Moscow and Bishkek have reaffirmed allied relations and strategic partnership during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Kyrgyzstan on November 26.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov welcomed the Russian leader saying that Russia has been and remains a strategic ally of Kyrgyzstan, its reliable partner and true friend.
According to Japarov, Russia remains one of Kyrgyzstan’s main trading partners, accounting for 22% of the country’s total trade turnover. He noted the progress being made towards achieving a common objective of reaching $5 billion in mutual trade in the coming years.
Russian direct investment in Kyrgyzstan in the first half of this year alone amounted to $110 million. “We consistently welcome the interest of Russian businesses in the Kyrgyz market and are prepared to ensure a favourable operating environment for their success. According to our data, as of November 2025, more than 1,800 companies with Russian participation are operating in Kyrgyzstan, representing one-third of all foreign enterprises in the country,” Japarov said.
The Kyrgyz president supported the initiative put forward by Russian partners to establish an Association of Russian Investors in Kyrgyzstan. The association should become an effective platform for dialogue between business communities, between Russian investors and the authorities of Kyrgyzstan.
Japarov mentioned a joint initiative to build nine Russian-language schools in Kyrgyzstan, three of which are scheduled to open in 2027.
Japarov emphasized that “We [in Kyrgyzstan] maintain a careful attitude towards the Russian language, the language of not only Pushkin and Tolstoy but also our great writer Chingiz Aitmatov.”
He added that the humanitarian project Russian Teacher Abroad, under which teachers from Russia teach Russian in schools across Kyrgyzstan, has proved to be in great demand.
Putin noted that Russia is Kyrgyzstan’s leading trade and economic partner. Bilateral trade rose by 13.6% last year reaching a record $4.1 billion, and in January-September, it grew by a further 17%. He emphasized that approximately 97% of all payments are now made in national currencies.
Putin said that Russian companies are engaged in the design and modernization of hydroelectric power plants on Kyrgyz rivers: “We plan to jointly construct a large solar power plant in the Issyk-Kul Region and a new, modern combined heat and power plant in the north of the country.”
According to Putin, Russia’s atomic company Rosatom is executing a broad reclamation program for former uranium mining sites in Kyrgyzstan. “We are also exploring the possibility of constructing Kyrgyzstan’s first nuclear power plant, utilising advanced Russian small modular reactor technologies,” he said.
Putin appreciated the Kyrgyz authorities’ policy of supporting the Russian language, which has an official status in Kyrgyzstan.
The Russian president noted that it is symbolic that on the eve of his visit, the Eurasian Centre for Russian Language and Culture opened in Bishkek, and a new Russian-language television channel, Nomad TV, began broadcasting in Kyrgyzstan.
Following the talks, the two leaders signed a joint statement on deepening allied relations and strategic partnership. The presidents also attended the exchange of other documents signed during the visit, including a protocol amending the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Kyrgyz Republic on Promoting Military-Technical Cooperation signed on June 20, 2017, intergovernmental agreements on cooperation in ensuring the sanitary and epidemiological safety of the population, on internal affairs and migration issues in Russia and Kyrgyzstan, and on the terms for building a new campus of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University.
Photo: president.kg
