“Moving the capital to Manas will cost about 16–17 billion dollars in the first stage”

Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 10:08 The city will become the third of national significance in 2026. Relocating the capital to Jalal-Abad region could have a positive impact on the congestion of the current capital. Bishkek is now overpopulated, which is evident from worsening traffic jams, uncontrolled construction, water supply shortages, and other issues, said economist Iskender Sharsheev in an interview with Vesti.kg. “The city is developing and expanding. The authorities have many projects aimed at attracting investors — some have already been implemented. Bishkek is gradually expanding both westward and eastward. These same resources could be redirected to the Jalal-Abad region for the development of Manas. Organizationally, this is difficult, but if there is political will, it can be done,” he said. The expert believes that transferring part of Bishkek’s functions to Manas would ease the load on the capital. “I think the capital could be relieved. We now see traffic jams, a shortage of places in kindergartens and schools. The city feels overcrowded, tension is rising. This way, Bishkek residents would gain more everyday comfort. On the other hand, all major financial and political projects would move to Manas, and Bishkek residents would lose that. But, as the experience of Almaty shows, it continues to develop even after the capital moved to Astana. The same officials who must work in the capital spend five days there and come to Almaty on weekends. In Kazakhstan, the distance is greater and they can afford flights; here, it’s possible to travel by car,” said Iskender Sharsheev. According to him, although social institutions and infrastructure are already established in Bishkek, their transfer to Manas would not take much time — from three to seven or eight years. He also estimated the preliminary costs at the initial stage of Manas’s development. “In 2012, I calculated the value of capital in Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek then had about 70 billion dollars in real estate. Since then, it has doubled, even 2.5 times. Now about 120–130 billion dollars of capital is concentrated in Bishkek. Moving logistics and state institutions to Manas will cost about 16–17 billion dollars at the first stage. That’s the same amount being spent in Bishkek on its growth. The difference is that Bishkek’s growth has objective reasons, while in Manas, political will would play the decisive role,” the economist believes. As a reminder, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and head of the State Committee for National Security Kamchybek Tashiev said in an interview with the Ala-Too channel that granting Manas the status of capital is quite possible. He also announced that next year, in 2026, Manas will become the third city in Kyrgyzstan of republican significance. Later, former Prime Minister Felix Kulov proposed granting Manas the status of judicial capital, as well as relocating part of the ministries, agencies, and major state corporations there. Source: Vesti.kg – “Moving the capital to Manas will cost about 16–17 billion dollars in the first stage”