BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan analysts say some parliament deputies have business interests that are prohibited by the constitution, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Melis Satybekov, the deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Natural Resources Ministry, told RFE/RL on July 13 that there is a danger that those deputies with businesses will lobby for their own commercial interests.
Cholponkul Arabaev, director of the Kyrgyz Personnel Service, told RFE/RL that the law on public service and the constitution forbids not only members of parliament but all public officials from running businesses.
Arabaev added that upon entry to a public office in Kyrgyzstan a person must give up the management of his/her business.
Azamat Arapbaev, a deputy from the Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) parliamentary group, told RFE/RL he thinks his ownership of construction-material businesses does not violate the law because he is no longer in charge of them.
He said he handed over the management duties of the businesses -- which sells cement, coal, and gravel -- as soon as he was elected to the parliament last year.
Akylbek Japarov, a deputy of the opposition Ar-Namys (Dignity) party, told RFE/RL that he does not exclude the possibility that some deputies active in businesses will lobby for and negotiate tax breaks for certain economic sectors to benefit their companies.
A former Kyrgyz mining industry worker who asked to remain anonymous said that many officials own gold companies and use parliament deputies to lobby for the interests of gold companies.
Read more in Kyrgyz here
Read more in Russian here
Melis Satybekov, the deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Natural Resources Ministry, told RFE/RL on July 13 that there is a danger that those deputies with businesses will lobby for their own commercial interests.
Cholponkul Arabaev, director of the Kyrgyz Personnel Service, told RFE/RL that the law on public service and the constitution forbids not only members of parliament but all public officials from running businesses.
Arabaev added that upon entry to a public office in Kyrgyzstan a person must give up the management of his/her business.
Azamat Arapbaev, a deputy from the Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) parliamentary group, told RFE/RL he thinks his ownership of construction-material businesses does not violate the law because he is no longer in charge of them.
He said he handed over the management duties of the businesses -- which sells cement, coal, and gravel -- as soon as he was elected to the parliament last year.
Akylbek Japarov, a deputy of the opposition Ar-Namys (Dignity) party, told RFE/RL that he does not exclude the possibility that some deputies active in businesses will lobby for and negotiate tax breaks for certain economic sectors to benefit their companies.
A former Kyrgyz mining industry worker who asked to remain anonymous said that many officials own gold companies and use parliament deputies to lobby for the interests of gold companies.
Read more in Kyrgyz here
Read more in Russian here
