News - RUSSIA'S PIVOT TO ASIA

December 18, 2025

Despite SAARC Inactivity, Russia Can Expand Its Economic Footprint in South Asia Via BIMSTEC Momentum and Emerging Trade Opportunities

By design, South Asia should be one of the world’s most integrated economic regions. In reality, it remains one of the least connected. South Asia is not a marginal periphery of Eurasia as one of its demographics, economic, and logistical cores. Yet its regional institutions remain weaker than its potential. For Russia, this contradiction is […]

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December 18, 2025

India Identifies 300 Products to Expand Exports to Russia: Analysis

By any measure, the current structure of India–Russia trade is asymmetrical. In 2024–25, bilateral trade amounted to nearly US$70 billion, yet the balance is heavily skewed. India’s imports from Russia, dominated by crude oil, have surged to over US$60 billion, while exports to Russia remain below US$5 billion. This imbalance, driven largely by geopolitics and […]

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December 18, 2025

Asian Development Bank To Lend Azerbaijan US$325 Million To Electrify Railway To Russia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to lend Azerbaijan US$325 million to electrify and modernize the signalling and telecommunications system of the railway from Bilajary to Yalama on the border with Russia, the bank has stated. ADB said “This railway is part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, which is used for export and import […]

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December 17, 2025

Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson Transport Systems Reintegrating With Russia, CIS Market Access Being Restored

The integration of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions into the Russian transport system has been discussed by the Russian Legislative Council. Konstantin Pashkov, the First Deputy Minister of Transport, stated that the primary task is the full integration of these regions into the national system. Much of this […]

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December 17, 2025

Cyprus Instructs Visa Centers to Open In Nine Russian Cities

Cyprus, the small, largely Greek-influenced EU nation situated near Turkiye, has engaged BLS International, an international visa processing outsourcing agency acting on behalf of governments, to open visa centers in nine Russian cities. These are Moscow; Saint-Petersburg; Ekaterinburg; Krasnodar; Rostov-on-Don; Nizhniy Novgorod; Samara; Kazan; and Novosibirsk. Cyprus has been hit hard in two main areas […]

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December 17, 2025

The Eurasian Economic Union As Part Of A Eurasian-International Transport System

The 24th Plenary Session of the International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation (CCTT) has been taking place in Dubai, with Vladimir Serpikov, the Director of the Trade Policy Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), participating. Significant topics included the development of container transportation in Euro-Asian traffic, the simplification of cross-border operations, and ensuring a […]

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December 16, 2025

The Eurasian Transport Framework Observatory – Showcasing US$231 Billion Of Central Asian-Middle East Silk Road Infrastructure Projects

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has released a Eurasian Transport Framework (ETF) Observatory, being an analytical tool for monitoring and systematising infrastructure projects related to Eurasian international transport corridors and routes, covering 13 countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Belarus, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It currently lists 325 projects at various stages of implementation, […]

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December 15, 2025

How Russia Is Unlocking Arctic Trade and Investment for Asia

The Arctic Present and Future forum was held between December 9 and 10 in St. Petersburg, and reaffirmed a simple but powerful truth: the Arctic is no longer a distant frontier of ice and exploration, but it is becoming one of the central arteries of the 21st-century global economy. Against a backdrop of geopolitical turbulence […]

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December 15, 2025

Kamaz Launches Pre-Sales For Russia’s First Mass-Produced Electric Vehicle

The Russian auto manufacturer Kamaz has launched a presale program for Russia’s first electric vehicle, the pre-series production of which began in late November at its Moskvich plant near Moscow. This plant was previously a joint venture with Renault until the French manufacturer exited the Russian market in 2022. The new EV, titled the ‘Atom‘ […]

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December 15, 2025

Moscow Stock Exchange To Launch AI-Selected Securities Market In 2026

The Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX) intends to launch a stock index with securities selected by artificial intelligence (AI) in 2026, according to Viktor Zhidkov, the chairman of the trading platform’s executive board. He said that “We want to launch an index next year, where artificial intelligence will be used to form the calculation base. We […]

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December 14, 2025

Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council: Unlocking the Next Frontier of Trade and Investment

As 2025 draws to a close, the strategic trade and economic exchanges between Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have reached unprecedented depth and vibrancy. What began as periodic high-level consultations has matured into a multifaceted, mutually beneficial partnership rooted in macroeconomic complementarity, robust commercial cooperation, infrastructure connectivity, and shared interests in shaping a […]

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December 13, 2025

Putin’s State Visit To Turkmenistan: Russia-Turkmenistan Economic Ties – Analysis

A new chapter in trade, connectivity, and strategic partnership with Turkmenistan has been marked by President Putin’s visit to Ashgabat during his meetings Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the Turkmen President on December 12 and 13. Like India’s Narendra Modi did last week, Berdimuhamedov met Putin directly off his aircraft as it landed in Ashgabat, a gesture that […]

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