On May 30 the Kyrgyz police arrested a 25-year-old U.S. citizen, Max Chounlamany, a civilian employee at the Gansi U.S. Air Force base at the Manas airport in Bishkek. Chounlamany was accused of accidentally setting fire to an apartment he rented in Bishkek. The investigation... MORE

Recent showdowns between Kyrgyz Parliament Speaker Adakhan Madumarov and members of Ak Zhol, a pro-regime political party, reveal the intensifying rivalry between two camps among Kyrgyzstan’s political circles. The first camp is informally led by Madumarov, Bishkek Mayor and influential businessman Daniyar Usenov and State... MORE

Two years after the death of criminal kingpin Rysbek Akmatbayev, who controlled organized criminal groups across Kyrgyzstan, the country’s new “thief in law” is 33-year-old Kamchybek Kolbayev (www.24.kg, May 25). Recently crowned in Moscow, Kolbayev, like Akmatbayev before him, has considerable influence over politics and... MORE

Since January Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Prime Minister Igor Chudinov, and Minister of Energy Saparbek Balkibekov have been extensively promoting privatization of Kyrgyzstan’s hydropower sector. Little information about potential investors in the sector or the privatization conditions, however, has been revealed to the public. Even... MORE

On April 24 Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a decree ceding 620 hectares of Kyrgyzstan's northeastern territory to Kazakhstan. The process has been unfolding gradually since 2001, but Bakiyev was only recently able to pass the decree in parliament. What began as a deal between... MORE

On April 18 the Kyrgyz parliament voted to increase the government’s right to privatize public economic sites. The divide in the parliament on this legislative act was obvious: President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s party Ak Zhol voted in favor of privatization, while two opposition parties, the Kyrgyz... MORE

On April 8 the issue of pollution from the U.S. Manas Airbase once again resurfaced in the Kyrgyz Parliament. It was alleged by one member of parliament that foreign military personnel stationed at Manas were polluting the atmosphere, and this view was supported by others... MORE

Kazakhstan’s direct investment in the Kyrgyz economy has been rapidly gaining pace since the early 2000s. Today Kazakhstan’s economic presence is felt throughout northern Kyrgyzstan, from banks to small businesses, cars with Kazakh plates and numerous tourists. For the most, the Kyrgyz are welcoming these... MORE

Following an exceptionally cold winter that made hydropower resources scarce and led to frequent rolling blackouts throughout Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov announced the government’s plans to increase prices for electricity by 13 percent and water by 20 percent. The Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek... MORE

It is hardly a secret that Russia has been unhappy with the U.S. military presence in Central Asia, which was established in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Kremlin’s favored instrument for attempting to dislodge the Pentagon’s presence has been the Shanghai Cooperation... MORE