Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

Russia bolsters forces in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan

MAY 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia views Central Asia as an imminent conflict zone and has bolstered operations at its military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said at the third Moscow Conference on International Security.

The Kant air base outside Bishkek, he said, in particular had seen a significant increase in manpower and airpower in the past couple of years.

This coincides with the US drawdown from its own airbase outside Bishkek as operations to Afghanistan have slowed.

But neither Moscow’s airbase at Kant nor its military installation outside Dushanbe, Tajikistan, both operating under the auspices of the Russia-led regional security group the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), have played any major role in ensuring Central Asian stability. During revolution and ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan in 2010, as well as clashes between pro and anti-government forces in Tajikistan’s east in 2012, the Russians were nowhere to be seen.

Mr Shoigu’s comments could be interpreted as a sign that Moscow is readying to become a regional security guarantor now that Washington is exiting the region.

That said, the comments may also just be another round of posturing by Russia in its so-called near abroad.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Kyrgyz grey economy is complex to manage

MAY 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The shadow economy in Kyrgyzstan is worth around 40% of the country’s economy, media quoted PM Djoomart Otorbayev as saying. He said agriculture was particularly affected and that he wanted to change this to bolster tax receipts. The figure highlights the complexity of managing the Kyrgyz economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Kyrgyzstan closes Agri company

May 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin)- In a rare admission of rampant corruption, Kyrgyzstan’s government announced it would dissolve Agroprod, the commercial arm of the ministry of agriculture. Agroprod was considered riven through with corruption and inefficiencies. It’s unclear what the Kyrgyz government plans to replace Agroprod with.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

Kyrgyzstan to release crime boss

May 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kamchibek Kolbayev, Kyrgyzstan’s most prominent crime lord, is set to be released from jail in June having served 1-1/2 years of a 5-year sentence, media reported.

The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a non-profit organisation, refers to Kolbayev as “a serious drug pipeline entrepreneur” and a key middleman in the heroin trade moving out of Afghanistan.

Kyrgyz officials have long been accused of enmeshment in this trade and civil activists are saying that his let-off stinks of a deal.

Put on an international drug barons list by Washington in 2011, Kolbayev was extradited to Kyrgyzstan from Dubai in December 2012 and charged with various crimes including kidnap and criminal conspiracy. During his trial, Kolbayev was noted for his debonair appearance and composure.

Kolbayev’s release signals continuing rule-of-law of issues in Kyrgyzstan. In April 2013 a political scandal blew up over the release on medical grounds and subsequent departure to Grozny of Kolbayev’s main rival, ethnic Chechen mobster Aziz Batukayev.

Batukayev, it turned out, was not ill at all.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

Kyrgyzstan to join CU

May 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin)- Kyrgyzstan will definitely aim to join the Russia-led Customs Union, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev told journalists in Shanghai where he had been meeting China’s leaders. Mr Atambayev’s statement adds extra impetus to Kyrgyzstan’s drive to join the group which also includes Kazakhstan and Belarus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

China increases mining activities in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan

May 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon held talks in Dushanbe with Wan Zhenhua of Zijin Mining’s Zarafshon copper-gold- silver mining company in Khujand, Tajikistan (May 19).

Reports made the meeting sound rather Soviet. They listed the various social achievements which included finding work for 2,000 people since 2007 and noting that Chinese investment has reached $235m. The mine now produces half Tajikistan’s total gold production.

But the real story is elsewhere.

Typically, gold mining projects can take up to seven years to become profitable, while red tape surrounding license issuance and political unrest in Central Asia can considerably extend timeframes.

State-owned Zijin, China’s largest gold producer, also owns a gold mine in Kyrgyzstan’s Chui province. In Kyrgyzstan, Zijin had to evacuate roughly 250 employees from their operation in Orlovka village, Chui, in 2012 when one of their excavators reportedly killed a local’s horse, triggering an attack on the company’s offices.

Given the reluctance of other foreign investors to mine in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, some believe China’s interest in mining projects is about strategic control of mineral wealth in the two countries, rather than money.

“Chinese companies take on projects that in my mind are not profitable,” Valentin Bogdetski, head of the Kyrgyz Miners Association told the Conway Bulletin.

“Last year, a Chinese firm won a license for an iron ore concession in Zhetim-Too [Naryn province]. But this ore has little market value, so why do they want the license?”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

Kyrgyzstan criminalises libel

May 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin)- Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atamabayev signed a law that will criminalise libel.Under the new law, the authorities in Kyrgyzstan can send people to prison for up to five years for libel. A statement by Mr Atamabayev’s office sad that the new law would not impact on freedom of speech.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

Kyrgyz police arrested on rape scam

MAY 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Bishkek said they had arrested four policemen for extorting cash from foreigners by falsely accusing them of rape. Media reports said that a female accomplice would set up dates with foreign men and then accuse them, falsely, of rape.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

South Kyrgyzstan survives without gas

MAY 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan said that Uzbekistan was still restricting gas supplies to its southern city of Osh. Osh has reportedly been without gas for a few weeks, generating some social tension. Uzbekistan’s Soviet era gas system supplies southern Kyrgyzstan with gas. Relations between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are strained.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

Kyrgyzstan plots CU membership

MAY 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s government said that it had drafted a road map for its entry into the Russia-led Customs Union (CU). The economic union also includes Kazakhstan and Belarus. Armenia also plans to join this year. Kyrgyzstan’s membership of the CU should also allow Tajikistan to join.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)