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Armenia keeps its course, on less than half the vote
Civil Contract will govern alone for a third term on 49.81 percent of the vote, its lowest winning share since Nikol Pashinyan took power. The campaign that delivered it is the part the celebration skips.
Mongolia is building a railway straight into China's steel industry, and it knows exactly what that means
83 million tonnes of coal exported to China in 2024. A new cross-border railway under construction since April 2025. $1.5 billion in additional annual revenue projected. The numbers are compelling. The dependency is real.
Mongolia went to Shanghai to raise money. 300 investors showed up
The first Mongolia Investment Forum in China closed on 27 May. It was the fourth edition of a global series: after New York, London, and Singapore. The choice of city was the message.
Fifty companies
Kyrgyzstan shut down fifty companies on a list provided by Washington and London. The part of the story that got less attention: it was a list of fifty-one.
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: 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Armenia on the eve: what the campaign actually settled
Tomorrow Armenians vote. The result looks predictable. The questions it raises are not.
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.
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.
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
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 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.
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 $6.4 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 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
A Kazakhstan-Cyprus Business Forum in Astana. An EU-Kazakhstan transport seminar the same day. Both pointed at the same 23 June meeting.