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Kyrgyzstan: Passport tender scandal casts doubts on country’s digitalization drive

BISHKEK (TCA) — “I greatly respect the opinion of the civil sector, but I urge you not to make hasty conclusions,” Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said at the recent telecommunications forum commenting on the situation over the tender for production of new biometric passports. The head of state stressed that digitalization remains a priority for his presidential activities, so he pays careful attention to all issues in this area. “Recently, officials related to a tender held by the State Registration Service were detained. This caused a resonance in society. This is a good phenomenon when the civil sector is very strong and citizens are not indifferent to government issues,” he said. “The law is the same for everyone. If the law is violated, anyone should be brought to justice,” stressed Jeenbekov. The passport tender has caused a resonance and drew the attention of the international community. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the legislative base and remove corruption elements, if any. The Parliament is now considering a bill on public procurement, and it is necessary to increase the openness of tender procedures and confidence in them, the President concluded. State Registration Service officials arrested By decision of a Bishkek court, Director of the Infocom SE at the State Registration Service (SRS) Talant Abdullayev, SRS State Secretary Daniyar Bakchiev and SRS Deputy Chairman Ruslanbek Sarybaev were detained on April 17. They were accused of “lobbying the interests of a foreign company when holding a tender for the manufacture of passports of a new generation”. According to the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (GKNB), “the State Registration Service officials entered into a criminal conspiracy with representatives of the Lithuanian company Garsu Pasaulis and lobbied its interests during a tender for the production of the new Kyrgyz international passports. As a result, the company won the tender, despite the fact that it offered 253 million soms more than their competitors.” Expert’s opinion Well-known IT entrepreneur and Chairman of the Kyrgyz Software and Services Developers Association, Azis Abakirov, disagreed with the authorities’ decision and left the Digital Transformation Expert Council under the President of Kyrgyzstan. The next day after the arrest of the SRS officials Abakirov posted a letter to President Jeenbekov on his Facebook page. “Our young professionals, who created the entire state IT infrastructure, and whose contribution is invaluable for the country, constantly suffer from the personal, corrupt and mercantile interests of certain superior persons illegally controlling the process,” Abakirov said. According to him, all currently successfully operating IT projects in Kyrgyzstan are the result of the work of Abdullayev and his team. “The norms of the Law on Public Procurement have been violated, as any action against the procuring entity before signing the contract is a direct pressure on it. We now see how the law enforcement agencies and judicial system are roughly lobbying the interests of one of the bidders. For the first time in history, a criminal case has been filed before the conclusion of a contract...

6 years ago

Economy Technology Innovation Internet Telecommunication Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan aims to be in the forefront of digitalization in Central Asia

BISHKEK (TCA) — “Our goal is to bring our country to the forefront of digitalization in the region,” Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said at the first telecommunications forum “Digital Kyrgyzstan: Regional Development” held in Osh on April 22. Continue reading

6 years ago

Trade Eurasian Economic Union Economy Central Asia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan

Eurasian Economic Union: Results, challenges and hopes

BISHKEK (TCA) — In the near future, the Eurasian Economic Union may become an open economic community, organically integrated into the world economic system as a reliable bridge between Europe and growing Asia, said the initiator of the EEU creation, the first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Continue reading

6 years ago

Kyrgyzstan Education

To improve school education, Kyrgyzstan needs to focus on its quality and innovation

BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov promised to raise secondary school teachers' salaries at a Parliament meeting on April 11. The country has a chance to develop not due to the amount of human resources, but due to their quality, the President said. Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention to education and healthcare and introduce new technologies into these sectors, he added. To achieve this goal, the State should improve social welfare of its citizens. “We managed to raise the salaries of medical doctors this year,” the President said, adding that the Government will also raise the salaries of teachers from the new school year this autumn. Jeenbekov also spoke about the need to increase salaries of public servants. “Salaries of specialists from ministries, departments and local governments are also low, and they will be increased in stages,” he said. “We cannot demand quality work from teachers whose monthly salary is 10–12 thousand soms (around $150),” lawmaker Abduvakhab Nurbayev earlier said. Schools overcrowded According to parliament members, Kyrgyzstan’s regions are facing an educational crisis. There are not enough textbooks, computers, as well as the schools themselves. Most schools are overcrowded even in the capital, Bishkek, which currently lacks 15 schools. In some schools in Bishkek and Osh, the number of students is seven-fold higher than the buildings’ design capacity allows, said Deputy Prime Minister Altynai Omurbekova. In 158 schools of the country children study in three shifts and 191 schools are in disrepair, she added. There are 1.2 million schoolchildren in Kyrgyzstan. Textbook problem According to the Ministry of Education and Science, only 72% of schoolchildren are provided with textbooks in the country. The Ministry cannot cope with the seemingly simple task — to provide schoolchildren with educational literature. The school year will end soon but some students still have not received necessary textbooks. The Ministry does not have enough budget funds and donor assistance to provide free textbooks, and parents have to partially or completely buy books for their children. Parents are willing to pay, but some of the textbooks have not yet been printed. In the Jalal-Abad region in the south of the country, fifth-grade students study Kyrgyz language and literature without any textbooks. It is good that there is an opportunity to find electronic version of some textbooks on math, physics or chemistry on the Internet. But again, this is not available for all children. Some children, especially in poor families and remote areas do not have access to the Internet. According to the National Statistics Committee, 25.6% or 1.6 million Kyrgyz people are poor, of which 41 thousand live below the extreme poverty line. Most of the poor (72%) are rural residents. In Kyrgyzstan, the poor are classified as citizens whose income does not exceed 2,674 soms (about $39) per month. The extremely poor are citizens with incomes below 1,455 soms (about $21) per month. Private schools It is believed that children receive a better education in private schools than in public ones....

6 years ago

Central Asia Economy Migration Remittances Labor

Central Asia: Labor migration, remittances and shortage of specialists

BISHKEK (TCA) — Central Asian economies excluding Kazakhstan are heavily dependent on labor migrant transfers. Migrants from Uzbekistan are leading in terms of remittances. In 2018, of $9.5 billion transferred by individuals from Russia, the most money was sent to Uzbekistan. Continue reading

6 years ago