14:33, 11 февраля 2020, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Jazgul MASALIEVA
Discrepancies in trade turnover data between Kyrgyzstan and China amount to more than $ 3 billion. The Chairman of the State Customs Service of Kyrgyzstan Altynbek Torutaev told at a meeting of the deputy commission for investigation of murder of a Chinese businessman Aierken Saimaiti.
According to him, in 2019, imports of goods from China amounted to $ 1,942 billion. This is the statistics of the customs authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic. According to Chinese statistics, goods for $ 5 billion have been exported into Kyrgyzstan by the PRC.
«We are interested in comparing the data, but the Chinese side, proceeding from its internal laws, does not reveal the full picture to us. As you know, they indicate products by weight. They classify goods only according to four categories, and we have ten categories. Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States also have discrepancies in data on foreign trade with China,» the head of the SCS said.
«For example, according to China, 70,000 high-altitude cranes have been imported into the Kyrgyz Republic, and according to our information, there are only 30 such cranes intended for construction in Kyrgyzstan,» he added.
The issue of discrepancies in figures was raised by a deputy Talant Mamytov.
Aierken Saimaiti was killed in Istanbul on November 10. He was shot at while he was sitting in a cafe in Fatih area. After publication of a photograph of Saimaiti with some Kyrgyz politicians, the Parliament decided to investigate his murder.
The journalistic investigation into smuggling and corruption at the Customs caused massive public outcry.
The Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case and entrusted an interdepartmental investigation team with investigation.