Energy security and corruption in Central Asia as the main challenges for the European Union energy diversification policy

Abstract

Background The main goal of the paper is to define, analyze and assess the basic security, development and institutional challenges faced by the Central Asian countries after 2022. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis, Europe faced the need to find other sources of energy supply outside the Russian Federation. The Central Asian region is rich in energy resources and is therefore of special importance, but at the same time it is also a region of special geopolitical interest of often conflicting parties - the region for which there are limited information and insufficient academic literature about development, various aspects of security, internal specificities and future challenges. Methods The research included qualitative and quantitative analyses carried out for Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Data processing was performed on the basis of 16 selected indicators in the fields of economy, energy, governance and climate change, for the time period from 2011 to 2021. Data processing was performed using the correlation and regression analysis (ANOVA). Results The results showed that energy policy and corruption represent one of the biggest problems faced by the countries of Central Asia, which strongly affects the energy security and sustainable development, not only of the countries of Central Asia, but also of all countries that are supplied with energy products from this region, or plan to do so. Correlation analysis shows that the countries of Central Asia have certain similarities when it comes to economic and social policy. Energy security is positive only in the case of Turkmenistan. Regression analysis shows that Kazakhstan reported the best positive trend for most indicators. Data for Germany show consistent values over the observed period. Conclusions The main conclusions of the paper indicate that the countries of Central Asia have made little progress when it comes to overall sustainable development, with energy security, corruption and government efficiency being the biggest problems. The European Union and Europe as a whole must find ways and mechanisms to overcome these and many other impediments if they are to get energy products from the aforementioned region.