On December 25, on the margins of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in St. Petersburg, a free trade agreement was signed between the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and its member states, on one hand, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the other. The EEU unites Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The agreement
The “One Village – One Product” project (OVOP) is being implemented within the framework of “Men Kasipker” instrument, developed in accordance with the National Entrepreneurship Development Project for 2021-2025. Its goal is to involve rural population in creation of a unique, high-quality regional product that is certified and has market attractiveness, the Kazakh Ministry of
On December 25, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a government meeting on the development of the electrical, chemical and pharmaceutical industries in Uzbekistan. It was stated at the meeting that over the past five years, production in these three industries has increased 2.6-fold, and their share in the country’s industrial sector has reached 7 percent. The
The 12th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Pakistan was held in Astana on December 22. Co-chaired by the Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Kairat Torebayev and the First Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs of Pakistan Kazim Niaz, the event was
The Uzbek Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Malginov on December 22 and told him that statements by ultranationalist pro-Kremlin writer Zakhar Prilepin a day earlier are “provocative and may have a negative impact” on Uzbek-Russian relations, RFE/RL reported. Prilepin on December 21 spoke publicly about “the necessity to join Uzbekistan’s territory with Russia.” Russian
Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov signed a bill amending the national flag on December 22, two days after lawmakers approved it in a final reading. The lawmakers have said the wavy yellow rays of a sun on a red field of the old flag resembled a sunflower. The Kyrgyz word for sunflower is “kunkarama,” but it
On December 21, the large Rozhkovskoye gas condensate field was put into commercial operation in the West Kazakhstan region. Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov took part in the launch of the production of natural gas and condensate via teleconference. The Rozhkovskoye gas condensate field was discovered in 2008. By 2040, it is planned to
Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to open direct flights on the route Almaty-Riyadh. The agreement was reached on December 20 during the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu to Saudi Arabia to participate in the 6th meeting of the Kazakh-Saudi Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic,
In order to discuss the progress of trade, economic and investment projects between Kazakhstan and Qatar, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Doha on December 21 organized a meeting with the heads of leading Qatari companies in the construction, energy, agriculture and tourism sectors. The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the State of Qatar, Arman Issagaliyev, in
Uzbekistan’s Labor Migration Agency said on December 21 that 119 Uzbek nationals who had illegally entered the United States, mostly via Mexico, had been flown back to Tashkent, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported. In a video the agency placed on Telegram, one of those expelled said he paid $5,000 to individuals who had arranged a Mexican-U.S. border
An agreement on joint production of charging stations for electric vehicles was reached between Uzbekistan and China, the Uzbek Ministry of Energy said. A delegation from the Uzbek Research Institute of Renewable Energy Sources visited China last week. During meetings with representatives of the Henan Suda company, the parties discussed the implementation of a project for the
Construction of a new railway line Bakhty-Ayagoz with a length of 272 km has started in Abay region in southern Kazakhstan. Alikhan Smailov, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, gave an official start to the works via a teleconference. The project is being implemented following the instruction of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to increase the transport-transit potential
On December 19, Akylbek Japarov, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic and Head of the Administration of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, received representatives of the Russian company Unigreen Energy. The parties discussed the implementation of a project for the construction of a solar power plant with a capacity
The European Union and Turkmenistan held the fifteenth round of their annual Human Rights Dialogue on December 18 in Brussels. Both sides discussed openly, and in a constructive spirit, developments in the rule of law and the human rights situation in Turkmenistan. The EU welcomed the intensified high-level engagements with Turkmenistan, including the joint visit
Two dozen Kyrgyz politicians, journalists, and activists on trial over protests against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border deal have rejected President Sadyr Japarov’s allegation that an organizer of the protests “received money from the ambassador” of an unnamed country, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported. The activists said in a December 19 statement on Facebook that they demanded evidence proving that
