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BISHKEK (TCA) — Speaking to journalists at his first annual meeting with the media as Kyrgyzstan’s president on December 19, Sooronbai Jeenbekov said that his major goal is "nothing but to work day and night for our people and our country," RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — On December 18, 6.5 million euro was transferred by the European Union to the treasury account of the Ministry of Finance of Kyrgyzstan as budget support grant for social protection sector. The tranche will be received by the Kyrgyz Government in the coming days, the Delegation of the European Union to the Kyrgyz Republic said. Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — External labor migration in general is beneficial to Central Asia countries, because it contributes to the solution of many acute social and economic problems. Labor migration is beneficial both to host countries, such as Kazakhstan, and to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, the main suppliers of labor force. Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Central Asia was the scene of intense geopolitical struggle and the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires, and later between the Soviet Union and the West, over Afghanistan and neighboring territories. Into the 21st century, Central Asia has become the area of a renewed geopolitical interest, dubbed the New Great Game, largely based on the region’s hydrocarbon and mineral wealth. On top of that, the region now is perhaps the most important node in the implementation of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative through which Beijing aims to get direct access to Western markets. Every week thousands of news appears in the world’s printed and online media and many of them may escape the attention of busy readers. At The Times of Central Asia, we strongly believe that more information can better contribute to peaceful development and better knowledge of this unique region. So we are presenting this Weekly Digest which compiles what other media have reported on Central Asia over the past week. KAZAKHSTAN Kazakh ‘#Explorestan’ tourism branding seeks to take sting out of ‘Stan’ Kazakhstan’s tourism brand will inform foreign audiences on its tourism opportunities, encourage their discovery and revolve around the four E’s – eco, ethno, events and entertainment Dec 10 — “Kazakhstan’s tourism brand was presented to the general public Dec. 7 at Astana’s Travel Media Talks international forum and will soon be submitted for state approval. Tourism industry development is a state policy priority, as indicated by the 100 Concrete Steps to Implement Five Institutional Reforms initiative, the Strategic Development Plan until 2020 and Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy. The Kazakh Tourism national company has been institutionally developing the country’s tourism industry since 2017, and a state law and programme are underway.” READ MORE: https://astanatimes.com/2018/12/kazakh-explorestan-tourism-branding-seeks-to-take-sting-out-of-stan/ Kazakhstan increases oil and gas production Expected volume of oil production in giant Kashagan oilfield in 2018 can reach 13 million tons instead of the planned 12 million tons Dec 11 — “Oil production at Kashagan, the world’s largest oil field at the Kazakh part of the Caspian shelf, for 11 months of the current year amounted to 12 million tons, which is 120.6% higher than the plan for 11 months of the current year, Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said.” READ MORE: https://www.neweurope.eu/article/kazakhstan-increases-oil-and-gas-production/ Russia’s Facebook, Odnoklassniki, launches marketplace in Kazakhstan According to Forbes Kazakhstan, e-commerce penetration is estimated at less than 3% in the country Dec 12 — “Odnoklassniki (OK), a major Russian language social network owned by Mail.Ru Group and sometimes called “Russia’s Facebook,” has launched a marketplace in Kazakhstan in a bid to challenge Chinese and US global e-commerce giants, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN).The OK marketplace intends to make available no less than 30mn items, including fashion items, electronics goods, home appliances, cosmetics, car spare parts and other types of goods.” READ MORE: http://www.intellinews.com/russia-s-facebook-odnoklassniki-launches-marketplace-in-kazakhstan-153577/ Kazakhstan’s AIFC: Off to a Promising Start? The AIFC’s raison d’être is ambitious: to become Kazakhstan’s main financial hub and...
BISHKEK (TCA) — The parliament in Kyrgyzstan has approved in first reading a bill that would eliminate immunity for ex-presidents, potentially opening the path for the prosecution of the country’s former President Almazbek Atambayev, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. A total of 100 lawmakers in the 120-seat chamber voted for the bill on December 13. Two voted against it, and 18 lawmakers were not present. The parliamentary committee for legislation, state structures, and judicial issues approved the bill in late November. The bill needs to be approved in two more readings by the lawmakers before President Sooronbai Jeenbekov can sign it into the law. The vote comes amid persistent tension between Jeenbekov and his predecessor Atambayev — two politicians who used to be known as close allies. In October, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court ruled that the immunity enjoyed by the country's former presidents is unconstitutional. In recent months, some politicians and lawmakers have called for the investigation of some of Atambayev's decisions while in office. Several of his close allies have been arrested on charges of corruption in recent months. Atambayev helped steer Jeenbekov, who had been his prime minister, into the presidency in an October 2017 election. Atambayev has criticized Jeenbekov since March for sacking or arresting a number of his close allies in what he called a “pseudo-anticorruption” campaign. Two Atambayev allies who served as prime ministers when he was president, Sapar Isakov and Jantoro Satybaldiev, were arrested in June on corruption charges. In October, Atambayev's former adviser Ikramjan Ilmiyanov was detained in Russia and brought by Kyrgyz authorities to Bishkek where he was arrested on corruption charges.
BISHKEK (TCA) — As Kyrgyzstan’s ex-President is losing loyalists due to his standoff with the incumbent head of state, he now tries to get new allies. We are republishing this article on the issue, originally published by Eurasianet: The political drama that has gripped Kyrgyzstan over the past few months increasingly looks like it will end in a whimper instead of a bang. The nation’s once-combative former president is doing much of the whimpering. In a roundly mocked December 11 television interview, Almazbek Atambayev spoke of his regrets over how he left things before concluding his single permitted term in office late last year. He picked the wrong man to succeed him, he moaned. And he unjustly hounded that man’s opponent, he lamented. There was a time last year when it seemed a reasonable bet that businessman Omurbek Babanov might win the October presidential election. But Atambayev, eager to help his then-ally Sooronbai Jeenbekov secure the vote, threw every obstacle possible in Babanov’s way. Babanov was thoroughly trashed by pro-government media. State television and dubious pop-up news websites put it about that he was ethnically less than fully Kyrgyz. For safe measure, security services then opened a criminal investigation against Babanov on the grounds that innocuous remarks he had made on the campaign stump were actually incitements to inter-ethnic hatred. Facing likely imprisonment on that count, as well as an additional extravagant charge of coup-plotting, Babanov left the country immediately after the election. The received wisdom is that Atambayev’s plan was to install Jeenbekov as a puppet president and to continue running things from behind the scenes. Much to Atambayev’s dismay, Jeenbekov turned out to have a mind of his own and has easily cowed his predecessor into submission. This has prompted a rethink and self-pitying introspection from Atambayev. “The [criminal cases] against Babanov should be closed. We need to thank him,” he said in a rambling interview with the April television channel, which he owns. The ex-president now even claims that he asked Jeenbekov and two holdover appointees to close the cases against Babanov in the months after he left office. But to no avail. “In the last year did [Babanov] really say something, do something? Did he do anything to disrupt the peace?” Atambayev continued. “On the contrary, it turns out he was deceived by Jeenbekov and I. I feel uncomfortable over this.” This has all generated much snorting derision among the public. Independent outlet Kaktus Media produced a helpful rundown of all the insults Atambayev had hurled at Babanov during the testy political season of 2017. Babanov was a God-cursed provocateur “groveling before money.” He had been “infected by the bacteria” of Kyrgyzstan’s hated and deposed ex-ruling families. And so on and so forth. The change of tack is clearly a remarkably clumsy act of plotting. Atambayev has watched whatever political influence he once had whither away to almost nothing. Since his bust-up with Jeenbekov, he has seen one ally after another slung into jail on corruption charges....
