Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

Power consumption falls in Kyrgyzstan

MARCH 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bakyt Torobayev, a Kyrgyz opposition MP, said that a drop in electricity consumption across the country proved that Kyrgyzstan’s economy was failing. He said that electricity consumption in Kyrgyzstan had halved in the past year. Reports from Kyrgyzstan have said that many industries are struggling to cope with the sharp downturn in the economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Russia gives Kyrgyzstan grants

MARCH 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia gave Kyrgyzstan a $30m grant to help it cover holes in its finances that have appeared during the economic downturn. Specifically the grant was supposedly earmarked to finished building new accommodation for police and army recruits. The economic downturn has hit Kyrgyzstan hard, whipping millions off is budget. Russia curries favour with Central Asian states by handing out grants or cheap loans.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

Women march through Kyrgyz capital on March 8 to demand more rights

MARCH 8 2016, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — Dozens of women protested in Bishkek against what they said was the patronising message sent out by the traditional March 8 International Women’s Day celebrations.

The march was a rare challenge to what has become one of the former Soviet area’s most popular and enduring holidays.

“Don’t sell 8th of March for flowers,” the marchers chanted. “We don’t want flowers, we need rights.”

Civic demonstrations, especially by pro-women’s rights groups are rare, if not unheard of, in Central Asia, where governments retain strict control and generally mistrust the rise of women in society.

Kyrgyzstan is something of an exception. It has more political plurality than other countries and counts a woman, Roza Otunbayeva, as a former head of state. She was president of Kyrgyzstan in 2010 and 2011, after a revolution overthrew her successor Kurmanbek Bakiyev. None of the other Central Asian states have had any significant female political or business leadership other than daughters of presidents.

Saadat, one of the march participants, told the Bulletin’s Bishkek correspondent that March 8 was not a holiday to celebrate spring and woman but something much more important.

“Instead of buying flowers and making profit for local flower shops, people would better support women’s crisis centres or female entrepreneurs,” she said.

“I think, one of reason why we were not dispersed on the square (bpolice) is that two female MPs were also with us on the square,” she added.

There is supposedly a quota of women in the Kyrgyz parliament of 30% although activists said the proportion of women in parliament had dropped to 12.4% from 19% in 2004.

Arina Sinovskaya, a member of a Kazakh feminist group, said their rally had been banned in Kazakhstan.

“In Kazakhstan, unfortunately, we cannot hold a march, so we came here to express our solidarity,” she said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

US sends military to Georgia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan

MARCH 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are among the three most dependent countries on US aid to pay for their military, the eurasianet.org website reported by quoting a Washington lobby group. In 2014, Georgia received $158m of US military aid, out of a total budget of $387m; Tajikistan received $29m of US aid out of $104m in total and Kyrgyzstan received $90m out of a total military budget of $252m.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

Kyrgyzstan asks Eurasian Bank for crisis cash

BISHKEK, MARCH 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s finance minister Adylbek Kasymaliyev asked the Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation and Development to double its aid to $427m to help the country weather both an economic downturn and the impact of joining the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Remittance inflows to Kyrgyzstan have fallen by 40%, the som currency has lost 25% of its value and major infrastructure projects have been cancelled over the past six months.

Mr Kasymaliyev said Kyrgyzstan had already spent more than the $255m of loans and grants that the Fund, managed by the Eurasian Development Bank had given it.

“We have already surpassed our limit of $255m by allocating $260m. For this reason, we have asked the Council to raise the limit to $427,” Mr Kasymaliyev told local media.

The funds will be used for a range of projects, including agriculture.

Importantly, though, analysts said that although Kyrgyzstan needed to protect itself against the regional economic crisis, it was under extra pressure from its entry last August into the Eurasian Economic Union. The government said the trade block, which includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia, would improve conditions for Kyrgyz business.

Instead, though, businesses have complained it has exposed them to unfair competition.

Ayilchy Sarybayev, an analyst based in Bishkek, said the cash would be used to subsidise Kyrgyz farmers.

“The fund is being raised because small and medium enterprises cannot compete with Kazakh and Russian ones now,” he said. “Kyrgyz entrepreneurs have started buying (more expensive) agricultural equipment from Kazakhstan and Russia (rather than from China).”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

Kyrgyzstan debates NGO law, again

FEB. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz MPs have said that they are once again going to debate a controversial bill dubbed the “foreign agents’ law”. The bill was touted last year as being similar to one passed by Russia in 2012 that made it more difficult for NGOs to receive funding from overseas. The West has been increasingly concerned by what it has said is a trend by Kyrgyzstan to move towards Russia and away from the more liberal values that it had once appeared to embrace.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Kyrgyzstan considers Muslim debt

FEB. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps following Kazakhstan’s lead, Kyrgyz parliamentarians are going to discuss the potential to issue a so-called sukuk, media reported. A sukuk is a debt which adheres to Islamic laws and principles. One of the advantages is that a sukuk may attract a greater range of potential investors from the Middle East and South-East Asia. The Kyrgyz parliament still has to discuss new laws aimed at easing a route to issuing a sukuk.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Gazprom rises prices for Kyrgyzstan

MARCH 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Olga Lavrova, Gazprom Kyrgyzstan’s deputy director, said that the company had had to raise the price it charges to its Kyrgyz customers to match the devaluation of the Kyrgyz som. Gazprom, which bought Kyrgyzgaz in 2013 for a symbolic $1 plus debt, also said that it was still effectively subsidising the price of gas in Kyrgyzstan. Gas price rises are a sensitive issue in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Editorial: Kyrgyz, Kazakh inflation

MARCH 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation is the next enemy for South Caucasus and Central Asian countries hit by the regional economic downturn.

A fall in commodity prices at the end of 2014 pushed down revenues in the extractive sectors and sent the Russian rouble into a downward spiral. This then hit the value of local currencies, hurting people’s confidence in their Central Banks and their pockets.

Then came a fall in vital workers’ remittances from Russia, down by up to 45%.

Now, inflation appears to be on the rise, as Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank chief Tolkunbek Abdygulov has warned.

In Kazakhstan, inflation is already at 15.1% year-on-year to the end of February 2016. It has been warning about a surge in prices and salaries since it effectively devalued its currency in Aug. 2015.

A couple of days after the devaluation, the Kazakh Central Bank said it was now making inflation-busting its top target. There is a lot of work to do.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Editorial: Kyrgyz and Georgian greens vs developers

MARCH 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Green spaces in cities across Central Asia and the South Caucasus are rare and under threat.

This is the case in Kyrgyzstan, where developers are eyeing up the, admittedly dysfunctional and overgrown Botanical Gardens. Conservationists, however, scored a major victory this week with the visit of PM Temir Sariyev to the Gardens. He spoke about renovating the Gardens and giving the structure a modern look, effectively saying the government wants the Gardens to stay where it is.

This is good and should be applauded. While Bishkek needs more space to build houses for people heading to the city for work, it can find this in other places. The Bishkek Botanical Garden should be left alone.

There is less hope for the surrounding hills of Tbilisi’s Old Town, where former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili wants to build a series of hotels. Locals took to the streets this week to protest against the plan.

Careful consideration needs to be given between creating jobs and attracting business over residents’ access to outdoor areas.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)