Kazakhstan

by Vladimir Rozanskij | CENTRAL ASIA

After much hesitation and meetings at the level of individual countries, now in Samarkand the European Union has openly declared its intention to ‘raise relations to the level of strategic partnership’ with the region as a whole. But local leaders, who aim to ‘diversify’ their foreign policy, are waiting to see how many resources Brussels will really put on the table.

by Vladimir Rozanskij

The company Yandex has increased the percentages for taxi drivers, and has stifled all the other players in the market for the transport of people and goods (including Uber) in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The measures launched by the local antitrust agencies have been ineffective.

| 25/02/2025
| CENTRAL ASIA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The repercussions in Central Asia of the US government's blocking of cooperation activities also include the suspension of subsidies to news agencies such as Radio Svoboda and associations that fight against the gagging of critical voices. And Kazakh nationalist politicians are rejoicing, calling for an end to ‘foreign interference’ in the story of their country.

| 17/02/2025
| KAZAKHSTAN
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The mayor of the Kazakh capital has announced the summer opening of the rail transport line that has become a monument to corruption in the country after ten years of inconclusive projects. But the final costs and payment mechanisms remain unknown.

| 05/02/2025
| KAZAKHSTAN
by Vladimir Rozanskij

From Kazakhstan to Tajikistan, procedures have been adopted throughout the region to change the spelling of surnames by eliminating the patronymic forms imposed during tsarist and Soviet domination, in order to recover Turkic or other ethnic roots. However, only a few personalities have taken this step, perceived by many as an unnecessary complication.

| 31/01/2025
| CENTRAL ASIA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Analyst Syroežkin - freed from prison after being convicted in 2019 of ‘treason’ - analysed the state of Kazakhstan's relations with China in a television interview: ‘The president is one of the few Kazakhs who can understand Chinese policy: he tries to pursue an effective balance with Moscow. But his promises about a new and just country still remain limp’.

| 27/01/2025
| KAZAKHSTAN-CHINA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The video of an ‘exorcism’ performed on a little girl that has gone viral on social networks is sparking heated debate in Kazakhstan. The denunciation of intellectual Gaziz Abišev: ‘The ultra-conservative part of society, behind the slogans of passionate ideologies, is trying in various ways to drag the nation back to the darkness of the past’.

| 15/01/2025
| KAZAKHSTAN
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