Kyrgyzstan Local Politics - The Times Of Central Asia

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Kyrgyzstan Continues to Combat Drug Shortages

Health Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, Alymkadyr Beishenaliyev has told local media that hospitals are 70-80% stocked with medicines, with hospitals in the Issyk-Kul region suffering the worst from short supplies. "There is a list of vital medicines, which we provide 100%. But doctors prescribe drugs which I, a medic, have never heard of; these are scarce drugs. Doctors used to get bonuses from private pharmacies [for prescribing them] - we are fighting this and it is impossible to change it in a short time," Beishenaliyev said. Kyrgyzstan's medical trade union reported that the country's hospitals lacked basic medicines and basic drugs. As of today, 290 medical organizations have applied for the necessary drugs, but are yet to receive them. Earlier this week, the Times of Central Asia reported about the difficult situation concerning the availability of drugs. Minister Beishenaliyev emphasized that the government is working to ensure hospitals have all the necessary drugs for the second quarter of 2024, promising that the problem would be resolved by 15 April. However, the head of Kyrgyzstan's medical trade union, Bermet Baryktabasova, criticized the statement made by the minister, saying that antibiotics, hormones, diuretics, anti-epileptic, psychotropic, cardiac and anti-asthma drugs are needed every day. It's medically advisable to have a three-month supply on hand, she said, adding that intensive care units need these drugs every minute, not next quarter. This year, to ensure timely and quality medical care, the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund (CMIF) allocated 443.7 million sum ($5 million) for the purchase of medicines and medical devices.

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Bishkek Locals Bemoan Corruption Which Yields Terrible Roads

Residents of Bishkek are outraged by the condition of roads in the city. In their opinion, every spring the asphalt literally disappears. President Sadyr Japarov has said he shares the citizens' dissatisfaction. Responding to the criticism, representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Communications said that the presence of potholes and holes on highways is a natural process. "The situation depends on many factors, including weather and climatic conditions and the intensity of road traffic. The Ministry of Transport and Communications makes every effort to repair and properly maintain the roads of international state and local importance on its balance sheet and tries to fulfill the adopted plan for their construction and maintenance as much as possible, even exceeding this plan," the press service of the Ministry of Transport said. The ministry stressed that only 19,000 kilometers of roads are on the balance sheet of the Ministry, whilst the quality of the remainder of Kyrgyzstan's roads is monitored by municipal authorities in cities - and therefore Bishkek residents should complain to the city authorities. The capital's municipal services were also criticized by President Japarov, who said in an interview that it was time to change the system of road construction and maintenance completely. "How did the Ministry of Transport work in road construction for 30 years? If they needed to asphalt a road 100 kilometers long, they attracted private companies, calculated the cost of the work and demanded 10% of that amount from those same companies. Of course, they did not pay this 10% to the ministry, but into their own pockets. And after the private companies completed construction, they gave [more] money in order to put it into operation," Japarov stated. The President instructed the government to change the rules: roads should be repaired not by private companies, but by government agencies. The government is now allocating funds to buy its own equipment to help solve the problem of corruption, he said. Consequently, over the past two years, about 300 units of special equipment have been purchased and distributed to the regions. Another 450 special vehicles are expected to be delivered this year. The quality of roads will improve, though not immediately, Japarov said. Finding qualified personnel and strengthening their technical know-how will take time. "We have not increased funds for asphalting roads. The result is due to the fact that we started to build it ourselves... Of course, there are certain shortcomings in quality. However, as the saying goes, 'everything has its time,' and our transport workers will gradually achieve high quality. I think this process will take three to five years," the President concluded. This year, the capital's municipal authorities have barely reacted to the complaints of citizens; roads in Bishkek are being repaired slowly with the arrival of spring. However, after harsh criticism from the head of state, the situation has changed. Mayor of Bishkek, Aibek Junushaliyev recently went on an inspection to check construction work. "Bishkeksafalt service [has been tasked with] monitoring the quality of...

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Experts in Kyrgyzstan Sound Alarm Over Acute Shortage of Medicines

Doctors in the Central Asian republic are saying that medical institutions lack emergency, intensive care, pediatric, and cardio-pulmonary drugs, as well as contraceptives and the supplies needed for safe medical abortions. Kyrgyzstan's hospitals lack basic medicines and basic daily medications, according to Bermet Baryktabasova, head of the Kyrgyz Medical Trade Union. The Health Ministry cannot solve the problem on its own, she said, so resolution of the issue must involve the government, members of parliament (MPs) and national security services - otherwise, there will be a social catastrophe. "There are distress signals from all regions - there are no medicines, or they are running out. Requests to [Kyrgyzpharmacy] for the supply of medicines according to needs have been lying for the second quarter since the beginning of the year... The medicines arrive without accompanying documents (delivery notes, certificates, without specifying the purchase price and other financial and authorization papers)," Baryktabasova posted on social media. In March last year, the Kyrgyz authorities created the state enterprise, Kyrgyzpharmacy, to implement a new approach to providing hospitals with medicines at an affordable price. Later, the Cabinet of Ministers decided that the supply of drugs to public clinics will be handled by a single operator. Kyrgyzpharmacy also controls the quality of medicines, their storage and delivery, adding a 5% mark-up on the cost of goods. "State and municipal health care organizations pay for medicines and medical devices supplied to the state enterprise Kyrgyzpharmacy from the funds provided in the budget of the organizations for the relevant year. They may also purchase medicines not on the list from Kyrgyzpharmacy if supplies are available," the new law states. Problems with drug availability began mainly because of a decree prohibiting the importation of medicines that had not previously passed state registration and were not included in the relevant lists. The document was supposed to reduce the risks of importing low-quality medicines. However, most foreign pharmaceutical companies did not go through the complicated registration procedure; they often aren't interested in Kyrgyzstan's small market. Dastan Bekeshev, a member of the Supreme Council (Jogorku Kenesh), conducted a survey among citizens to find out what medicines are in short supply. As a result, the MP made a list of 50 items. "I decided to find out what is the reason for the shortage of medicines and sent a list of necessary medicines to the Ministry of Health. As it turned out, the geopolitical situation and the lack of registration of many drugs are to blame. The registration procedure should be simplified: if a medicine is registered in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Japan or Russia, we should by default register it in our country. So far, the bureaucratic procedure is more important than the lives of citizens," Bekeshev said. Responding to the deputy, the Ministry of Health explained that 30 "items" from the list are not registered in the Kyrgyz Republic. That means these drugs cannot be imported into the country. "In the absence of a prescribed drug in pharmacy organizations, citizens...

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Authorities in Central Asia Warn Against Terrorist Recruitment

Uzbekistan's Interior Ministry has issued a warning over increased instances of calls to commit terrorist acts spread via social media and messenger apps. Citizens are being implored to booby-trap public places - including shopping and entertainment centers, schools and other places of mass gathering - for large sums of money. Besides the promise of money, extremists are offering to provide weapons and send a plan of action - while the provocateurs often won't take no for an answer. The anonymous instigators - as a rule, there is no photo or number in the profile - often write with similar appeals to children and teenagers, intimidating them with fabricated stories such as having all of that person's data and personal information. "In case you receive this kind of message, please do not panic and do not send them to public chat rooms, to your acquaintances and friends, but immediately report it to the internal affairs authorities on the number 102. Block the senders and do not enter into correspondence or conversations with them," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. "There is a Cybersecurity Center within the structure of the interior agencies, which is engaged in monitoring and identifying individuals and channels spreading calls for unlawful acts. Special divisions have been created within the operational and investigative department of the internal affairs bodies, which are also engaged in activities to identify terrorist threats on the World Wide Web and punish attackers," Shokirjon Hashimov, spokesman for the operational and investigative department of the Uzbek Interior Ministry, told The Times of Central Asia. The Uzbekistan TV channel reported on the detention of a group of extremist students, who were plotting terrorist attacks in several locations in Tashkent. The attackers, who were planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the spring of 2022, were discovered in February 2021. The young men carefully thought out a plan of action and chose the Israeli embassy in Tashkent or the murder of U.S. and Chinese citizens at the capital's international airport as the target of their planned attacks. After committing the terrorist acts, the boys intended to move to Syria via Turkey, or to Afghanistan via Surkhandarya. Over the course of the investigation, explosives were found at the suspects' homes. The court sentenced them to between 10 and 15 years in prison. Calls for vigilance can also be heard in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where through social networks and dating sites, attackers are trying to recruit young people to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia. "The representative office of the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration of Kyrgyzstan in the Russian Federation warns that through social networks and popular messengers such as Telegram, there is active recruitment of citizens, including underage children, to participate in terrorist acts in Russia," the press service of the ministry reported.

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Kyrgyz Businesses Make Play to Raise Profile in America

Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to the United States and Canada, Baktybek Amanbaev, recently met with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's chief representative for Central Asia, Jennifer Miel, to discuss stepping up the nations' trade and economic ties. Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry reports that ambassador Amanbaev told Ms Miel about the country's resource potential, as well as opportunities for private business development in Kyrgyzstan. According to Amanbaev, Kyrgyzstan is particularly keen to work with American investors on hydropower, mineral development, agriculture and textile projects. American companies already working in Kyrgyzstan include General Electric, Visa, Coca-Cola, Valmont, Medtronic and Borusan. According to Kyrgyzstan's National Statistical Committee, in the first nine months of 2023 Kyrgyzstan imported from the U.S. goods worth more than $300,000, predominantly cars and car parts. Kyrgyzstan also buys spare parts for bulldozers, excavators and trucks from American suppliers. In turn, Kyrgyz businesses export textiles, antiques, wool and animal products to the U.S. Kyrgyz entrepreneurs sell most of their goods in the U.S. through Amazon, Walmart and Ebay. The Kyrgyz Chamber of Commerce has told The Times of Central Asia that local businesses aiming to do more business in America have approached the Chamber to expand their contacts and find potential partners. The Chamber has already begun work on opening Kyrgyz trade missions in major U.S. cities, and negotiations with local authorities are underway. Soon Kyrgyz business will be represented in Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. A few weeks ago, Kyrgyzstan's North American ambassador Amanbaev met with an executive of the satellite internet provider Starlink, to discuss providing the Kyrgyz public with high-speed internet via American Starlink satellites.

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Bishkek Tightens Grip on NGOs

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - Kyrgyzstan´s President said on Tuesday that he has approved a law that tightens control over non-governmental organizations which receive foreign funding, despite concerns that the measure could erode basic freedoms and services. President Sadyr Japarov defied international pressure to refrain from signing the law, which was passed by an overwhelming margin in Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament on March 14. In a Facebook post, he said the measure would make NGOs more accountable and increase transparency, an assertion that critics say is misleading. For decades, NGOs “just opened bank accounts, took money from foreign donors and used it as they saw fit, including for personal purposes,” Japarov said. “From now on they will be registered with the Ministry of Justice like everyone else. They will open bank accounts. They will start to work openly. There will be no more confusion.” NGOs “spread false information, saying 'we will be persecuted, we will be arrested as agents of a foreign state'. And the donors believed it,” said Japarov, adding that “there will be no persecution” of the groups. Critics say the law represents a slow-moving crackdown that rolls back efforts to develop civil society with the help of foreign governments and other institutions. “We're deeply disappointed that Kyrgyzstan's president Sadyr Japarov has signed the repressive law on 'foreign representatives,' citing misleading, untrue arguments about NGOs,” said the International Partnership for Human Rights, a Brussels-based group. “At least get the facts straight,” Syinat Sultanalieva, a Central Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said of Japarov’s statement, adding that it was wrong of Japarov to suggest that NGOs “never registered and did not submit reports and basically ran amok unchecked.” In his statement, Japarov bristled at criticism from Western-affiliated institutions and said there was a double standard. “Why do non-governmental organizations in developed Western countries register with the Ministry of Justice, the Tax Service, open a bank account and not do the same when they come to us?” he said. “Or are we a second-class country? No, we are not. We will no longer allow such dubious actions.” Japarov had previously accused NGOs of spreading “inaccurate information,” emphasizing that the draft law “is close to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) adopted in 1938 in the United States.”. Some opponents claim it is based on Russia´s “foreign agents” law, and could be used as an instrument of oppression.