This week it was announced that almost all enterprises operating in the country are small, that trade with Turkey may double, that the dismantling of the costs of building an alternative road will continue, which despite the fact that many products are still banned from export , some species have been given permission to sell abroad.
At the same time, it became known that investments reduced the inflow into the country, but at the same time the outflow of funds increased, government agencies tried to explain the rise in prices for some products, in particular carrots, and the antimonopoly service continues to work to curb prices for basic food products.
Overall, the business week was a clear example of the ongoing process of difficulties associated with the collapse of the global economy due to the pandemic, although it showed some lumen.
Number of enterprises. In January-March 2021, about 12 thousand enterprises operated on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, of which 94% were small enterprises.
According to data of the National Statistics Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic, almost 60% of the small enterprises operate in Bishkek.
As of April 1, 2021, about 423 thousand individual entrepreneurs were operating, which is 2% more compared to the same date of the previous year.
In January-March 2021, more than 78 thousand people were employed in small and medium-sized enterprises, which is 3% more than in the first quarter of last year.
The volume of gross value added produced by small and medium-sized businesses in January-March 2021 amounted to KGS 38.2 billion and increased by 3% compared to the corresponding period of last year. At the same time, its share in the volume of GDP remained unchanged.
Alternative road. The first meeting of the temporary deputy commission to study the issue related to the construction of an alternative North-South road was held this week in Bishkek.
The road construction project is divided into several phases. For each site, information was provided by representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Representatives of the Accounts Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic provided information on financial violations related to the construction of an alternative road "North-South".
Deputy Shailoobek Atazov outlined questions about the terms of the loan agreement for this project and the costs of building 1 km of the road. Representatives of the Ministry of Transport noted that more than USD 2 million are needed for the new construction of 1 km of the road, and more than USD 1 million for the reconstruction. “The cost of building a road depends on its complexity,” said representatives of the Ministry of Transport.
Billions with Turks. It is quite possible to bring the trade between Kyrgyzstan and Turkey to USD 1 billion, Doctor of Economics Tolonbek Abdyrov told.
He recalled that before the pandemic, trade with Turkey reached almost USD 500 million.
“The president of Kyrgyzstan, during his visit to Turkey, said in his speech that the Ministry of Investments was specially created to attract investments. Why don't investors come to us, not only from Turkey? They are afraid that after they invest, no one will give them guarantees. Therefore, the president in his decree gave the answer to all these questions. All investors will be under the protection and supervision of this ministry,” he said.
In addition, the economist noted the need to build good relationships with business in order to increase joint ventures.
“We need to use the experience of Turkey. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, many European countries tried to capture them. But they got out. Turkey now has the 18th economy in the world, with a GDP of nearly USD 1 trillion. Their 58% of GDP is occupied by the tourism sector. The sphere of providing services at the highest level. We have to learn all this from them,” he said.
Reduced investments. The inflow of foreign direct investment in January-March 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 decreased by 24.4% and amounted to USD 112.1 million.
According to data of the National Statistics Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic this week, in the structure of foreign direct investment compared to the first quarter of last year, there was a decrease in the inflow of all components, except for loans received from non-residents, the volume of which increased 3.3 times.
The bulk of foreign direct investment (about 91%) is directed to exploration, mining, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, as well as financial intermediation and insurance. At the same time, the volume of investments in geological exploration increased by 7.4 times, mining enterprises - by 3.1 times, wholesale and retail trade - by 18.1%, while investments in manufacturing enterprises decreased by 7.7 times, financial intermediation and insurance - 2.9 times.
Investment outflow. It was announced this week that the outflow of foreign direct investment in January-March 2021 increased by 16% compared to January-March 2020 and amounted to USD 479.1 million.
The National Statistics Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic calculated that the outflow exceeded the inflow level by USD 367 million.
In the structure of foreign direct investment, compared with the corresponding period of 2020, there was an increase in the outflow of equity capital by 5.5%, as well as in reinvested profit - by 2.5 times (the volume of which depends on the retained profit (loss) of the enterprise and paid dividends).
National debt of Kyrgyzstan. As of April 30, 2021, the size of the public debt (external + internal) of Kyrgyzstan amounted to USD 4 billion 933.06 million.
According to information from the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Kyrgyzstan, of which:
- 84.8% is the state external debt: USD 4,182.95 million;
- 15.2% is the state internal debt: USD 750.11 million.
Export permit. It was announced this week that Kyrgyz farmers will be able to export live cattle and small ruminants from July 8 outside the customs territory of the EAEU.
According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Regional Development of Kyrgyzstan Ilic Marsbek uulu, amendments were made to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic "On the introduction of a temporary ban on the export (export) of certain types of agricultural goods from the Kyrgyz Republic outside the customs territory of the EAEU" cattle and small ruminants outside the Union.
"In turn, the ban on the export of certain types of agricultural products will be in effect until the end of 2021," he said.
The ban will help stabilize the situation in the country's domestic food market by preventing a critical shortage of agricultural products and raising their prices.
Earlier, in accordance with the resolution of the Government "On the introduction of a temporary ban on the export of certain types of agricultural goods from the Kyrgyz Republic outside the customs territory of the EAEU", a temporary ban was established on the export of certain types of agricultural goods from the Kyrgyz Republic outside the customs territory of the EAEU.
The temporary ban is established for a period of six months from January 8 to July 8, 2021 on the following agricultural products:
- crop products - wheat, barley, corn, rice, feed;
- food and processing industry products - wheat flour, vegetable oil, granulated sugar;
- livestock products
- chicken egg.
- fodder crops (hay, straw, compound feed, bran and grain).
Also, the ban applies to large and small ruminants, poultry.
Rise in price of carrots. The rise in prices for carrots in Kyrgyzstan is associated with a large number of exports of the product to Kazakhstan and Russia.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Regional Development of the Kyrgyz Republic Ilich Marsbek uulu told at a press conference at Kabar Agency.
According to statistical data in 2019, 13 thousand tons of carrots were exported from Kyrgyzstan to Russia. In total, according to the Department of Plant Quarantine, 1 million 87 thousand tons of plant products were exported in 2019.
“In turn, despite the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we exported 31 thousand tons of carrots, which is 2.5 times more than in 2019,” he said.
The deputy minister also explained that with the growth of exports, prices increased accordingly.
“However, we expect a drop in prices in the near future. This price increase is seasonal. After the harvest in July, prices will decline,” said Marsbek uulu.
Rising prices and anti-monopoly. The State Agency for Antimonopoly Regulation of the Kyrgyz Republic is carrying out intensive analytical work to maintain prices for socially significant goods.
Director of the State Agency Keneshbai Tailakov believes that due to the pandemic, there is a strong increase in prices for socially important goods in the world markets and the EAEU countries. This, in turn, had an impact on the domestic market. To date, a sharp rise in prices has occurred for sunflower oil, granulated sugar, eggs and carrots. In this regard, in Kyrgyzstan, state regulation was introduced for vegetable oil and granulated sugar, by establishing maximum levels of trade markups, in the northern regions - no more than 10%, in the southern regions - no more than 13%.
“To date, 48 inspections have been carried out across the republic in 313 retail outlets. Among them, 23 facts of unauthorized overstatement of prices for butter and sugar were revealed. Appropriate measures have been taken on them. We also monitor prices on the markets of neighboring countries on an ongoing basis. Since there is a monopoly on the sugar market represented by Kaindy Kant OJSC, whose activities are under the control of the State Agency,” Tailakov said.
Waiting for price stabilization. The leadership of the State Agency for Antimonopoly Regulation under the Ministry of Economic Finance of Kyrgyzstan and employees of the department for the city of Bishkek and Chui region took measures to prevent unreasonable price increases in the Sary Ozon and Orto-Sai markets.
In the course of a working visit with market dealers, explanatory work was carried out to prevent unjustified growth in prices for carrots, potatoes and other vegetables.
In the near future, prices will stabilize, as there is a new harvest, the antimonopoly authority claims.
Antimonopoly measures are being taken against large players in the carrot market to prevent unjustified price increases and to comply with the requirements of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Competition".
It was announced that employees of the antimonopoly body conduct daily explanatory work in markets and retail chains throughout the Kyrgyz Republic.
Kabar News Agency
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