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Here we present a roundup of the posts that appeared in the blogsphere of Kyrgyzstan for the past 2 weeks.
As political passions subsided Kyrgyz bloggers finally switched from an exclusively political discussion to discussing different issues of interest.
Thus, Alieva on Russian neweurasia discusses the growing popularity of the “national” light drug nasvai. In her investigation she mentions that young people in Central Asia chose nasvai because it’s cheap. Alieva writes :
“One of the reasons of the growing popularity of nasvai is its low price. It can be compared to the price of sunflower seeds. In Kazakhstan for instance you can pay 10 American cents and get a pack of nasvai consisting of 30 portions. In Kyrgyzstan you can purchase the very same pack for only 5 American cents. When nasvai gets transported to Russia its price “skyrockets” as high as $3 for the pack”.
According to Alieva there are various recipes, which are used for preparing nasvai. The most popular components that are normally included are tobacco or the plant, called “nas”, special Central Asian makhorka, slaked lime, plant’s ash, and, as one of the most exotic components, chicken droppings and camel’s excrements. In her post Alieva also warns that the danger of chewing nasvai is underestimated, since according to specialists nasvai consumption can cause far more serious problems such as tongue and lips cancer. Though, it is still one of the post popular drugs in Central Asia where it is called a “hookah for the poor”.
Inga discusses the plan that was recently announced by the Kyrgyz government in the sphere of military cooperation. Thus, according to Kyrgyz officials, the country is ready to export military equipment to Angola, Libya, Eritrea, etc. Inga mentions:
“When I heard about that I started wondering what exactly we were going to export, or, to be precise, whether we still produce or have something left to export”.
When she digs deeper Inga discovers that there are still plenty of things that can be extremely attractive to potential warriors from abroad. She even offers a list of heavy industry factories that potentially can cater military appetites of different parties. The list includes the former factory named after Lenin that in the Soviet times was the bandwagon in terms of producing patrons for famous Kalashnikovs. Inga also mentions about Dastan Corporation that from Soviet times inherited a tradition of producing details and electric devices for military equipment and a joint venture called “Lake” that was renowned as one the main suppliers the details for submarines in the former Soviet Union. There is certain skepticism, though, when it comes to the ability of Kyrgyzstan to become a real competitor when it comes to selling arms. Inga for her post interviewed a former head of the National Guard units Abdigul Chotbaev. Here is one of the quote from his interview:
“ I think Kyrgyzstan will hardly bother to produce military equipments exclusively to cater an order from the small nations that got bogged into internal military skirmishes. We’ll probably be selling them something that has already been used. Though, it’s natural that our government is trying to make this deal legal and is planning to adopt certain laws. I think it’ll be a good deal for us to sell our all everything that is outdated and to spend money on restoring our military industry. Another question is whether we still have everything necessary for that. I personally have a feeling that many things have been sold our even before the decision was officially made ”.
Edil Baysalov in his live journal comments on the dispute about the status and the functions of the State Broadcasting Corporation (GTRK). This TV channel that covers all regions of Kyrgyzstan is a corner stone for the proponents of the concept of state owned television and the advocated of public television. It has recently been announced that in order to reach a compromise on this issue opposing parties decided to create Public Council that could theoretically become an organ for overlooking GTRK. Baysalov is skeptical about this idea. He emphasizes that the Public Council will become a nominal and artificial creature. According to Baysalov: “in will hardly be interfering with the work of GTRK since only the president of Kyrgyzstan will be in control of the official broadcasting ”. Baysalov also mentions that not only political but also business interests intersect when the discussion about the status of the State Broadcasting Corporation starts.
