Kyrgyzstan Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act

                              LONG TITLE

A BILL FOR AN ACT to establish the Kyrgyz Republic Food, Resource,, and Commodity Assurance Programme; to provide for the production, and at-cost distribution of basic-needs food, household, clothing,, and educational-supply goods to every ordinarily-resident Kyrgyz, citizen identified by the National Personal Identification Number, through the Tunduk electronic interoperability platform; to charter, delivery operations in each of the 7 oblasts and in the two cities, of republican significance Bishkek and Osh; to coordinate with the, Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, the National Bank of the Kyrgyz, Republic, RSK Bank, the Eurasian Development Bank, Kyrgyzaltyn JSC,, the National Federation of Pasture User Groups, and the Spiritual, Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan; to anchor the Programme, in the multi-sector-economy and natural-resource public-interest, principles established by Articles 5 and 6 of the Constitution of, the Kyrgyz Republic of 2021; and for connected purposes.

                        LEGISLATIVE ROUTING NOTE

---

This bill is drafted for introduction in the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic (Жогорку Кеңеш) as a Government bill following standard Government-introduction procedure under the Law on the Jogorku Kenesh and the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic of 2021. Cabinet sponsorship is required for fiscal-impact bills. Pre- introduction review by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economy and Commerce is contemplated. Committee referral to the Committee on Budget, Economic, and Fiscal Policy is anticipated, with joint sittings of the relevant committees as required for the cross-portfolio provisions.

The Act is enacted consistent with the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic of 2021, particularly Article 1 (sovereign democratic social and law-based state), Article 5 (presidential system), Article 6 (multi-sector economy with private property rights and state regulation in the public interest), Article 16 (fundamental social and economic objectives), Article 32 (religious freedom), and Article 49 (private property protection).

DIVISION I - FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS

ARTICLE 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the "Kyrgyz Republic Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act" (Кыргыз Республикасынын Тамак-аш, Ресурс жана Товар Камсыздоо Тууралуу Мыйзамы).

ARTICLE 2. FINDINGS.

The Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic finds:

(1) The Kyrgyz Republic carries a documented food-security gap,

    with a persistent population of citizens and ordinarily-
    resident persons in rural ayil-aymak communities of the high-
    altitude oblasts (Naryn, Issyk-Kul, Talas) and in the Bishkek
    and Osh peri-urban informal-settlement neighbourhoods who
    experience nutritional shortfall, periodic hunger, and
    inadequate access to basic household goods notwithstanding
    the operation of existing Ministry of Labour, Social Security
    and Migration social-assistance programmes.

(2) The 2021 nationalisation of the Kumtor gold mine under

    President Sadyr Japarov, which has generated approximately
    USD 3.4 billion in state-budget revenue for the Kyrgyz
    Republic since the transition, establishes operational
    precedent that strategic productive assets may be operated
    on a state-ownership basis in the Kyrgyz public interest.
    The Programme extends the same principle to a public-good
    chassis for basic-needs goods, without proposing further
    nationalisation of any privately held property.

(3) The United States military commissary system has operated

    since 1867 on an at-cost pricing model under what is now
    codified at 10 U.S.C. §2484, with 158 years of continuous
    operational evidence that at-cost distribution of basic-needs
    goods is operationally sustainable when carried by an
    established public chassis. The principle is operationally
    proven, not theoretical.

(4) The Kyrgyz pastoral and agricultural cooperative tradition is

    one of the longest-surviving continuous cooperative-economic
    structures in Central Asia. The contemporary ayil-aymak
    village structure, the approximately 470 ayil keneshes at the
    rural-municipality level, the pasture-management institutional
    architecture under the Law on Pastures of the Kyrgyz Republic,
    the multi-generational sheep-herding family economy on the
    high-altitude jailoo, and the ashar collective-labour
    traditional ethic provide an indigenous-Kyrgyz cooperative
    chassis through which the Programme extends distribution into
    the rural ayil-aymak areas beyond conventional retail-network
    coverage.

(5) The Tunduk (tunduk.kg) electronic interoperability platform,

    the National Personal Identification Number administered
    through the State Registration Service, and the State
    Institution "Kyzmat" service-delivery network provide the
    Programme with a citizen-identification and service-delivery
    chassis that does not require construction of new
    administrative infrastructure.

(6) The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan

    (Muftiyat), the Russian Orthodox Bishkek diocese, the Kyrgyz
    Red Crescent Society, the Food and Agriculture Organization
    Kyrgyzstan country office, the World Food Programme
    Kyrgyzstan, the United Nations Children's Fund Kyrgyzstan,
    the United Nations Development Programme Kyrgyzstan, and the
    multilateral development partners coordinating with the
    Ministry of Finance provide existing delivery-partner
    relationships that the Programme inherits and extends rather
    than replaces.

(7) The Kyrgyz herder-pastoralist tradition and the multi-

    generational family economy that anchors it have sustained the
    Kyrgyz nation across centuries of high-altitude jailoo-summer-
    pasture and kyshtak-winter-village rotation. The Programme
    respects this tradition entirely and is structured to support
    rather than displace the herder family economy, the ayil-aymak
    village structure, and the Nooruz spring-New-Year and
    Independence Day civic-festival traditions.

(8) The Programme imposes no new Kyrgyz personal income tax, no

    new corporate income tax, no new value-added tax, no new
    customs duty, no new excise duty, and no new state tax of any
    kind. Funding is drawn from existing Government appropriation
    authority through the Jogorku Kenesh annual budget process,
    existing Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund coordination authority,
    existing Kyrgyzaltyn JSC and Kumtor Gold Company dividend
    flows under existing law, existing RSK Bank commercial-finance
    capacity, and existing multilateral development-partner
    coordination.

ARTICLE 3. DECLARATIONS.

The Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic declares:

(1) Every Kyrgyz citizen ordinarily resident in the Kyrgyz

    Republic is entitled to access to basic-needs food, household,
    clothing, and educational-supply goods at the at-cost price
    established under this Act, identified by the National
    Personal Identification Number administered by the State
    Registration Service and authenticated through the Tunduk
    electronic interoperability platform.

(2) The Programme is administered as a public-good production-

    and-distribution chassis. It does not nationalise privately
    held Kyrgyz enterprise, displace the Kyrgyz private retail
    sector for non-Programme goods, restrict the Kyrgyz free
    market for discretionary, luxury, craft, or innovation goods,
    or interfere with the high-altitude pastoral private-property
    regime, the Kyrgyz tourism sector centered on Issyk-Kul, the
    bazaar-trading tradition of Dordoi and Kara-Suu, the
    international-trade balance with the Russian Federation, the
    People's Republic of China, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the
    Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Republic of Tajikistan, or the
    foreign-direct-investment regime in the mining and hydropower
    sectors.

(3) The Programme operates in addition to and without replacement

    of existing Kyrgyz social-assistance programmes administered
    by the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration,
    existing State Health Insurance Foundation benefits, existing
    education-sector benefits administered by the Ministry of
    Education and Science, and existing Social Fund pension
    benefits.

(4) The Programme inherits and respects the Kyrgyz herder-

    pastoralist tradition. The Programme partners with the ayil
    keneshes and ayil okmotu, the National Federation of Pasture
    User Groups, the Kyrgyz Red Crescent Society, the Spiritual
    Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Orthodox
    Bishkek diocese, the Buddhist and Bahá'í minority communities
    where they operate, and other existing Kyrgyz cooperative,
    charitable, and faith-based delivery partners. Coordination,
    not replacement.

(5) The Programme target distribution date is 31 August

    (Independence Day, commemorating the declaration of Kyrgyz
    independence from the Soviet Union on 31 August 1991).
    Independence Day is the natural civic-distribution anchor in
    the Kyrgyz calendar.

DIVISION II - THE KYRGYZ PROGRAMME

ARTICLE 4. ESTABLISHMENT.

(1) There is hereby established within the Government of the

    Kyrgyz Republic a programme to be known as the "Kyrgyz
    Republic Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme"
    (the "Programme").

(2) The Programme is administered by the Minister of Agriculture

    of the Kyrgyz Republic in concurrence with the Minister of
    Economy and Commerce, the Minister of Finance, the Minister
    of Labour, Social Security and Migration, the Minister of
    Health, and the Minister of Energy and Industry.

(3) The Minister of Agriculture shall designate a Programme

    Director within the Ministry to discharge operational
    responsibility for the Programme.

ARTICLE 5. KYRGYZ FOOD ASSURANCE CENTRES.

(1) The Programme shall operate Kyrgyz Food Assurance Centres

    ("KFACs") in each of the 7 oblasts (Batken, Chüy, Issyk-Kul,
    Jalal-Abad, Naryn, Osh, Talas), in Bishkek capital city, and
    in Osh city.

(2) The Programme shall prioritise initial KFAC deployment in:

    (a) Bishkek capital city, with particular priority for the
        peri-urban informal-settlement neighbourhoods (the
        novostroika areas) surrounding the central core, where
        household food-security gaps are most documented in
        National Statistical Committee surveys;

    (b) Osh city, the principal southern Kyrgyz urban centre and
        historic Silk Road hub, where the substantial Uzbek-
        minority population requires Programme operational
        continuity in both Kyrgyz and Uzbek languages at the bagh
        and ayil-aymak level, recognising the 1990 and 2010
        inter-ethnic-clashes history and the continuing imperative
        of ethnic-inclusion-by-design;

    (c) The high-altitude oblasts (Naryn, Issyk-Kul, Talas)
        where the Tian Shan and Alay ranges create distinctive
        logistical challenges and where the multi-generational
        sheep-herding family economy is the dominant household-
        economic structure;

    (d) The southern oblasts (Batken, Jalal-Abad, Osh) where the
        substantial Uzbek-minority population is concentrated and
        where the historical Ferghana Valley agricultural and
        cotton economies anchor the Programme procurement supply;

    (e) Chüy oblast, the principal Kyrgyz agricultural belt north
        of the Tian Shan and the immediate Bishkek catchment,
        where Programme procurement from Kyrgyz agricultural
        producers is logistically tractable.

(3) Each KFAC shall:

    (a) Hold inventory in basic-needs categories itemised in
        Article 6 below;

    (b) Sell goods at the at-cost price established under Article
        7 below;

    (c) Verify shopper identity through the National Personal
        Identification Number and the Tunduk platform;

    (d) Coordinate with the relevant ayil kenesh, ayil okmotu,
        and oblast administration for last-mile distribution at
        the ayil-aymak level;

    (e) Coordinate with the Kyrgyz Red Crescent Society, the
        Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan, the
        Russian Orthodox Bishkek diocese, and other delivery
        partners for emergency-response distribution.

ARTICLE 6. GOODS CATALOGUE.

(1) The Programme shall hold inventory in the following basic-

    needs categories drawn from the Kyrgyz household consumption
    pattern documented by the National Statistical Committee:

    (a) Staples: wheat flour, rice, barley, oats, buckwheat,
        sugar, salt, vegetable oil, butter, and Kyrgyz dairy
        products (kymyz from mare milk in the herding season,
        ayran, kurut hard cheese);

    (b) Protein: beef, lamb, mutton, goat, horse meat (a
        traditional Kyrgyz staple), chicken, fish (where available
        from Issyk-Kul and the Naryn River system), eggs, and
        dairy drawn primarily from Kyrgyz herder-producer supply
        chains coordinated with the ayil keneshes and the
        National Federation of Pasture User Groups under
        cooperative-producer agreements;

    (c) Vegetables and fruits: potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions,
        beets, turnips, melons (Issyk-Kul and Ferghana Valley),
        apples (the Tien Shan apple is the genetic origin of the
        modern cultivated apple), apricots, walnuts (the Arslanbob
        walnut forest in Jalal-Abad oblast is the world's largest
        wild-walnut forest), and seasonal greens from Kyrgyz
        agricultural producers in the Chüy and Ferghana valleys,
        with imported produce as required for winter-season
        nutritional balance;

    (d) Basic clothing, including school uniforms aligned with
        Ministry of Education and Science curricular requirements,
        traditional kalpak and ak-kalpak headgear, winter
        outerwear of weight sufficient for the Kyrgyz continental
        climate, herder boots and work boots, gloves, and
        undergarments;

    (e) Hand tools and household goods, including kitchenware,
        cookware, fuel-storage containers, water-storage
        containers, household textiles, yurt-maintenance supplies
        for jailoo-summer-pasture residents, and weatherproofing
        supplies for apartment-dwelling and ayil-village
        residents;

    (f) Educational supplies (notebooks, pencils, pens,
        calculators, rulers, reading materials, geometry sets)
        calibrated to the Ministry of Education and Science
        curricular requirements through the developmental window
        extended in the broader Compendium to age twenty-five;

    (g) Baby and child supplies (formula, diapers, baby-bath
        supplies, child-clothing layers, basic toys and books);

    (h) Winter-survival supplies recognising the Kyrgyz
        continental climate and the periodic Bishkek winter air-
        pollution and high-altitude oblast winter-isolation
        contexts: high-calorie shelf-stable food, water and
        water-purification supplies, candles, battery-operated
        lamps and torches with batteries, paraffin and LPG
        cookers, prepaid mobile-data vouchers, and basic first-
        aid supplies, distributed in concert with the Ministry
        of Emergency Situations and the Kyrgyz Red Crescent
        Society.

(2) The Goods Catalogue is reviewed and updated annually by the

    Programme Director in consultation with the National
    Statistical Committee household-consumption surveys, the
    Kyrgyz Red Crescent Society, the National Federation of
    Pasture User Groups, the seven oblast Governors, and the
    Mayors of Bishkek and Osh.

(3) Procurement preferences:

    (a) Kyrgyz agricultural and herder-producer supply preferred
        over imports where Kyrgyz supply is commercially
        available at quality and timeliness;

    (b) Ayil-aymak cooperative-producer agreements preferred over
        wholesale-import contracts for herder-produced protein and
        dairy;

    (c) Kyrgyz processing and manufacturing preferred over
        finished-good imports where Kyrgyz processing capacity
        is available;

    (d) Russian Federation, People's Republic of China, Republic
        of Kazakhstan, Republic of Uzbekistan, Republic of
        Tajikistan, Republic of Korea, and other international
        suppliers as required for goods not commercially
        available in Kyrgyz supply, with preference for
        Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member-state suppliers
        consistent with existing Kyrgyz EAEU obligations.

ARTICLE 7. AT-COST PRICING.

(1) Goods are sold at the Programme at-cost price calculated as

    the sum of:

    (a) Verified procurement cost;

    (b) Verified inbound transportation, storage, and handling
        cost to the KFAC point of sale;

    (c) An administrative-recovery markup of not more than four
        percent (4%), recovering the operational cost of the
        KFAC network and the Programme Director's office;

    (d) No profit margin. No private intermediary markup. No
        wholesale-tier markup beyond verified actual cost.

(2) The at-cost price calculation is published annually for each

    goods-category on the Programme page of the Tunduk platform
    and on the Ministry of Agriculture website. The Accounts
    Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic (Эсептик палата) conducts an
    annual verification audit of the at-cost calculation and
    publishes findings in its annual report to the Jogorku Kenesh.

(3) The 158-year DeCA commissary-at-cost operational evidence is

    the operational precedent. The four percent administrative-
    recovery markup is a Kyrgyz adaptation reflecting the high-
    altitude population-distribution and oblast-distance
    logistical context, and is subject to downward revision by
    the Cabinet of Ministers once the KFAC network reaches steady-
    state operation.

ARTICLE 8. ELIGIBILITY AND ACCESS.

(1) Every Kyrgyz citizen ordinarily resident in the Kyrgyz

    Republic is eligible to purchase from the KFAC network at the
    at-cost price, identified by the National Personal
    Identification Number and authenticated through the Tunduk
    platform.

(2) Refugees and persons granted residence status under Kyrgyz

    law on the legal status of foreign citizens are eligible on
    the same basis as Kyrgyz citizens for the duration of their
    lawful residence.

(3) Visiting foreign citizens (tourists, short-term business

    travellers, exchange students, diplomatic personnel) are not
    eligible to purchase from the KFAC network at the at-cost
    price; they remain served by the existing Kyrgyz private
    retail sector.

(4) No additional eligibility test. No income test. No means test.

    No work-status test. No conditionality whatsoever beyond
    Kyrgyz citizenship or lawful-residence verification through
    the National Personal Identification Number.

DIVISION III - FUNDING ARCHITECTURE

ARTICLE 9. INITIAL APPROPRIATION.

(1) KGS 5 billion is appropriated from the State Budget of the

    Kyrgyz Republic for the fiscal year 2027 to the Ministry of
    Agriculture for Programme establishment, initial KFAC
    construction or lease, initial inventory procurement,
    Programme Director's office establishment, and Programme
    launch costs.

(2) KGS 2 billion is appropriated from the State Budget of the

    Kyrgyz Republic for the fiscal year 2027 to the Ministry of
    Agriculture for the ayil-aymak delivery-partner agreement
    framework, the National Federation of Pasture User Groups
    partnership framework, the Kyrgyz Red Crescent Society
    partnership framework, and the Spiritual Administration of
    Muslims of Kyrgyzstan + Russian Orthodox Bishkek diocese
    cooperation framework.

(3) These appropriations are made from existing State Budget

    revenue. No new tax is established by this Act.

ARTICLE 10. STATE-ENTERPRISE AND BANKING COORDINATION.

(1) The Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, acting through its

    standard project-financing approval process and consistent
    with its 2014 founding agreement and Kyrgyz-side management
    framework, may coordinate up to USD 50 million toward
    Programme infrastructure (KFAC construction, cold-chain
    capacity, oblast-level storage facilities), upon RKDF Board
    approval and subject to standard cofinancing review.

(2) Kyrgyzaltyn JSC and Kumtor Gold Company, acting through their

    existing dividend-and-revenue distribution framework to the
    Kyrgyz state budget, contribute Programme funding consistent
    with their existing state-enterprise governance and the
    Government's broader Kumtor revenue allocation framework.

(3) RSK Bank, the Eurasian Development Bank, and the Eurasian

    Fund for Stabilisation and Development may provide trade-
    finance, working-capital, and inbound-procurement-finance
    facilities to the Programme on commercial and concessional
    terms.

(4) The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (Улуттук банк)

    maintains its independent monetary-policy mandate. Nothing in
    this Act directs, modifies, or constrains the central-bank
    function. Programme funding flows through the State Budget
    appropriations process and the state-enterprise coordination
    framework, not through monetary operations.

ARTICLE 11. NO NEW TAX.

(1) Nothing in this Act establishes any new Kyrgyz personal

    income tax, corporate income tax, value-added tax, customs
    duty, excise duty, mining royalty, or other state tax. No
    existing tax is increased by this Act.

(2) The Programme is funded through the State Budget

    appropriations process, the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund
    coordination contemplated in Article 10, the Kyrgyzaltyn JSC
    and Kumtor Gold Company dividend-and-revenue distribution
    framework, the RSK Bank commercial-finance authority, the
    Eurasian Development Bank and Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation
    and Development financing facilities, the at-cost
    administrative-recovery markup established in Article 7, and
    multilateral and bilateral development-partner coordination
    as contemplated in Article 12.

ARTICLE 12. MULTILATERAL AND BILATERAL DEVELOPMENT-PARTNER

            COORDINATION.

(1) The Programme coordinates with existing multilateral and

    bilateral development partners active in the Kyrgyz Republic,
    including the Asian Development Bank (ADB Kyrgyz Republic
    Resident Mission), the World Bank (Kyrgyz Republic country
    office), the United Nations Development Programme Kyrgyzstan,
    the Food and Agriculture Organization Kyrgyzstan, the World
    Food Programme Kyrgyzstan, the United Nations Children's Fund
    (UNICEF) Kyrgyzstan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and
    Development, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),
    and the bilateral cooperation programmes of the Russian
    Federation, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of
    Kazakhstan, the Republic of Turkey, the Government of Japan
    (JICA), the Government of Germany (GIZ + KfW), the Government
    of the Republic of Korea (KOICA), the Government of the United
    States (USAID), the Government of the United Kingdom, and the
    Government of Switzerland.

(2) Coordination shall preserve the existing partnership

    relationships and the existing project pipelines of the
    multilateral and bilateral partners. The Programme does not
    displace, absorb, or replace these existing relationships; it
    complements and integrates with them.

DIVISION IV - GOVERNANCE AND OVERSIGHT

ARTICLE 13. PROGRAMME REPORTING.

(1) The Minister of Agriculture, through the Programme Director,

    reports quarterly to the Cabinet of Ministers on Programme
    operations, inventory turnover, citizen-shopper enrolment
    through Tunduk, at-cost pricing audit findings, delivery-
    partner performance, and oblast-level and city-level
    distribution coverage.

(2) The Minister of Agriculture presents an annual Programme

    report to the Jogorku Kenesh, with referral to the Committee
    on Budget, Economic, and Fiscal Policy.

(3) The Accounts Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic (Эсептик палата)

    conducts annual verification audits of: (a) Programme
    expenditure, (b) the at-cost price calculation methodology
    and outturn, (c) delivery-partner contract performance, (d)
    KFAC inventory integrity, and (e) the Tunduk identity-
    verification integrity. Audit findings are published in the
    Accounts Chamber annual report.

ARTICLE 14. CITIZEN OVERSIGHT.

(1) Each oblast Governor and the Mayors of Bishkek and Osh

    establish a Citizen Oversight Council for the KFAC network in
    their jurisdiction. Each Council includes representatives from
    local ayil keneshes, local National Federation of Pasture
    User Groups chapters, local Kyrgyz Red Crescent Society
    chapters, local Spiritual Administration of Muslims of
    Kyrgyzstan representatives, local Russian Orthodox Bishkek
    diocese representatives, local Uzbek-minority community
    representatives in the southern oblasts (Osh, Jalal-Abad,
    Batken), local Dungan and Russian and other ethnic-community
    representatives, local consumer cooperatives, local chambers
    of commerce, and ordinary citizen-shopper representatives.

(2) Citizen Oversight Council findings are reported to the

    Programme Director and to the relevant oblast Governor or
    city Mayor. Material findings are referred to the Minister of
    Agriculture.

DIVISION V - GENERAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE 15. EFFECTIVE DATE.

(1) Articles 1 (Short Title), 3 (Declarations), and 16

    (Constitutional Consistency provisions) take effect on the
    date this Act receives presidential signature and is
    published in the Vedomosti of the Jogorku Kenesh of the
    Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) Remaining provisions take effect on 1 April 2027.

(3) First KFAC openings are targeted for 31 August 2027

    (Independence Day) in each of the 7 oblast centres and in
    Bishkek and Osh.

ARTICLE 16. CONSTITUTIONAL CONSISTENCY.

This Act is enacted consistent with the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic of 2021 (adopted by referendum on 11 April 2021; in force from 5 May 2021), particularly Article 1 (sovereign, unitary, democratic, social, and law-based state), Article 5 (presidential system), Article 6 (multi-sector economy with private property rights and state regulation in the public interest), Article 16 (fundamental social and economic objectives), Article 32 (religious freedom), and Article 49 (private property protection); and with the Law on the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Budget Law of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Public Procurement Law of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Law on Pastures of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Law on Cooperatives of the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Law on Local Self-Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.

ARTICLE 17. INTERPRETATION.

In this Act:

"the Programme" means the Kyrgyz Republic Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme established under Article 4;

"KFAC" means a Kyrgyz Food Assurance Centre established under Article 5;

"the National Personal Identification Number" or "PIN" means the Жеке идентификациялык номери issued by the State Registration Service (Мамлекеттик каттоо кызматы) of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic;

"Tunduk" means the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic unified electronic interoperability platform at tunduk.kg;

"the RKDF" or "Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund" means the development institution established under the Agreement of 29 May 2014 between the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Government of the Russian Federation (rkdf.org);

"Kyrgyzaltyn" or "Kyrgyzaltyn JSC" means the state-owned holding company managing the Kyrgyz strategic gold-mining portfolio;

"Kumtor" or "Kumtor Gold Company" means the state-owned operator of the Kumtor gold mine in Issyk-Kul oblast nationalised in 2021;

"the National Bank" or "Улуттук банк" means the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic;

"Independence Day" means 31 August, commemorating the declaration of independence of the Kyrgyz Republic from the Soviet Union on 31 August 1991;

"Nooruz" means the Central Asian and broader Eurasian spring New Year observed on 21 March;

"ayil aymak" means a Kyrgyz rural municipality at the third-level subnational administrative tier;

"ayil kenesh" means a Kyrgyz village council at the ayil-aymak level;

"ayil okmotu" means the village administration at the ayil-aymak level;

"oblast" or "oblus" means a Kyrgyz region (7 in total at the first-level subnational administrative tier);

"rayon" means a Kyrgyz district at the second-level subnational administrative tier (40 in total);

"jailoo" means the high-altitude summer pasture in the Kyrgyz herder-pastoralist tradition;

"jamoat" or "jamaat" means a Kyrgyz mutual-aid traditional community institution;

"ashar" means the Kyrgyz traditional collective-labour practice whereby villagers gather to build houses, harvest crops, prepare for winter, or assist neighbours in need without monetary payment;

"Manas" means the central Kyrgyz oral-tradition epic, the longest epic in world literature, on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity;

"the Marmot quartet" means the four research programmes identified in Universal Foundational Citation C above (Marmot Whitehall, Sapolsky Serengeti baboons, Shively cynomolgus macaques, Blackburn telomere research);

"the replication threshold" means the Casey Handmer formulation identified in Universal Foundational Citation A above;

"ordinarily resident" has the meaning given by Kyrgyz law on civil registration and immigration as administered by the State Registration Service.

- END -