Central Asian cotton for Russia's war
The cellulose that remains after cotton ginning is a component used in the production of gunpowder. And from 2022 to today, Uzbekistan, one of the largest producers in the region and in the world, has massively increased its exports to Moscow precisely because of the conflict in Ukraine.
Tashkent (AsiaNews) - Russia's war in Ukraine is forcing countries around the world, particularly in Europe, to review their defence policies, increasing the production of weapons and ammunition as part of the ReArm Europe strategy, later renamed Readiness 2030.
The substance is particularly necessary for gunpowder is cotton cellulose, for which the potentially most prolific export region is Central Asia, were it not for the fact that the Kremlin's interests, especially for these military purposes, have long been well established in this area.
The production of gunpowder is in fact impossible without cellulose, a raw material derived from cotton. These are the small fibres left over after the traditional cotton ginning process, which are essential for the production of gunpowder.
In Europe, cotton is grown in Greece, Spain and Bulgaria, but in small quantities of around 360,000 tonnes per year, 288,000 in Greece, 72,000 in Spain and one tonne in Bulgaria. Central Asia, Russia's “backyard”, is largely used by Moscow to obtain goods in circumvention of international sanctions, with double re-export between East and West, but according to statistics, it is also a major supplier of war materials to Russia.
Cotton cultivation is one of the key sectors of the Central Asian economy, developed in Soviet times to supply the necessary raw materials to the processing industries of the European part of the USSR. After the end of the Soviet empire, this sector went into crisis, only to recover partially thanks to demand from China and Turkey, major textile producers, which became the main buyers of Central Asia's so-called “white gold”.
In recent years, Russia has regained interest in cotton precisely for the production of gunpowder, especially through agreements with Uzbekistan, one of the largest producers in the region and in the world.
In 2025, 3.7 million tonnes of cotton were harvested in Uzbekistan, 23% more than the previous year, and the country produces over one million tonnes of cotton fibre annually. The European Union does not purchase Central Asian cotton, based on warnings from activist groups opposed to forced labour, especially child labour.
After Shavkat Mirziyoyev became president of Tashkent and introduced partial liberalisation, Western companies lifted restrictions on Uzbek cotton, which is mostly processed within the country, mainly by the large chemical factory in Fergana, whose cellulose is mainly destined for the Russian market. Before the war, the gunpowder factory in Kazan, Tatarstan, purchased less than 50 tonnes per year, but by 2022, imports had risen to 1,225 tonnes, worth over million.
The Fergana company itself, along with other companies that have all been hit with Western sanctions, is controlled by oligarch Rustam Muminov, known as the “cotton king” of Uzbekistan, and 85% of their production is destined for Russia.
In Kazakhstan, cotton is grown mainly in the southern region of Turkestan and is sold mostly to China, but here too, with the war, it has been directed much more towards Russia. Tajikistan has reduced its cotton production in recent years, most of which is destined for Iran, while Turkmenistan, which is highly dependent on cotton, does not publish statistics in line with its closed policies, even though its violations of the rules prohibiting forced and child labour are well known, and it sells to just about everyone: China, Turkey, Russia and Europe.
The country least devoted to cotton in the region is Kyrgyzstan, which mainly supplies the Chinese market. Europeans are concluding many agreements in Central Asia, but for now there is no mention of cotton, which is becoming increasingly indispensable.
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05/04/2019 16:19
