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What does Japarov intend to discuss with Putin? Interview with Foreign Minister

All the presidents of Kyrgyzstan began international contacts with their first official visit to the Russian Federation. Sadyr Japarov was not an exception. He will travel to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin at the end of February.

Russia is a strategic partner of our country. All the presidents always and everywhere emphasize this.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Ruslan Kazakbaev agreed to answer questions from 24.kg news agency before the first important for the new government political event.

— Ruslan Aitbaevich, experts call the forthcoming first official visit of the President Sadyr Japarov to Moscow strategically correct, since the Russian Federation is one of the main partners and allies of Kyrgyzstan. Can you name the main topics of the talks between the presidents of the two countries, what is important to solve first of all for the official Bishkek?

— I support the opinion of experts about the importance of the first foreign visit of the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov to Russia and I think this is quite understandable.

Russia is our reliable ally and long-term strategic partner. Russia has always been and will be a key partner for us in international politics, security, economic and cultural development issues. We act from a unified position within the framework of international organizations and regional integration associations. These are, first of all, the CIS, EAEU, CSTO, SCO.

Kyrgyzstan highly appreciates the humanitarian and technical assistance provided by Russia and is grateful for assistance in resolving the post-election political crisis on October 5-10, 2020 in our country.

I would like to specially note that Kyrgyzstan is one of the few countries of the former Soviet Union, where the status of the Russian language is officially enshrined in the Constitution and laws of the country. The Russian language is represented in all spheres of life in Kyrgyzstan: in the media sphere, the education system, healthcare, and cultural life.

We are doing a lot so that the Russian-speaking population in our country can fully satisfy their spiritual, social, cultural and scientific needs. We value the fact that Kyrgyzstan and Russia are in a single language space.

The first visit of the head of state to Russia, of course, will be aimed at strengthening friendship between the two peoples, development of long-term allied relations, establishing direct contacts and laying the foundations for the further development of strategic partnership, building interaction in an atmosphere of complete mutual understanding and trust.

Topical issues of security in the political, trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian spheres are on the agenda of the current Kyrgyz-Russian negotiations.

We intend to take an inventory of the existing agreements and determine strategic guidelines for further cooperation.

Our cultural and humanitarian ties, as well as issues of migration interaction will certainly become a separate topic of the talks.

In Moscow, we intend to discuss the provision of grant assistance, loan funds through the EFSD, technical assistance within the EAEU, cooperation to combat the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

We will also discuss switch to the national currency in mutual settlements, resumption of projects for the construction of hydropower projects, further promotion of projects for phased development of the railway network in the Kyrgyz Republic.

In addition, the issues of stepping up industrial cooperation will be discussed, including through creation of joint ventures, trade and logistics centers in the Kyrgyz Republic, full resumption of regular air and rail communication.

It is worth noting that, despite the ratification of international treaties and a serious negotiation process, some projects in the energy sector were not financially supported on the part of the Russian side and were therefore suspended. As part of the upcoming visit, we intend to discuss resumption of work on these projects.

— We regularly ask different countries, including Russia, for assistance. Does President Sadyr Japarov intend to ask for it this time and for what needs?

— The new leadership of the country is committed to fundamental reforms that will be difficult to implement without international support. We are grateful to our partners, and above all Russia, for the multi-format assistance rendered practically from the first days of our independence. For example, the Russian side recently made a positive decision on providing gratuitous technical assistance to the Kyrgyz Republic for development of the tax administration system and creation of a system for labeling of goods by identification means. In addition, the Russian Federation annually allocates grants for implementation of socio-economic projects and stabilization of the economy.

The unstable political situation in our country, the lack of real reforms, corruption and penetration of criminals into all spheres of life and government systems do not allow us to make a breakthrough in socio-economic development.

Ruslan Kazakbaev

Issues of providing by the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development of concessional credit funds in the amount of $ 100 million to Kyrgyzstan will be discussed. These funds will be used to take anti-crisis measures to support the economy, the social sector and leveling risks in the financial and macroeconomic spheres.

— The problem of smog worries the inhabitants of the country. The situation becomes even more dangerous from year to year. Will the issue of reducing the gas price set for our country by Gazprom be discussed during the talks?

— It is generally known that the cost of a cubic meter of natural gas for Kyrgyzstan is the highest among all the EAEU countries.

Taking into account the pronounced dynamics of the decline in world prices for energy resources, the issue of reducing the natural gas rate is one of the main topics of the Kyrgyz-Russian negotiations.

We also intend to propose a discussion of the possibility of switching to settlements in the national currency instead of the dollar. The Kyrgyz side raised this issue at the high-level meetings held in 2020. This issue was discussed, among other things, during my meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on October 23 last year.

To ensure environmental safety of the capital, the issue of switch of Bishkek HPP to natural gas is currently being studied. In this regard, the Gazprom group of companies is invited to consider the possibility of joint rehabilitation of the capital’s HPP and its switch to natural gas.

— Kyrgyzstan, perhaps, remains the only country in the CIS where vaccination against coronavirus infection has not yet begun. Our officials periodically report on this or that vaccine planned for vaccination of Kyrgyzstanis. Russia was one of the first to offer Sputnik-V. How far have the negotiations progressed, what is barring its delivery? Are there any special conditions for delivery of the vaccine to the Kyrgyz Republic?

— Kyrgyzstan is interested in receiving the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine, which has successfully passed clinical trials and is already registered in many countries of the world. Russian science has once again confirmed its leading positions in the scientific field, demonstrated its potential to the whole world. I would especially like to note that Russian products are traditionally trusted by the Kyrgyzstanis. This is all the more important when it comes to human health and life. The issue of vaccine supplies to Kyrgyzstan was discussed at the level of state bodies of the two countries in December last year. Consultations were held at various levels.

In January this year, a message was sent to the Russian President Vladimir Putin on behalf of the acting President, Speaker of the Parliament Talant Mamytov on allocation of 500,000 doses of the vaccine against COVID-19 for the needs of Kyrgyzstan.

Currently, the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic is working on certification of the Russian vaccines Sputnik-V and EpiVacCorona.

After completion of this procedure, our competent departments will continue to further study the issues related to the organization of vaccines delivery.

In addition, the responsible government agencies are considering sending of our specialists to Russia to study Russian experience in production of vaccines against COVID-19.

— The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic again returned to discussion of the need to create and open a biological laboratory. This project has supporters and opponents. Will this issue be discussed in Moscow?

— The EAEU countries are constantly facing new challenges. In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has radically changed almost all aspects of the life of every citizen, not only in the countries of our region, but also, without exaggeration, every inhabitant of our planet. Therefore, it is quite understandable that all countries of the world put the issue of biosafety in the first place today. At the same time, more and more questions are being voiced, including about the artificial or natural origin of COVID-19 virus. The topic of biosafety is gaining more and more relevance for the EAEU countries, and this issue was already raised in December 2020 in the CSTO and SCO formats. As far as it is known, foreign biological laboratories are already operating on the territory of some countries of the former USSR. At the same time, the emerging outbreaks of epidemics in these countries are often associated with the presence of such laboratories. There are opinions that some biological laboratories are used not only by scientists, but also by military biologists, and they produce and test strains of various and very dangerous infectious diseases.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a group of scientists and public figures in Kyrgyzstan have also begun raising the issue of expediency of stepping up work with Western partners on building a third-level biolaboratory in our country.

However, there are great doubts among the public, scientists and intellectuals in Kyrgyzstan about the feasibility and, most importantly, safety of the construction of such facilities. In particular, they cite such arguments as the danger of «leaks» and the emergence of outbreaks of one or another epidemic, as well as the likelihood that military and geopolitical interests of individual countries are behind such biological laboratories.

If such arguments are justified, then the appearance of such a biolaboratory in Kyrgyzstan could potentially lead to catastrophic consequences for the country and the Central Asian region as a whole.

There are many reasons for this: the unstable internal political situation in our country, difficult economic situation, the low level of training of specialists at all levels. As we all made sure in 2020, epidemics have no boundaries. Taking this into account, our closest neighbors are very wary of the possible fact of the appearance of a biological laboratory in Kyrgyzstan, for who this issue, as well as for Kyrgyzstan, is also a matter of national security. We understand this.

Since 2018, the Russian side has been negotiating with the CIS countries on whose territory biological laboratories are located. To date, ensuring biosafety in the Eurasian space is a priority issue in a broader regional context, including for the CSTO. This issue is in the sphere of close attention of the leadership of the SCO countries. It will also be one of the main ones within the framework of Russia — Central Asia new interstate dialogue format.

In turn, Kyrgyzstan supports Russia’s initiatives to ensure biosafety in the post-Soviet space. Together with our allies, we must make every effort and take the necessary practical measures to ensure the security of all countries that are members of the EAEU, CSTO, SCO. Although the issue of biological laboratories in Kyrgyzstan is not on the agenda of the upcoming visit of the head of state to Moscow, I cannot rule out that, in general, the issue of biological safety, given its high relevance, will still be discussed in one context or another by the leaders of our states.

— Is the issue of opening the borders between our countries on the agenda of bilateral high-level meetings?

— You probably mean the difficulties our citizens face when planning to leave for the Russian Federation. The issue of the full resumption of air traffic between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation has been one of the main issues on the bilateral agenda for several months. The current situation will certainly be discussed during this visit.

The number of regular flights between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation has been increased since February 8 in the course of the agreements reached with the Russian side, which became possible due to the stabilization of the epidemiological situation in our republic, as well as upgrading of preventive measures aimed at prevention of import and spread of a new strain of coronavirus infection, including introduction of a mandatory requirement for a certificate of absence of the virus (negative result of PCR test for COVID-19) for all passengers entering the republic, including citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The Kyrgyz side believes that full-fledged bilateral cooperation between our countries, as well as economic integration within the EAEU, is impossible without free movement of our citizens.

Ruslan Kazakbaev

In this regard, we need to increase the number of flights between the cities of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation in the near future and return them to the previous level, when they amounted to more than 100 flights per week.

— Tens of thousands of our compatriots, who had previously had an opportunity to earn money in Russia and feed their families in Kyrgyzstan, were left without work. At the same time, the Kremlin has repeatedly noted the need to create conditions for the arrival of labor migrants to work — various industries need labor force. Will this issue be discussed to help the citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic?

— Protection of the rights and interests of our compatriots in all countries is the most urgent and priority issue for us. Restrictions on the entry of Kyrgyzstanis into Russia were lifted in October 2020. But the problem has not yet been fully resolved and resides in the small number of flights between the countries, in the closed mode of operation of ground checkpoints on Russian borders, as well as in the territories of transit countries.

Solution to the problem of employment of our fellow citizens in Russia depends on resumption of full-fledged transport links between the states.

This issue is a priority and is on the agenda of both the bilateral and multilateral negotiations at all levels. We adhere to the position that economic integration in the Eurasian space is impossible without free movement of labor.

Currently, the Ministry of Health, together with the State Committee for Information Technology and Communications, is working on the technical support of the country’s accession to Travel without COVID-19 program, which will also allow our citizens to travel to the EAEU countries, as well as increase the number of regular flights and, accordingly, reduce airfare.

I would like to separately note the great contribution of labor migration to the economies of our countries. As part of the visit, we will definitely discuss issues in the field of migration interaction, including solving the problems of obtaining compulsory medical insurance, registration of our citizens in Russia, and withdrawal of the Kyrgyzstanis from the so-called black list.

The desire to improve the legal and social status of our citizens abroad was one of the main motives for Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the EAEU.

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