Author: Tolomush Egemberdiev

On the afternoon of May 18, 2023, President Xi Jinping held talks in Xi’an with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit. Xi Jinping recalled his state visit to Uzbekistan last September, during which the two sides jointly announced the implementation of the vision of a community with a shared future at the bilateral level and the new characterization of bilateral relations. China is advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts and Uzbekistan is developing “New Uzbekistan” across the board. Both countries are at a crucial stage of reform and…

More than 20 people in Kyrgyzstan were detained on Sunday, October 23, and placed under arrest for 48 hours, after publicly disagreeing with the impending transfer of an important dam to Uzbekistan as part of a border demarcation deal with the neighboring country. Those detained included activists, human rights defenders, bloggers, and politicians. The next day, courts ordered several of the detainees be held in pre-trial detention for two months while the investigation continues. All of the detainees were charged with preparation for and organization of mass unrest. The police also initiated an investigation over “evidence obtained from a special investigation,” which transpired to be a series of…

On October 26, 2022, the Kyrgyz government ordered a two-month blockage of the websites of Azattyk Media, the Kyrgyz service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, because of a video covering the recent border conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The order was based on the Law on Protection from False Information, which drew significant criticism when adopted in August 2021. The authorities claim the video used hate speech and false information that Kyrgyzstan had attacked Tajikistan, which the radio service’s Tajikistan-based correspondent referred to during a video segment featuring correspondents in both Bishkek and Dushanbe, the countries’ capitals. “It is standard journalistic practice to provide information from both sides of the…

Mr Nic Bowler has been appointed UK Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic in succession to Mr Charles Garrett OBE. Mr Bowler will take up his appointment during June 2023. From 2020 to present, Mr. Bowler was based in Kyiv as Head of UK Programmes in Ukraine. During 2015-2017 he was Deputy and Acting Development Director of the Department for International Development in Kyrgyzstan. Source: AKI Press

The film «Shambala» directed by Artykbai Suyundukov won a prize at the Liber Films International Festival. Website of the festival reports. The film was recognized as the best in the programme of January and February. «Shambala is based on Chingiz Aitmatov’s story «The White Steamer». The film was produced by the national film studio Kyrgyzfilm with the participation of Aitysh Film. As noted, seasonal winners receive the right to participate in the annual ceremony, which will be held in October 2023 in Athens. Source: 24 KG

    From 2022 to 2025, all the profits of state-owned enterprises will be used to update their material and technical resources. The corresponding resolution was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce reports. At the same time, the heads of sectoral state bodies and state enterprises are personally responsible for the completeness, timeliness and reliability of reporting on the use of net profit. «The adopted resolution will allow state-owned enterprises to purchase equipment and machinery necessary for the implementation of development plans,» the Ministry of Economy clarified and noted that 33 state-owned enterprises completed last year with a profit, 12 with a loss. According to operational data, the total net profit amounted to 2,343.4 billion…

This is an excellent initiative that will strengthen people-to-people and business-to-business linkages between the two countries, he said. He also emphasised the need to capitalise on the TIR Convention to enhance bilateral trade with Kyrgyzstan through the land route, which not only saves time but also costs. He called upon the central banks of both the sides to remove bottlenecks in processing transactions through effectively operationalising the banking channels in order to unleash the true potential of trade between the two countries. Irfan Sheikh pointed out that there is a Quadrilateral Traffic and Transit Agreement between Pakistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and…

The Uzbek-Kyrgyz summit on the highest degree shall be held in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, on January 26-27, Trend stories through the press service of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. According to the supply, President Mirziyoyev pays a state go to to Kyrgyzstan on the invitation of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov. The agenda of the high-level talks contains the entire vary of problems with additional strengthening of Uzbek-Kyrgyz relations, as nicely as the event of strategic partnerships in varied fields. In explicit, rising mutual commerce, supporting industrial cooperation applications, and selling regional infrastructure initiatives. Following the summit, it’s…

Just one year ago, Russia’s positions in Central Asia were so solid that even China’s growing presence in the region was not a threat. That all changed with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With every missile it fires at Ukrainian cities, the Kremlin is destroying Russia’s influence around the world, above all in the post-Soviet space. Now any statements or gestures that deviate from Moscow’s line look like an attempt by Central Asian countries to sever ties with Russia, and prompt talk of the impending end of its influence in the region. Formal data, however, paints a very different picture of blossoming bilateral relations: Russia’s…