Country Details

The Kyrgyz Stock Exchange (KSE) was founded in 1994. Until 2000 the exchange functioned in the form of a non-profit membership organization with a total membership of 16. In May 2000 the KSE was transformed into a joint stock company. In 2001 the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange became a shareholder.The Kyrgyz Stock Exchange (KSE) was founded in 1994. Until 2000 the exchange functioned in the form of a non-profit membership organization with a total membership of 16. In May 2000 the KSE was transformed into a joint stock company. In 2001 the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange became a shareholder.

The Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010, also known as the Second Kyrgyz Revolution, began in April 2010 with the ousting of Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev in the capital Bishkek. It was followed by increased ethnic tension involving Kyrgyz people and Uzbeks in the south of the country, which escalated in June 2010. The violence ultimately led to the consolidation of a new parliamentary system in Kyrgyzstan. During the general mayhem, exiles from the Uzbek minority claim they were assaulted and driven to Uzbekistan, with some 400,000 Kyrgyzstani citizens becoming internally displaced.[1] Victims interviewed by media and aid workers testify to mass killing, gang rape, and torture.[2] Then-head of the Interim government Roza Otunbayeva indicated that the death toll is tenfold higher than was previously reported, which brings the number of the dead to 2,000 people. On 9 June violence erupted in the southern city of Osh with ethnic Kyrgyz rioting, attacking minority Uzbeks and lighting their property ablaze. By the 12th the violence had spread to the city of Jalal-Abad. The spreading of the violence required the Russian-endorsed interim government led by Roza Otunbayeva to declare a state of emergency on 12 June, in an attempt to take control of the situation. Uzbekistan launched a limited troop incursion early on, but withdrew and opened its borders to Uzbek refugees. The clashes killed up to 2,000 people, mostly Uzbeks, and another 100,000 were displaced.

In January 2010 Kyrgyzstan sent a delegation to China to discuss improved economic relations. Kyrgyzstan national electric company Natsionalnaya electricheskaya syet and the Chinese Tebian Electric signed a $342 million contract to build the Datka-Kemin 500 kV power transmission lines. This would have reduced Kyrgyzstan's dependence on the Central Asian power system, and energy dependence on Russia. Bakiyev’s son led the delegation. In February 2010 Kyrgyzstan proposed raising energy tariffs. Heating costs were reportedly going to rise by 400% and electricity by 170%. Long-term frustration was building in Kyrgyzstan over the perceived corruption and cronyism in the Bakiyev administration, as well as the country's poor economic situation and a recent rise in utility rates. The sporadic and chaotic protests took many off guards both in Kyrgyzstan and abroad. The Guardian, a British national daily newspaper, published an article on 8 April that suggested the revolt could be dubbed the Fir Tree Revolution after the shrubs that looters dug up from the front garden of Kurmanbek Bakiyev. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Kyrgyzstan on 3 April, and protesters gathered outside the UN's headquarters in the capital of Bishkek to inform Ban Ki-moon of the media situation. A small group of protesters then moved to the center of town, but were stopped by police.

Russia backed Bakiyev's government until March 2010. The Eurasian Daily Monitor reported on 1 April that, for two weeks, the Kremlin had used the Russian mass media to run a negative campaign against Bakiyev. Russia controls much of the media in Kyrgyzstan. The campaign sought to associate Bakiyev and his son, Maxim Bakiyev, with an allegedly corrupt businessman whose company had worked in a government project. It quoted that an arrest warrant had been issued in early March by Italian judge Aldo Morgigni for Eugene Gourevitch, a Kyrgyz-American who was accused of defrauding Telecom Italia. Gourevitch was at the time the managing director of a consulting agency that advised Kyrgyzstan's Development Fund, which in turn was managed by the Central Agency run by Maxim. The government soon began closing independent news outlets that reported on Gourevitch affair. Two newspapers were shut down on 18 March. Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz-language service of RFE/RL, went off the air shortly afterward. The opposition newspaper Forum was shut on 31 March, and the independent website Stan.tv had its equipment removed on 1 April. The sudden campaign coincided with Bakiyev's failure to carry out Russia's various demands related to things such as military bases. On 1 April Russia also imposed duties on energy exports to Kyrgyzstan, claiming that a customs union between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan had forced it. It influenced fuel and transport prices immediately, and reportedly led to a massive protest in Talas on 6 April.

Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's 5.7 million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. The official language, Kyrgyz, is closely related to the other Turkic languages, although Russian remains widely spoken, a legacy of a century-long policy of Russification. The majority of the population (64 percent) is non-denominational Muslims. In addition to its Turkic origins, Kyrgyz culture bears elements of Persian, Mongolian and Russian influence. In October 1991, Akayev ran unopposed and was elected president of the new independent Republic by direct ballot, receiving 95 percent of the votes cast. Together with the representatives of seven other Republics that same month, he signed the Treaty of the New Economic Community. Finally, on 21 December 1991, Kyrgyzstan joined with the other four Central Asian Republics to formally enter the new Commonwealth of Independent States. Kyrgyzstan gained full independence a few days later on 25 December 1991. The following day, on 26 December 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. In 1992, Kyrgyzstan joined the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). On 5 May 1993, the official name changed from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to the Kyrgyz Republic. In 2005, a popular uprising known as the "Tulip Revolution", took place after the parliamentary elections in March 2005, forced President Askar Akayev's resignation on 4 April 2005. Opposition leaders formed a coalition, and a new government was formed under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Prime Minister Feliks Kulov. The nation's capital was looted during the protests.

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The som is the currency of the Kyrgyz Republic. The ISO 4217 currency code is KGS. The som is sub-divided into 100 tyiyns. After the collapse of the Soviet Union attempts were made by most republics to maintain a common currency. Certain politicians were hoping to at the very least maintain "special relations" among former Soviet republics, or the "near abroad". Another reason was the economic considerations for maintaining the ruble zone. The wish to preserve the strong trade relations between former Soviet republics was considered the most important goal. The break-up of the Soviet Union was not accompanied by any formal changes in monetary arrangements. The Central Bank of Russia was authorized to take over the State Bank of the USSR (Gosbank) on 1 January 1992. It continued to ship USSR ruble notes and coins to the central banks of the fourteen newly independent countries, which had formerly been the main branches of Gosbank in the republics. The political situation, however, was not favorable for maintaining a common currency. Maintaining a common currency requires a strong political consensus in respect to monetary and fiscal targets, a common institution in charge of implementing these targets, and some minimum of common legislation (concerning the banking and foreign exchange regulations). These conditions were far from being met amidst the turbulent economic and political situation.

During the first half of 1992, a monetary union with 15 independent states all using the ruble existed. Since it was clear that the situation would not last, each of them was using its position as "free-riders" to issue huge amounts of money in the form of credit. As a result, some countries were issuing coupons in order to "protect" their markets from buyers from other states. The Russian central bank responded in July 1992 by setting up restrictions to the flow of credit between Russia and other states. The final collapse of the ruble zone began when Russia pulled out with the exchange of banknotes by the Central Bank of Russia on Russian territory at the end of July 1993. The som was introduced on May 10, 1993, replacing the Soviet ruble at a rate of 1 som = 200 rubles. Initially, only banknotes were issued, coins were not introduced until 2008.

On 10 May 1993, the government issued 1, 10 and 50 tyiyn notes and the Kyrgyzstan Bank issued notes for 1, 5 and 20 som. In 1994, the Kyrgyz Bank issued a second series of notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 som. A third series followed from 1997 onwards in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 som. A fourth series was issued in 2009 and 2010 in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, and 5000 som. Starting in 1997 a new series of banknotes was introduced with similar themes, but enhanced design, compared to the previous series. In January 2008 coins of 1 and 5 som and in December 2009 coins of 10 som where introduced. As a result, the production of banknotes of these values ceased. The banknotes were however not removed from circulation, but are instead being phased out. In January 2008 the Kyrgyz National Bank estimated that within 2 years the 1 and 5 som banknotes would have almost completely disappeared from circulation. In 2009 the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic issued a 5000 som note. Later new editions for 20, 50 and 100 som denominations followed. Among other things, these notes have enhanced security features compared to the previous series.