16:02, 09 марта 2021, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Tatyana KUDRYAVTSEVA
The Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan made a number of decisions due to the current situation with the shortage and delay in the issuance of international passports.
The validity of international passports issued in 2004 and 2006 was extended for citizens who are staying outside of Kyrgyzstan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to notify foreign states of the temporary measures taken in connection with force majeure circumstances in order the citizens can cross the borders of foreign states without obstacles.
The Chairman of the State Registration Service Akin Mambetaliev was reprimanded, and the Deputy Chairman of the service Tilek Batyrkanov was dismissed.
The decision was made due to the lack of control and untimely implementation of the plan for issuance of biometric international passports and ePassports, which was planned to begin on December 25, 2020, as well as for the negligence of the management of the State Registration Service. The head of the Cabinet of Ministers is sure that this exactly led to the shortage and delay in the issuance of the passports.
«The management of the State Registration Service did not take timely and sufficient measures to inform the government about the existing issues related to the issuance of ePassports. The task has been set to ensure issuance of new generation of international passports using biometric data as soon as possible. In case of a repeated failure, more stringent measures will be taken,» the statement says.