Investment in hydroelectricity in Kyrgyzstan has come to a standstill and the government has announced that it is courting new investment partners. A new report published by The Diplomat and a recent government announcement indicate that the country will look beyond Russia, its traditional partner in hydroelectric development, for financing due to ambiguous signs coming from Moscow. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev acknowledged the downturn in the Russian economy as a strong contributing factor and suggested that the Kyrgyz government is restless.

The two projects in question – the Kambarata-1 dam and the Upper Naryn cascade of four smaller dams have progressed incongruently during the past few years. Previous reports on the projects reflected recent statements and showed a lack of progress in both. The Kyrgyz government has reportedly allocated no funds to either project and placed the onus on Russia to develop both projects. As a result of this, one analyst noted, the dams’ construction are probably “low on the Kremlin’s to-do list” for now.

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News briefs:

• The China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) has been selected by the Iranian government to carry out the second phase of development of the North Azadegan oilfield in southern Iran. The field is located at about 120 kilometers west of the city of Ahwaz near Iran’s border with Iraq. Production from the North Azadegan oilfield is expected to reach 75,000 barrels per day.

• Radio Free Asia reports that PetroChina, the listed arm of CNPC, will sell 50 percent of its subsidiary Trans-Asia Gas Pipeline Co, a Chinese pipeline developer, to another China-controlled company, assets manager China Reform Holdings Corp. The sale has been described as prudent by oil and gas analysts at Bloomberg due to the fact that most major oil and gas companies do not own their own pipeline development firms. PetroChina has experienced significant losses due to the prolonged slump in global oil prices and is expected to partially reverse its losses because of the sale.

• Gazprom announced that it will invest $11.71 billion in 2016, with a total of $10.81 billion dedicated to capital expenditures. The news came on the heels of an agreement reached between Russia and Lithuania whereby Russia would supply its exclave Kaliningrad via Lithuania. The new deal will come into force in January 2016 and will remain in force until 2025.

• In a speech given at the opening ceremony of the International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on the global Muslim community to “fix Islam’s image” and condemned Muslim populations for remaining silent despite widespread killing in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Rouhani also decried Saudi Arabia for fomenting dissent and polarization in the Muslim world.

• Renewable energy installed capacity in China’s western Xinjiang province has surpassed 24 million kilowatts, reaching around 30 percent of the region’s total installed power capacity. The accelerated pace of new infrastructure development in Xinjiang has reportedly allowed the region to supply other regions of China with around 3 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable-derived electricity since January of 2015.