Compensation for Kyrgyz Looting Slow in Coming

Up until the public uprising in March this year which led to former president Askar Akaev quitting his post and fleeing Kyrgyzstan, Burulkan Usubakunova sold clothes at the Madina market in Bishkek.

But when the market was set on fire by rioters on the night of March 24-25, she lost 29,000 US dollars’ worth of stock – a sum which would buy two apartments in the city.

The new government which came to power in the wake of the disturbances has promised to compensate the 1,322 business people who have reported suffering losses at the hands of looters and vandals.

But many remain dubious about the chances of ever seeing any of the money pledged.

“The government promised us that they would provide compensation for damages starting from May 15, but no one has met us yet,” Usubakunova, who is now head of a newly-created association of market stall-holders, told IWPR.

“No real steps have been made to give us any aid for three months now. We are unhappy with our government, which cannot care for its citizens at difficult moments.”

And if the authorities don’t make good on their assurances, say many in the business community, a protest held by entrepreneurs outside the government building in Bishkek on June 2 could be just the start of much more to come.

Acting deputy prime minister and head of the State Commission for Damage Compensation, Daniyar Usenov, told IWPR that the total amount of damage incurred by entrepreneurs during the March rioting is estimated at around 26 million dollars.

Sumar Nasiza, a senior official with the prosecutor general’s office, said 173 criminal cases have been opened in connection with the looting. So far, he said, stolen goods worth some 45,000 dollars have been returned to their rightful owners.

Usenov added that a separate process is already underway to compensate those who lost out, including exempting victims from paying taxes and customs fees and appealing to banks to extend their loans.

Usenov told IWPR that, in addition, the government has allocated just over 365,000 dollars to be paid into an fund to help those who suffered. The same fund, he said, is also due to receive just over 17,000 dollars from the Bishkek mayor’s office and around 10,500 dollars from the head of the Kemerovo region in Russia.

The United States Agency for International Development, USAID, says it has earmarked 700,000 dollars which it intends to distribute to the victims of looting.

But Usenov noted that further administrative work has to be carried out – including drawing up a list of all those business people whose property was damaged during the rioting – before those eligible for cash compensation can receive their money.

For now, picketing by entrepreneurs outside the government building in Bishkek has been called off. But many people in the business community that IWPR spoke to said they would continue to mount protests if it becomes clear that the authorities are not fulfilling their promises.

“We are ready to wait,” said Usubakunova, “but if it turns out that the government is lying again, we will go on hunger strike.”

“Over the last three months my nerves have really suffered a lot, I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown,” said Nurilya Ergeshova, a woman who has a stall at the Bereket-Grant market.

But she went on to explain that owners of smaller businesses could prove a thorn in the side of the government if their demands are not met.

“Unhappy entrepreneurs like myself are a major source of the pickets that everyone is so sick of,” she told IWPR, in reference to the widespread demonstrations that have swept through Kyrgyzstan’s main cities ever since the change of government in March.

“There are almost 1,500 of us. We have relatives, children and families. Furthermore, many of us used to provide work for at least two to four people, who are now unhappy and unemployed.

“We’re sick of these pickets too, but we’ve seen that something can be achieved by holding [them], especially ahead of the presidential election on July 10.”

Marat Jaanbaev, executive director of the Bishkek Business Club, told IWPR he thinks public protests are a valid way for the business community to make its voice heard.

“Any citizen of Kyrgyzstan has the right to express his point of view by any legal means, and it is not prohibited to hold pickets in this country,” he said. “The question is whether they will get what they want with such radical measures.”

In fact, warned political scientist Nur Omarov, those business people who lost money as a result of the looting have more reason than most to be cautious.

“Everyone has the impression at the moment that it is possible to achieve something by standing outside the government or parliament buildings for two weeks,” he told IWPR. “But in the case of entrepreneurs, that’s something that should be avoided.

“The business people who suffered need stability in the country like never before. Only when things are stable will their businesses prosper. Their best option would be to hold dialogue with the state and get what they want through tax compensations, court proceedings and so on.”

Aida Kasymalieva is an IWPR contributor in Bishkek.