Energy and Economy

Türkiye and Turkmenistan Reaffirm Gas and Energy Agreements

Following a state visit to Turkmenistan by Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the two countries announced their aim to have an annual gas trade volume of 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the next 20 years. This will require increased investment in pipeline and gas storage facilities across both nations. The talks emphasized the importance of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) to Türkiye’s energy security goals and the challenges of connecting it to Turkmenistan’s gas supply. The talks also discussed transporting Turkmen gas via Azerbaijan and Georgia, collaboration on mining, and potentially building a combined cycle gas plant to export Turkmen electricity.

Source: Hurriyel, Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Japanese Prime Minister to Visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Announce Economic Package

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to visit Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan August 9-12. While in Central Asia, Kishida is set to announce in Astana an economic aid package for the construction of transit infrastructure. The investment package will reportedly include funds for decarbonization and using Japanese technologies and loans, particularly in natural gas processing. Additionally, Kishida will reportedly announce exchanges of skilled workers.

Source: Astana Times

Railway Developments in Central Asia

Tajikistan's Ministry of Transport reported that the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has signed a MOU to develop the Jaloliddini-Balkhi-Panji Poyon railway project. The line is part of the larger Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan (TAT) railway project and estimated at $4 million. In Kazakstan, the national railway company KTZ has announced the successful completion of the fastest cargo train service yet on the China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan route. Departing from Xi’an, the train took five days to travel 4,486 km (about the width of the United States) to its destination in Tashkent. KTZ attributed the success to enhanced border infrastructure between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Source: Times of Central Asia

Slovenia Starts Receiving Natural Gas from Azerbaijan

On August 1, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company, SOCAR, announced that it had begun natural gas shipments to Slovenia. “The shipments are carried out in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed between SOCAR and Geoplin, the largest company in the Slovenian natural gas market, on July 17 this year," SOCAR said in a statement. While the amount of gas shipments was not disclosed, Azerbaijan is expected to export approximately 25 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in 2024, including 13 bcm bound for Europe.

Source: Interfax

Politics and Security

U.S. House Helsinki Commission Calls for Sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili

In a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken released on July 26, a bipartisan group of U.S. House of Representatives on the U.S. House Helsinki Commission called for “individual financial sanctions against key nodes of corruption and malign influence in Georgia, - specifically, Bidzina Ivanishvili and his inner circle.” The letter also stated that the Helsinki Commission believes Georgia’s governing Georgian Dream party, of which Ivanishvili is believed to be the informal head, is operating illegal call centers whose profits contribute to political corruption in “Georgia, Russia, and beyond.” Recent months have seen a sharp falling out between Tbilisia and both Washington and Brussels. In May, the United States announced it intended to place visa restrictions on Georgian officials.

Source: U.S. Helsinki Comission

United States Will Pause $95 Million in Aid to Georgian Government

On July 31, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States would pause all financial assistance to the government of Georgia. In the letter, Blinken stated that following a review of U.S.-Georgian relations caused by the passage of a Russian-style foreign agents law, “the United States is pausing more than $95 million in assistance that directly benefits the Government of Georgia. The Georgian government’s anti-democratic actions and false statements are incompatible with membership norms in the EU and NATO.  While we are pausing our assistance to the Government of Georgia due to those actions, the United States will continue assistance to programs and activities that benefit the people of Georgia by strengthening democracy, rule of law, independent media, and economic development.” The move comes after the European Union announced in July it would halt all financial aid to the Georgian military, citing the same concerns.

Source: U.S. Department of State

Russian Border Guards Leave Yerevan Airport

After an agreement reached between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladamir Putin in March, on July 31 Russian border guards departed Yerevan’s Zvartnots international airport. Russia and Armenia have been deeply militarily integrated since the 1990s, with Russian troops stationed at several locations in Armenia. But recent months have seen a pivot in Yerevan’s foreign policy after Russia failed to provide military assistance to Yerevan in September 2022 when Baku fully retrieved Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts on its own territory from Armenian occupation. Since then, Yerevan has tried to forge ties with the European Union.   

Source: RFE/RL