MAY 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s GDP in the first four months of 2015 was about 7% higher than for the same period in 2014, Chinara Turdu- bayeva, head of the state’s statistics committee, told media.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kremlin-led Eurasian Eco- nomic Union officially signed up Kyrgyzstan as its fifth member after Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia. Before Kyrgyzstan actually joins, though, the Kyrgyz parliament has to ratify the deal. Kyrgyzstan is worried about the impact on its trade with China.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Switzerland-based Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculo- sis and Malaria has said Kyrgyzstan needs to repay $120,000 for misuse of funds, media reported. The Global Fund described the $120,000 as “unsubstantiated and inappropriate to the crite- ria for financing”.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The National Statistics Committee of Kyrgyzstan said foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 37% in the first four months of 2015, figures which highlight the current difficult economic climate.
This marks the second year of decreasing FDI in Kyrgyzstan after a jump in 2013. Most of the loss this year can be attributed to the construction sector, impacted by economic sanctions and crisis in Russia, and to the mining sector, due to the Kumtor gold mine stalemate.
Alex Nice, Central Asia analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: “Economic and political uncertainty may have depressed foreign investment and of course relatively weak gold prices may also depress new investment in Kumtor, the biggest source of FDI.”
With the fall in remittances from migrant workers abroad and low GDP growth for the next couple of years, Kyrgyzstan needs to improve its business climate in order to attract more, rather than less foreign investors interest.
But as the head of the Association for Foreign Investment, Kairat Itibayev, told media, infrastructure in Kyrgyzstan needs improving.
“Businessmen from Turkey, for example, lament that there is a lack of storage space, unstable electricity, and unusable roads,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan will miss a May 8 deadline to join the Kremlin- led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the new PM Temir Sariyev said. Kyrgyzstan still plans to join but not until the end of the month. Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia are already members.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved former economy minister Temir Sariyev to be prime minister, the fifth in five years.
Mr Sariyev succeeds Djoomart Otorbayev who quit after failing to secure a deal with Canada’s Centerra Gold over the Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyzstan’s largest industrial asset.
Control of Kumtor, and Kyrgyzstan’s push to increase its ownership, has dominated Kyrgyz politics. Mr Sariyev referenced it.
“Nationalisation will only create certain risks and threats for us. We must seek other ways,” he said.
Mr Otorbayev, who served as PM for about a year, had pushed to trade Kyrgyzstan’s 32.7% stake in Centerra Gold in for a 50:50 stake in a new company that would own Kumtor. When this stalled he switched to calling for more directors on the Centerra Gold board. This also failed.
Some Kyrgyz MPs have called for the government to nationalise Kumtor.
Mr Sariyev takes over as head of a coalition of MPs from three parties — the Social Democrats, Ata-Meken (Father- land) and Ar-Namys (Dignity). Together they hold 69 seats out of the 120 seat-parliament. In November, Kyrgyzstan holds another parliamentary election, its second since a constitutional change in 2010 handed more power to parliament.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Djoomart Otorbayev resigned as Kyrgyzstan’s PM after barely a year in office.
The 59-year-old former international economist was the fourth Kyrgyz PM to resign since constitutional reform shifted power from the president to parliament in 2010.
Earlier this month the Kyrgyz government appeared to change tack significantly and argue for a great number of directors on the Centerra Gold board rather than the creation of a new company, with a 50:50 ownership, to run Kumtor.
His resignation was linked to the failure to secure a permanent solution to the ongoing row with Canada’s Centerra Gold over ownership of the Kumtor gold mine in east Kyrgyzstan — the country’s single biggest industrial asset.
“I think my decision to resign will allow the majority coalition to choose a more decisive prime minister,” Kyrgyz media quoted Mr Otorbayev as saying.
Kyrgyzstan owns 32.7% of Centerra Gold, which is listed in Toronto, and has been looking to boost its influence over the mine.
Importantly, Mr Otorbayev’s resignation highlights the unstable nature of Kyrgyz politics and also the dominance of the Kumtor ownership issue.
The three-party majority coalition now has 15 days to nominate a new PM for parliament.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan both moved their Victory Day military parades from May 9 to May 7 because their leaders were due to be in Moscow for the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A major newspaper in Kyrgyzstan complained of repressive action ordered by President Almazbek Atambayev in the build up to a parliamentary election later this year, Eurasianet reported. The Vechernii Bishkek newspaper supports the opposition, Eurasianet reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
APRIL 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank held interest rates steady at 11% because of slowing inflation, media reported. Previously the Central Bank has aggressively raised interest rates to try and curb inflation generated by the falling value of the som.
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(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)
