Since gaining independence, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan gradually opened their markets to foreign investors. Before Poland’s accession to the European Union, the activities of Polish investors in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were based on bilateral treaties concluded by Poland with those countries. Later, except Turkmenistan, they were governed by the partnership and cooperation agreements between the European Communities and their Member States. Despite the ample investment opportunities and favourable conditions for access to the market, the activity of Polish companies in these markets has not produced a significant effect. Poland invested with more considerable success on the markets in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It made investment attempts in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, leaving out Turkmenistan. The reason why Poland has a weak position in these markets is the distance between the partners and inability of Polish companies to effectively compete with large multinational companies which have been operating there for years. In the Kazakh market, good investment prospects are available for waste management, petrochemical, mining and road construction companies. In Kyrgyzstan, there are cooperation possibilities in the area of modern agricultural and processing technologies and establishment of fruit and vegetable processing enterprises. In Tajikistan, enterprises can invest in petroleum and natural gas extraction and exploitation, the fuel market, processing of precious metals and construction of conventional and hydroelectric power plants. In Turkmenistan, Polish companies can compete for road, railway and housing construction contracts, whereas in Uzbekistan they can invest in businesses covered by government tax reductions.

Institution of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Turkmenistan – normative dimension and practice

The article presents the institution of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Turkmenistan, also officially referred to as the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan. The institution of Ombudsman was established in the Constitution of Turkmenistan in a new editing of 14 September 2016, and detailed regulations were included in the Law of 23 November 2016 “On Ombudsman”. Statutory regulations concerning the Ombudsman generally meet the standards of similar acts being in force in democratic countries. However, in the reality of the authoritarian system of Turkmenistan, where fundamental human rights are violated, the new institution is not able to perform the functions for which it was established. The evidence is the Ombudsman’s first report for 2017, which clearly lacks cases relating to human rights of the first generation. As a matter of fact, until democratic changes take place in Turkmenistan, as well as change in the policy of the state authorities in their approach to the protection of individual rights and freedoms, the institution of the Ombudsman will remain a facade institution.

The article presents the goals, tasks, organization and major stages of implementation of the international programme of research on transformation in the countries Central Asia. The research has been conducted since 1997 by a team of political scientists from the University of Warsaw in cooperation with representatives of other Polish and foreign universities.

Energy Security Policy of the People’s Republic of China towards the Caspian States of Central Asia

In contemporary international relations, the issue of energy security is becoming fundamental. Access to energy resources is an existential need of every country, conditioning its economic and social development. In such a situation, states try to construct long-term energy security policies to ensure smooth supplies of raw materials. The research problem is the analysis of the energy security policy of the People’s Republic of China towards the Caspian states of Central Asia: Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. In the research process, a hypothesis was verified, assuming that China’s energy security policy in the Caspian region of Central Asia is determined by the increased demand of this superpower for energy resources and geographical proximity to oil and gas deposits located in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) became interested in the hydrocarbon resources of the Central Asian region right after the collapse of the USSR. At that time, the energy security policy of this superpower was implemented in several stages: from gaining access to the oil and gas reserves of the countries of the region to the construction of export pipelines supplying the absorptive Chinese market. Thus, the analysis presents the conditions of the PRC’s energy security policy, its institutional dimension and actions towards Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, both in upstream and midstream terms.

This study’s research problem is the determinants, evolution and implementation of cooperation in the energy dimension between the Caspian states of Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Pipeline routes are determined considering economic conditions, but are also the result of geopolitical actions of the states. The study aims to verify the research hypothesis that the specificity of cooperation in the energy field between the Caspian states and China is conditioned by objective economic interdependencies, but also results from geopolitical conditions. A predictive approach, related to the future role of the Caspian region in the energy market, was taken into account. A factor method was used in the analysis to identify the determinants of cooperation in the energy dimension between the Caspian states and China. A theoretical approach useful in solving the research problem is the geopolitical (geo-energy) approach and the theory of complex interdependence.