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Author: Mathieu Lemoine

Mathieu Lemoine

Mathieu Lemoine est président de Novastan France. Spécialiste des questions de gouvernance, de société civile et de droits humains, il travaille depuis plus de dix ans sur l’Europe orientale, le Caucase et l’Asie centrale, notamment avec l’OSCE, les Nations unies, l’Union européenne et des programmes soutenus par l’USAID. Il a vécu et travaillé en Ouzbékistan, au Turkménistan, en Bosnie-Herzégovine, en Macédoine du Nord et en Russie. Passionné par l’Asie centrale, il souhaite contribuer au développement de Novastan comme média indépendant de référence sur la région, en renforçant ses partenariats, son audience et son ancrage européen.

Written articles:

Azimjon Rahimjonov, director and producer at Lola Animation. Photo: courtesy of Azimjon Rahimjonov / Lola Animation.

Share Happiness, build an industry: Lola Animation’s Uzbek animation story

Producer Azimjon Rahimjonov speaks to Novastan about Lola Animation, the making of Share Happiness, the rapid growth of Uzbekistan’s animation sector and the ambition to bring Uzbek-created films to international… [...]

Diana Skobina, an Uzbek-born concert pianist now based in the United States. Photo: courtesy of Diana Skobina.

From Tashkent to the international stage: Diana Skobina brings Uzbek music to new audiences

From Tashkent to international concert halls, pianist Diana Skobina reflects on her Uzbek musical roots, classical training, life in the United States and her ambition to bring Central Asian repertoire… [...]

The first Korea-Central Asia Summit brought together South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and the leaders of the five Central Asian states in Seoul on 16 September 2026. Photo: Office of the President of the Republic of Korea.

South Korea’s Central Asia strategy is regional in form, bilateral in practice

South Korea has elevated ties with Central Asia to summit level. But experts tell Novastan that the real test lies in investment, local value creation and cross-border cooperation - not… [...]

Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, former Mongolian MP and minister, writer and founder of the Civic Unity Party. Photo: courtesy of Oyungerel Tsedevdamba.

“The idea of having choices was so new”: Oyungerel Tsedevdamba on Mongolia’s democracy 36 years later

What has Mongolia made of the democratic promise of 1990? Oyungerel Tsedevdamba reflects on corruption, women, youth, local democracy and historical memory. [...]

Solar panels in Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts, where households face high winter heating costs and severe air pollution. Photo: UNDP.

When reform reaches everyday life: Lessons from Uzbekistan and Mongolia

What makes reform work beyond laws and strategies? Former UNDP Resident Representative Matilda Dimovska reflects on public services in Uzbekistan, social inclusion and Mongolia’s green transition. [...]

A detached house before and after energy-efficiency renovation in Mongolia. Improving the building envelope can substantially reduce the amount of energy required to keep a home warm during winter. Photo: GERES

Keeping the heat in: Mongolia’s overlooked answer to Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution

In Ulaanbaatar's ger districts, poorly insulated homes consume enormous amounts of energy during Mongolia's long winters. After eight years of retrofitting detached houses, GERES explains how insulation, green finance and… [...]

Ahmad Fahim Abdullatif. Photo: Courtesy of Ahmad Fahim Abdullatif

Beyond the ‘Graveyard of Empires’: Rethinking the Afghan State

Support Novastan, the European Central Asia magazine By supporting Novastan, you are supporting the only English, French and German-language media specialising in Central Asia. We’re independent and we need your… [...]

Interviewing Abdullah Abdullah at RFE/RL in spring 2001. Photo: Courtesy of Bruce Pannier.

Bruce Pannier: “Central Asians never viewed their region as Russia’s backyard”

From photocopied Central Asian newspapers in the 1990s to YouTube investigations and exile media today, Bruce Pannier traces how journalism in the region has changed - and why independent voices… [...]

“River Dreams”: A river, 100 women and a portrait of Kazakhstan

Can Afghanistan Become Central Asia’s Bridge to the South?

“I survived things. But I also built things”: Nilofar Ayoubi on Afghan women, exile and resistance

From living publicly as a boy in Kunduz to becoming an entrepreneur, journalist and women’s rights advocate, Nilofar Ayoubi has experienced Afghanistan’s gender restrictions from radically different perspectives. Now in… [...]

Between integration and inheritance: How Armenians in Uzbekistan are redefining community

In Uzbekistan, one family wants to support the revival of wine production

Once known for its grapes, Uzbekistan saw many vineyards destroyed after the fall of the USSR. The Akhunov family is now helping revive the country’s wine culture. [...]

How Central Asia is trying to protect the snow leopard

From Kyrgyz volunteer rangers to strict penalties in Uzbekistan, Central Asia is stepping up efforts to protect the rare and emblematic snow leopard. [...]

Edited articles:

Dildora in the field Photo: Elyor Nemat, UNDP Uzbekistan

Nothing to Waste: Dildora’s Science of Peanuts

In Uzbekistan’s Andijan region, researcher and entrepreneur Dildora Nurmatova is building a family peanut business around a simple principle: waste nothing. From snacks and milled kernels to animal feed made… [...]

Trucks parked at a motorway rest area in Europe. Long-distance drivers often spend extended periods living and sleeping in their vehicles between assignments. Photo courtesy of Alex.

Far from home, behind the wheel: A Kyrgyz truck driver on Europe’s roads

A truck driver from Kyrgyzstan describes life on Europe’s roads, from recruitment costs and salary deductions to sleeping in his cab, supporting his family and saving for a future back… [...]

Gulnaz Abutova, founder of Clean Water (c. Maximum Exposure)

From the Aral Sea to eco start-ups: Uzbekistan’s young climate generation

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung with the five Central Asian presidents at the first Korea-Central Asia Summit in Seoul, 16 September 2026. Photo: Office of the President of the Republic of Korea.

From Development Partner to Strategic Supplier: What Seoul’s First Central Asia Summit Really Signals?

Sadyr Japarov, presient of Kyrgyzstan. Credits : UzDaily.uz

“A Fourth Political Reset?”: An Interview with Kyrgyz Political Scientist Emil Dzhuraev

An assessment of President Sadyr Japarov’s tenure, the political realignment following the dismissal of the head of the security services, and growing economic dependence on China… For Novastan, prominent… [...]

Left: Paul Nadar, Marchand de pastèques sur la place du Registan, 1890. © Getty Research Institute. Right: © Pablo Martínez Muñiz. Registan Square, Samarkand, 2026.

In the Country of Özbeg: Photographing Uzbekistan 136 Years After Paul Nadar

Administrative map of Central Asia following the national-territorial delimitation of 1924. The Soviet reorganisation created new republican frameworks, but the borders and political identities of modern Central Asia emerged through a longer and more complex process. Public domain / Wikimedia Commons.

Who Made the Nations of Central Asia?

Irina Antsiferova. Credits: Irina Antsiferova.

How Uzbek Composers Made the Violin Their Own

From Q-pop to Hip-Hop: Kazakhstan’s Multilingual Sound

CKU construction in Suzak district, Jalal-Abad region, 29 April 2025.

China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway: Who wins from Central Asia’s new trade route?

A depleted irrigation canal in rural Uzbekistan. Water scarcity and unequal distribution can leave smallholder and household farmers without sufficient water for their crops. Photo: Google Images.

When irrigation becomes a nightly struggle for Uzbekistan’s women farmers

A mural in Bishkek depicting family life and Kyrgyz cultural heritage. While divorce is becoming increasingly common across the country, social expectations surrounding marriage and women’s roles continue to shape how separation is experienced and perceived. Photo: Mathieu Lemoine / Novastan.

The Hidden Weight of Divorce in Kyrgyzstan: Why Its Social Consequences Remain Gendered

This article is published as part of a partnership between AUCA and Novastan, which brings graduate students’ academic work to a wider readership. Through this collaboration, Novastan aims to… [...]

Prisoners of war walk towards their cells, April 15, 2026. Credit : Driss Rejichi

“I only needed a passport” : In Ukraine, Central Asian prisoners of wars caught between loyalty and regret

Citizens from Central Asia now represent the largest group of foreign nationals fighting in the Russian army. Novastan spoke with several of them after their capture by Ukrainian forces. [...]