Presenting, Representing, and Misrepresenting COVID-19 in the Five Central Asian States: The Political Underpinnings of Official State Coronavirus Websites in Authoritarian Regimes

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, each of the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) took notably different approaches to presenting coronavirus-related information on the internet through official websites. To understand these differences, this chapter engages with literature that looks at how states use websites for self-promotion, what shapes the decision-making of those elites in control of a state, and who sanctions the creation of those websites. Pairing a quantitative presentation of these websites' qualities with an analysis of text and images, the differences among these coronavirus websites are sketched out before they are situated in the political circumstances of the states which designed them. This analysis finds that coronavirus websites developed by Central Asian states are not solely depoliticized platforms for disseminating information to the public, but, rather, are inexorably linked to the concerns and objectives of state elites;in turn these elite agendas are reflected in each state's online response to the pandemic. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Disassembly, Re-Engineering, Mobilization and Re-Assembly Journey of the First Lift Boat from Gulf of Mexico to the Caspian Sea

The Cheleken field offshore Turkmenistan is going through brown field development and challenges with retaining and enhancing production increase every day. Well Interventions are deemed to be a daily necessity to maintain production. Coiled Tubing, Wireline and other rigless interventions have been used directly on platforms resulting in occupying critical spaces, logistic and marine congestion (one Coiled Tubing Move comprises of over twenty lifts), structure integrity limitations, crane and lifting limitation, and a lot more. The need for a self-elevating platform arose and operator search for a proper one within the Caspian Sea ended with disappointments. This paper details the innovative and out of the box solution that was put in place to mobilize the first Lift Boat to the Caspian Sea. A lift boat was identified in the USA in the Gulf of Mexico which was underutilized after the pandemic and oil recession. The Class 230 specifications met the end user's requirements but the challenge was how to mobilize it to the Caspian. In addition, there were a handful of modifications that were requested for the Caspian operation that were not necessarily required in the Gulf. Mobilization of the lift boat must be carried out through the Volga-Don canal locking system which has a width of 57 feet 9 inch (maximum allowable beam for vessels is 56 feet 5 inches). The beam of the lift boat was 78 feet which is too wide to fit through the Volga-Don shipping canal. Hence, it was necessary to disassemble and transport the lift boat in sections. This paper describes the following: • Disassembly requirements necessary to prepare the lift boat for mobilization • The mobilization of the lift boat • • Installation of well service and intervention equipment • Technology and methodology adopted The reassembly requirements once the lift boat reached the shipyard at Caspian Sea The Lift boat was disassembled into three major sections for transportation: a) the center hull module b) the port wing module, and c) the starboard wing module. The wing modules, miscellaneous equipment and containers were loaded onto a barge and sea-fastened for transportation. The center hull module was wet towed to the shipyard located in the Caspian where the lift boat was reassembled, and the well service equipment was installed. The mobilization and assembly happened during the Covid-19 era, and the vessel was hit by Hurricane Ida which impacted the disassembly schedule. Challenges on mobilizing the personnel, equipment, machinery, port clearance, etc. were all extremely tough due to Covid-19. The paper will also cover technical implications on conducting this task by complying with the classification and flag state requirements as per Turkmenistan authority. The main lesson of the paper is the identification of gaps on mobilization and how the improved techniques can be utilized for executing the task on a fast-track manner. © 2023, Offshore Technology Conference.

Silk Roads Routes. Sustainable Tourism after COVID-19

Since ancient times, people have traveled and exchanged goods, technology and ideas with neighboring settlements. The vast Eurasian continent has traditionally been a crossroads of trade routes, which helped create the increasingly famous Silk Road. Sea routes were created connecting East and West by water, which were mainly used for the trade in spices, which gave rise to the "spice route". Numerous road networks helped not only in the transportation of goods and luxury goods, but also in the transfer of knowledge, ideas, culture and beliefs, and had a great influence on the history and development of the Eurasian civilization, as well as the development of tourism and its various directions. This research paper intends to provide an analysis covering countries near and far abroad in the field of tourism and travel, tourism policy with indicators of sustainability and comparison of indicators of sustainable consumption and production patterns. Summarizing the results obtained, we concluded about the potential areas for improvement in the tourism industry and proposed a new set of recommendations for their evaluation.

LOGISTICAL ASPECTS OF CHINA'S "ONE BELT ONE ROAD" INITIATIVE FOR AZERBAIJAN ECONOMY: CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMIC GROWTH

The South Caucasian region started to capture Chinas attention in 2013 when the «One Belt One Road» Initiative was announced. Chinas interest to expand its economic impact in this region can be explained based on a few factors: the regions growing demand for large investments, the economic crisis of neighboring countries caused by US and EU sanctions against Iran, Russia, and Turkey. It should be noted the growing geo-economic role of Azerbaijan in the implementation of the big logistical projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, Free Economic Zone within Alat International Sea Trade Port, international transport corridors "East-West" and "North-South". These projects have increased Azerbaijan's viability to become a logistical hub on the trade bridge between China and Europe. Today 96 percent of trade volume between China and Europe is carried out via sea routes. China is interested in using the remaining 4 % via land routes throughout the territories of countries that the Great Silk Way passed through in ancient times. This article will analyze the historical and economic aspects of trade relations between Azerbaijan and China, assess the carrying capacity of its transport potential, the possibility of attracting new investments and accessing their impact on its economy and GDP as a whole. Today, the Chinese economic system, and the world economy, is facing a very strong enemy-the coronavirus. A sharp drop in world oil prices on the background of coronavirus slowed global GDP and decreasing of demand for goods supplied by China to foreign markets. According to the Chinese government, the drop in exports for January-February 2020 in dollar terms was 17.2%. To strengthen ties with the world, first of all, all countries must be cured of this disease. And we believe that this difficult task will be solved and the "One Belt One Road" project will be realized.

The impact of central Asian tourists' risk perception on their travel intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Central Asian (CA) countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) are assumed to be one of the most attractive tourist destinations since this particular geographical location holds immense potential in tourism products. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the flourishing tourism sector of these countries has been immensely affected. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of Central Asian tourists' risk attitudes toward traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic through consideration of sociodemographic characteristics. The research was conducted during January through April 2021 based on a sample of 966 respondents via an online questionnaire. In the survey, risks are divided into four main categories: health, psychological, financial and travel destination. Nominal regression was used to identify the way in which risk perception affected travel intentions during COVID-19 and the research findings indicate that Central Asian tourists' risk perception has done so. Hygiene, disinfection and a reliable health system in destinations (21%) will be leading factors in future travel.

Assessment on Land-Water Resources Carrying Capacity of Countries in Central Asia from the Perspective of Self-Supplied Agricultural Products

Despite the declining hunger in Central Asia, food insecurity remains an important issue due to the dry climate. Taking Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan as examples, this study assesses their land-water resources carrying capacity in 1999, 2009, and 2018, on the premise that agricultural water and farmland are spatially matched based on the “buckets effect”, using the ecological footprint and water footprint methods. Results show the following: (1) the total farmland area in Central Asia is sufficient to achieve food self-sufficiency;the available farmland area is 2.45 times that of the farmland required for self-sufficiency in 1999, which decreased to 1.71 times in 2009, but slightly increased to 1.92 times in 2018. Specifically, Kazakhstan maintains a surplus of more than 15 × 106 ha in farmland, while the other 4 countries could not achieve self-sufficiency. (2) The water resources pressure rises;the available agricultural water resource (AAWR) in Central Asia is 3.07 times that of the water demand for agricultural irrigation (WDAI), and 3.06 times that of the water demand for irrigation and environmental purification (WDIEP) in 1999, which decreased to 1.69 times of WDAI and to 1.60 times of WDIEP in 2018. Tajikistan has the highest level of water surplus, followed by Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan do not have enough water to sustain agricultural production. (3) The trend of land-water resources carrying capacity declines in Central Asia. In 1999, 2009, and 2018, the land-water resources could support the population’s food demand in this region when only considering farmland matched with WDAI. However, the population carrying capacity deficit would emerge if we considered the matching farmland with WDIEP.

Surveillance Metrics of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Central Asia: Longitudinal Trend Analysis.

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the global COVID-19 pandemic, has severely impacted Central Asia; in spring 2020, high numbers of cases and deaths were reported in this region. The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is currently breaching the borders of Central Asia. Public health surveillance is necessary to inform policy and guide leaders; however, existing surveillance explains past transmissions while obscuring shifts in the pandemic, increases in infection rates, and the persistence of the transmission of COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to provide enhanced surveillance metrics for SARS-CoV-2 transmission that account for weekly shifts in the pandemic, including speed, acceleration, jerk, and persistence, to better understand the risk of explosive growth in each country and which countries are managing the pandemic successfully. METHODS: Using a longitudinal trend analysis study design, we extracted 60 days of COVID-19-related data from public health registries. We used an empirical difference equation to measure the daily number of cases in the Central Asia region as a function of the prior number of cases, level of testing, and weekly shift variables based on a dynamic panel model that was estimated using the generalized method of moments approach by implementing the Arellano-Bond estimator in R. RESULTS: COVID-19 transmission rates were tracked for the weeks of September 30 to October 6 and October 7-13, 2020, in Central Asia. The region averaged 11,730 new cases per day for the first week and 14,514 for the second week. Infection rates increased across the region from 4.74 per 100,000 persons to 5.66. Russia and Turkey had the highest 7-day moving averages in the region, with 9836 and 1469, respectively, for the week of October 6 and 12,501 and 1603, respectively, for the week of October 13. Russia has the fourth highest speed in the region and continues to have positive acceleration, driving the negative trend for the entire region as the largest country by population. Armenia is experiencing explosive growth of COVID-19; its infection rate of 13.73 for the week of October 6 quickly jumped to 25.19, the highest in the region, the following week. The region overall is experiencing increases in its 7-day moving average of new cases, infection, rate, and speed, with continued positive acceleration and no sign of a reversal in sight. CONCLUSIONS: The rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic requires novel dynamic surveillance metrics in addition to static metrics to effectively analyze the pandemic trajectory and control spread. Policy makers need to know the magnitude of transmission rates, how quickly they are accelerating, and how previous cases are impacting current caseload due to a lag effect. These metrics applied to Central Asia suggest that the region is trending negatively, primarily due to minimal restrictions in Russia.