APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s anti-monopoly agency said it will monitor possible unjustified price increases by Gazprom Neft Asia for its petrol. The subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom owns and operates filling stations throughout the country. Reports had shown possible price increases of 7-10% for Gazprom’s petrol from April 1.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 22 2016, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan accused the United States of hypocrisy after the State Department said in a global human rights report that police brutality was commonplace and that the country’s minorities — ethnic, sexual and religious — were often harassed (April 21).
The US’ annual reports stirs indignation from countries who consider Washington’s criticism to be unjustified grand-standing but Kyrgyzstan’s reaction was especially sharp.
The Kyrgyz ministry of foreign affairs called the report politically motivated, unjustified and a form of geopolitical blackmail.
“The United States of America was pretty comfortable with previous authorities, who used to chase and burn the opposition, killed journalists and robbed the country,” it said in a statement on its website in a reference to the ousted regime of Kurmanbek Bakiyev. He was overthrown in a violent revolution in 2010.
It then pointed out the US’ human rights failings, including racial discrimination, police abuse and torture at the now closed Guantanamo detention centre.
The row between Kyrgyzstan and the US over human rights is rooted in the US’ recognition of Azimzhan Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek arrested and imprisoned in 2010 while he was investigating alleged police brutality, as a political prisoner.
The US has awarded him a human rights prize and called for his release.
In Bishkek, opinion was divided over the US’ criticism.
Some, like Shamima, a 23-year-old student, said Kyrgyzstan had swung towards Russia over human rights. She said that women’s rights were also weak in Kyrgyzstan.
“Official statistics says that up to 30 young women are being stolen every day through bride kidnapping, and the state does little to protect social minorities, such as sexual and other minorities,” she said.
But others defended the Kyrgyz government.
“Americans should not intervene into affairs of other countries. Whenever Russia does it, everybody points at it. But why then does the US keep intervening?” said 53-year-old Yuri.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s industrial production fell by 25.7% to 39.5b som, mainly due to a slump in the mining sector, the Statistics Committee said in a report. The figures reflect the 4.9% GDP decline the Committee posted last week. Without accounting for Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold project, industrial output would have declined by 1%.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The UN Human Rights Council urged Kyrgyzstan authorities to release Azimzhan Askarov, a political activist arrested in 2010. In July 2015, the US government described Mr Askarov as a political prisoner and awarded him a special human rights award. This sparked an angry reaction from the Kyrgyz government and damaged Kyrgyzstan-US relations.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 12 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Working groups of the Tajik and Kyrgyz governments met in Dushanbe to decide on the demarcation of the disputed borders between the two countries ahead of a meeting between two two presidents in May.
Both sides have talked up the new round of negotiations as a potential breakthrough deal. Of the 970-kilometre border Tajikistan shares with Kyrgyzstan, 451km remain disputed.
Most of the contested areas are fertile lands, which are a key assets for the rural population in a region still marred with conflict.
In one of the latest clashes, last July, a Tajik civilian was killed during a shootout between Tajik and Kyrgyz border-guards.
A Dushanbe-based analyst who wished to remain anonymous said governments had only now sat down seriously to discuss the border row because of heightened tension.
“The conflict has now escalated and both sides have started using weapons. Both governments realised that they can no longer ignore the problem,” the analyst said.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)
APRIL 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Kyrgyz parliamentary committee approved a weaker version of the so-called foreign agents bill than they had originally devised, eurasianet.org reported, appearing to give way to strong opposition to the new laws which Western human rights activists said had been inspired by a similar law in Russia. The paperwork burden and the hostile labelling of groups linked to foreign governments has been reduced compared to the previous version.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)
APRIL 11 2016, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — Temir Sariyev quit as Kyrgyzstan’s PM, less than a year after taking the job, after he was accused of corruption over a roadbuilding contract.
Three days later parliament voted in Sooronbai Jeenbekov, considered a heavyweight politician from Osh and loyal to President Almazbek Atambayev, as the new PM.
Emil Juraev, a professor at the American University of Central Asia, said Mr Jeenbekov may have been handed the PM job because he is able to unify bickering north-south factions.
“The new PM is a figure that suits all interested parties,” he said. “He is less ambitious and autonomous, compared to Sariyev.”
Still, Mr Jeenbekov is Kyrgyzstan’s sixth PM since a new constitution that handed more power to parliament was imposed in October 2010, highlighting just how fractured the Kyrgyz political landscape is.
On the streets of Bishkek, the frustrations of ordinary Kyrgyz that another PM had lasted less than a year were evident. Kablanbek, 60, said that he was disappointed to see Mr Sariyev go already.
“He should have worked for at least two-three years. Quitting after one year in office was a terrible idea,” he said.
At the centre of the latest corruption allegation to hit Kyrgyz politics was a contract Mr Sariyev handed to a Chinese company last year.
Mr Sariyev has denied that there was any corruption involved. Giving a resignation speech at this final government meeting, he said that he was the victim of lies and intrigue.
“I have neither time nor intention to play such political games,” he said. But many people held a different view. They have become cynical of Kyrgyz politicians and high levels of corruption. Daniyer, a 25-year-old student, reflected the views of many when he said: “In such positions, everyone tries to seize the opportunity to rob the country.”
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)
APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Sooronbai Jeenbekov became Kyrgyzstan’s sixth PM since constitutional changes in 2010 handed more power to parliament. This is a record that denotes both instability and strength. Instability because of the sheer number of men to hold the post and strength because the system has survived throughout this turbulence.
Last year, when Djoomart Otorbayev resigned, after a heated row over the Kumtor gold mine, analysts thought that Temir Sariyev may become the first Kyrgyz PM to last the five year lifespan of a parliament.
But Mr Sariyev proved them wrong thanks to a classic case of Central Asia corruption and elite spat.
Now it’s Mr Jeenbekov’s turn. He is a loyalist to President Almazbek Atambayev and an influential figure in Osh, the southern powerhouse of the country.
Together with his brother Asylbek, formerly the speaker of the Parliament, Mr Jeenbekov could garner enough power to establish a strong vertical in Kyrgyzstan’s power structure.
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(Editorial from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)
APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s GDP stood at 79b som ($1.15b) in the first quarter of the year, a decrease of 4.9% compared to the same period last year, the national statistics committee said. Officials blamed industrial output and precious metals production for the decline. Without accounting for the Kumtor gold mine, the country would have seen its GDP increase by 1%.
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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)
APRIL 8 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Migration from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Russian cities rose in April, signalling an improvement in Russia’s economy and also, potentially, giving all-important remittance flows back to Central Asia a boost.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan marked an increase of 0.2% and 1.8% in the number of migrants in Russia compared to the same time last year, according to official statistics from the Russian Federal Migration Service. It recorded its data on April 6.
The rise may be small but it is important as it breaks a downward trend over the past 18 months. Also, official figures only report on a portion of the total migrant population as a large part of it is illegal. When official statistics go up, analysts believe the overall number of migrants grows even faster.
Together with Uzbekistan, which recorded the same number of people living in Russia this year as 2015, people from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan represent the most important migrant populations from Central Asia. The home countries of these migrant workers depend heavily on remittances from their migrant workers.
Migrant numbers to Russia had slowed significantly in the past two years due to tougher migration policies and a sharp depreciation in the rouble at the end of 2014, linked to a fall in oil prices and a recession. The drop in the value of the rouble also depressed the value of remittances that migrants were sending home.
This year, though, the rouble has gained around 17% against the US dollar since the low point of 81/$1 in mid-January and the economic situation in Russia appears to have improved enough to attract migrants once again.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)
