President Mirziyoyev has ordered a new Investors’ Council for the fuel and energy sector, chaired by Presidential Administration head Saida Mirziyoyeva, after companies including Acwa Power, EDF and Voltalia called for a standing mechanism to resolve land, grid and permitting delays.
President Mirziyoyev has created an Investors’ Council for the fuel and energy sector, chaired by Presidential Administration head Saida Mirziyoyeva, citing bureaucracy and corruption as the forces compelling the decision.
The EU’s 21st Russia sanctions package targets two Kazakhstani firms, three Kyrgyz companies, a Kyrgyz bank connected to Russia’s SWIFT alternative, and 14 cryptocurrency platforms, as Brussels escalates pressure on Central Asian trade and financial channels.
From the paralysis of dual power after Nazarbayev’s 2019 resignation to the post-January 2022 prosecutions of security chiefs, oligarchs and former ministers, Kazakhstan’s anti-corruption drive has returned more than $1.5 billion in assets from a single convict alone — while leaving other members of the old guard untouched.
Washington’s 12 April sanctions package targeting Alisher Usmanov’s business empire and Russia-linked evasion networks has designated Uzbek cement producer Akhangarancement, a telecoms joint venture part-owned by Uzbek authorities, and two small Uzbek firms accused of procuring US goods for Russia’s military.
Exiled Erk party leader Muhammad Salih confirmed meeting Batyr Rakhimov in early 2021 and handing him a written proposal for political reconciliation, corroborating Radio Ozodlik’s account that the businessman—married to a niece of Uzbekistan’s First Lady—was operating as an informal back-channel between the government and the banned opposition.
