The political scientist assessed the prospects of creating a single electricity market in Central Asia

Political scientist Burnashev: the World Bank's program does not contradict the plans of the EAEU

Thu, 01/29/2026 - 02:00

Photo: Global Look Press/Alexey Belkin

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In an interview with Izvestia, Rustam Burnashev, a security specialist in Central Asia, believes that there are no contradictions and the World Bank's plans with its program do not overlap with those of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

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"A single energy ring in Central Asia has existed since Soviet times. After that, due to the inconsistency of national positions, its activities and the formation of a single energy market were suspended," the expert explained.

According to the political scientist, now we are talking about a broader format than the energy ring.

"But in principle, this is a regional project that can be funded and supported by external participants, but in fact it is a regional project. I do not see any contradiction with the EAEU in this case, because almost all Central Asian countries cooperate with the EU in one way or another," the expert noted.

He also added that Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which are not members of the EAEU, are involved in regional projects in one way or another.

"Uzbekistan is an observer in the EAEU, so I don't see a problem, because there are relevant regional projects that may, to a certain extent, contradict the EAEU guidelines, but in fact they don't, they work normally, so I don't see any contradictions here," Burnashev summed up.

The analyst cites as an example the free trade zones between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and the transit of natural gas from Russia to Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan.

Earlier, the World Bank approved a 10-year program "Development of the electricity Market and Integration of energy systems in Central Asia" (REMIT) worth over $1 billion. It aims to use the complementary energy resources of the region, including hydropower in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, electricity generation from thermal power plants in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as the potential of solar and wind energy in all Central Asian states.