Kyrgyzstan - The Times Of Central Asia

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Kyrgyz Stock Exchange Continues to Grow

The Kyrgyz Stock Exchange (KSE) is the leader among the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus) in terms of trading volume growth. The volume of capitalization for the second quarter of 2024 amounted to $636 million. The indicator increased five times compared to the same period last year. In 2022 the exchange began trading in precious metals, and in 2023 the first trades in government securities took place. "The volumes in 2023 increased because there were very large transactions in the primary market. We hosted such companies as Aiyl Bank - more than 4.8 billion KGS ($56.4 million), State Mortgage Company - 3.8 billion KGS ($44.7 million), Entrepreneurship Development Fund - 503 million KGS ($5.9 million), and the National Electric Grid of Kyrgyzstan conducted a transaction for 5.3 billion KGS ($62.3 million). Banks and companies with state participation carried out additional capitalization,” KSE vice-president Aida Chodulova told The Times of Central Asia. According to Chodulova, all securities transactions (public and private) must now go through the stock exchange. "We are now introducing new software to make the system more modern and accessible. We are developing new areas: IPOs, digitalization, and the development of the commodities sector and the precious metals sector. We will also open a currency pairs trading and crypto exchange sector,” Chodulova said. "At the end of 2023, we held auctions and issued State Treasury Bonds with a two-year circulation term. They were issued in both the national currency and Russian rubles. Commercial banks in Kyrgyzstan and insurance companies participated in the trade. Russian Gazprombank bought some of the securities for Russian investors,” she added. Last year, KSE planned to issue “green” state treasury bonds with a five-year circulation term, with some of these securities to be sold to Russia. However, the project had to be suspended due to the international economic sanctions placed on Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.

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High Water in Kyrgyzstan’s Toktogul Reservoir Forecast to Boost Electricity Generation

On August 2, the volume of water in the reservoir of Kyrgyzstan's Toktogul hydroelectric power plant reached 11.922 billion cubic meters, which according to the plant's operator Electric Stations OJSC, is almost one billion cubic meters more than that recorded on August 1, 2023. Located on the Naryn River, which feeds the Syr Darya River that flows to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Toktogul HPP is the largest power plant in Kyrgyzstan and generates some 40% of the country’s electricity. The Toktogul reservoir currently receives 840 cubic meters of water per second and releases 475 cubic meters per second. The released water is used to generate electricity and then flows to downstream countries where it is used for irrigation. The reservoir has a maximum capacity of 19.5 billion cubic meters, with an average volume is 17.3 billion cubic meters, and the "dead" level at which the power plant would stop operating is 5.5 billion cubic meters. As reported by 24.kg news agency, Electric Stations OJSC expects the volume of water in the Toktogul reservoir to reach 12.5 billion cubic meters at the beginning of the next heating season (October 1, 2024) and at the end of 2024/25 season, fall to around 7.9 billion cubic meters. Toktogul HPP comprises four hydroelectric units with a total generating capacity of 1320 MW and on completion of the modernization of hydroelectric unit #1, later this year, the capacity will increase by 60 MW and reach 1380 MW. In recent years, because Kyrgyzstan has been unable to produce enough electricity to meet the country's growing demand, electricity has been imported from neighbouring states.

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China Expands Footprint in Central Asia

In July, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, architect of the Belt and Road economic initiative, traveled to Kazakhstan for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security group whose founding members include several Central Asian countries. There, Xi warned against the threat of “external interference” and celebrated Chinese collaboration with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the region’s other traditional power. Then he visited Tajikistan, a security partner that borders China and Afghanistan. Europe and the United States, which want to counterbalance Chinese and Russian sway in Central Asia, were watching. Last week, several analysts affiliated with Western institutions held a Zoom discussion titled "The China-Central Asia Crossroads." It was hosted by the Center for the National Interest, a non-profit group based in Washington – a few blocks from the White House. Here are excerpts from the analysis: Balancing China and Russia: Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Berlin-based Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center: There is a misconception that “China is somehow replacing Russia” as the main partner in Central Asia because of unease over Russia´s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “The reality is much more nuanced and detailed,” Umarov said. Since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, he said, Central Asian countries have always looked for “diversified ties with the world” and “Central Asia wants to have China’s presence be enlarged into other spheres and to have a counterbalance in the face of Russia.” Elizabeth Wishnick, an expert on Sino-Russian relations at the Center for Naval Analyses and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University: “Central Asians wanted to diversify away from Russia to have more choice. China is not necessarily the only partner they want. And they they've been trying, especially recently, to engage with European countries, with India, with Iran, with Turkey, with a broader range of countries.” Wishnick, who traveled recently to Central Asia, said some people described Russia as “toxic” in private conversations. She also said: “You see a lot of caution about the relationship with China in terms of the lack of transparency of some of the projects that China is investing in, the potential environmental consequence of some of these projects.” Brian Carlson, a research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College: There is “a little bit of slippage of Russian influence in the region,” although Putin has worked to maintain it with frequent meetings with Central Asian leaders, Carlson said. He noted that, after Putin visited China in May, he called the leaders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to update them on the trip. Even so, China’s influence is increasing. “And so, this does pose challenges for the Central Asian countries. In the past, they've kind of tried to play Russia and China off against each other. To some extent, that will be more difficult given that China and Russia have a very close partnership. So, it will be difficult for Central Asian countries to navigate great power relations in the coming years....

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SCO and Afghanistan on the Cusp of a New Relationship

The hype surrounding the recent summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State in Astana has died down, and the expert community has offered differing takeaways, with some experts optimistic and others cautious. Few, however, have considered what new this summit delivered on Afghanistan. In general, what is the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in resolving the political issues around long-suffering Afghanistan and rebuilding its economy? Despite the SCO’s previous hands-off approach to Afghan affairs, the issue of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was raised for the first time at the highest level of the SCO in Astana, which gives hope that the organization will expand its role. In their remarks, almost every SCO head of state touched on Afghanistan in essentially the same vein, stating the need for peace, stability and security, while underlining the fact that Afghanistan is an integral part of Central Asia. Indeed, Afghanistan was mentioned in the final declaration of the Astana summit, with Member States “reaffirming their commitment to asserting Afghanistan as an independent, neutral and peaceful state free from terrorism, war, and narcotic drugs [and voicing] their readiness to support the international community’s efforts to facilitate peace and development in that country.” At the same time, there was a clear message to the Taliban that “the establishment of an inclusive government involving multiple representatives of all ethnic and political groups of Afghan society is the only way toward attaining lasting peace and stability in that country.” These statements represent a rather big step, considering that previously the SCO failed to find a consensus on Afghanistan and develop its own mechanisms to interact with Kabul. The creation of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group back in 2005 was rather a spontaneous reaction to the US-led coalition's Operation Enduring Freedom in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The SCO itself says the contact group was created because of the "concerns of the SCO countries about the negative development of the situation in Afghanistan and the intention of the SCO to establish a specific consultative dialogue with Kabul." While the contact group included the members’ permanent representatives to the SCO, only a few events were ever held. Indeed, interest in the contact group was only really apparent from the Afghan side, which was looking for SCO assistance in rebuilding the Afghan economy and SCO participation in implementing various energy and transport infrastructure projects and creating favorable conditions for Afghan goods to access the markets of SCO countries. However, none of this was realized. The SCO states preferred, as they still do, to conduct relations with Afghanistan bilaterally, and did not support the efforts of the SCO Secretariat to intensify the work of the contact group. In 2010, Uzbekistan directly indicated its interest in building relations with Afghanistan exclusively on a bilateral basis and stated that it would no longer take part in the contact group. In June 2012, Afghanistan’s application for SCO observer status was granted. Yet this step was more symbolic and failed to...

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Kyrgyzstan to Ban Plastic Bags

Following a ban of plastic bags in biosphere reserves and natural protected areas on June 1 2024, Kyrgyzstan is to prohibit their production, sale and distribution nationwide, from 2027 onwards. Regarding the move, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kyrgyz Republic stated: "Plastic and the pollution it causes, is detrimental to human health. Plastic enters the human body as micro- and nano-particles through food, packaging, water, and air. Plastic waste continues to pollute the environment at the disposal stage, and waste disposal workers suffer, especially from close contact with burning plastic." Asel Raimkulova, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision of Kyrgyzstan, told the Times of Central Asia that whilst the use of plastic products which can be recycled within the country is under review and likely to continue, the ban on plastic bags throughout the country is absolute. Deputy ministers however, have opposed the use of plastic bottles but said that given the lack of alternatives available to Kyrgyz bottling companies, some exceptions will be made. According to eco-activists, Kyrgyzstan has some 80 plants to recycle plastic but since seven out of ten supermarket products are now fully or partially packaged in plastic, they do not have the capacity to process the ever-increasing volume of waste. "For example, in Kyrgyzstan, tetra paks—multi-layer juice or milk cartons that, at first glance, look like cardboard—are not recyclable. In addition to cardboard, such packaging contains a layer of aluminum and several layers of polyethylene. And separating them from each other is not easy,” stressed activists of the environmental movement Peshcom.

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World Bank Supports Community-Driven Development in Kyrgyzstan

On July 31, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $27 million for Kyrgyzstan's National Community Initiatives Project (NCIP). The project aims to improve access to socioeconomic infrastructure and increase economic opportunities at a local level, focusing on women and youth. Hugh Riddell, World Bank’s Country Manager for the Kyrgyz Republic, commented, “The National Community Initiatives Project builds on more than a decade of the Government’s successful community-driven development initiatives and aims to scale up, standardize, and deepen their impact. The project will also build the capacity of local governments to work effectively with communities on development priorities, ensuring a more prosperous future for all.” The project will be implemented through 2029 by Kyrgyzstan’s Community Development and Investment Agency. As part of the Village Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Investments component, the project will directly benefit rural populations in 40 Aiyl Aimaks (sub-districts), one per district across the country. Each selected sub-district will receive up to $450,000 for socioeconomic infrastructure identified through a participatory village needs assessment and decision-making process. Eligible infrastructure may include kindergartens, schools, health facilities, water supply systems, and other climate-adaptive investments such as renewable energy sources, energy-efficient street lighting, drip irrigation, and disaster preparedness. Within the Grants for Climate-Smart Local Economic Development and Livelihood Activities component, 15 competitively selected sub-districts will receive grants of $200,000 to $300,000 for local economic development. The objective is to enhance economic opportunities, enabling businesses to launch or expand while creating jobs for women, youth, and vulnerable groups. Economic sub-projects will target agricultural processing, handicrafts, eco-tourism, and green enterprises. The project will also finance comprehensive training for local self-government and communities in participatory needs assessment and planning; selection, management, and monitoring of village investments; climate change; and economic empowerment. The project will also look to engage women and youth in local planning and investment processes, ensuring their priorities for regional infrastructure and livelihood investments (such as medical facilities, schools, and kindergartens) are addressed, and providing tailored training to strengthen women’s leadership in social and economic spheres. Support will also be offered for women's entrepreneurship, the establishment of private childcare facilities, and targeted youth engagement opportunities.