Europe Seeks to Mine Critical Minerals in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
Central Asian republics demand that investors not merely export ore but build deep-processing plants on their territory
Europe critically needs rare metals and minerals (such as lithium and tungsten) to develop green energy, manufacture electric vehicles, and advance high technologies. As old supply channels have become unreliable, Brussels is seeking new partners and is actively looking toward Central Asia.
However, countries in the region, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, maintain a firm stance: they do not want to be merely a raw-material appendage selling unprocessed ore. The primary goal of local authorities and enterprises is to attract foreign investments and technologies to process raw materials locally and sell finished products with high added value.
Alongside this, Germany has already approved a roadmap for cooperation with Kazakhstan until 2028, and German companies are launching large-scale lithium mining projects.
Uzbekistan’s Technological Metals Combine (TMK) is also actively attracting foreign capital. The company has presented a portfolio of projects worth $4.2 billion and is already negotiating financing with European banks (such as France’s Société Générale). Products from Uzbek enterprises are already being supplied to Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other countries.
Not only Europeans are entering the region—for example, Azerbaijan’s state-owned company AzerGold has begun geological exploration for gold and rare-earth metals in Uzbekistan.
