Monthly Archive

Three decades after gaining independence, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan face a growing struggle convincing investors and markets of the potential for significant new oil opportunities in the Caspian reg read more..

A partial handover of political power through an orchestrated transition takes Kazakhstan into uncharted territory. Will it be able to pursue modernization and reform, and break from its authoritari read more..

Tajikistan spent all the proceeds from its first ever eurobond on the giant Rogun hydropower dam. It is still consuming a quarter of the budget each year. Tajikistan, Central Asia's poorest natio read more..

Central Asia needs more 500kV loops in order to share power between the countries of the region. Central Asia’s power grid, set up by the Soviets in the 1980s, was conceived as a centralised netw read more..

The Prosecutor's Office in Geneva is conducting a criminal case against Ilyas Khrapunov, son-in-law of BTA Bank's former owner. Khrapunov is suspected of laundering money stolen from BTA Bank.  read more..

Advertising Week Europe joins Standard Chartered in pulling backing for royal's main charity following 'car crash' interview - as FOUR universities consider ditching him Five multi-million pound read more..

 The EAEU is shopping for partners in Asia. Middle finger to the West or sound trade policy? The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union has been on an expansion spree this year, signing a free read more..

The squabbling is good news for a regime that relentlessly tries to divide and conquer the opposition.  Mukhtar Ablyazov, the most avowed foe of Kazakhstan’s government, is no team player. read more..

Government critics argue that the ruling has transformed the protestors, three of whom are mothers of young children, into political martyrs.  Oksana Shevchuk was still breastfeeding when sh read more..

Belgium again finds itself amidst a scandal that threatens to become “Kazakhgate-II”.  With the Le Soir publication “Belgium extends a helping hand to the Kazakh police”, the former managing read more..

Leading businesses and charities are deserting Prince Andrew over the Epstein scandal as the future of his main charitable project he repeatedly mentioned in his BBC car crash interview is in jeopar read more..

It is just a tiny grocery store in a decrepit, Khruschev-era five-story apartment block in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan – but it is flooded with shoppers, 24 hours a day. Located just off t read more..

One of the more remarkable occurrences in Central Asian politics this year was the sight of thousands of Kazakhs taking to the streets to protest at the shoo-in, far from democratic election of long read more..

Beijing needed testing grounds for risky investments. Poorly governed, resource-rich countries with exploding populations that are hungry for investment: Africa and Central Asia have much in comm read more..

Over the past two decades, the president’s office has instituted at least six ad hoc commissions to defuse some kind of political impasse. The latest is not off to an auspicious start. When it be read more..

Allow Protests; Stop Persecuting Critics Governments should use an upcoming review of Kazakhstan’s rights record at the United Nations (UN) to hold the country’s new president to his pl read more..

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Saturday that China stands ready to promote China-Kazakhstan relations to a new level. Li made the remarks during his meeting with Kazakh Prime Minister Askar M read more..

If it walks like a president, talks like a president, and has powers on par with a president… On October 8, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticized the development and design of Nur-Sul read more..

World Wide Minerals Ltd. ("WWM") and Mr. Paul A. Carroll, QC, WWM's President and CEO, have been vindicated in an arbitral award, which held that the Republic of Kazakhstan breached international la read more..

Pensioner Ernazar Perneev had just arrived at Nauryz Square in Kazakhstan's southern city of Shymkent on October 26 when he was confronted by a representative from the mayor's office. You know, i read more..

The consensus among Kazakhstan watchers is that the former president is trying to contain his successor.  In an interview earlier this month, Kazakhstan’s former President Nursultan Nazarbay read more..

Former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev used an extended interview on state television on October 11 to downplay his continuing influence and defer to his successor, condemn "traitors" abroad fo read more..

New footage has emerged from the decaying multi-million pound London mansions left derelict in ‘one of the most expensive wastelands in the world’.  Billionaires’ Row, officially named The B read more..

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday ordered an investigation into former senior officials who initiated a struggling $1.5 billion Chinese-led project to build a light rail network in t read more..

An independent polling agency in Kazakhstan has found in a nationwide survey that 43 percent of respondents view demonstrations as a force for good. Only a relatively small portion of respondents read more..

Despite democratic donor countries generous support Kyrgyz elites continue to roll back towards authoritarianism and kleptocracy. Twice these processes resulted in mass riots, with Kyrgyzstan’s two read more..

Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record has regretably deterioriated since its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in October 2014. Authorities cracked down on peaceful protests critical of government read more..

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a Russian-run structure, loosely modelled on the European Union. The guests of honour at the recent summit in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, were leaders from read more..

Since coming to power in June, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev has claimed a desire to accelerate political reforms and improve human rights in the country.  But t read more..

The Belt and Road Initiative is China’s bold and risky response to internal tensions and external pressure, but it is not backed by an inspiring idea. President Xi Jinping, the modern-day emperor read more..