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Kyrgyzstan drops its own price cap after the capped fuel vanished from pumps
Kyrgyzstan's government has removed AI-95 gasoline from price controls it imposed in May, after the capped fuel disappeared from filling stations in Bishkek. The subsidy scheme survives; the hard retail ceiling on the grade it was meant to protect does not.
Kazakhstan signs crypto decree that lets miners run on gas the grid doesn't need
President Tokayev signed a decree on 8 July laying out rules for a regulated digital-asset market, stablecoins, tax breaks and tokenised government bonds. One detail stands out: crypto miners can now be powered by associated petroleum and natural gas when the state doesn't need it for other purposes.
Kyrgyzstan borrows to fix its finances while opening a zone that pays no tax
On 1 July the Asian Development Bank approved another $70 million for Kyrgyzstan, this time to strengthen fiscal management and governance. Days earlier, on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, the government had opened a financial zone offering 49 years without tax. Bishkek is borrowing from the development banks to shore up a budget it is hollowing out at home.
Uzbekistan's first census since 1989 finds 810,000 people its estimates missed
Uzbekistan's first full census since Soviet times puts the population at 39 million, some 810,000 above the running estimate, a gap the size of a large city. The new baseline resets the numbers behind schools, water, farmland and the labour force. For the region's largest young society, the recount is a planning shock.
Uzbekistan’s cargo boom is outgrowing its border posts
Cargo turnover grew 43% in the first half of 2026 and transit traffic 35%, the transport minister and customs chief reported on state television. The bottleneck has moved to the border, where the president wants throughput doubled.
Air Belgium will fly cargo through Ashgabat, and Turkmenistan dreams of a hub
Air Belgium plans to start cargo flights through Ashgabat in early August, the Turkmen embassy in Brussels said. For one of the world’s most closed countries, the freighter is a small bet on becoming an air-cargo bridge between Europe and Asia.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan put their border crossings on a 24-hour clock
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are moving border checkpoints to round-the-clock operation, qazinform reported on 26 June. It is a small administrative change with a real effect on trade: a border open all night moves more goods than one that closes at five.
The IMF likes Uzbekistan’s numbers and still flags the risks
Uzbekistan grew 7.7% in 2025 and brought inflation down, the IMF said this week. The praise came with the usual instruction: keep policy tight, because the easy part of the cycle is ending.
The Netherlands tops Kazakhstan’s investor table at $125 billion. The figure is mostly a mailing address
Kazakhstan said this week that Dutch investment has passed $125 billion, keeping the Netherlands its largest foreign investor. The same week in Brussels, Tokayev cited $210 billion of European money. Both numbers count a great deal of capital that only stops in Europe on its way through.
Central Asia tops $600 billion as the EDB gathers in Almaty
The Eurasian Development Bank meets in Almaty on 25 and 26 June behind a flattering number: regional output above $600 billion for the first time, with growth over 6.5%. Beneath the headline sits a harder figure, the cost of the debt that paid for it.
Tajikistan ordered 14 Boeing jets. The question is what pays for them
A fleet order worth billions sits on an economy that runs on migrant wages, owes its debt partly in gold mines, and routes its hard-currency earnings through offshore shells tied to the president's family. The aircraft are real. The questions the Washington ceremony left out are the ones worth asking.
Dushanbe police break up a fake-medicine ring selling children's syrups
Police in the Tajik capital shut down an underground operation that produced counterfeit medicines, including children's syrups sold under brand names, in unsanitary conditions. One man is detained. The haul points to a public-health problem bigger than a single workshop.
Kyrgyzstan moves 66,000 hectares to organic farming
Bishkek says it has converted 66,000 hectares to certified organic production in a nationwide push. For a small economy hunting export niches it cannot win on volume, organic is a sensible bet on value.
EBRD puts $25 million into an Uzbek steelmaker
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is lending $25 million to expand steel production in Uzbekistan. It is the kind of mid-size, real-economy deal that tells you more about the investment climate than any forum headline.
Kazakhstan secures land for a port base on the Persian Gulf, at Bandar Abbas
Iran has finalized the allocation of a plot for a Kazakh logistics terminal at Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, its main gateway on the Gulf. It is a concrete step toward the southern corridor Central Asia has chased for years. The plot sits on the same strait Iran spent the weekend threatening to close.
Tashkent's forum closes, and the number that matters is the conversion rate
TIIF-2026 wrapped on 18 June. The closing headline figure was still not public as this pack went out, but a more telling number did surface: about 35% of the deals signed at last year's forum are already in implementation.
Oyu Tolgoi exports resume a day after protesters blocked the road
Rio Tinto restarted copper concentrate shipments from its giant Mongolian mine on 18 June, a day after the Radical Reform movement blocked the export road. The protest lasted under a day. The grievance behind it has lasted years.
Tashkent's investment forum closes on its deal-making day
TIIF-2026 ends on 18 June with the Foreign Investors Council session that turns three days of pitches into commitments. The benchmark to beat is last year's $30.5 billion. The closing tally is expected later today.
Protesters block Oyu Tolgoi road and halt copper exports to China
Mongolia's Radical Reform movement blocked the main transport road from Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi mine at 09:00 on 17 June, stopping copper concentrate trucks heading for the Chinese border. Rio's shares fell 1.6% in London. The dispute is about who gets how much from one of the world's largest copper deposits.
Mirziyoyev opens TIIF with an invitation and a framework; Germany and Tajikistan respond
Mirziyoyev told nearly 4,000 delegates Uzbekistan's doors will always remain open and framed investment as a partnership, not a capital transfer. Germany's president arrived for a bilateral focused on industry and labour. Tajikistan set a $2 billion trade target.