Kyrgyzstan Plans to Attract Investment to Boost Tobacco Production

Source from:  The Times of Central Asia  05/24/2013

Tobacco production in Kyrgyzstan in 2012 significantly decreased and amounted to 7,400 tons worth 631 million soms ($13.1 million) in comparison with 1.083 billion soms ($22.5 million) in 2011, the Kyrgyz Agriculture Ministry reported.

Tobacco is grown in three southern Kyrgyz regions — Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Batken. Kyrgyzstan mostly grows an aromatic sort of tobacco, Dyubek.

Dyubek is used mainly for producing non-filter cigarettes or low- and middle-class filter cigarettes. Cigarettes usually contain 70%-95% of skeleton type of tobacco and 5%-30% of aromatic-type tobacco. The most widespread skeleton-type tobacco in the world is Virginia, grown in Brazil, the US, Zimbabwe, and India. Aromatic sorts of oriental type, including Dyubek, are used to add flavor to cigarettes. 

In 2012, Kyrgyzstan exported raw tobacco worth 13.3 million soms ($277,000) and imported cigarettes worth 51.8 million ($1.079 million) from 24 countries.

The Agriculture Ministry has submitted to the Kyrgyz Government a Concept for rehabilitation, development and attraction of direct foreign investments in the Kyrgyz tobacco industry for the period from 2013-2015.

The Concept is aimed at increasing raw tobacco and cigarette production, increasing the export potential of the tobacco industry, improving the quality of raw and fermented tobacco, attracting investments in modernization of fermentation factories and construction of a cigarette factory in southern Kyrgyzstan, taking measures to ban the export of raw, unfermented tobacco from the country.      

The document also includes measures to improve the living standard of population in tobacco-growing regions by creation of new jobs and prevention of artificial lowering of purchasing prices for raw tobacco sold by local farmers.    

By implementing the program, the ministry plans this year to increase raw tobacco production and the production of cigarettes to 1.8 billion pieces (1.682 billion last year). In 2013 Kyrgyzstan plans to produce 4,500 tons of fermented tobacco (4,134 tons in 2012). Enditem