Postcard from Bishkek

Money … makes the world go around  Although the situation is changing, over the years the Kyrgyz economy has been, and basically still is, a “cash based” economy. As a result, visitors to Kyrgyzstan need to give plenty of thought to the questions …

The last Saturday in April – this year 26th April – is designated as Veterinarians Day. It’s not surprising that the occupation is highly regarded here in Kyrgyzstan – given the importance of agriculture to the national economy, contributing something like 25% of the republic’s GDP, and the predominance of livestock rearing and management within […]

Gold is an important part of the Kyrgyz economy … the Kumtor Gold mine, the country’s biggest enterprise, contributes something like 14% of the country’s GDP and 40% of its exports and almost 50% of the country’s industrial output. Recent controversy over the ownership and operation of the mine, (which in recent years has produced […]

Yesterday, I saw a post on a trivia site that sent me checking the system date on my computer … I felt sure it had to be an April Fool’s joke. I had already fallen foul of one such premature prank on youtube over the weekend … and Maxim had already tried to pull one […]

On 24th March, 1907, a new institution opened its doors for business for the first time: the Pishpek Mutual Credit Society – Bishkek’s first local bank.  (At the time, Bishkek was called Pishkek.) Things have changed a lot since those days … Actually, There were other financial institutions around, which is understandable as Kyrgyzstan lay on […]

Not long ago I was chatting with a friend who dropped a bombshell on me, (figuratively – not literally), when he told me that Kyrgyzstan was on of the top Cotton producers in the world.  I expressed my surprise … I know that cotton is often listed as one of the country’s main agricultural products […]

The other day we had a visit at the hotel from some officials who seemed to be convinced that there was “something wrong”. It’s not the first time we’ve had such a visit – so we went into “automatic mode” and asked – “where are your papers?”.  They fished out their ID-cards and so that […]

Today is the second of the St, George’s Day of 2013.  It’s actually St. Yuri’s Day, but Yuri is one of the Russian equivalents of George. In the Orthodox calendar, Russians commemorate two St. George’s Day: the first in the Spring falls on April 23rd – as in the West – but there is a […]

Today happens to be International Day Against Pesticides. It is not an official UN recognized commemorative day, but was established by the 400 members of the Pesticide Action Network International, (PAN). Their aim was to draw attention to problems caused by production and use of hazardous chemicals used as pesticides in order to increase cop […]

A week ago I was driving back from Naryn and as we drove through Kochkor, there were sacks of potatoes stacked by the roadside.  We stopped and had a look.  The potatoes had just been dug out from the ground, and the they were a good size and shape.  We asked how much and for […]