Should Entrepreneurs Worry? Business Inspections Resume in Kyrgyzstan

Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 12:53 “Entrepreneurs have always been inspected, even during COVID-19.” The recent lifting of the moratorium on business inspections in the Kyrgyz Republic poses no significant threat to honest entrepreneurs who operate legally and transparently. This is according to economist Iskender Sharsheev, who spoke with Vesti.kg about the updated inspection conditions for businesses. “In reality, if an entrepreneur runs a legal business, pays taxes on time, and files reports properly, they have nothing to fear. The Tax Service has a special, extensively funded program that flags any violations automatically. Law-abiding businesses aren’t included on the inspection register and are rarely checked—unless they’re involved in high-risk activities like producing alcohol, chemicals, or explosives,” Sharsheev explained. Under Kyrgyz Republic laws and regulations, businesses that operate in compliance with the rules are typically inspected once every five years or even less frequently. “However, if discrepancies or suspicious amounts appear in reports, those businesses may face inspections—usually within a two-month period. This inspection system continued even during COVID-19. Before 2015, agencies often used inspections to crack down on entrepreneurs, checking them almost daily. Now it’s different. The cancellation of the moratorium is largely a formality. That said, other bodies besides the Tax Service also conduct inspections, and they don’t share the same system. As a result, they may now begin inspecting businesses more rigorously,” the economist noted. At the end of February 2025, the moratorium on entrepreneur inspections—implemented in January 2024—was officially lifted. However, all relevant authorities are required to provide advance notice to any businesses they plan to inspect. Find out more: Link to Vesti.kg article