Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan moves towards foreign agents bill

APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Already two years in the works, the law on “foreign agents” might be ready for approval by the Kyrgyz parliament within the next couple of months, according to the latest public statements.

If approved by parliament, the bill would label as “foreign agents” all non-governmental organisations that receive foreign capital for their activities.

The law is similar to one brought in by Russia’s parliament a few years ago and has triggered an outcry from NGOs in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is also particularly dependent on NGOs.

In March, a parliamentary committee approved the draft law and sent it to parliament. The main proponent, Nurkamil Madaliyev, of the conservative Ar-Namys party justified his position stating that “many local non-profits are interfering in the political life of the country” and foreign funding is crucial to their activities.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Kyrgyzstan deports US reporter

APRIL 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The media lobby group the Committee to Protect Journalists accused Kyrgyzstan of having no regard for independent journalism after it deported US journalist Umar Farooq. Mr Farooq had been in Osh investigating ethnic clashes in 2010.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)

Atambayev finishes European jaunt

MARCH 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev has rounded off an 8-day tour of European capitals, on which he signed various economic deals and tried to drum up support for action against Islam extremism.

Mr Atambayev pitched the tour as his attempt to promote his country and attract investors despite economic conditions in Central Asia deteriorating further.

In Austria, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Germany he met with the heads of government and royals.

“I am sure that there will be a whole new stage of relations between Kyrgyzstan and the European Union,” he said in Brussels (March 30).

Europe, generally, views Kyrgyzstan as a relative beacon of parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, a region more closely associated with autocratic leaders.

Over the past few years, though, Kyrgyzstan has moved steadily towards Russia. It plans to join the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union later this year.

Importantly, Mr Atambayev also received various promises for financial support. Switzerland agreed to allocate 74m francs ($77m) to develop the health sector and support small and medium enterprises.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Kyrgyz Central Bank spends to defend som

MARCH 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank bought $11.4m worth of som to slow its devaluation, media reported, its third intervention in March. Kyrgyzstan, like other countries in the region, has been trying to manage a fall in the value of its currency.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Russia pressured Armenia to join EEU, says parliament

APRIL 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia used its control of gas supplies to Armenia to pressure the government into joining its Eurasian Economic Union, a parliamentary inquiry has said.

The inquiry said Russia increased gas prices to Armenia until it agreed to join the Eurasian Economic Union in 2013.

The findings are strong evidence that Russia uses its economic leverage over Central Asia and the South Caucasus for political gain.

Also in the past week, Russia approved a $1 billion development fund for Kyrgyzstan. This, again, appears linked to Kyrgyzstan’s entry to the Eurasian Economic Union later this year.

The West has long said the Kremlin’s aim in the region is to coerce governments into doing its bidding.

In Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, it has found vulnerable partners. Both are relatively poor with few natural resources. They both host Russian military bases and are reliant on Russian business and remittances from workers living in Russia for growth.

Importantly too, Gazprom owns the gas pipeline network in both Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. This has often been the choke point. Controlling a country’s gas supply gives Russia huge power.

There is one other major similarity between Armenia and Kyrgyzstan regarding membership of the Eurasian Economic Union. Bulletin correspondents in both countries report that most ordinary people, and also many of the politicians, don’t really want to join the group. Instead, they feel compelled to.

Belarus and Kazakhstan, both far larger economies, are also members of the EEU.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Russia creates fund for Kyrgzstan

MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has approved a law that will create a Russia-Kyrgyzstan development fund worth $1b, media reported. Kyrgyzstan has agreed to join the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union later this year and it is likely that the fund’s creation was linked to Kyrgyz membership of the group.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Kyrgyz’s Bakiyev owns UK mansion

MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Maxim Bakiyev, the son of former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, is living in a £3.5m ($5m) mansion in southern England, the transparency lobby group Global Witness reported. The mansion is owned through various off-shore companies. Mr Bakiyev is wanted in Bishkek for various financial crimes.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

A Kazakh-Kyrgyz bromance blossoms

MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Have we just witnessed Central Asia’s first inter-presidential bromance?

At the inauguration of a new school, Kyrgyzstan’s president Almazbek Atambayev shared some flattering, perhaps even flirtatious, remarks towards his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“I’ve often thought that if instead of Akayev and Bakiyev we had had Nursultan Nazarbayev as our president, everything would have been different,” he said at the opening of a school funded by Kazakhstan.

Mr Atambayev was referencing Akayev and Bakiyev, two former presidents of Kyrgyzstan who were both overthrown in two different revolutions and who are labelled as corrupt and untrustworthy, a sharp contrast to the apparently benign and generous Mr Nazarbayev.
Mr Atambayev showered Mr Nazarbayev with more praise.

“Every time I meet with Nursultan Nazarbayev I am convinced that he is not only the elder of the people of Kazakhstan, but also the Kyrgyz,” he said.

Small and relatively impoverished compared to its northern neighbour, Kyrgyzstan needs to keep Kazakhstan sweet.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Putin clears Kyrgyzstan for Eurasian Union accession

MARCH 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a protocol that officially cleared Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) later this year, Russian media reported. Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia are already members of the EEU.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

HRW wants improved human rights in Kyrgyzstan

MARCH 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) challenged European leaders to use a trip to Europe by Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atamabayev to call for improved human rights in Kyrgyzstan. In particular, HRW said European leaders should protest against a bill passing through the Kyrgyz parliament that would limit gay rights.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)