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Kazakhstan and the Taliban Discuss Transport Links

Members of Kazakhstan's government and representatives of the Taliban have discussed expanding transportation links between Astana and Kabul, according to the Kazakh government's press service. The Kazakh side has said it's ready to participate in projects to develop the Trans-Afghan corridor: the construction of the railroad routes Termez - Mazar-e-Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar and Herat - Kandahar - Spin - Buldak. The projects, say Kazakh officials, will make it possible to reduce the cargo-transit time between the countries of the region almost 90%, as well as reducing the costs. Kazakhstan is ready to participate in the construction of a Trans-Afghan highway by supplying sleepers and fasteners to Afghanistan. Representatives of the national rail carrier Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, or KTZ, spoke about the new cargo delivery route. "Today we launched a pilot project to organize a new multimodal export route from Kazakhstan through Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and further by sea to the port of Jebel Ali in the UAE. The new route is organized with the participation of KTZ Express. The exporter is Kazakhstan's Bio Synergy, and the shipping partner is Pakistan's National Logistics Cell (NLC). The loading of cargo has already started in Pavlodar region. That cargo is aluminosilicate hollow microsphere. In Almaty, the cargo will be reloaded into containers and transferred to the cars of the Pakistani partner. From there by motor transport it will pass through Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to the port of Karachi in Pakistan. From there, two containers will be sent by sea to the port of Jebel Ali in the UAE," commented KTZ's managing director Bauyrzhan Urynbasarov. The parties also discussed the possibility of arranging more flights between the countries. Under earlier agreements, air carriers from Kazakhstan and Afghanistan have the right to perform three regular passenger/cargo flights per week. Kazakhstan is ready to consider accepting more flights from Afghan airlines. Over the past three years the volume of exports from Kazakhstan to Afghanistan has been steadily growing. In 2023, the volume of transportation by rail amounted to 2.7 million tons, of which 1.5 million tons was flour and grain. In December 2023 Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its list of banned organizations. According to the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Taliban was no longer classed as a banned organization "in accordance with the practice of the UN [United Nations]."

Russia Transport Kazakhstan Central Asia Export/import Industry Germany Oil and Gas

Russian Comments Put Kazakhstan’s Oil Transit to Germany Under Threat

Russia has warned Kazakhstan about the possible suspension of Kazakh crude oil transshipment to Germany through the Druzhba oil pipeline system. The stated reason is the debt of Polish pipeline operator PERN, according to a report by Reuters. Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, claims that Russia's Transneft has warned its Kazakh partner KazTransOil about the suspension of oil deliveries to the Schwedt refinery. The reason for this demarche is the outstanding debts of Polish state pipeline operator PERN. If the Polish company doesn't pay for the services of oil acceptance and transfer at the Polish transit point Adamova Zastava on the border with Belarus by June, the transit will be stopped. The amount of the debt is unknown. PERN explained its version of the situation by citing western sanctions against Russia. Payment of money to the Russian side can lead to violations of the sanctions regime. According to comments made by the Kazakh Ministry of Energy, the Kazakh government itself looks at the possibility of transit suspension very negatively. KazTransOil said that the plan of deliveries to Germany remains unchanged, and that negotiations with all participants of the process are underway. Curiously, the Ministry of Energy denied the Reuters report, claiming that "the information does not correspond to reality." In early April it was reported that the Kazakh side intends to supply 1.2 million tons of oil to the Schwedt refinery by the end of the year. This would not be the first case involving a cessation of Kazakh oil transiting Russian territory. Earlier, there were repeated problems with the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in Novorossiysk, Russia, on the Black Sea. Some analysts believe that Russia uses oil transportation as an instrument to apply pressure to the Kazakh government.

Kyrgyzstan Education Transport Azerbaijan Bilateral Trade business and economy

Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan Expand Economic and Transport Cooperation

During a state visit to Azerbaijan on 24 April, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov joined President Ilham Aliyev in bilateral talks at the 2nd gathering of the Interstate Council of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. As a result of the meeting in Baku and in support of a joint declaration to deepen relations, the leaders signed a strategic partnership agreement between Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic. In a statement to journalists, President Aliyev referred to centuries-old ties of cooperation, friendship and interaction enjoyed by Azerbaijan and Central Asia, and announced, “Today, the regions of Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan are of great importance in terms of energy resources, transportation routes and trade. We are seeing great potential here and are strengthening interaction with our traditional partners from brotherly countries. Among them, cooperation with Kyrgyzstan is of particular importance.” During the meeting, the two governments signed an addendum to the agreement on the authorized capital of the Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz Development Fund, to quadruple it from $25 million to $100 million. To date, the Fund has received over 40 applications for investment projects in Kyrgyzstan and according to Aliyev, the construction of a five-star hotel financed by Azerbaijan already begun at Kyrgyzstan’s Lake Issyk-Kul, is due for completion by the end of next year. The president commended the significant increase and potential for growth in trade between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan and reported Azerbaijan’s interest in investing in renewable energy projects in Kyrgyzstan. With reference to transport, he recommended that consultations proceed on coordination of transport routes in terms of digitalization and tariff policy, to make the route via the Caspian Sea and Central Asia to Europe both faster and more commercially viable. President Japarov, in turn, referenced Kyrgyzstan’s construction of a secondary school in the Aghdam district of Azerbaijan, saying, “The construction of this school is Kyrgyzstan's contribution to the restoration of peace in the regions affected by the [Azeri-Armenian] conflict.”

Transport

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan Shore Up Places in Eurasian Transit Corridor

The first meeting of the working group on the development of the multimodal transport corridor Belarus–Russia–Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan took place in Termez, Uzbekistan on 23 April. Attended by each of the countries’ ministers of transport, the meeting focused on connections between Central Asian states and the CIS through Uzbekistan with South Asia. According to the Uzbek Transport Ministry, the resulting roadmap, signed by all parties, aims to increase transit cargo transportation through Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan through the introduction of digital documents to speed up and simplify processing. In recent years, the volume of transit cargo through Afghanistan has increased by over 30%, reaching almost 1 million tons. Following a transit trade agreement between Uzbekistan and Pakistan in 2021, cargo volumes have increased significantly and in 2022, cargo transportation between the two countries through Afghanistan increased 2.5-fold. This year, Uzbekistan plans to transport more than 1 million tons of cargo through Afghanistan to Pakistan.

Economy Export/import Central Asia Transport

Port of Turkmenbashi Begins Cargo Transport With Russian Port of Olya

Turkmenistan's Caspian Sea port of Turkmenbashi has started shipping cargo to the Russian port of Olya on the Turkmenistan-flagged ferry Bagtyyar, according to a report from the Turkmen Sea and River Routes (Turkmendeñizderýaýollary) Agency. The agency calls this voyage an important step towards the development of trade relations between Turkmenistan and Russia -- and an opportunity for the national merchant fleet to deliver perishable goods to their destination on time. The Bagtyyar, which according to Marine Optima was built in 2015 and has a summer deadweight tonnage (DWT) of just over 3,300 tons, is equipped with modern safety and navigation systems which guarantee cargo safety. Additionally, the Turkmen side says it's ready to open a shipping route for grain crops to be transited from the southern regions of Russia through the Caspian Sea to the countries of the Persian Gulf and other markets. At the port of Turkmenbashi, goods can be transshipped through the free zone without customs fees for up to three years. 2018 saw the opening of the port of Turkmenbashi, which increased access to markets throughout the Middle East and Europe. The project, worth $1.5 billion, was carried out by Gap Inşaat, a company based in Turkey. With the exception of oil products, the port can handle 17 million tons of different types of cargo annually. Four terminals (general cargo, container, bulk cargo and car ferries) are located on an area of more than 150 hectares.

Tajikistan Transport Central Asia Migration

Air Travel Between Tajikistan and Russia Rebounding After Terrorist Attack

Passenger traffic on flights between Tajikistan and Russia decreased after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow on March 22, which Tajik members of the Islamic State (IS) are suspected of perpetrating. But the news site Avesta reports that the flow of passengers between the two countries is increasing again. Tajikistan's national airline Somon Air has commented: “Currently, we are observing an increase in the flow of passengers to and from the Russian Federation compared to two weeks ago. We hope that by the end of the month, the flow of passengers will be fully restored to the previous level.” Representatives of Somon Air mentioned that they didn't reduce the number of flights to Russian cities in the wake of the terrorist attack and subsequent political friction, and that the frequency of flights on some routes actually increased. The airline operates approximately 130–140 flights between Tajikistan and Russian cities per month.