Kyrgyzstan - The Times Of Central Asia

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Snow Leopard Conservation

Kyrgyzstan Opens Snow Leopard Research and Rehabilitation Center

A research and rehabilitation center for snow leopards, named Ak Ilbirs, opened on October 23 in Kyrgyzstan. The facility, located in the village of Ananyevo on the shores of Issyk-Kul, will study snow leopard behavior and support efforts to increase the animals' numbers. The opening coincided with International Snow Leopard Day. Russia's Republic of Tatarstan helped establish the center; its leader, Rustam Minnikhanov, attended the ceremony alongside Kyrgyz Prime Minister Adylbek Kasymaliyev. Snow leopards inhabit mountainous regions across 12 Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the species as vulnerable, with their numbers threatened by poaching and dwindling prey, as well as conflicts with local herders. Their elusive behavior and remote habitats also make it particularly difficult to estimate their numbers. Kyrgyzstan plays a prominent role in international snow leopard conservation efforts. In 2023, the snow leopard was recognized as a national symbol of Kyrgyzstan. The following year, at Bishkek's initiative, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 23 as International Snow Leopard Day. In April 2025, Kyrgyzstan established the Ak Ilbirs ecological corridor in the Issyk-Kul region, covering more than 792,000 hectares. It connects Khan-Tengri Nature Park, the Sarychat-Ertash Nature Reserve, and the Naryn Nature Reserve. Such corridors allow snow leopards to move between mountain habitats, reducing the risk that isolated populations will lose genetic diversity. Kyrgyzstan is also exploring opportunities to develop tourism in areas inhabited by snow leopards. Indian company SUJAN Luxury Hospitality has proposed both wildlife watching and scientific expeditions involving local residents. The proposal, still under discussion, also includes training rangers and developing tourism infrastructure. In 2025, Kyrgyzstan's nature reserves and national parks received more than 271,000 tourists, an increase of 24% from the previous year. Revenue from visits more than doubled to $431,000. However, snow leopards tend to avoid human activity, meaning that tourism development in their habitats will require careful management of routes and visitor numbers.

Russia's War in Ukraine

Ukraine Says More Than 20,400 Central Asians Signed Russian Army Contracts

More than 20,400 Central Asian citizens have signed contracts with Russia’s armed forces since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, according to the Ukrainian government’s “I Want to Live” project. The new figures come as families in Kazakhstan secure the return of young men who say they went to Russia for civilian work and were forced into military service. The project’s October figures identify 8,207 Uzbek citizens and 5,308 Tajiks, together accounting for about two-thirds of the regional total. Kazakhstan accounts for 3,819. A further 2,219 are from Kyrgyzstan, and 884 from Turkmenistan. The count covers identified contract signers as of October 1, rather than the number currently fighting, and excludes ethnic Central Asians with Russian citizenship. The figures have not been independently verified. “I Want to Live” is a Ukrainian state project that helps Russian servicemen surrender. For some Kazakh families, the immediate struggle has been to get their sons out of the Russian army. Twenty-year-old Ainabek Keldibek went to Russia expecting to work as a security guard. As TCA reported, he and other young Kazakh men later appeared in appeals for help, with some wearing Russian uniforms in or near the combat zone. On October 7, relatives went to Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry in Astana to demand help bringing the men home. Lawyer Meirman Shekeyev, who accompanied them, said he knew of at least 21 cases. Families said their relatives had accepted civilian jobs before being pressured to sign military contracts. Keldibek has now returned to Kazakhstan. His sister told RFE/RL’s Kazakh service that he arrived in Shymkent on the evening of October 21. She said others were still waiting to return. Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry had earlier asked Moscow to help repatriate the men and opened a hotline for their families. Their accounts fit a pattern documented by the International Federation for Human Rights. Its April study found that migrants in Russia had been offered military contracts as an alternative to detention or deportation. Others were recruited abroad with promises of civilian work, only to find themselves sent to the front. “Many of these men knew in some capacity what they were signing up for. But some were also deceived or coerced,” FIDH President Alexis Deswaef said. The war has also drawn Central Asians to Ukraine’s defense. TCA’s earlier reporting on both sides described volunteers who regarded Ukraine as home and saw Russia’s invasion as a threat to their families. Kazakh national Zhasulan Duysembin joined Ukraine’s armed forces in 2021 after settling there. In a 2022 interview, he told Ukrainska Pravda: “I had two children in Ukraine, and for the first time I started to think that they might be in danger.” Uzbekistan’s Migration Agency has warned citizens that offers of work or help with immigration papers can lead to recruitment into armed conflicts. It has also reminded them that joining foreign armed forces can bring criminal liability at home. For other families, there has been no homecoming. Kiril Nysanbaev went to Russia for work after completing his military...

Regional Cooperation

Opinion: China’s Regional Strategy Meets Central Asia’s National Bargains

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway spent decades on the drawing board. Disagreements over its route and financing held it up long after the three governments endorsed the project. In 2024, a Kyrgyz parliamentarian asked railway officials a simple question: “Where will we find $1 billion?” A financing agreement signed in Bishkek on December 16, 2025, cleared a major obstacle. The railway is estimated to cost $4.7 billion. Chinese banks will lend about $2.3 billion to the joint project company over 35 years. China holds 51% of the company, while Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan each hold 24.5%. The partners will provide the remaining funding as equity. In June 2026, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved in the first reading a separate $304.5 million loan from China’s Export-Import Bank to help fund its own contribution. That loan has a 25-year term. The joint company’s debt and Kyrgyzstan’s borrowing for its stake are different obligations, but both affect how much value the country will need to earn from the line. Kyrgyzstan wants business around the railway, including terminals and freight services; Uzbekistan gains a direct rail link toward China, while Beijing gains another route west. The governments agreed to build the line, but tariffs and terminal operations will help decide how the returns are shared. The same division between shared goals and separate deals runs through China’s C+C5 relationship with the five Central Asian states. At the second China-Central Asia summit in Astana in June 2025, the six countries signed a treaty on eternal good-neighborliness. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also published a list of 55 cooperation documents. The first 14 cover the regional China-Central Asia framework. The other 41 involve Chinese institutions and counterparts in individual Central Asian countries, including local authorities and companies. The count reflects how the agreements are organized rather than their financial weight. The regional documents cover road permits, customs procedures and green minerals. The country-specific agreements extend into particular industries and investment relationships. Customs cooperation shows how regional talks can lead to bilateral action. At a meeting on May 21–22, 2025, customs chiefs from China and Central Asia agreed to joint border inspections. The next day, Chinese and Kazakh officials conducted an inspection of Nur Zholy-Khorgos. They agreed to accept more trucks from Kazakhstan and recognize each other’s X-ray inspection images to reduce repeat checks. Kazakhstan’s customs authority explicitly linked the inspection to the regional meeting. The agreement illustrates how governments can address a shared concern through negotiations at an individual crossing. The Astana investment agreements reflected different national priorities. Kazakhstan pursued investment protection and applications for China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system, while Kyrgyzstan signed documents on an AI application center and processing industries. These were country-specific arrangements within the wider regional framework. The railway illustrates why some projects require only a few governments to agree. After recurring disagreements over its route and funding, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan reached a financing settlement in 2025. They did not need all five Central Asian governments to negotiate a single position. Kazakhstan already has direct rail links...

Economic Growth

Kyrgyzstan Economic Growth: Government Targets 8% Annually

Kyrgyzstan has set a target of average annual real GDP growth of at least 8% and a 20% annual increase in foreign direct investment inflows through the end of 2030. Bishkek aims to achieve these goals by developing export-oriented industries, expanding transport routes, and attracting international capital. While recent international forecasts suggest growth could exceed 8% this year, sustaining that pace through 2030 remains a challenge. The government outlined the priorities at a meeting in Bishkek on October 21. Its plans include expanding production of export goods, modernizing trade and customs procedures, strengthening private property protections, and improving businesses' access to long-term financing. Positive Momentum Set to Continue The targets are set out in the National Development Program through 2030, adopted in June 2025. The program calls for nominal GDP to reach at least $30 billion and GDP per capita to rise to $4,500. International forecasts suggest Kyrgyzstan's economy will maintain strong growth in the near term, although a slowdown is expected. Following 11.1% growth in 2025, the IMF forecasts 9% growth in 2026 and 7% in 2027, while the World Bank projects 9.6% growth this year. However, both institutions have highlighted risks to the country's economic momentum, including a potential slowdown in re-export trade, weaker growth in Russia and China, rising energy prices, and tighter sanctions restrictions. To maintain rapid growth, Bishkek intends to support food processing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, light manufacturing, machinery production, and mineral processing. The goal is to increase exports of domestically produced goods. Infrastructure-led Growth One of the country's largest infrastructure projects remains the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway. Construction began in December 2024, with completion scheduled for 2030. The project is estimated to cost $4.7 billion, including $2.3 billion in loans from Chinese banks. China holds a 51% stake in the joint project company, while Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan each own 24.5%. The railway is expected to give Kyrgyzstan its first direct rail link to China and provide Uzbekistan with an alternative route to the Chinese market. For Bishkek, it offers an opportunity to generate transit revenue and develop logistics centers. However, the route's commercial viability will depend on freight volumes, tariffs, and the efficiency of border crossings. Another major project is the Kambarata-1 hydropower plant, which Kyrgyzstan is advancing jointly with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Additional electricity generation capacity is needed, among other purposes, to support industrial expansion. On October 14, Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to Switzerland presented both projects to potential investors in Geneva. Bishkek also plans to encourage state-owned companies to issue Eurobonds, expand long-term financing through state banks, and develop the Tamchy special financial and investment zone to attract international capital. Logistics, information technology, tourism, and financial services have been identified as promising sectors. Risks At the same time, Kyrgyzstan's close economic ties with Russia create additional risks for its banking sector and foreign trade. The IMF has warned that exposure to international sanctions and weaknesses in financial oversight could disrupt banking relationships and cross-border trade. A further challenge is ensuring that major infrastructure projects benefit the wider...

Start-ups

Maksim Stepanenko’s Path from Kyrgyzstan to Silicon Valley

Maksim Stepanenko’s career has taken him from Aydarken in southern Kyrgyzstan to Silicon Valley. After co-founding Operator, an artificial intelligence startup acquired by OpenAI, he chose to step away rather than join the buyer. Stepanenko told The Times of Central Asia that he is now taking time off and working on new projects. From Aydarken to MIT Stepanenko was born in Aydarken, in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region. Before entering university, he represented the country at the International Physics Olympiad. He received an honorable mention in Singapore in 2006, a silver medal in Iran in 2007, and a bronze in Vietnam in 2008. His route to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was not immediate. After his first application was unsuccessful, he spent almost a year studying in Germany before entering MIT in 2009 to study computer science. While there, he worked as an undergraduate research assistant at the MIT Media Lab. Early Engineering Roles Stepanenko graduated in 2012. His early experience included two summer internships at Google and a role as one of the first software engineers at Locu, a startup founded by MIT graduates. Locu helped local businesses manage their online listings. A business could update its information once and distribute the changes across services including Yelp and Facebook. GoDaddy acquired the company in August 2013 for a reported $70 million. In 2014, Stepanenko joined cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase as employee number 21. Over five years, his work included Coinbase Commerce and the USDC stablecoin, as well as Coinbase Ventures. “I graduated in 2012 and moved to [San Francisco] to work here, at a different startup. Around 2013-2014, I started spending more and more time on crypto – Bitcoin Talk was the popular forum at the time. I was finding it more and more interesting. And then, at some point, I decided I wanted to explore working full-time in this space. At that time, there wasn't really any legitimate company in the space. Coinbase was the only company that was already relatively well known, at least here in Silicon Valley. So, I ended up joining Coinbase,” Stepanenko previously told Compound. Co-Founding Primer In 2019, On Deck’s Erik Torenberg introduced Stepanenko to Ryan Delk. The two co-founded Primer, an education startup offering online learning activities and, later, small in-person schools. [caption id="attachment_59010" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Ryan Delk (left) and Maksim Stepanenko (right)[/caption] Primer initially focused on homeschooling. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it developed online clubs where children could pursue shared interests and work together on projects. The company later allowed children to create and run their own clubs. It then developed microschools, combining small groups of students with in-person instruction and digital learning tools. The company’s history records expansion to Alabama in 2025 and Texas in 2026. Primer raised a $3.7 million seed round in 2020, led by Founders Fund. In April 2022, it announced a further $15 million round, led by Founders Fund and co-led by Khosla Ventures. Stepanenko left Primer in November 2022. “I decided to step away from the company after...

Education

Kyrgyz Parliament Backs Foreign Teacher Tax Breaks at First Reading

Kyrgyzstan's parliament has approved a bill at first reading on October 21 that would introduce tax breaks for foreign teachers, exempting eligible educators from income tax and mandatory social security contributions. The measure is intended to attract specialists in engineering, technology, and other subjects where educational institutions face staff shortages. The legislation, introduced in April by 12 lawmakers, was backed by parliamentary committees on October 20. The Times of Central Asia reported on the proposal in May 2026. The proposed changes would also allow foreign teachers to obtain temporary residence permits. Educational institutions would be eligible for exemptions from value-added tax (VAT) on imported educational equipment. One of the bill's sponsors, lawmaker Altynbek Kudaiberdiev, clarified that the exemptions would not apply to all foreign educators. According to him, most foreign teachers currently working in Kyrgyzstan come from Russia and Kazakhstan. He said the aim was to attract specialists from other countries, including native speakers of foreign languages and information technology instructors. Minister of Science, Higher Education, and Innovation Gulzat Isamatova reported shortages of university instructors in fields the government considers priorities for the economy. These include engineering, mining, hydropower, agricultural machinery, medicine, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The minister said tax incentives could help educational institutions recruit specialists from abroad. According to figures presented during the discussion, approximately 700 foreign educators work in Kyrgyzstan. During the debate, some lawmakers questioned the potential loss of tax revenue and whether the exemptions would be fair to local teachers, who would not receive the same benefits. MP Ulan Primov called for clearer eligibility criteria and an assessment of the impact on government revenue. The amendments have not yet taken effect. Schools also face longstanding staffing shortages. According to the Education Ministry, Kyrgyzstan's schools were short of 947 teachers at the end of the 2024–2025 academic year, particularly in mathematics, Russian language, and history.