The First EU-Central Asia Summit and its Implications for European Energy Sectors
Marina Gruzer | 3 June 2025
Summary
The first EU-Central Asia Summit marked a shift toward a strategic partnership, with the European Union (EU) committing EUR 15b (USD 17.1b) in investment to develop Central Asia’s raw materials and transport infrastructure to diversify energy supply chains.
Strengthened ties with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan—key suppliers of uranium, copper, and oil—could enhance EU energy security, especially in renewable and nuclear sectors, while reducing dependence on Russia.
Despite pledges, infrastructural bottlenecks and limited private investment may constrain short-term progress; long-term success hinges on overcoming logistical barriers and competing with dominant players like China.
On 4 April 2025, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev hosted the first EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand. The inaugural summit aimed to enhance EU-Central Asian cooperation and develop the relationship to a strategic partnership following increasing trade and economic connectivity over the last few years. The EU accounts for 22.6% of Central Asia’s foreign trade in 2023, while aiming to expand regional cooperation on critical raw materials and green hydrogen industries in line with the EU’s Global Gateway strategy and the European Raw Materials Act. Such plans are crucial for renewable energy technologies and electrical vehicle industry. Similarly, Central Asian states have shown increased interest in diversifying their trade partners in response to continued pressure from regional Sino-Russian competition.
The summit was followed by increased EU investment and greater coordination in mineral exploitation and production. The summit yielded a EUR 12b (USD 13.6b) investment package, supporting areas such as raw mineral industries and transport, as well as EUR 3b (USD 3.4b) invested into the Middle Corridor’s transport infrastructure. By investing into raw mineral extraction and processing logistics, the EU hopes to diversify supply chains that are crucial for its growing defence industry. As an alternative to the Northern Corridor via Russia, the project aims to develop sustainable trade route diversification, linking European and Central Asian markets, with the EU’s investment focusing on the Middle Corridor’s digital, railway and port infrastructure to enhance efficiency. Additionally, the summit promoted the implementation of the EU’s raw mineral Memoranda of Understanding with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to develop sustainable supply chains and enhance coordination in the extraction and processing of resources. Greater access to Kazakhstan’s mineral exports such as copper and uranium, where Kazakhstan accounted for 43% of the global share in 2022, would provide increased supply chain security to the EU’s renewable and nuclear energy industries. Furthermore, increased energy partnership with key Central Asian oil and gas exporters, such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, would also provide the EU with opportunities to reduce reliance on Russian imports.
However, while the EU has pledged to scale up investment into Central Asian critical raw material value chains, hoping to limit reliance on China-led supply chains, attracting long term sustainable foreign investment for mining and mineral production will be difficult due to infrastructural limits. Therefore, infrastructural constraints, including the capacity limitations of the Middle Corridor trade route that circumnavigates Russia and raw material processing limitations, are likely to limit the development of supply chains for EU energy sectors in the short term. In terms of investment, it remains unclear whether the EU will successfully encourage greater private investment into the development of Central Asia’s mineral mining and extraction processes under the Global Gateway Initiative.
Сайт Ильи Варламова - varlamov.ru, CC BY-SA 4.0
Forecast
Short-term (Now - 3 months)
It is highly likely that there will be a limited increase in supply chain development and energy sector capacity building due to ongoing infrastructural constraints in Central Asia’s emerging minerals industries.
Medium-term (3-12 months)
The EU nuclear energy sector is likely to benefit more from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan’s rapidly growing uranium production industries. Apart from crude oil and natural gas, Kazakhstan’s key exports include ‘radioactive chemical elements and isotopes’.
Long-term (>1 year)
Increased access to Central Asian critical raw mineral markets under the MoUs is likely to diversify EU energy sector supply chains. However, it would still be challenging to compete with other major economies in the region, such as China, in terms of investment and extraction project scale.
