Author: Taranum

Relatives of a lecturer at the Tajik State University of Commerce, Ismoil Rakhmonov, who was abducted on July 12, are concerned about the fact that more than a month after the incident, the prosecutor’s office does not allow them to get acquainted with the materials of the criminal case. On this fact, the assistant to the head of the Department for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, police lieutenant colonel Akmal Yusufzoda, as well as his relative Ismoiljon Shukurov, a teacher at the Tajik State University of Commerce, were detained. In relation to…

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are expanding areas of cooperation with a number of major joint projects being at different stages of implementation. In particular, preparations for the launch of production of household appliances and electronics are in full swing in the Karagandy region. The project will be implemented in several stages, the enterprise is expected to be put into operation in 2025. Such household appliances as cookers, vacuum cleaners, televisions, mini-ovens, and washing machines will be produced at the factory, whose production potential is almost $9 billion, of which nearly $8 billion are exports. Besides, it is planned to launch an…

An update on recent developments in Chinese-Central Asian affairs. Kazakhstan China and Kazakhstan are planning a new rail connection and border crossing in the Bakhty-Ayagoz area, expressing hope that the new route can cut freight transit times. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the move during the May 24 Eurasian Economic Forum, attended by representatives of the Eurasian Economic Union. Kazakhstan’s atomic energy firm, Kazatomprom JSC, announced on May 25 the sale of a large batch of uranium to China’s National Atomic Corporation. At the same time, according to a local publication, the EurAsia Daily, Kazakh officials are reluctant to increase uranium supplies to Western customers out of…

You are not Forgotten. Berlin, Brussels (16/5 – 40) In the vast mountain lands of Central Asia, a small ethnic group located at the crossroads of Afghanistan, China, and Russia is struggling for its very survival in the face of a national program that, some experts argued, is tantamount to ethnic cleansing. The Pamiris of Tajikistan were granted autonomy by the USSR and reside in Gorno-Badakhshan region known as the GBAO. For years, the Pamiris’ ancient traditions, peaceful religious faith, and highly educated populace, accused by Tajikistan President Imomali Rahmon of being “inbred” and run by “criminals”, have faced a…

The Tajik-Korean Business Forum is scheduled to take place in Dushanbe in June 2023, Azernews reports, citing Trend. The discussion on organizing and preparing the forum was held during a meeting between Chairman of the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management of Tajikistan Sadi Kodirzoda and Kwon Dong-seok, the Ambassador of South Korea to Tajikistan. During the meeting, it was emphasized that the upcoming forum should give particular importance to sectors such as light industry, finance, agriculture, and healthcare. The parties concluded the meeting by expressing their readiness to further expand their mutually beneficial cooperation. Recently, on May…

China has struggled to gain support from its Central Asian neighbors to build the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway since the 1990s. The CKU railway is crucial to China for two interconnected purposes—to advance its geopolitical interests and to secure favorable relations with Central Asian elites for their support over Chinese legitimacy in Xinjiang (East Turkestan). Originally signed in 1997 with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the CKU railway came alongside China’s own Great Western Development Strategy, a domestic initiative officially announced in 1999 (though many of its infrastructure projects had already begun several years prior). This was aimed at bringing resources located in its Western territories…

Local media have ignored a report by RFE/RL’s Uzbek service about shady goings-on in the oil and gas sector. Uzbekistan has been abuzz since last week over the contents of a report by RFE/RL’s Uzbek service, Radio Ozodlik, about how a small circle of well-connected local and Russian tycoons have taken control over large swathes of the oil and gas industry. Since an Ozodlik-produced video report was uploaded to YouTube on February 9, it has racked up almost 700,000 views and generated more than 7,000 comments.  Local media, however, has been wholly mute in its response. For days, neither state-controlled…

Households and enterprises in seven regions across Kazakhstan were temporarily knocked off the power grid as temperatures dropped to around -14 degrees Celsius over the weekend in fresh evidence of how the country is struggling to cope with inexorably mounting demand for electricity. State-run power grid operator KEGOC said in a statement on February 13 that the need to  effect an emergency suspension of transmissions on a high-voltage power line led to a 10 percent reduction in capacity. Power officials said their quick work prevented a more serious outcome. Shutdown of the power line “avoided the complete cut-off of users…

AKIPRESS.COM – President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov made a series of reshuffles in the fuel and energy complex of the republic. Two deputy prime ministers were dismissed, including Shahym Abdrakhmanov, who was in charge of the oil and gas complex, and Charymurad Purchekov, who was in charge of the electric power industry, construction and industry, Fergana reports. Ashirguly Begliev, who previously held the post of presidential adviser on oil and gas issues, became the new Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the oil and gas industry. The post of Deputy Prime Minister for Electricity, Construction and Industry was taken by…

(Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan will host a Russia-led security bloc’s peacekeeping drills this year instead of Armenia, which last month declined to host the exercise, the bloc’s chief of staff said on Tuesday. Armenia, engaged in a dispute with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, said last month it would be unreasonable for it to host the drills of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the near future. Anatoly Sidorov, the chief of the CTSO united staff, told a briefing on Tuesday that Kyrgyzstan has volunteered to host the “Indestructible Brotherhood” drills. He provided no further details. Kyrgyzstan was scheduled to…