Kazakhstan’s First Nuclear Plant Hit by New Delay as Rosatom Seeks More Time

Kazakhstan’s plan to build its inaugural nuclear power station on the shore of Lake Balkhash has stalled again after Russia’s state nuclear company, Rosatom, requested an extended period to complete site studies and finalize financing arrangements. Rosatom told Kazakh officials it needs roughly a year of additional observation to produce the technical reports required before construction can begin, Kazakh and Russian sources said. The project, which Astana awarded to Rosatom in 2025 and is estimated to cost $15 billion, had been expected to move ahead after an April understanding that would have placed about four-fifths of the funding burden on Russia — an arrangement that has not been finalized amid the financing squeeze created by Western sanctions on Russian institutions.

At the same Moscow meeting where timelines were discussed, Kazakhstan pressed for greater control over the plant’s nuclear fuel cycle, citing its own uranium deposits and long-term energy-security goals. Rosatom traditionally maintains supply chains and significant operational roles at facilities it builds abroad, a model that has been a sticking point for Astana. Officials on both sides described talks as constructive and said they had agreed broad principles that reflect mutual strategic interests, but key details remain unresolved. “Postponements like this tend to raise costs and strengthen Moscow’s leverage unless Astana diversifies partners,” said an energy analyst who studies Central Asian power projects, noting the delay could push out the start date and complicate Kazakhstan’s efforts to modernize its grid.

The chosen site sits beside the aging Balkhash coal complex — the country’s oldest power station, first brought online in 1937 — and has been promoted as part of a shift away from coal-fired generation. But the pause underscores broader risks for Kazakhstan’s transition: reliance on a single foreign contractor, opaque financing terms, and pressure from sanctions that have limited Russian access to international capital. If the two governments do not conclude a firm financing pact, Kazakhstan may face hard choices about scaling back the program or seeking alternative partners and technology suppliers.

In other regional developments: In Armenia, U.S. engineering firm AECOM began a ground survey this month related to the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan on May 13 under a State Department infrastructure initiative tied to the tentative Armenia-Azerbaijan peace framework. Across the Caspian in Azerbaijan, roughly 4,000 long-haul trucks have accumulated at the port of Alat as carriers reroute cargo to avoid overland transit through Turkey and Iran amid heightened tensions linked to the Middle East conflict; local reporting put average waits for a ferry slot at about 12 days and said ferry fares rose by roughly one-twentieth from March to April.

Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has drafted a resolution sharply critical of Georgia’s ruling party, saying the country’s current political course undermines democratic standards and could lead to a one-party hegemony incompatible with Council of Europe membership; the draft called for continued, results-focused dialogue with Tbilisi’s leaders. In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s Justice Ministry ordered a halt to operations at 50 companies suspected of breaching Western sanctions rules, a step authorities framed as a defense against secondary penalties after the EU imposed broad “anti-circumvention” measures on a sector earlier this year and Bishkek launched an interagency compliance effort.

Further afield, Tajikistan’s opposition circles are contesting the government’s account of the death of Manon Sodikov, a former figure in the banned Islamic Renaissance Party; officials described the incident as a robbery that turned violent, but party associates called the explanation doubtful. In Uzbekistan, BP signed a production-sharing agreement to develop six blocks in the North Ustyurt region alongside state partners; BP will hold two-fifths of the venture while Uzbekneftegaz and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR will each take three-tenths. Also in Uzbekistan, a court added two and a half years to the prison term of Karakalpak journalist and lawyer Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, increasing a 16-year sentence and prompting expectations he may be moved to a stricter facility after being labeled an especially dangerous repeat offender.