Within the VI Kyrgyz-Russian Economic Forum framework, the plenary session entitled “Development Vectors: Kyrgyz-Russian Economic Cooperation in the New Reality” was held. The Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Volvach moderated it.

The participants discussed the current and long-term areas of economic cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Russia under the new reality conditioned by changing geopolitical and economic factors.
Key topics of the meeting included the search for new interaction strategies, identifying growth points and improving the Kyrgyz investment attractiveness for Russian business. Special attention was paid to measures to support and stimulate business, as well as the role of financial institutions in strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
 

“While seven years ago the first Kyrgyz-Russian Forum was set as a communication platform between Kyrgyz and Russian business, today the forum rightfully occupies one of the leading positions in Kyrgyzstan in terms of the level of discussions, representative delegations of participants, as well as the number of signed documents,” said Artem Novikov, Chairman of the Board of the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, in his speech.

He emphasized that new times open new opportunities. As a result of just today's event, agreements worth more than $200 million will be signed.

Apart from the Head of the RKDF, the plenary session was attended by Minister of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic, Daniyar Amangeldiev, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic, Temir Sariev, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Kurochkin, Member of the Board of Directors of the New BRICS Development Bank, Timur Maximov, First Vice President of the JSC "Gazprombank", Oleg Melnikov and General Director of the JSC "Rosatom Renewable Energy", Grigory Nazarov.

"We realize that successful development of cooperation projects demands not only financial but institutional support mechanisms, as well. That is why we have set up a project office to support industrial cooperation, which includes representatives of all five member-states of the Union. Our goal is to assist enterprises on all issues related to cooperation and to ensure that their opinions are heard both at the national level and in the Eurasian Economic Commission,” Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Kurochkin, pointed out.

Cooperation with Kyrgyzstan receives additional support through the project office for industrial cooperation support established in 2023. It includes chambers of commerce and industry representatives from all Eurasian Union member-states. The project office is considering 14 industrial projects now, three of which are linked with Kyrgyz enterprises.

Participants highlighted the importance of joint infrastructure projects and the improvement of effectiveness of logistics between Kyrgyzstan and Russia, as well as the need to introduce innovative approaches to economic cooperation and strengthen partnerships between the countries. Specific proposals were presented to improve trade and economic ties and expand investment projects, which, according to experts, will be a key factor for sustainable growth in the future.

In particular, Timur Maksimov, Member of the Board of Directors of the New BRICS Development Bank, emphasized the importance of accelerating internal processes within investment institutions. According to him, such an approach helped his organization to reduce the project consideration time and accelerate access to funding.

"We have achieved that it takes only a few months from approaching the fund to a decision-making and disbursement of the first tranches. This very speed is important for business and we are often held up as an example by other funds that adopt our approaches and working methods. We have become a kind of benchmark, not only for the Kyrgyz Republic but also for neighbouring countries,” Maximov said.

He added that due to these changes, the fund managed to take a leading position in the market and compete with international financial institutions.