On October 9, 2025, the second “Central Asia–Russia” summit will be held in Dushanbe. The heads of six states are expected to discuss a broad cooperation agenda with a focus on trade and investment, industrial and scientific-technical collaboration, transport and logistics, food security, digitalization, and sustainable finance.
The foundation for this dialogue remains the agreements reached at the first summit held in 2022 in Astana, where the joint statement outlined priorities in industrial cooperation, joint investment, and the creation of new production facilities, as well as tasks related to food security and sanitary-epidemiological control. Over the past period, practical cooperation has deepened, and the logistics agenda of the “Central Asia + Russia” format has significantly expanded.
Between 2017 and 2024, the trade turnover between Central Asian countries and Russia grew from $24 billion to $47 billion. Exports increased from $7 billion to $14.8 billion, and imports from $16.9 billion to $32.3 billion. Countries of the region expanded trade volumes on average by 2–3 times, including Kazakhstan by 1.7 times, Kyrgyzstan by 2.6 times, Tajikistan by 2.1 times, Turkmenistan by 3.3 times, and Uzbekistan by 2.5 times.
Russia continues to play a major role in the aggregate trade of Central Asia. In 2024, its share in the region’s external trade turnover stood at 18.6%. The share in exports rose from 9.7% to 11.4%, while in imports it declined from 30.6% to 26.3%, indicating growing diversification of supply sources.
For Russia itself, the importance of Central Asia in trade has also increased. The region’s share in Russia’s total trade turnover grew from 4.1% to 6.4%, in exports from 4.8% to 7.5%, and in imports from 3.0% to 4.9%. The largest contributions come from Kazakhstan (3.8%) and Uzbekistan (1.6%), followed by Kyrgyzstan (0.5%), Tajikistan (0.3%), and Turkmenistan (0.2%).
Bilateral ties have significantly strengthened, though there remains potential for increasing production of higher value-added goods and expanding cooperative supply chains. The decline in Russia’s share in Central Asia’s imports to 26.3% confirms a diversification trend, while the increase in Central Asia’s share of Russia’s exports to 7.5% indicates the growing capacity of regional supply.
In 2024, Russia’s foreign trade with Central Asia increased by 8.1%, from $43.5 billion to $47 billion. The main contributions came from Uzbekistan (up 14.5%, +$1.5 billion) and Kazakhstan (up 4%, +$1.1 billion), while Kyrgyzstan grew by 25.3% (+$785 million) and Tajikistan by 15.6% (+$266.8 million). Turkmenistan, however, saw a 6.7% decline (−$100 million).
In the trade structure, Kazakhstan accounts for about one-third (59.8%), Uzbekistan roughly one-quarter (24.7%), while Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan account for 8.3%, 4.2%, and 3.0%, respectively.
Export orientation toward the Russian market varies by country. Kazakhstan sends 11.7% of its exports to Russia, Uzbekistan 13.7%, Kyrgyzstan 22.4%, Tajikistan 4.9%, and Turkmenistan 2.0%. In imports, Russia’s role also remains strong: it accounts for 30.8% of Kazakhstan’s total imports, 20.4% of Uzbekistan’s, 21.9% of Kyrgyzstan’s, 26.9% of Tajikistan’s, and 28.3% of Turkmenistan’s.
Imports from Russia are largely driven by the supply of industrial and energy-intensive goods and the logistics of established trade chains. Meanwhile, the growing trade momentum of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, along with Kazakhstan’s stable share, creates opportunities for expanding deliveries of higher value-added products and deepening production cooperation.
In Russia’s overall foreign trade structure, the share of Central Asia remains modest, at around 6.4%.
Russia remains one of the key trade partners for Central Asian countries — both as an export destination for finished goods and as a source of vital imports, including food, petroleum products, metals, timber, and other commodities. However, the trade profiles of both sides are still dominated by raw materials and low-processed goods.
At the upcoming second “Central Asia–Russia” summit, practical progress is expected on agreements related to standards, logistics, and joint investments, creating a window for transition to deeper industrial cooperation.
It is advisable for the countries of the region, together with Russia, to expand industrial collaboration through the creation of joint production facilities and supply chains for manufacturing high value-added products demanded in Russia, Central Asia, and third-country markets. These include textiles, electrical engineering products, transport equipment and components, pharmaceuticals, and other segments where resource and technology synergies can ensure scalability and project sustainability.
CERR Public Relations Sector
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