The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development has committed $50m to assist in funding the modernization of Tajikistan’s Qairokkum hydroelectric plant. The plant, a 1957 holdover from the Soviet era, is currently the only facility that generates electricity for Tajikistan’s northern provinces, which currently hosts about 500,000 homes. The funds allocated to the project by…
A rigorous audit of all votes cast in Afghanistan’s recent presidential elections has resumed following a 48 hour suspension due to irregularities in certain Afghan electoral organizations and a disagreement in certain technical aspects of the audit. The differences have at least ostensibly been resolved, and the nearly 200 teams of auditors have resumed their…
Tajik Minister of Transport and Roads Hayrullo Asozodas announced that his country, along with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, have agreed to the final set of terms that would precede the construction of a multinational railway that would connect Tajikistan and Turkmenistan by way of Afghanistan. The railway project has been in the works since 2013, when…
US President Obama has decided to increase sanctions against Russia by targeting large banks that support large energy and defense firms. Instead of targeting individuals connected with Russian support of operations in Ukraine and Putin’s inner circle, this new move is far more sweeping. According to White House statements, it will not cut off entire…
Southeastern Afghanistan was shaken yesterday by a car bomb which struck a market in Paktika Province, obliterating more than twenty shops, killing at least 89 and wounding approximately 40 others. The attack, which took place in the Orgun district of Paktika, does not appear to have been targeted in the same way as recent car…
Ongoing nuclear negotiations in Vienna between the P5+1 powers and Iran have faltered in recent weeks as the deadline agreed upon last November rapidly approaches. British Foreign Minister William Hague made a public statement that expressed concern about the gulf of differences that remain on any potential agreement, saying that any deal was far from…
A BRICS Development Bank will be launched this coming week, and expected to become operational in 2016. The new global banking organization will largely be bankrolled by Russia, China and India, three of the five BRICS nations, the other two being Brazil and South Africa. The organization is being developed largely as an alternative to…
With all votes counted in Afghanistan, tensions are rising as some have been quick to anoint Ashraf Ghani as the new Afghan president, while others, including leading opposition candidate and previous frontrunner Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have labeled the election a “coup” and have refused to recognize the results of the election. The Afghan Independent Election…
The already caustic Russia-Ukraine relationship has worsened yet again as a Ukrainian military offensive ripped into areas of the country’s east plagued by fighting and partially controlled by pro-Russia rebels. The violence, which had ostensibly drawn to a halt, albeit only temporarily as the two sides agreed to a cease fire, has erupted anew with…
Chinese authorities bent on dispelling separatist sentiments from its troubled Western province of Xinjiang have announced sentences for an additional 113 ethnic Uighurs on charges ranging from inciting terrorism to possessing “terrorist” materials. The sentences handed out are of no less than ten years, and include 69 life sentences. The charges brought fourth against the…
STEPPE DISPATCHES 