Two more affiliates of Kazakh ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev, a nephew and a business tycoon, were arrested this past week. Meanwhile, Russia officially suspended exports of grains such as wheat and buckwheat and sugar to “help protect the domestic market”, and Afghanistan resumed talks with China to mine copper as the humanitarian disaster growingly hits the country.

19 March 2022

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This past week, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan got together to work on opening a new trade route to Europe, a rally condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and Russia’s Sberbank started to try and fill the gap left by the departure of Visa and MasterCard with the Chinese Union Pay.

12 March 2022

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This week, sanctions against Russia, including its removal from SWIFT, continued to hit Central Asian economies that are deeply linked to Russia's economy, Kazakhstan’s ruling party got renamed “Amanat” from “Nur-Otan”, and the Chinese exports were reported to be suffering because of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia.

05 March 2022

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This past week, Russia invaded Ukraine and almost immediately got slapped with sanctions, which had a domino effect on the Central Asian economies, Two more Kazakh ex-officials with ties to the former President Nursultan Nazarbayev were arrested and are awaiting trial, Uzbek trade was reported to be growing as the country considers production partnership with China, and Iran was said to be seeking the extension of the Iran-Afghanistan Railway into China.

25 February 2022

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This week, the Taliban have reportedly created new battalions in Northern Afghanistan, worrying neighboring countries, especially Tajikistan, the data uncovered by local journalists points to up to $60 billions’ worth of goods smuggled through the Sino-Kyrgyz border in the past 20 years, Turkmenistan, encouraged by Kazakhstan, has been contemplating building a new industrial processing facility near the Afghan border, and Kazakhstan has reportedly continued its war against smuggling with 8 criminal and 24 administrative cases launched.

18 February 2022

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This week, China and Pakistan demonstrated devotion to the CPEC initiative after a string of rebel strikes in Baluchistan province, where Chinese investment has sparked resentment, President Xi’s face-to-face diplomacy and visits of the worldwide leaders were said to be contributing to strengthening ties between China and other states, and in western Kazakhstan, protesters started to demonstrate again, only a month after mass protests that had begun in the same region rapidly extended throughout the nation. Meanwhile, Baku’s Port in Azerbaijan, which is one of the key BRI junctions, was reported to be handling growing loads of shipments during this year.

11 February 2022

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This past week, Kazakh President Kassym Jomart Tokayev pointed to a $5.7 billion disparity in Kazakh and Chinese trade statistics due to “smuggling rings on the Kazakh-Chinese border” and promised to dismantle them. Kazakh Ambassador to China Gabit Koishibayev tried to calm Chinese worries that the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) could lead to the revival of Pan-Turkism and assured China that Kazakhstan-China relations remain a top priority for his government. A report by the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) of China was published about the decline of media freedom in China. Despite the boycott by the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, the Winter Olympics’ Opening Ceremony kick-started in Beijing with a number of world leaders present. Elsewhere, Pakistan has reportedly secured $5 billion in loans from Russia, China and Kazakhstan, and India and the 5 Central Asian states have agreed to form a joint working group on Chabahar Port of Iran.

04 February 2022

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Power blackouts were reported in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The cause of the blackouts was narrowed down to the disconnection of the southern grid from the power plants in northern Kazakhstan and Russia. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $500 million in aid to Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan) during a virtual meeting with the representatives of the five states, and in a similar meeting hosted by India, the same five Central Asian countries and India pledged to create a joint task-group to deliver aid to Afghanistan.

28 January 2022

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