Kyrgyz president set to discuss debt settlement in Moscow

MOSCOW. February 3. KAZINFORM - The Russian and Kyrgyzstan presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev, are expected to discuss on Tuesday settlement of Kyrgyzstan's debt to Russia and a further loan to the impoverished Central Asian state.

Russia's presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said that the Kyrgyz president, who arrives in Moscow on Tuesday for a two-day official visit, is set to finalize ongoing negotiations to settle the country's debt issue. "A number of documents have been prepared for signing during the visit. They include the acquisition by Russia of a number of [Kyrgyz] real estate facilities, as well as some enterprises as part of the partial debt settlement," Prikhodko said. Russia's premier, Vladimir Putin, said late last year the country would provide Kyrgyzstan with a $300 million subsidized loan and $1.7 billion in investment. The money is vital for the impoverished state, which will pay $240 per 1,000 cu m for Uzbek gas this year up from last year's $145. On Wednesday Bakiyev will attend a session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and take part in an extraordinary summit of the heads of state of the post-Soviet economic organization EurAsEC. EurAsEC, established in 2000, is an international economic organization comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Three other former Soviet republics, Armenia, Moldova, and Ukraine have observer status. Kyrgyzstan has been plagued by instability and anti-government protests since Bakiyev came to power in 2005, toppling his long-serving predecessor Askar Akayev; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.