 2023 Rosas co-founded Ruyò Journal, a platform to support Central Asian cultural dialogue and community. Just before her birthday, she started a fundraiser to travel to Portugal, where she planned to host her first artist residency in November. She hoped it would provide a beautiful and inspiring space for creating new work.

Announcing her plans, she had said: “I will also launch my artist website to create the perfect digital space to showcase my art.”

“As I am about to turn 33, I can’t help but laugh at the fact that 33 is often associated with the age of Jesus when he made his final sacrifice. Although I don’t plan on doing anything dramatic, I consider this year a turning point in my life,” Sabina wrote shortly before her death.

31 Oct 2024

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Report Addresses Air Pollution in Almaty

October 31, 2024
By Sergey Kwan

On October 30, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kazakhstan, together with the Urban Center of Almaty Management University, presented the results of their joint efforts within the Green and Safe Streets Initiative, which aims to address air pollution in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty.

This initiative is part of the regional City Experiment Fund program funded by the Ministry of Finance of Slovakia.

The Green and Safe Streets Initiative included three interrelated clusters of activities: a social impact campaign, tactical urban actions on Berezovsky, Turgut Ozal, and Kazybek bi streets in Almaty, and the installation of air pollution measuring devices, which resulted in the development of methodological recommendations. These actions helped identify further steps to address the complex challenge of improving air quality in Almaty.

The actions and approaches implemented within the City Experiment Fund framework are expected to help reduce air pollution by increasing green spaces, introducing energy-efficient technologies in the housing sector, improving infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, and prioritizing public transport.

According to IQAir, Almaty, along with the industrial city of Karaganda, has the highest level of air pollution in Kazakhstan and is among the 25 most polluted cities in the world. The primary sources of air pollution in Almaty are motor vehicles and private-sector and municipal heating that burns coal. During the winter, Almaty is covered by a deep smog that causes severe health problems and a high prevalence of respiratory diseases in the local population.

According to an Asian Development Bank report, the decline in Almaty’s air quality is attributable to the city’s population growth, rapid urbanization, inefficient public transportation, and heavy reliance on coal for power generation and residential heating. The city’s valley setting exacerbates these factors, creating ideal conditions for solid temperature inversions during the late fall and winter that trap pollutants in the lower atmosphere. Additionally, the ADB report concludes that the city’s low wind speeds cause pollutants to accumulate and recirculate at the city’s surface level.

31 Oct 2024

Central Asia, Environment, Kazakhstan Local Politics, International Affairs, Local Politics, Kazakhstan, Business & Economy, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Kazakhstan Business & Economy

Only Half of Kazakhstan’s CO2 Emissions are Subject to State Regulation

February 4, 2025
By Dmitry Pokidaev

Environmentalists say that Kazakhstan’s quota system for greenhouse gas emissions covers only half of the country’s emissions. This means that the state only has real leverage over large industrial polluters.
Experts say that the state needs to pay further attention in the near future to emissions in three sectors: agriculture, forestry, and waste management systems. These sectors currently remain virtually uncontrolled in terms of environmental emissions.

Kazakhstan ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1995 and, in 2016, presented its plan to the world community for transitioning to a green economy and achieving carbon neutrality. The carbon neutrality strategy envisages a 15% reduction in the 1990 level of emissions by 2030 (from 386.3 to 328.4 million tons of CO2) and achieving a net zero balance of greenhouse gases by 2060. The country has implemented a quota system for greenhouse gas emissions, and any industrial facility with emissions exceeding 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year is subject to quotas.

However, those “polluters” whose activities result in emissions of 10 to 20 thousand tons of CO2 are subject to regulation and must report to the state for their emissions, but they are not subject to quotas. Finally, economic entities that do not even reach 10,000 tons of emissions are not obliged to notify the state about the environmental damage they cause. As a result, the state can regulate only half of emissions. Aigul Malikova, coordinator of the Central Asia Regional Environmental Network in Kazakhstan, explained to The Times of Central Asia:

“In 2021, according to the national inventory, the actual volume of emissions across Kazakhstan amounted to 340 million tons, and quotas, including even additional ones, were issued for only 176 million, which means that only half of all greenhouse gas emissions fall under regulation, and in fact, we can affect only half of all emissions now. The situation is aggravated by the fact that in 2021, Kazakhstan produced one-third more emissions than the quotas granted; in 2022, this excess was 3%; that is, even regulated enterprises emit more than they are allowed under the quotas.”

Malikova also noted there is no data for 2023. Still, it is already clear that the government needs to control not only major industrial polluters but also other sectors of the economy that need to be more accountable in terms of emissions regulation to achieve carbon neutrality. However, assessing their contribution to total emissions is difficult since they are not even legally required to submit reports. Paradoxically, such sectors include agriculture and forestry, which by definition should be environmentally “clean,” as well as the waste management system and housing and communal services.

“For these three sectors – agriculture and forestry, waste management and housing, and communal services – data on greenhouse gas emissions could not be assessed at all. In the national reporting, this data is absent in the context of regions. In the reporting of the carbon cadastre, this data is also absent, and because they are not subject to quotas, no one obliges them to provide data voluntarily, and no one fines them. However, local authorities must know who emits it and how much is emitted. These opportunities are available, but for some reason, we do not use them,” concludes the coordinator of the regional environmental network of Central Asia.

At the same time, there is some scientific work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the housing and utilities sector. Kanat Baigarin, advisor to the Nazarbayev University (NU), believes that Kazakhstan needs to focus on introducing clean energy in rural areas, where about 40% of the country’s population lives and mainly uses coal for heating and cooking. Gas should replace coal in rural areas, but this requires a radical adjustment of the government’s plans to increase gas supply coverage from 11.6 million people (59%) in 2022 to 13.5 million people (65%) by 2030. The main issue is that the country needs more resources to accelerate the pace of gasification.

“There is an example of the UK in the transition from coal to gas, but we have fewer resources than the UK of Margaret Thatcher’s time, so we should give up coal gradually. But I am against abandoning the use of coal altogether, and the abandonment should be segmented. Then, by 2050, it is possible to reduce the share of coal in the energy sector to 15-20%, not 40%, as planned. However, this requires political will and funds. And with the latter, the country’s budget in recent years is in a rather tense situation, “- says Baigarin.

There is also a social aspect of the transition of the housing and utilities sector from coal to gas because about 32,000 people are currently employed in the country’s coal industry. The head of the Department for Labor Protection and the Prevention and Resolution of Labor Disputes of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Marat Imash, notes that before talking about reducing the use of products from this industry, it is necessary to create new jobs for these people.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan promises to publish a Roadmap on measures to decarbonize the country’s economy by the end of this year. It will contain quantitative indicators for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the main sectors of the economy, including energy and agriculture. This document will outline plans to reduce emissions in the very half of emissions uncontrolled by the state, which environmentalists focus on. However, it is still being determined whether this document will provide any leverage against violators of this plan.

31 Oct 2024

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Halloween in Kazakhstan: A Creative Celebration of Global Culture

October 31, 2024
By Tamila Olzhbaekova

Halloween is an ancient pagan festival firmly rooted in the West, but despite being alien to the country’s indigenous culture, it is becoming ever more popular in Kazakhstan, especially among young people.

Although embraced by young Kazakhs, Halloween is not celebrated in the classical sense. On the streets you are unlikely to meet crowds of children dressed as witches, ghouls and vampires, collecting candy from houses. Instead, it has become a symbol of fun, freedom of self-expression, and an opportunity to create and experience something new and unusual.

In Almaty, Astana, and in other major cities in the country, many clubs, cafes and bars host Halloween-themed parties attended by people in fancy dress. Every year the costumes become more and more creative, for, after all, Halloween is not just an opportunity to dress up, but also a great chance for participants to demonstrate their design and artistic skills.

Many of the staged events include contests for the most creative and frightening costumes, as well as themed music, dancing and cocktails, and as student Serzhan from Almaty told TCA, provide “an opportunity to have fun with friends and to reincarnate our favorite characters from movies and TV series.”

Photo: TCA, Tamila Olzhbaekova

In addition to parties, Halloween movie nights are likewise, growing in popularity. Students and groups of friends gather to watch classic horror movies or novelties of the genre, often at home, but sometimes in student dormitories or cafes. For many, like Camilla, a university student in Astana, it has become an annual tradition: “We get together with friends every year on Halloween, watch horror movies until the early hours and argue whose costume is the creepiest.”

Some movie theaters have now begun to support the trend by offering special repertoires for Halloween week, including screenings of films such as “Scream” and “Spellbound”. As is to be expected, social media also plays a key role in popularizing Halloween in Kazakhstan. On platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, local youth use Halloween as an occasion to post creative content: makeup, makeup videos, photo and video shoots with themed costumes. In this context, Halloween has become a kind of cultural phenomenon for self-expression. Companies also use social media to create a festive mood and offer seasonal discounts.

Despite its growing popularity, the overall response to Halloween in Kazakhstan remains divided. For some people, it is associated with Western influences that contradict local cultural and religious traditions. For many young people, however, it is simply a fun holiday that has no deep meaning, but rather an excuse to immerse oneself in an atmosphere of mysticism and creativity.

“For me, Halloween is not a religious holiday, just an opportunity to have fun with friends,” shared Altair, a student from Almaty. She, like many others, sees nothing contradictory to her culture in the celebration of Halloween, and simply enjoys participating in themed events.

31 Oct 2024

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New Era of Mining Starts in Kyrgyzstan

March 20, 2025
By Bruce Pannier

Kyrgyzstan will soon be issuing licenses for mining critical raw materials (CRM), which would have been almost unthinkable five years ago.

However, a lot has changed in Kyrgyzstan, where a new president came to power in late 2020 and has since radically changed the form of leadership and is seeking new sources of revenue.

A lot has changed in the world also, as governments are realizing the importance of CRMs for their economies and are scrambling to find supplies.

Past Experiences

Kyrgyzstan does not have significant reserves of natural gas or oil as most of the other Central Asian countries do.

It was clear from the first days of independence that Kyrgyzstan’s main source of export revenue would come from mining, and Kyrgyzstan has significant deposits of CRMs.

The Kumtor gold mine, 4,000-meters high in the mountains on the south part of the massive Lake Issyk-Kul, quickly became the economic savior for a country where most exports were agricultural products. Initial estimates put gold reserves at Kumtor at some 514 tons, but subsequent exploration revealed more gold at the site.

Kumtor was a joint venture with Canadian company Cameco, but over time Cameco acquired nearly 75% of the project.

There was environmental damage at the site that almost completely destroyed two nearby glaciers – Davidov and Lysiy.

The most infamous incident involving Kumtor occurred in May 1998, when a Kumtor truck overturned into the Barskoon River, dumping nearly two tons of sodium cyanide into the water. Thousands of people were evacuated from area, several died, and business at Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan’s premier tourst attraction, plummetted.

The example of environmental problems at Kumtor turned public opinion in Kyrgyzstan against mining projects.

Some 20 year later, the issue again came to the fore over the Kyzyl-Ompol uranium site in the Tong district of Issyl-Kul Province.

In April 2019, nearly 30,000 people signed a petition to halt work at Kyzyl-Ompol.

Anti-mining sentiment grew and by October 31, 2019, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved a moratorium on exploration and extraction of uranium and thorium that was signed into law in December that year.

Something Everyone Wants

The European Commission wrote that CRMs are crucial for “producing a broad range of goods and applications used in everyday life and modern technologies,” and noted, “Reliable and unhindered access to certain raw materials is a growing concern within the EU and across the globe.”

Additionally, the attempts by many nations to wean themselves off fossil fuels have led to a surge in countries seeking to construct nuclear power plants (NPP) to meet their energy needs.

There are currently some 440 operating NPPs in the world, 60 new reactors are under construction, and another 110 are planned to be built.

Current President Sadyr Japarov rose to power after Kyrgyzstan’s revolution in 2020. Japarov, who is from the Issyk-Kul area, was an opponent of foreign ownership of the Kumtor gold mine, and in 2021 his government forced out Canadian company Centerra (which took over from Cameco in 2004).

Kumtor was placed under government control, but after some 30 years of extracting gold, the site is staring to become depleted.

That fact, and the recent surge in interest in CRMs, led Japarov’s government to the most obvious source for fresh revenues – the resumption of exploration and exploitation of mining sites with CRMs.

In early February 2024, President Japarov signed a decree on a national project for extraction of polymetals and rare earth elements. Later that month, Japarov traveled to the Kyzyl-Ompol area where local opposition had closed the uranium mining operation in 2019.

Japarov told locals that Kyzyl-Ompol was a second Kumtor and that a state company would be created to work the site so that all the profits would remain in Kyrgyzstan, and people of the area would see reap huge benefits from the project.

Japarov said the focus of mining would be on thorium.

Thorium is already used in nuclear reactors in combination with uranium and plutonium, but new molten salt reactors using thorium are being designed that promise to have significant advantages over their uranium counterparts.

Molten salt reactors operate at higher temperatures, generating more electricity. Their low operating pressure reduces the loss of coolant in an accident, making them much safer than contemporary reactors. They also produce less high-level waste.

Japarov’s visit to the Kyzyl-Ompol area was perfunctory. It was clear his government had decided on moving ahead with plans to resume mining at numerous sites. His visit was likely also a reminder that his government would not tolerate protests as previous governments had.

Japarov explained the benefits of opening the Kyzyl-Ompol site, but he was not offering a choice.

Parliament adopted a measure lifting the moratorium on uranium mining on June 11.

Months before that, officials were already talking about which sites to open.

On February 8, parliamentary deputy Balbak Tulobayev proposed starting mining uranium and other rare earth elements. In early March, the Ministry of National Resources proposed changing the borders of the Chong-Kemin National Park, near the border with Kazakhstan, so that the Ak-Tyuz and Oktokoi fields were removed from the park and made available for mining.

On May 10, President Japarov signed amendments to the laws on subsoil use and biosphere territories. The amendments allowed the Cabinet of Ministers to authorize the exploration and development of mining sites.

In July, the security service said a state-owned enterprise would be created to control mining companies’ activities.

The Future

Kyrgyzstan is a poor country that could benefit greatly from exporting CRMs, and the government has posted a long list of promising sites. However, Kyrgyzstan does not have the finances or the equipment to develop these sites on its own and will need foreign investment and help.

That could be difficult after Kyrgyz authorities forced out Canada’s Centerra from the lucrative Kumtor gold mine just three years ago.

Barely a week after the moratorium on mining was officially lifted, Kyrgyzstan’s government was calling on domestic and foreign investors to help develop Kyrgyzstan’s mining industry.

On September 25, Chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers Akylbek Japarov (no relation to the president), officially launched the start of work at Kyzyl-Ompol. However, there have been incidents in recent months that remind of the dangers from the mining industry.

In early October, there was news a Chinese company mining coal in Kyrgyzstan’s southeastern destroyed parts of a glacier to construct a road to the mining site.

At the start of June, a truck carrying radioactive waste from a Soviet-era dumping site overturned in the Min-Kush River in eastern Naryn Province, evoking memories of the Kumtor truck with sodium cyanide that fell into the Barskoon River 26 years earlier.

The matter of clean-up of mining sites was raised in parliament.

Deputy Dastan Bekeshev pointed out that more than 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan was still depending on Russia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to clean up Soviet-era waste sites on Kyrgyz territory. Bekeshev asked where Kyrgyzstan would find the money for remediation of the sites that the government is planning on opening.

The Kyrgyz authorities are already in talks with Chinese company Zhicun Lithium Industry Group about lithium mining opportunities.

The Kyrgyz government is eagerly awaiting more foreign companies and undoubtedly the coming months will see new partnerships for mining projects, but hanging over this potential El Dorado is Kyrgyzstan’s personal experience of mines that left the environment and people’s health damaged.

30 Oct 2024

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Diplomatic Renaissance: How Tokayev’s Visit to Mongolia Went

November 4, 2024
By Andrei Matveev

The recent state visit by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Mongolia, the first by a Kazakh president in 16 years, demonstrated an excellent approach to expanding Astana’s strategic ties. After all, despite 32 years of diplomatic relations and a relatively extensive Kazakh diaspora in Mongolia, under the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Astana’s ties with Ulaanbaatar were essentially put on hold.

This pause in relations likely arose due to Mongolia’s political reputation in the region. Protests often erupt in the country, sometimes becoming particularly violent. In 2008, when the Kazakh authorities justified their failures in the economy with the outbreak of the global economic crisis, a state of emergency was imposed in Mongolia for four days in July. The reason was violent opposition protests against the results of the parliamentary elections. Protesters smashed the headquarters of the ruling party and set fire to several buildings in the center of Ulaanbaatar, killing five people and injuring 300.

For Mongolia, with its population of 3.4 million, this was a significant shock, as it was for its neighbors in the Eurasian region, where three leaders fell between 2003 and 2005 — Eduard Shevardnadze in Georgia, Leonid Kuchma in Ukraine, and Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan.

All this was declared in the region as an “export of revolutions,” building around this notion, a conspiracy theory about the machinations of the U.S. State Department and George Soros.

Tokayev’s state visit to Mongolia 16 years after Nursultan Nazarbayev refers to the Kazakh leader’s key idea about the renaissance of Central Asia. Mongolia is no stranger to the region in one way or another. The main thing for Kazakhstan is the strong Kazakh diaspora, which exceeds 117,000 people. This is the largest national minority in Mongolia and the second largest ethnic group after the titular one.

A Kazakh newspaper is published in Mongolia, some Kazakh TV channels are shown on television, and there is an hour of radio news in Kazakh. In short, the basis for strengthening relations is powerful.

Tokayev and the president of Mongolia, Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, who received him, spoke in both narrow and extended formats about reaching the level of strategic partnership.

Tokayev and Khurelsukh, even before the one-on-one meeting, had revitalized diplomatic and trade ties between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Data from the Statistics Committee of the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan provides evidence. Since 2017, there has been a steady decline in trade turnover between the countries. In 2017, its level was $74.8 million; in 2018 – $67.4 million; in 2019 – $59.9 million. In 2020, it fell to $29.3 million. COVID restrictions can explain such a sharp drop.

In 2021, the turnover reached almost $61 million, but at the end of 2023, the trade volume jumped to $150 million.

Therefore, when Tokayev said at a joint press briefing that he and the Mongolian president had agreed to turn over $500 million in the “foreseeable future,” this did not seem overly optimistic.

The Kazakh delegation did not come empty-handed; during Tokayev’s visit, the parties signed an investment agreement under which Kazakhstan would produce a remote sensing of the Earth — mapping using a satellite — for Mongolia. The cooperation will include building and delivering a spacecraft as part of a joint satellite constellation. This will be the first Kazakhstani space program.

Also, during the visit, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy and Mongolia’s Atomic Energy Commission concluded a memorandum on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. Not long ago, Kazakhstan citizens agreed to develop their nuclear industry in a referendum. Mongolia will adopt this experience.

In his commentary, Rustem Mustafin, deputy director of the Center for Political Studies at Kazakhstan’s Institute for Philosophy, Political Science and Religious Studies, listed other significant achievements from Tokayev’s visit to Mongolia. Mustafin commented that an agreement on joint exploration and development of “deposits of iron, phosphates, bauxite, rare minerals and critical minerals” looks very promising.

“The demand for critical raw materials worldwide is growing rapidly, especially those used in producing electronic high-tech products. Kazakhstan has large deposits of rare earth metals and has more than 5,000 undiscovered deposits with a total value of over $46 trillion. In Mongolia, the exploration and development of critical minerals is gaining momentum. Our countries have a lot to work on together to diversify relations. It is necessary to create favorable conditions for foreign investors, who will be motivated to invest not only in mining but also in the localization of high-tech industries, development of local scientific and technological base, creation of research centers, improving the level of education, and competence of local staff and stimulating innovation within the countries,” Mustafin said.