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Kyrgyz Republic: EITI reawakened

Kyrgyz Republic: EITI reawakened

EITI Validation points the way forward for the new national body. 

Wednesday 8 March 2017 – Today the international EITI Board agreed that the Kyrgyz Republic has made progress overall against the EITI Standard but significant areas of concern needed to be addressed. Having been compliant with the EITI Rules since 2011, this is the first time Kyrgyz Republic is tested against the EITI Standard.

The Validation Report notes that EITI developments have been positive but slow in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Board commended the newly formed national multi-stakeholder group (Supervisory Board) on renewed activity since January 2017. It acknowledged the recent disclosure of information about licenses and financial data. The Board encouraged the government to continue with their efforts to address funding concerns, overcome legal barriers to implementation, assess impact and follow-up on lessons learnt.

The Board noted challenges around the coverage of social payments, the arrangements of state-owned companies, the reliability of the data, the government’s engagement and the governance of the EITI process itself.

One of the key opportunities for the EITI in the Kyrgyz Republic, as highlighted in the Initial Assessment Report, would be to increase transparency in the governance, allocation and spending of the regional development funds. Currently 2% of the royalties of the mining companies are allocated to social projects.  Twenty percent of this 2% is paid directly to the mining affected communities, whilst the remaining 80% goes to the central government for further re-distribution to the rest of the country.

Fredrik Reinfeldt, Chair of the EITI, said:

“I am encouraged to see the renewed energy of the new Supervisory Board in the Kyrgyz Republic and hope that the government will use the outcomes of the Validation to strengthen their data and tax systems.”

Scorecard

Notes

  • The EITI is a coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups, investors and international organisations. Learn more at eiti.org.
  • EITI is chaired by Fredrik Reinfeldt. Mr Reinfeldt was the Prime Minister of Sweden (2006-2014). 
  • 51 countries are members of the EITI. No country has yet made satisfactory progress with the 2016 EITI Standard. See the list of countries at eiti.org/countries.
  • Validation is the EITI’s independent evaluation mechanism. It assesses countries against progress made in meeting the 2016 Standard.
  • The Board decision in full, including corrective actions and impact of the EITI in the country, can be found here: https://eiti.org/validation/kyrgyz-republic/2016  
  • The reports giving an extensive review of the Kyrgyz Republic's extractive sector can be found here: https://eiti.org/document/validation-kyrgyz-republic-2016-documentation
  • The Board has taken decisions on the status of five more countries on 8 March 2017: https://eiti.org/document/validation-schedule-decisions
  • See here for a full explanation of the various levels of progress under the EITI Standard.

For further information about the EITI Kyrgyz Republic, please visit the country page on the EITI website and Kyrgyz Republic’s own EITI website [currently down].

Countries
Kyrgyz Republic