Uzbekistan-Russia Energy Relations: A Tale of Two Problems
May 9th, 2023
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at Uzbek-Russian energy relations: Faced with dwindling gas sales to Europe, Russia has been re-routing its stranded gas reserves to countries like Uzbekistan, where infrastructure for pumping gas is already in place. This renewed cooperation presents both a problem and an opportunity for Tashkent. A flurry of recent bilateral […]
Read more »Railing Central Asia Into The World Economy
May 4th, 2023
Via The Geopolitics, commentary on the potential that railway linkages offer Central Asia: If there is one key to unlocking the doors of any economy, it is certainly a railway. Since its invention and construction between Manchester and Liverpool in the United Kingdom, railways have dramatically boosted trade, which is why they also played high […]
Read more »After Temporary Suspension, What’s Next for the Trans-Afghan Railway?
February 18th, 2023
Via The Diplomat, an article on the trans-Afghan railway, which was re-opened from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan after a recent suspension was lifted: A temporary suspension of the transit of freight wagons from the Galaba railway station in the city of Termez, Uzbekistan to the Hairatan railway station in Afghanistan just across the river was lifted on February 10. […]
Read more »Central Asia’s Economic Prospects in 2023
January 11th, 2023
Via The Diplomat, a look at Central Asia’s economic prospects in the year ahead: The World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report warns of a sharp downturn, with the clouds of a possible recession gathering amid high inflation and interest rates, sluggish investment, and the reverberations of the Russian war in Ukraine. According to the World Bank’s […]
Read more »Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan’s Doomed Hopes of Using China As Hedge Against Russia
December 10th, 2022
Via South China Morning Post, commentary on why Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan’s hopes of using China as hedge against Russia could be doomed: Central Asia’s increasingly tense relations with Russia have made closer ties with China attractive, but achieving that is not without its problems Far from Beijing proving a hedge against Moscow, the opportunities on […]
Read more »Russia’s Proposal for a ‘Gas Union’ With Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
December 9th, 2022
Via The Diplomat, an article on Russia’s efforts to find new export markets for its piped gas or users of its gas infrastructure following its invasion and Central Asian states’ fear that Russia could use the states’ increased economic dependence on Russia as a result of the deal to secure political concessions from the countries in the […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.