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Bishkek finds 40 companies at sanctions risk, and closes three
EconomyBrief28 Jul

Bishkek finds 40 companies at sanctions risk, and closes three

About 40 companies carrying heightened sanctions risk have been identified in Kyrgyzstan since the start of July. Three have been shut and a cryptocurrency licence revoked, and the three match names on the European Union’s new list.

The corridor and the war now share one sea
EconomyAnalysis28 Jul

The corridor and the war now share one sea

Peskov called the strikes in the Caspian extremely dangerous on Monday. In the same days, the first cargo to move under electronic TIR across three countries crossed that water from Baku to Turkmenbashi.

Pashinyan asks Putin to lift the export bans
EconomyBrief28 Jul

Pashinyan asks Putin to lift the export bans

Armenia’s prime minister raised the Russian restrictions with Putin by telephone on Monday, the day the dairy ban took effect, and told him they contradict both the bilateral treaty framework and the rules of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Russia puts a price on the migrant family
EconomyAnalysis28 Jul

Russia puts a price on the migrant family

The law Putin signed on 26 July ties the right to work to an income test measured per dependant, and charges a fixed monthly tax for each of them. Most of it starts on 1 January 2027.

Tashkent puts an AI on 106,000 energy workers
EnergyBrief28 Jul

Tashkent puts an AI on 106,000 energy workers

A day after the energy minister was dismissed, Uzbekistan has a new centre monitoring the whole sector workforce against ten indicators. The loss figures behind the decision came out with it.

A 20% reserve margin appears in a Kazakh plan
EnergyBrief28 Jul

A 20% reserve margin appears in a Kazakh plan

The cabinet put its energy and utilities national project on the table on Tuesday morning. Inside it sits a target for spare capacity, with a date on it.

Armenia’s dairy ban takes effect
EconomyBrief27 Jul

Armenia’s dairy ban takes effect

Russia’s restriction on Armenian dairy came into force on Monday. Yerevan’s food safety inspectorate says the joint inspection behind it found nothing of the kind.

Dushanbe says the Russian petrol ban should not reach it
EnergyBrief27 Jul

Dushanbe says the Russian petrol ban should not reach it

Russia supplies 72.3% of the fuel Tajikistan burns. Its energy minister says the indicative balance has recently run into difficulty, and that the export ban extended last week should not in principle touch deliveries made under an intergovernmental agreement.

Kabul and Tashkent sign 22 documents worth $200 million
EconomyBrief27 Jul

Kabul and Tashkent sign 22 documents worth $200 million

This morning the desk asked which goods would appear when the paperwork did. Cotton appeared first, at 10,000 tonnes on trial with an offer for 100,000 more.

Xi Jinping comes to Bishkek for the summit days
PoliticsBrief27 Jul

Xi Jinping comes to Bishkek for the summit days

China’s president will make a state visit to Kyrgyzstan on 31 August and 1 September, the days of the SCO summit. The file named first is the railway.

Tashkent sacks its energy minister, and four utilities go on probation
PoliticsBrief27 Jul

Tashkent sacks its energy minister, and four utilities go on probation

Jurabek Mirzamahmudov was released on Monday. Mirziyoyev located the failure in management of the system and gave the heads of four state energy companies until the end of the year.

The pipeline restarts after production halved
EnergyBrief27 Jul

The pipeline restarts after production halved

CPC began taking Kazakh crude again on Sunday evening. By then national output was running at about half its June average, roughly twice the drop that had been reported all week.

One littoral state speaks about the Caspian
SecurityBrief27 Jul

One littoral state speaks about the Caspian

Turkmenistan called the attack on a vessel in the Caspian inadmissible and named nobody at all. Kyiv answered Tehran the same day, and Baku and Tehran shut each other’s broadcasters.

Nowhere to put a bad week
OpinionOpinion27 Jul

Nowhere to put a bad week

The region has spent a decade building capacity to move things and almost nothing to hold them. July is showing what that costs.

Tokayev asks for a freeze in Omsk, and Moscow answers in a day
PoliticsBrief27 Jul

Tokayev asks for a freeze in Omsk, and Moscow answers in a day

Standing beside Putin, Kazakhstan’s president proposed freezing the war and returning to the Istanbul terms. The Kremlin called a freeze impossible the following morning.

Tashkent sends a 300-strong business delegation to Kabul
EconomyBrief27 Jul

Tashkent sends a 300-strong business delegation to Kabul

Uzbekistan’s deputy prime minister spent the weekend in Kabul with a delegation and a tariff offer. The stated target is $5 billion of trade.

EcoIslamicBank goes on the EU list from 13 August
EconomyBrief27 Jul

EcoIslamicBank goes on the EU list from 13 August

The 21st package names a Kyrgyz bank, three Bishkek companies and two Kazakh ones. Within a day, transfers from Russia to four countries stopped going through.

Kyrgyzstan rewrites its fuel subsidy for a wider border
EnergyBrief27 Jul

Kyrgyzstan rewrites its fuel subsidy for a wider border

Moscow will hold its gasoline export ban to the end of the year. Bishkek is redrafting its subsidy rules so that supported fuel can arrive at any crossing point, from any third country.

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EconomyBrief27 Jul

Kazakhstan moves from a fine to a seizure at Kashagan

Property and vehicles belonging to the Kashagan operator went under restriction on 21 July. The justice ministry has told the operator’s managing director he could face criminal liability.

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SecurityAnalysis27 Jul

The war reaches the Caspian

Iran says a Ukrainian strike killed a sailor on one of its commercial ships in the Caspian. The detour Kazakhstan is counting on runs across that same sea.