Russia ready to become major investor in Kyrgyzstan - official

BBC Monitoring Central Asia

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Excerpt from report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Cholpon-Ata, 7 September: The Russian economy and Russian businessmen are ready to become a major investor in the Eurasian Economic Community [EAEC] member states, including in Kyrgyzstan. The president of the Russian Association of Financial-Industrial Groups, Oleg Soskovets, said this today at the opening ceremony of the Russia-Kyrgyzstan investment business forum, which is under way in the Kyrgyz resort town of Cholpon-Ata on the coast of Lake Issyk-Kul.

The Eurasian Development Bank [EDB] is also planning to make large investments in the Kyrgyz economy. The head of the bank, Igor Finogenov, said that, above all, the bank was interested in financing a project to construct two Kambar-Ata hydroelectric power stations on the Naryn river in Kyrgyzstan. "We are considering the project as a pilot one in developing vast hydroelectric potential of Central Asia. An agreement on the project between all sides interested in it will be an important precedent for developing integration processes, and the acquired experience may be used during the adoption of decisions on the construction of other hydroelectric power facilities in the region," Finogenov said.

He said this would also help "strengthen confidence-building measures and cooperation in the Aral Sea area".