DEC. 14 2022 (The Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan agreed a $50m loan from the World Bank to improve air quality in Bishkek, now considered one of the most populated cities on the planet. Bishkek city government has previously tried to improve air quality but campaigners have said that corruption undermined these efforts. Bishkek’s poor air quality is blamed on a Soviet-era power station and a huge rise in car ownership, often high-polluting European cars from the 1990s.
ENDS
— This story was published in issue 531 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Dec. 19 2022
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2022