Kazakhstan
Blame game under way as massive blackout hits Central Asia
Kazakh utility points finger at hydropower failure in Kyrgyzstan. Claims made by Kyrgyz officials about Kazakh power line disruption denied by Kazakhstan.
The Black Sea war sends world wheat prices up
The US Department of Agriculture has cut its forecasts for Russian and Ukrainian grain exports because of the Black Sea shipping war. The prices of every rival exporter have gone up.
Ukraine rapidly running out of grain storage space
Ukraine could run out of room to store 8mn-11mn tonnes of its own grain by November, with the ports shut and the new crop still coming in.
Ukraine’s dragging of Wildberries into war hits Uzbekistan as exporters complain of lost business
With losses mounting up, Uzbek entrepreneur reflects that one of the Russian ecommerce giant’s warehouses “burns down almost every day."
Kazakh billionaire Turlov bids for presidency of World Chess Federation
Kazakh billionaire Timur Turlov did not set out to run world chess. But after the current president of FIDE Arkady Dvorkovich was sanctioned last month, he is now the leading contender to take over. He wants to make chess a digital Olympic sport.
Ukraine targeting Novorossiysk, Russia's last functioning Black Sea port
Ukraine, a country with no navy, has driven Russia's Black Sea Fleet out of Crimea to Novorossiysk, and has now struck its warships in that last refuge, damaging four.
Russia swings 93% of its rail trade to friendly states as it maps corridors to the Indian Ocean
Russia is stitching together a web of new railway corridors from the South Caucasus to the Indian Ocean, redirecting freight away from Europe towards Asia and the Global South.
Tashkent wins vote over Almaty in Etihad Airways' expansion into Central Asia
Service to Kazakh city may start next year. For now, UAE's national airline sees Uzbek capital as the better option.
Caspian Sea water level hits 200-year low
The Caspian Sea has fallen to its lowest level in about 200 years and is still declining, a Tehran official said, blaming higher temperatures, evaporation, weaker inflows and lower rainfall for a drop of up to 20 centimetres a year.
China expanding scientific cooperation with Central Asia
China-Central Asia Monitor: July 31 – August 6.
Ukraine halted Black Sea tanker strikes after Vance's July 31 call with Zelenskyy, FT reports
Ukraine halted tanker strikes near Russia's Novorossiysk port after a July 31 Vance-Zelenskyy call, the Financial Times reported, as Washington moved to shield Chevron and Exxon's Kazakh oil interests.
Russia could use nuclear weapons as “last option” in face of expanding Ukraine war, warns Turkish foreign minister
West knows of these concerns, says Hakan Fidan.
Russia pounds Kyiv as Ukraine hits refineries and shadow fleet tankers over bloody weekend
"Last night, Russia killed three people in Pukhivka, Kyiv region, with drone strikes – a grandfather, a grandmother, and their grandson.
COMMENT: Russia's fuel crisis spills into Central Asia as Moscow's backup supply dries up
Ukraine's drone campaign against Russian refineries has rocked not only Russia's own fuel market but those of Central Asia too, Carnegie Politika's Galiya Ibragimova writes, warning the region has little time to avert a full-scale shortage.
Kazakhstan may face sanctions risks from drone-hit Wildberries expansion, say observers
Chances Ukraine would attack logistics of ecommerce giant moved to Russia's neighbour seen as "zero", but dual-use items in stock would be a worry.
Kazakhstan services PMI hits highest level in more than 12 months
Stronger new business gains. Cost inflation weakest in months. Confidence, however, retreats to six-month low.
China expands its presence in Uzbekistan
China-Central Asia Monitor: July 24-30.
Is Kazakhstan’s Tokayev planning to rule 'forever'?
Or is he bluffing, seeking to keep would-be rivals off-balance?
Kazakhstan manufacturing conditions decline to worst degree since March 2022, PMI shows
Sharpest fall in new orders in two and a half years. Confidence lowest in more than six years.
Ukraine’s attacks on Wildberries will hit foreign traders for tens of millions, says company CEO
Businesses across Central Asia and countries including Belarus, Armenia and China will feel the pain, ecommerce boss adds.