Kyrgyzstan’s Culture Minister Altynbek Maksutov in a televised interview on August 27 defended the participation of Russian entertainers who have openly supported Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine in celebrations of Kyrgyzstan’s upcoming Independence Day, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported. There has been online opposition to the scheduled performances of Russian singers Filipp Kirkorov, Stas Mikhailov, and
The Government of Kazakhstan on August 27 decided to hold a referendum on the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant. An exact date for the nationwide referendum has yet to be determined. The Government session today, chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, considered the prospects for the development of nuclear energy in the
Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alibek Kuantyrov last week met with President of Carlsberg Kazakhstan Vyacheslav Maltsev to discuss the Danish company’s plans to expand its activities in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. As reported by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, Maltsev noted the favorable investment climate in Kazakhstan and told about a new Carlsberg Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry and Freedom Bank, on one side, and Tajikistan’s Agency for Innovation and Digital Technologies and Amonatbank, on the other side, last week signed a memorandum of cooperation in the development of IT technologies and innovations. The parties agreed to cooperate in the development of digital infrastructure
Twenty-one newly sworn-in Peace Corps Volunteers will co-teach English with local teachers in secondary schools across Chui, Naryn, Issyk-Kul, Talas, Osh, and Jalal-Abad regions over the next two years. This is the 30th group of Volunteers to serve in Kyrgyzstan since 1993, the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek said on August 23. Guests at the ceremony
Kazakh Invest national company and the Chinese company Xinjiang Hengyuan Investment Management Co., Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at implementing a large-scale project to create a Kazakhstan-China Trade and Industrial Park in Astana. Xinjiang Hengyuan Investment Management Co., Ltd., based in Baiyang, China, with significant experience in executing similar projects, plans to build the
The year 2024 is marked by the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the great Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Pyragy. In the row of activities to mark the anniversary of the outstanding Turkmen classical poet, special attention is given to publication of collections of poems, research works, scientific articles, monographs, special editions,
On August 19-21, a delegation of Kazakh Invest national company headed by the Chairman of the Board, Yerzhan Yelekeyev, visited Germany and held talks with major German companies. As reported by Kazakh Invest, at a meeting with representatives of WIS Kunststoffe Gmbh, which plans to produce compounds and plastics in Kazakhstan’s Atyrau region, the company’s general director, Sigmar
On August 22, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrived in Tajikistan on a state visit and held talks with President Emomali Rahmon. Following the talks, the presidents signed a Treaty on allied relations between Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. President Rahmon emphasized the historical importance of signing the Treaty and stated that “this important document will undoubtedly open
Kazakhstan summoned Paval Utsyupin, Belarus’s ambassador in Astana, to “objectively assess” the Central Asian nation’s stance on key international issues in an unbiased manner amid rising tensions between the two countries, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry did not say specifically why it summoned Utsyupin, but it comes after Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made several
The Uzbek Ministry of Transport on August 20 announced the first container cargo transportation along a new multimodal route from the Indian ports of Mundra, Nhava Sheva and Chennai to Uzbekistan. The cargo was delivered by sea from India to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, and then by rail to the Sergeli station in
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev earlier this week attended the ceremony to launch the construction of wind power plants in the country’s northwestern region of Karakalpakstan. A wind power plant with a capacity of 1 gigawatts and worth $1.2 billion will be built by the Chinese company Sany Renewable in Karakalpakstan’s Kungrad district. Another wind plant
The Keremet Bank in Kyrgyzstan said it suspended money transactions to several major Russian banks, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported. Last week, another bank in Kyrgyzstan, MBank, made a similar move. The 24.kg website reported on August 21 that after visiting 16 banks in Bishkek, the news agency’s journalists found that in all, 13 banks have suspended monetary transactions to major Russian
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 21 August said it has approved a $17.5 million grant to help improve women’s agricultural skills and boost food security in Tajikistan. The Resilient Livelihoods and Empowerment of Rural Women Project aims to improve productivity of women-led farms, strengthen agriculture processing and storage facilities, and enhance support to vulnerable women in
The Chinese company Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd plans to invest in developing gold, copper, and polymetallic deposits in Kazakhstan. The project was discussed last week in Astana by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Alibek Kuantyrov and Zijin Mining Chairman Chen Jinghe. Zijin Mining is currently searching for a suitable deposit in
The KamaTyresKZ tyre-manufacturing plant in the city of Saran in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region was put into operation on July 1 and during the first month of its operation produced about 30 thousand tyres, including 29 thousand tyres for passenger cars. The plant is a joint project with Russia’s Tatneft company. The plant’s production capacity is
The Committee to Protect Journalists on August 19 called on Tajik authorities to drop bribery charges against noted journalist Ahmad Ibrohim, who was arrested a week earlier, RFE/RL reported. “Following the wave of lengthy convictions against journalists in Tajikistan since 2022, the arrest of Ahmad Ibrohim is yet another reminder of how dangerous any form of critical
The United Nations, in collaboration with the Government of Karakalpakstan, announced the launch of two projects to tackle pressing environmental and health issues in the northwestern region of Uzbekistan. The projects, supported by the Multi-Partner Human Security Trust Fund for the Aral Sea Region include: the UNICEF project, “Enhancing Climate-Resilient and Safe Water, Sanitation, Hygiene,
A court in Kazakhstan’s eastern city of Oskemen has replaced a six-year prison sentence given to a nephew of Kazakhstan’s former strongman President Nursultan Nazarbaev with a suspended sentence, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported. Court No. 2 in the capital of the East Kazakhstan region ruled on August 16 that Qairat Satybaldy, 52, must be released with a
Afghanistan and Uzbekistan signed 35 investment and trade agreements worth $2.5 billion during Uzbekistan Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov’s visit to Kabul on August 17, TOLOnews reported. According to the Economic Deputy of the Afghan Prime Minister’s Office, 12 agreements worth $1.4 billion were signed in the investment sector, and 23 agreements worth $1.1 billion were
