Russia’s Neighbors Battle Oil Addiction
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan cut ties with the Soviet Union more than three decades ago, and have developed their own economies and foreign policies. Yet in the critical area of energy security, not much has changed; they remain heavily dependent on the Kremlin’s goodwill. The crisis began to unfold this spring and summer, as ...
The countries of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, which gained independence from the Soviet Union over three decades ago, still heavily rely on Russia for their energy security. Despite their economic development, they remain vulnerable to Russia's goodwill in this critical sector. This dependency became apparent in the spring and summer of this year when Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia's refineries increased in effectiveness.
On July 6, the Omsk refinery, one of Russia's largest, was hit by a drone for the first time, leading to a halt in production. This refinery was the main supplier of petroleum products to Central Asia and Mongolia.
Mongolia, which is not part of the Soviet Union, is the most vulnerable to this issue as more than 90% of its petroleum products come from Russia. The disruption was significant in Ulaanbaatar, with long lines at filling stations and fuel sales restrictions. Mongolia had to rely on Russian imports entirely for its fuel needs, as there were no alternatives.
Kyrgyzstan is also "completely dependent" on Russian gasoline, with President Sadyr Japarov stating that the country will need to develop more refineries to meet its own gasoline demand.
Tajikistan faced a 50% reduction in Russian gas deliveries in July, while Russian aviation kerosene supplies were stopped entirely. Tajikistan has to negotiate its annual fuel-supply volumes with Russia, which is more of a political agreement than a market transaction. Uzbekistan, with its domestic refining capacity, was less affected but still receives nearly half of its gasoline from Russia.
Kazakhstan, with its three operating refineries, produced around 90 million tons of oil annually but only about 18% was refined domestically, with most exported as unrefined crude.
The crisis has exposed the structural vulnerabilities of the region, urging a shift from formal independence to genuine energy sovereignty. The region's landlocked nature, reliance on alternative supply routes crossing neighboring states, and the potential route through the Caspian Sea all highlight the need for infrastructure, commercial agreements, and political commitment.
The region's oil and gas resources could potentially meet a large share of demand with a joint refinery, but no such project has been realized in the 35 years of independence.
Written by urgent.news from Hellenic Shipping News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
