Iskender Sharsheyev

Tuesday, April 22, 2025 – 15:34 “Under the old Land Code, you could be granted 4 sotkas for individual housing construction” The Bishkek City Hall wants to ban the allocation of land plots for individual housing construction. This was stated by Deputy Mayor Azamat Kadyrov. “Of course, each municipality decides for itself how much land should be allocated for low-rise and high-rise development,” economist Iskender Sharsheev said in an interview with Vesti.kg. “Under the old Land Code, you could be granted 4 sotkas [approx. 400 m²] for individual housing construction if you didn’t own a home. Some residents waited for years, but it was possible.” The expert agrees—construction companies greatly benefit from building high-rise apartments. “They want to accommodate more people. City Hall talks about vertical growth. Given the housing shortage, this policy is understandable. On the other hand, the lack of urban planners in the country and in municipalities is becoming evident. Dense...

April 18, 2025 – 10:05 Kyrgyzstan has committed to transitioning to a green economy. To support this, special measures are being introduced to assist small and medium-sized enterprises. These primarily include tax incentives and improved access to energy-efficient technologies. Many of these tools have indeed been implemented and have gained popularity in the country. However, experts point out that most people use these incentives simply because it’s financially beneficial — not necessarily because they care about environmental issues. Few reflect on the fact that the true goal of these measures is environmental protection. This is one area where the government should increase awareness. Additionally, many citizens are unaware of the full range of incentives available. They might have used them — if someone had told them what benefits were on offer. Unison Group conducted a special study on the barriers and incentives for adopting green solutions in Kyrgyzstan. The company’s Busi...

Tuesday, April 15, 2025 – 18:55 The financial institution has been granted the rights to carry out operations for six months. In Kyrgyzstan, all large ruble transfers to Russia have been placed under the control of a single bank for six months — OJSC "Capital Bank of Central Asia." The rights to conduct all cross-border transfers and exchange operations for individuals and legal entities to and from Russia in amounts exceeding 3 million rubles were granted to Capital Bank CA starting from April 14 for cash transactions, and from May 1 for non-cash transactions. This decision was made by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic back on March 17. According to experts, in 2024, transfers from Russia to Kyrgyzstan accounted for 93% of all incoming funds — approximately $2.8 billion. In the opposite direction, from Kyrgyzstan to the Russian Federation, the amount was $370 million (83% of all outgoing funds). The concentration of money transfers in a single bank has ra...

Thursday, April 10, 2025, 13:08 Expert Comments on Anticipated Price Changes Stock markets in Europe, the US, and Asia collapsed following the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and investor fears about the onset of a global recession. At the beginning of trading, the S&P 500 fell by 4.71% to 4835.16 points. NASDAQ Composite dropped by 5.15% to 14785.47 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 4.44%, reaching 36613.16 points. Earlier, Asian stock markets plunged. The MSCI Asia Pacific index fell by 8.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index crashed by more than 13%, Taiwan's technology stock index lost 9.7%, and Japan’s Topix and Nikkei indexes dropped 7.8%. Additionally, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange fell by 5.5%, while exchanges in Stockholm and Copenhagen dropped by nearly 7%. On Monday, April 7, the main index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany’s largest and one of the world's leading exchanges, also collapsed. On Tuesday, Donald Trump increas...

What rare earth elements are found in Kyrgyzstan, and what are Bishkek’s plans for their development? These questions are becoming increasingly relevant as rare earth elements (REEs) emerge as a major topic at the upcoming Central Asia–EU Summit, to be held in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) on April 3–4. In recent years, global interest in Central Asia’s rare earth reserves has surged. China, the United States, and the European Union are intensifying their competition for access to these strategic resources. EU Interest During his visit to Central Asia in March 2024, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Jozef Síkela, emphasized the importance of rare earth elements in discussions with regional leaders. In his meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on March 17, Síkela stated that Brussels places particular importance on interregional cooperation in rare earth metals, a topic that will feature prominently at the EU–Central Asia summit. In an interview with RFE/RL, Sík...