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...