Лента новостей отрасли

The neutral capital: Could Ashgabat become a channel for U.S.-Iran de-escalation?

Central Asian Museum Experts Visit U.S. to Study Heritage Preservation

A group of museum workers and other cultural heritage specialists from Central Asia are currently in the United States to study preservation practices and exchange experiences with counterparts at the Getty Museum and other American institutions. Experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbek…

Kazakhstan’s Carbon Black: Finding Value in Mining By-Products

London-listed Ferro-Alloy Resources (FAR) is developing a large vanadium deposit in Kazakhstan, as The Times of Central Asia reported in July, and operates a smaller concentrate-processing plant that recovers vanadium, molybdenum and nickel from purchased concentrates. The project could supply growing markets for vana…

EU approves €30 million in state aid for EUREGIO terminal near Aachen

The European Commission has approved €29.3 million in German state aid for a new rail-road terminal near Aachen. The so-called EUREGIO terminal is set to start operations in 2035. The aid takes the form of a direct grant to the infrastructure company EVS EUREGIO Verkehrsschienennetz, the future owner of the terminal. …

German wagon keepers urge parliament to reverse rail freight funding cuts

The German association of freight wagon keepers VPI has called on the budget committee to reverse planned funding cuts in 2027. The subsidy for track access charges (TAC), for example, would drop to about €200 million, while the TACs themselves are set to rise substantially. The German freight wagon keepers’ associati…

Maersk unveils new Finland-Sweden freight link

Şanlıurfa light rail construction contract awarded

TURKEY: Şanlıurfa municipality has let a contract to construct the first phase of the city’s future light rail system to a consortium of Sigma İnşaat, Emreray Enerji and Vestan İnşaat. The consortium submitted a winning bid of TL3.39bn, the lowest of seven bids received. Phase 1 involves construction of a 14 km north-…

Kazakhstan Detains Ten Over Alleged Plot to Change Constitutional Order

Kazakhstan’s security service has detained ten people in the western city of Atyrau over an alleged plan to change the constitutional order by force. Investigators also say the suspects operated three underground educational centers for children and teenagers. The National Security Committee (KNB) announced on Novembe…

Russia–Azerbaijan Military Cooperation Expands Amid Baku–Ankara Tensions

Russia and Azerbaijan have signed a program to build and modernize facilities for repairing armored vehicles used by the Azerbaijani military. The agreement was announced on November 1, two days after the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit in Ankara, which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not attend amid…

Interview with Umud Shokri: Can Kazakhstan Reduce Its Dependence on Russian Oil Export Routes?

Kazakhstan sent more than four-fifths of its oil exports in 2025 through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which crosses Russia to the Black Sea. Repeated disruptions have exposed the risks of relying so heavily on a single route. While alternative shipments across the Caspian Sea are growing, volumes remain smal…

Uzbekistan’s Mirziyoyev Proposes 100 Joint Projects for Turkic States

Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has proposed a program for 100 joint investment and industrial projects among members of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). Speaking at the OTS summit in Ankara on October 30, Mirziyoyev said the “Turkic World – 100” program would support industrial cooperation and help …

Kazakhstan Tree Planting Drive Faces Wildfires and Low Survival Rates

In late October, as firefighters battled forest fires in three regions of Kazakhstan, authorities announced a 300 million tenge (approximately $660,000) project, funded by state-owned Samruk-Kazyna, to restore pine forests in the Semey Ormany nature reserve in the country’s east. The project involves planting three mi…

Central Asian Cinema Showcased at Asian Film Festival Barcelona

A young Kazakh couple who fake a terminal illness to raise money online are at the center of Sicko , one of several Central Asian films screened at this year’s Asian Film Festival Barcelona. The festival, which concluded on November 1, also featured the award-winning Kyrgyz drama Kurak and other productions from acros…

From Hormuz to the Red Sea: Can rail arrive before the next disruption?

The Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb are testing the resilience of Middle Eastern trade routes at the same time. Attacks on shipping, threats to energy infrastructure and doubts over maritime security are pushing operators to rethink their routes, vessel availability and insurance exposure. Even where commercial tra…

Ukraine turns to second-hand locomotives: over 600 units lost during war

Ukrainian Railways (UZ) plans to acquire up to 60 used locomotives over the next six months. A World Bank grant of $100 million (about €90 million) should help pay for them. Russian attacks have damaged 605 Ukrainian locomotives so far, the government says. The Ukrainian national rail operator UZ is pursuing several r…

IMs, operators hand Commission agreed plan on temporary capacity restrictions

Infrastructure managers and operators have handed the European Commission a compromise on rescheduling paths hit by temporary capacity restrictions, as it drafts rules under the EU’s Capacity Management Regulation. A separate operators’ paper goes further, demanding replacement paths at least 120 days ahead, up from a…

Hungary plans to increase funding for railway projects

Hungary plans to increase funding for railway track and station renewals to HUF 80 billion (€218m) in 2027, from HUF 30 billion this year, while launching a wider investment programme intended to modernise the national network over the next decade. Transport and Investment Minister Dávid Vitézy announced the proposed …

UK Budget offers scant rewards for freight sector

Despite a record number of individual fiscal measures, the UK Budget, delivered by Chancellor John Healey, offered few new incentives for the rail sector. Rail freight can point to an extension of the reduced red diesel duty rate, while the wider railway receives a review of infrastructure costs and several regional i…

Kazakh PM identifies military exercise shortcomings, outlines measures to strengthen troop safety after Caspian Sea tragedies

Iran announces goods exports through Kermanshah Province customs

IOI outlines new areas for cooperation with Turkmenistan on Caspian Sea (Exclusive)

Azerbaijan Customs Committee allocates $68,100 for financial consulting

Uzbek Diplomat Mirvokhid Azimov Appointed Secretary General of Organization of Turkic States

Uzbek diplomat Mirvokhid Azimov has been appointed Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), becoming the first representative of Uzbekistan to hold the position. The decision was made on October 30 during the organization’s 13th summit in Ankara, Türkiye. Member-state leaders signed the formal app…

Uzbekistan, 11 countries eye 2027 rail freight tariffs at Tariff Conference

Uzbekistan’s regional loan portfolio reaches $30.17B, accounting for 54.9%

Sacha Baron Cohen Apologizes to Kazakhstan After Reviving Borat

Twenty years after Borat , Sacha Baron Cohen has apologized to the people of Kazakhstan. The apology became public just weeks after he used the character to promote another film. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, released October 26, he said, “I want to apologize to the people of Kazakhstan for the first time ever.” …

Kazakh–Korean Action Film KESU Sets Sights on South Korean Cinemas

A Kazakh former special forces officer and a South Korean taekwondo champion find themselves on the same side when their shared mentor disappears. Their search takes them from Kazakhstan to Seoul, where they become entangled in a dangerous conflict rooted in their teacher’s past. This is the story of KESU , a Kazakhst…

Opinion: A Deeper Understanding of Transshipment

The White House recently issued a report on the transshipment of goods. It focuses on allegations that some countries with lower tariffs seek to evade U.S. tariffs on China by exporting goods that are really produced in China and only slightly modified, if at all, before further export to the U.S. The report groups mo…

Türkiye tenders eastern Middle Corridor upgrade: 26-fold capacity increase

Türkiye has invited bids to rehabilitate and electrify the railway between Divriği and the Georgian border, part of its section of the Middle Corridor. The work is divided into three lots that should greatly increase capacity on the route. Proposals are due on 22 December. Türkiye published the tender notice earlier t…

Port of Gothenburg nearly doubles storage capacity at Arken terminal

The Port of Gothenburg has almost doubled the storage capacity of its Arken Intermodal Terminal. It did so without expanding the site. By rebuilding one of the terminal’s through tracks, about 4,000 square metres of handling space for trailers and other units has been freed up. The Swedish Port of Gothenburg announced…