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Independent Central Asia Monitor
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China's fuel promise to Mongolia gets a number: 17,000 tonnes for September, and a 20-year frame around itKazakhstan pauses collecting its $5.2 billion Kashagan fine after NCOC takes the bailiff to courtBaku moves the start of work on the Trump route to 2027, 6 days before Armenia's court takes up the dealKazakhstan's energy ministry says CPC loading stopped on 2 buoys after Tuesday's drone incident and resumed after checks

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397 results
  1. The Kurultai gets its names, and its first bill is about children
    PoliticsBrief27 Aug

    The Kurultai gets its names, and its first bill is about children

    Kazakhstan's five parliamentary parties published their deputy lists ahead of Friday's opening session, and Tokayev has told the new chamber what he wants on its desk first: a ban on social-network registration for anyone under 16.

  2. The EBRD's president reopens the Ashgabat ledger
    EconomyBrief27 Aug

    The EBRD's president reopens the Ashgabat ledger

    Odile Renaud-Basso met Serdar Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat, and the two sides signed a package of memoranda: a central-bank framework running 2027 to 2032 and a program on the banking system, the Ashgabat-based nCa reported Thursday.

  3. Mongolia opens an artificial-shortage case against a fuel retailer
    EnergyBrief27 Aug

    Mongolia opens an artificial-shortage case against a fuel retailer

    The Anti-Monopoly Office is investigating Sod Mongol Group over petrol held in storage while 7 of its stations stood closed. Its citation has a statutory name: an artificial shortage created by misleading consumers.

  4. The biggest container line stops booking Novorossiysk
    EconomyBrief27 Aug

    The biggest container line stops booking Novorossiysk

    MSC suspended new bookings to and from Novorossiysk with immediate effect after a strike on one of its ships bound for the port. At the grain quay in the same harbor, repairs are now priced at up to four months.

  5. Two months for Kocharyan, ruled around a hospital bed
    PoliticsBrief27 Aug

    Two months for Kocharyan, ruled around a hospital bed

    Armenia's Anti-Corruption Court granted the investigator's motion in full on Thursday morning: Robert Kocharyan, the country's second president, goes into detention for 2 months. The ruling landed while he lay in a hospital ward.

  6. KazMunayGas starts building a yuan book on its home exchange
    EconomyBrief26 Aug

    KazMunayGas starts building a yuan book on its home exchange

    The national oil company opened books on Wednesday for two tranches of yuan bonds on the Astana International Exchange, with settlement set for 2 September.

  7. The US draws its red line as Egypt takes the next COP
    PoliticsBrief26 Aug

    The US draws its red line as Egypt takes the next COP

    Two days before the drought conference closes in Ulaanbaatar, Washington says it will accept no drought instrument at all, and the incoming host wants a legally binding one.

  8. Uzbekneftegaz loses 3.5 billion cubic meters in six months
    EnergyBrief26 Aug

    Uzbekneftegaz loses 3.5 billion cubic meters in six months

    Uzbekistan's state gas company produced 18.3 billion cubic meters in the first half of the year, 16% below last year's pace. June's daily output was the weakest since at least early 2022.

  9. A second travel ban lands while Kocharyan waits for a judge
    PoliticsBrief26 Aug

    A second travel ban lands while Kocharyan waits for a judge

    Day 2 of Armenia's presidential prosecutions brought a travel ban for Serzh Sargsyan, a courthouse transfer for Robert Kocharyan and a first word from Moscow: hope, minus the phone call.

  10. Beijing puts Xi's Bishkek dates in writing
    China FactorBrief26 Aug

    Beijing puts Xi's Bishkek dates in writing

    China's foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday that Xi Jinping will attend the SCO summit in Bishkek and stay for a state visit to Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz side announced him 37 days ago.

  11. Dushanbe plans to 2031 and sends parliament a migration bill
    PoliticsBrief26 Aug

    Dushanbe plans to 2031 and sends parliament a migration bill

    Tajikistan's government approved a domestic tourism programme for 2027-2031 at Tuesday's session chaired by Emomali Rahmon, and sent two draft laws to parliament. One of them is titled "On Migration".

  12. Armenia's programme passes with one party's votes
    PoliticsBrief26 Aug

    Armenia's programme passes with one party's votes

    The National Assembly adopted the government's 2026-2031 programme on Tuesday, 63 votes to 24. Every yes came from Civil Contract.

  13. The Kocharyan case splits between a cell and a ward
    PoliticsBrief26 Aug

    The Kocharyan case splits between a cell and a ward

    Armenia's Anti-Corruption Court ordered 2 months of pre-trial detention for Sedrak Kocharyan on Wednesday morning. His father's custody motion has no hearing date: Robert Kocharyan is in hospital, and the committee is waiting for the doctors to finish.

  14. Kazakhstan's new chamber sits on Friday
    PoliticsBrief26 Aug

    Kazakhstan's new chamber sits on Friday

    President Tokayev signed a decree on Wednesday convening the first session of the 145-seat Kurultai for 11:00 on 28 August in Astana. When the chamber sits, the Bektenov cabinet's resignation falls due.

  15. Turkmenistan reports $46.4 million of trade and 15 days of silence on Kabul
    EconomyBrief25 Aug

    Turkmenistan reports $46.4 million of trade and 15 days of silence on Kabul

    Turkmenistan's state news service reported on 24 August that the country's commodity exchange registered 19 transactions worth more than $46.412 million in a week, with buyers from the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Afghanistan. The same service has published nothing about the gas memoranda Ashgabat signed with Kabul on 10 August.

  16. Adilet takes 110 of 145 seats on 71% of the vote
    PoliticsBrief25 Aug

    Adilet takes 110 of 145 seats on 71% of the vote

    Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission published the seat distribution for the new Kurultai on 25 August. Adilet takes 110 of the 145 seats on 71.17% of the vote, which is 75.9% of the chamber.

  17. Armenia charges its second and third presidents in one case
    PoliticsBrief25 Aug

    Armenia charges its second and third presidents in one case

    Armenia's Anti-Corruption Committee detained six people early on 25 August, second president Robert Kocharyan and his son Sedrak among them. The prosecutor had opened public criminal prosecution against Kocharyan on nine counts the day before, and his lawyer confirmed on Tuesday that the charge had been presented. By mid-afternoon the committee said it had brought a charge in the same case against Serzh Sargsyan, the country's third president.

  18. Baku and Tashkent agree to count each other's pension years
    EconomyBrief25 Aug

    Baku and Tashkent agree to count each other's pension years

    The pension agreement signed at Sunday's Tashkent summit lets citizens who worked in both countries stack their service years for eligibility, with each state paying the share earned on its territory. The terms were published on Monday; ratification is still ahead.

  19. Georgia's jailed ex-premier gets a new charge priced at 11 to 15 years
    PoliticsBrief25 Aug

    Georgia's jailed ex-premier gets a new charge priced at 11 to 15 years

    Prosecutors charged Irakli Garibashvili on Monday with taking a 750,000 lari bribe, about $290,000, over classified military-hospital procurement during his premiership. Four days earlier he wrote from prison that his father was being threatened with arrest.

  20. Kyrgyzstan gives itself until Friday to move 11,900 medical students
    PoliticsBrief25 Aug

    Kyrgyzstan gives itself until Friday to move 11,900 medical students

    The health ministry says 10,100 university students and 1,800 college students must transfer out of closed medical schools by 28 August, with online classes starting 2 September. How many have actually moved, the ministry is not yet saying.