Evgeny Troitskiy. Changes in legislation on NGOs in Kyrgyzstan: projects and prospects

As of June 2023, 29,130 non-profit organizations were registered in the unified database of legal entities of the Ministry of Justice of Kyrgyzstan, including about 18,500 in Bishkek. The inability of the state not only to exert a regulatory influence, but also to simply monitor the activities of this array of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) is perceived by part of the political elite as a threat to internal political stability and the positions of the ruling tandem of President S. Zhaparov and Chairman of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) K. Tashiev. Exceptionally liberal legislation in the field of registration of NGOs and establishing requirements for their reporting has turned Kyrgyzstan into a regional base for the work of foreign NGOs, and maintaining this regime is an important goal of US and EU policy towards Kyrgyzstan. A significant portion of officials are connected with NGO employees through financial interests, have relatives working in NGOs, or have collaborated with NGOs themselves.

The Kyrgyz government sees the uncontrolled activities of the NGO sector as a threat, especially considering the established practice of unconstitutional changes of power and the active partici-pation of a number of NGOs in these processes. The politically active part of the NGOs, which is the most supported by Western grants, contributes to the delegitimization and undermining of the social support of the Japarov administration. In this regard, the Kyrgyz authorities have made three attempts in recent years to strengthen their leverage over the NGO sector...