What the leading business media of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan report — selected and summarized in English every morning, for readers who don't read Russian or the local languages. Data context in the Central Asia Terminal. Also: Russia Digest.
Kazakhstan has ruled out oil deliveries to Germany for the rest of the year, World Bank data show a sharp rise in Uzbekistan's external debt, and Kazakhstan and Tajikistan have set a $2 billion trade target.
Kazakhstan's energy ministry said no crude exports to Germany are planned for November and December 2026. Deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline have been suspended since May 2026, which the ministry attributes to technical infrastructure limits on the transit side; Astana has asked Russia's energy ministry to resume transport but has not received a reply. Kazakhstan shipped 1.02 million tonnes to Germany on this route in January–April against roughly 3 million tonnes planned for 2026, compared with 2.1 million tonnes in 2025. The ministry said resumption will be considered once the transit constraints are resolved.
Source: inbusiness.kz, 6 Nov 2026
Uzbekistan's external debt reached $88.03 billion at the end of 2025, up 24.7% year on year and about 6.5 times the 2015 level of $13.57 billion, according to the World Bank's International Debt Report 2026. Public and publicly guaranteed debt accounted for $48.46 billion and non-guaranteed private debt for $32.84 billion; the country placed $3.9 billion of bonds in 2025. Debt service equalled 29% of export earnings and 8% of gross national income, and the World Bank reported that both ratios declined over the year.
Source: inbusiness.kz, 7 Nov 2026
Trade between Kazakhstan and Tajikistan reached $1.13 billion in January–September 2026, up $230.9 million or 25.6% year on year, according to Tajikistan's State Committee on Investment and State Property Management. During President Rahmon's visit to Astana the two governments adopted a road map to expand trade through 2030 and agreed on measures to raise annual turnover to $2 billion. Businesses signed 11 agreements worth $135.3 million at a bilateral forum, and the Sughd region administration reported further trade deals worth more than $900 million, covering Tajik farm exports to Kazakhstan, Kazakh grain and oilseed supplies, and joint cotton processing.
Source: Asia-Plus, The Astana Times, 7 Nov 2026
The weighted average interest rate on sum-denominated loans was 20.4% in September 2026, 0.6 percentage points lower than a year earlier, according to the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. Rates for individuals fell 2.5 points to 19.8%, while rates for companies rose 0.5 points to 20.8%. With inflation expectations of households and businesses easing to 8.7% and 9.2%, real lending rates rose to 10.2% for individuals and 10.6% for companies, meaning borrowing costs rose in real terms even as nominal rates eased.
Source: UzDaily, 7 Nov 2026
Turkmenistan's foreign trade turnover rose 9.5% year on year in January–October 2026, according to official figures presented at a cabinet meeting. Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet Khojamyrat Geldimyradov reported GDP growth of 6.3%, retail trade growth of 10.6% and a 10% increase in overall output. The figures were released through official media without a breakdown of exports and imports.
Source: Business Turkmenistan, 6 Nov 2026
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