01 Сентябрь 2020

Investment Council meeting

The Business Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Robin Ord-Smith participated in the Investment Council meeting chaired by the Prime-Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic The Business Ombudsman briefed on early trends of the first 6 months of BOI operation: “Investigations of entrepreneurs’ complaints conducted by the BOI have uncovered a number of systemic issues: - gaps and conflicts in the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic that allow differing interpretations of laws; - interpretation of the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic by state authorities that do not have legally established grounds for this; - inconsistency in decision-making by public authorities with a tendency to cancel earlier decisions. The Business Ombudsman thanked the Government for cooperation and engagement in allowing BOI to investigate complaints fairly and independently. Regrettably BOI has seen the number of occasions when state bodies appear less willing to cooperate on the course of investigations. Among the challenges that make a proper investigation of complaints of violation of entrepreneurs’ rights more difficult - refusal to provide some information requested from the state bodies, failure to comply with the deadlines, ignoring or evading the questions raised in the request. The Business Ombudsman stressed the importance of revitalization of the economy as pandemic recedes. Companies and entrepreneurs need as much support as the Government is able to give to help businesses to survive, protect jobs, and move forward. Improper and illegal actions on the part of state bodies have to be prevented, including overzealous attempts to improperly collect money to replenish the state budget. Efforts should be put towards easing to do business in the country, digitalization, and online availability of state and municipal services