This week, many Central Asian migrant workers in Russia lost their jobs as the Russian economy suffers under sanctions, leaving families at home short of cash, the Taliban is said to be working on the preservation and restoration of the Buddha statues that sit on top of a massive copper ore deposit, and a Kazakhstani radio presenter is reportedly under probe for calling on Putin to “take care” of “Nazis” in Kazakhstan on air.

01 April 2022

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This week, the Kazakh president Tokayev pledged to limit his power in a “gradual” manner, a promise not likely to be kept according to experts, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, son of former president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, was inaugurated as president of Turkmenistan, and Russia and Kazakhstan agreed to increase oil exports to China.

25 March 2022

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Two more affiliates of Kazakh ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev, a nephew and a business tycoon, were arrested this past week. Meanwhile, Russia officially suspended exports of grains such as wheat and buckwheat and sugar to “help protect the domestic market”, and Afghanistan resumed talks with China to mine copper as the humanitarian disaster growingly hits the country.

19 March 2022

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This past week, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan got together to work on opening a new trade route to Europe, a rally condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and Russia’s Sberbank started to try and fill the gap left by the departure of Visa and MasterCard with the Chinese Union Pay.

12 March 2022

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This week, sanctions against Russia, including its removal from SWIFT, continued to hit Central Asian economies that are deeply linked to Russia's economy, Kazakhstan’s ruling party got renamed “Amanat” from “Nur-Otan”, and the Chinese exports were reported to be suffering because of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia.

05 March 2022

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This past week, Russia invaded Ukraine and almost immediately got slapped with sanctions, which had a domino effect on the Central Asian economies, Two more Kazakh ex-officials with ties to the former President Nursultan Nazarbayev were arrested and are awaiting trial, Uzbek trade was reported to be growing as the country considers production partnership with China, and Iran was said to be seeking the extension of the Iran-Afghanistan Railway into China.

25 February 2022

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This week, the Taliban have reportedly created new battalions in Northern Afghanistan, worrying neighboring countries, especially Tajikistan, the data uncovered by local journalists points to up to $60 billions’ worth of goods smuggled through the Sino-Kyrgyz border in the past 20 years, Turkmenistan, encouraged by Kazakhstan, has been contemplating building a new industrial processing facility near the Afghan border, and Kazakhstan has reportedly continued its war against smuggling with 8 criminal and 24 administrative cases launched.

18 February 2022

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This week, China and Pakistan demonstrated devotion to the CPEC initiative after a string of rebel strikes in Baluchistan province, where Chinese investment has sparked resentment, President Xi’s face-to-face diplomacy and visits of the worldwide leaders were said to be contributing to strengthening ties between China and other states, and in western Kazakhstan, protesters started to demonstrate again, only a month after mass protests that had begun in the same region rapidly extended throughout the nation. Meanwhile, Baku’s Port in Azerbaijan, which is one of the key BRI junctions, was reported to be handling growing loads of shipments during this year.

11 February 2022

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