Kazakhstan plans to boost trade with Afghanistan from $500 million to $3 billion, backed by infrastructure and transit projects designed to strengthen regional connectivity and improve access to global markets.
South Korea will import 18 million barrels of Kazakh oil via routes bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, as it seeks to shield its energy supply from mounting instability in the Middle East.
Kazakhstan has ratified an allied relations treaty with Tajikistan and a strategic partnership agreement with the United Kingdom, aiming to deepen regional cooperation and expand ties with a major foreign investor.
Kazakhstan and Türkiye are intensifying efforts to expand economic cooperation, setting a target to increase bilateral trade to $15 billion as both countries build on steady growth and broaden investment ties.
Kazakhstan has reported a sharp fall in oil production, with both output and exports declining in the first quarter of the year, according to government officials. The drop is now affecting the structure of economic growth, even as the country records 3% GDP growth.
South Korea is close to finalising an agreement to import crude oil from Kazakhstan, according to Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, as the country seeks to diversify its energy supplies amid disruptions in the Middle East, he said on Sunday, 12 April, according to Reuters.
Kazakhstan and Armenia are moving to deepen bilateral ties as shifting dynamics in the South Caucasus reopen long-blocked transport routes and create new economic opportunities.
Kazakhstan says oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) remain stable after drone strikes on facilities near Novorossiysk, despite damage to key infrastructure and rising risks to a major export route.
Kazakhstan has reassigned three CHP plant projects to a Kazakh-Singaporean consortium, formally ending Russia’s involvement, the energy ministry confirmed.
South Korea is seeking alternative oil supplies from Kazakhstan as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz expose its reliance on Middle Eastern energy routes.
Kyrgyzstan is considering a referendum on building a nuclear power plant as it seeks long-term solutions to rising energy demand, though officials stress discussions remain at an early stage.
Former Kyrgyz MP Shairbek Tashiev has been detained in a corruption investigation linked to state oil firm Kyrgyzneftegaz, as the case expands to include members of a powerful political family.
Trade between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan rose by 16.2% in 2025 to nearly $5 billion, underscoring deepening economic ties highlighted during a visit by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yerlan Kosherbayev.
Kazakhstan remains among the least dependent countries in Central Asia on Chinese capital, maintaining a diversified external debt structure and greater financial flexibility than its regional peers.
Japan’s growing interest in Caspian crude reflects a pragmatic response to uncertainty in global energy markets and its continued reliance on the Middle East for more than 90% of its oil imports.
The UK has authorised transactions involving Kazakh oil transported through Russia, creating a limited exemption within its sanctions regime while maintaining broader restrictions on Russian-linked entities.
China is strengthening its presence in Central Asia by increasing gas imports from Turkmenistan and expanding trade and infrastructure cooperation with Kyrgyzstan.
Former head of the State Committee for National Security Kamchybek Tashiev has returned to Kyrgyzstan and is currently being questioned at the Interior Ministry’s main investigative department, according to local media reports.
The European Union will not include Kazakhstan in its upcoming 20th package of sanctions against Russia.
Kazakhstan’Kazakhstan’s lower house has approved plans for a green energy corridor with Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Once implemented, the project would see renewable electricity generated in the two Central Asian countries transmitted to Europe via Azerbaijan.
Kazakhstan is holding a nationwide referendum on a new draft Constitution on Sunday (15 March) that could significantly reshape the country’s political system. Polling stations have opened across the country, with nearly 12.5 million people eligible to take part.
Kazakhstan is preparing a new phase of efforts to restore the Northern Aral Sea together with the World Bank, focusing on raising water levels, improving irrigation management and strengthening regional co-operation over shared water resources.
China will finance the construction of nine border facilities in Tajikistan along the frontier with Afghanistan in a project worth more than $50 million aimed at strengthening the operational capacity of the country’s Border Troops.
Reports of so-called “acid clouds” moving from Iran towards Central Asia are not supported by scientific data, national hydrometeorological services in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan say, adding there is no threat to the region.
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