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Independent Central Asia Monitor
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Tashkent plans 57.2 GW by 2035 with 26 storage projects and nearly 5,000 km of new lines behind a grid it says will now be built from demandAshgabat sets the CIS summit and a Caspian ecological summit for Avaza on 9 October with Putin confirmed, as the Halk Maslahaty gathers 4 days before the 35th anniversaryKyrgyzstan signs 3 export protocols with China’s customs chief and gets Torugart opened to its grain as it thanks Beijing for fuelMongolia’s new justice minister declares 3 apartments worth 2.2 billion tugrik and shares in at least 6 companies, the anti-corruption agency’s register shows

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Tashkent international airport
EconomyBrief8 Jun

Uzbekistan breaks ground on a new Tashkent international airport this month

The current airport handles 14 million passengers a year and is at capacity. The new facility is designed for 30 million. Construction starts June 2026.

Kyrgyzstan on the Security Council and under EU sanctions: contradic
PoliticsBrief8 Jun

Kyrgyzstan on the Security Council and under EU sanctions: the week the contradictions converge

The UN seat is confirmed for 2027. The EU compliance seminar is tomorrow in Bishkek. Two tracks that should be unrelated, and are not.

EBRD and Kazakhstan sign a five-year cooperation agreement in Riga
EconomyBrief8 Jun

EBRD and Kazakhstan sign a new five-year cooperation agreement in Riga

The enhanced partnership framework runs to 2030. Private sector development, low-carbon transition, and Middle Corridor infrastructure are the three priorities.

Armenia Elections
PoliticsAnalysis8 Jun

Pashinyan wins, and the margin tells the real story

The final results of Armenia’s parliamentary elections have cemented Nikol Pashinyan’s third consecutive term, but the tight mathematical metrics reveal a complex legislative landscape ahead. While his Civil Contract party secured enough seats to form a government single-handedly, it fell short of the constitutional supermajority required to reshape the country's institutional framework. The razor-thin margin shows that while voters backed his westward shift, they refused to hand him absolute domestic power.

Riga Baku SPb
OpinionOpinion7 Jun

Forum week: Baku signed, St. Petersburg celebrated, Riga quietly worked

Three gatherings, one week, one pipeline. A tour of the parallel universes of Eurasian energy diplomacy.

Washington Names Moscow's Play in Armenia
PoliticsAnalysis6 Jun

Four days out: Washington names Moscow's play in Armenia

Secretary Rubio told the Senate on Tuesday that Russia wants Pashinyan to lose. The claim lands in the middle of the dirtiest election campaign Armenia has seen in years.

 The Editor. Tags: Armenia, Elections, Pashinyan, Russia, EU, EAEU
OpinionOpinion6 Jun

Armenia on the eve: what the campaign actually settled

Tomorrow Armenians vote. The result looks predictable. The questions it raises are not.

EnergyAnalysis5 Jun

Baku Energy Week: $7.5 billion in contracts, a green corridor pitch, and Central Asia in the room

Azerbaijan's minister framed the Caspian region as a new energy space. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were named as corridor partners. $7.5 billion in contracts signed at the forum.

Turkmenistan · European Union · Human rights
PoliticsBrief5 Jun

The EU goes to Ashgabat: what rights groups want from the 22 June dialogue

The 18th annual EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue takes place in Ashgabat on 22 June. IPHR and TIHR published a briefing this week telling Brussels what to demand.

Kazakhstan · China · Technology · Finance
EconomyBrief5 Jun

Tencent is now a Kaspi.kz shareholder: what a $518 million bet on Kazakhstan means

The deal closed in April. The implications are still unfolding. China's largest consumer tech company has a stake in Kazakhstan's dominant super app.

EBRD Annual Meeting opens in Riga: what Central Asia is watching
EconomyBrief5 Jun

EBRD Annual Meeting opens in Riga: what Central Asia is watching

The bank's 35th gathering runs 5 to 7 June. The Governors' plenary is 6 June. The updated Regional Economic Prospects drop 7 June. Central Asian finance ministers are in the room.

Campaign over, silence begins: what Armenia goes into June 7 with
PoliticsBrief5 Jun

Campaign over, silence begins: what Armenia goes into 7 June with

Pashinyan leads by a wide margin among decided voters. A third of the electorate is still undecided. Tomorrow is the day of silence. Sunday is the vote.

GITEX Came to Astana
EconomyBrief4 Jun

What GITEX in Astana revealed about Central Asia's tech ambitions

600+ exhibitors, 60 countries, 10,000 professionals over three days. Kazakhstan hosted the first GITEX Central Asia & Caucasus. The event closed 4 June.

Uzbekistan's trade deficit hit $6.4bn — the headline is misleading
EconomyBrief4 Jun

Uzbekistan's trade deficit hit $6.4 billion in four months. The headline is misleading

Total turnover reached $26.3 billion, up 5.8%. Exports fell 16.8%. But strip out gold, which Tashkent paused for six months, and the picture looks different.

Armenia T-3: Civil Contract leads, but a third of voters undecided
PoliticsBrief4 Jun

Armenia T-3: Civil Contract leads by a distance, but a third of voters are still undecided

The latest polling aggregate puts Pashinyan at 46% of decided voters. The undecided bloc is large enough to change the outcome. Campaign ends tomorrow.

Cyprus on the Middle Corridor: Tokayev recruits a Mediterranean shipping hub
EconomyBrief4 Jun

Cyprus on the Middle Corridor: Tokayev recruits a Mediterranean shipping hub

A Kazakhstan-Cyprus Business Forum in Astana. An EU-Kazakhstan transport seminar the same day. Both pointed at the same 23 June meeting.

KYRGYZSTAN · UN SECURITY COUNCIL
PoliticsBrief4 Jun

Kyrgyzstan wins a UN Security Council seat, 142 to 49 over the Philippines

Four rounds of voting. A result that Central Asian diplomats called historic. Bishkek joins the Council for the first time since independence in 1991.

What the EBRD Is Bringing to Riga — and What Central Asia Should Watch
AnalysisAnalysis3 Jun

What the EBRD is bringing to Riga, and what Central Asia should watch

The Bank's 35th Annual Meeting opens Thursday. For the region, three things matter: the new Regional Economic Prospects, the Aktau port investment, and the signal on Trans-Caspian financing.

The Silence Before the Vote: what Armenia's campaign tells us about June 7
PoliticsBrief3 Jun

The silence before the vote: what Armenia's campaign says about 7 June

Pashinyan leads but is weaker than at any point since 2018. The opposition is fragmented but financed. The campaign ends Thursday.

Kyrgyzstan vs Philippines: UN votes for Asia-Pacific Security Council seat
PoliticsBrief3 Jun

Kyrgyzstan vs the Philippines: the UN votes today for an Asia-Pacific Security Council seat

The ballot in New York opens at 10am local time. A Kyrgyzstan win would put Central Asia on the Council for the first time since Kazakhstan's 2017 to 2018 term.