Kyrgyzstan

Every bus driver in Bishkek is monitored online via video cameras, said Bishkek Passenger Transport Company chief engineer Artur Omurzakov

The goal for 2024-2025 is to install an automated meter reading and monitoring system for all consumers, introducing differentiated electricity tariffs starting then next year; an appropriate regulatory framework is already being prepared

Kyrgyz officials are now calling for the 2019 uranium mining ban to be lifted, while populist President Sadyr Japarov continues to pursue state production in the extractive industries he first supported more than a decade ago as an opposition politician

Bishkek has officially become larger after the deputies at the last session of the City Council have approved the annexation of surrounding territories determined by presidential decree

Over 95% of Kyrgyzstan's water resources are used for irrigation and agricultural consumption, according to the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry

Reporters Without Borders called on Coalition for Media Freedom to take action against the liquidation of Kloop Media, known for its news website and journalistic investigations, after the Oktyabrsky District Court decided on 9 February to close it down

The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan entered the foreign exchange market for the first time since October 2023 and conducted its first intervention this year

Seven newly sworn Peace Corps Response Volunteers will begin a one-year assignment as ecotourism marketing specialists in Naryn, Issyk-Kul, Jalal-Abad, Osh and Chui, working with partners of the Kyrgyz Community Tourism Association

A new bus station was inaugurated in Bishkek at the intersection of the ring road and Alma-Ata Street to relocate the eastern bus station; it is served by minibuses that transport citizens to the different regions

During the best performing nine months of 2023, the country exported 9,9 tons of gold, or which 8 tons exported to Switzerland

The government has decided to remove the sunflower from the national flag, considered a symbol of servility; demonstrations have been banned in the centre of the capital, but on social media thousands of citizens say they are against the change

Water reservoirs and water basins will be built to address the country's water shortage; the reservoir construction programme will last until 2027

Hundreds of vendors in markets across the country demonstrated to protest the government's plan to introduce a new taxation system as of 1 January, which will increase taxes, demanding that the previous system, based on a fixed annual amount, be retained