Kyrgyzstan: The Kremlin Pays Up on Assistance Pledge

Officials in Kyrgyzstan confirmed on April 1 that Russia followed through on a key assistance commitment that many political analysts say figured in Bishkek's decision to revoke the lease to an American air base.

The director of Kyrgyzstan's Central Treasury, Said Zulpuyev, announced that Russia had wired $150 million to the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan, the Kazakhstan Today news agency reported. "This morning the National Bank formally notified us that $150 million was wired to bank accounts of Kyrgyzstan," Zulpuyev was quoted as saying.

On March 31, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced at the meeting of the Investment Council of Kyrgyzstan that the $150 million Russian grant, along with a preferential credit of $300 million expected to be made available in the coming weeks, would be spent only on business projects and creating jobs.

The funds were pledged by Russia during Bakiyev's visit to Moscow last February. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In addition to the $150 million in outright financial aid, Moscow pledged an additional $1.7 billion to build two hydro electric stations, Kambarata-1 and Kambarata-2, in energy-hungry Kyrgyzstan. Just hours after Russia announced the aid package to Bishkek, Bakiyev revealed that he would initiate the process to evict American forces and their allies from the Manas air base outside the capital.

In March, the Russian parliament, or Duma, allocated the funds for the Kyrgyz construction projects.