With each sip, beer drinkers in Kazakhstan can now help their country’s endangered fauna. One of Kazakhstan’s major breweries is donating two tenge (about 1.3 US cents) to the protection of golden eagles with the purchase of each souvenir can of its Karagandinskoye Pivo.
Clearly, Kazakhs like their beer: Since July the campaign has raised more than 2.6 million tenge ($17,220) to support the activities of the Almaty-based Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary and the Institute of Zoology of Kazakhstan, the company says.
The distinctive, limited-edition cans are decorated with a colorful golden eagle, the endangered bird of prey that has iconic status in Kazakhstan. An eagle adorns the national flag and eagle hunting is an important Kazakh tradition. The golden eagle is also the symbol of the Karaganda-based brewery behind the promotion.
The campaign's proceeds are helping the Institute of Zoology identify existing eagle habitats and pinpoint why numbers are declining. A survey conducted in four mountainous regions in mid-2012 found over 650 golden eagle couples, and scientists estimate the total number of pairs in Kazakhstan to be around 1500.
However, golden eagles numbers in the wild have been falling in recent years as a result of illegal poaching and habitat destruction.
Bishkek-based writer Chris Rickleton's wonderful recent Eurasianet article about the booming domestic beer scene in Kyrgyzstan left me thirsting for more information. Rickleton, a former editor of the Bishkek-based English-language tourism and culture magazine "The Spektator," which was founded by Tom Wellings, was kind enough to answer some follow-up questions that I sent him. Our exchange is below:
1. How did you come about this story?
Wherever I live or travel to, I always make a point of trying local produce, be it beer, cheese or otherwise. In Kyrgyzstan the cheese situation is pretty dire, but happily, local beers aren't bad at all. Moreover, in the nearly four years I have been here, the number of local brews available at cafes and 'beer stations' like Pinta has grown noticeably. In 2008, it was difficult to find anything besides Russian beer on the shelves in grocery stores and Arpa was practically alone in flying the Kyrgyz flag in Bishkek's cafes. That just isn't the case anymore. I was particularly interested by the rise of microbreweries like "Venskoye" and "Chuiskoye" that have managed to stay in business over the last few years, despite political turbulence and a struggling economy. A lot of the news that comes out of Kyrgyzstan is bad news, so I wanted to do an article on what appeared to be a local success story.
2. Were you able to pinpoint anything specific that helped launch this Kyrgyz microbrew moment?
Don’t laugh yet, but Tajiks are suddenly the envy of beer drinkers across the United Kingdom.
Tajikistan serves the cheapest lager anywhere, London’s Daily Mail has reported. In the northern town of Khujand, a pint costs a “mouthwatering” 29 pence (about $0.45). In the capital, Dushanbe, it’s only a few cents more. Beer lovers in Tajikistan pay even less than their counterparts in Burundi and North Korea, says the paper.
The data come from pintprice.com, a crowdsourcing project where users around the world share their local beer prices. The site describes its statistics as “an important economic indicator.”
EurasiaNet.org can confirm that half a liter (just a tad more than a pint) of Dushanbinskoye sourced directly from the Pivzavod (brewery) in the center of the capital does cost only $0.40 as reported. And if you’re reading this in Greenland (the most expensive place to have a pint at $11.50) or the UK ($4.54), cover those tearful eyes: One regular visitor to the Pivzavod has the nerve to complain that the price has doubled over the past two years. (Costlier imports are still cheaper than British brews, with a 50cl bottle of Russian beer at a Dushanbe café setting you back approximately $2.10 and at the fanciest joints about $3.75. Wholesale, at the train station, that bottle is about $1.)
