Month: April 2025

Between January and March 2025, Kyrgyzstan exported 8.8 million chicken eggs to neighboring Kazakhstan, according to Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry​.

This marks the second consecutive year that Kyrgyzstan has achieved near-total self-sufficiency in egg production, enabling it to maintain consistent exports. In a move to support domestic poultry and egg producers, the Kyrgyz government has exempted feed and feed additives for the industry from value-added tax (VAT).

Earlier this month, Kyrgyz authorities announced a temporary ban on egg imports to further protect domestic producers. As a result, the country currently imports no table eggs, though imports of hatching eggs, essential for poultry reproduction, continue.

In the first quarter of 2025, Kyrgyzstan imported 2.26 million hatching eggs from five countries: Turkey, Uzbekistan, Russia, France, and Denmark.

Meanwhile, in a parallel development, Kazakhstan introduced a six-month ban on chicken egg imports starting April 9. The Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture cited the need to protect local poultry farms during a period of seasonally low demand as the reason for the temporary restriction​.

These shifting trade dynamics highlight the strategic importance of the poultry sector in Central Asia and underscore the balancing act between supporting domestic production and ensuring market stability.

Rukhshona Khakimova, a Tajik journalist convicted of treason, has been transferred from a detention center in Dushanbe to a correctional facility in Nurek. The relocation was confirmed by a relative on April 22, who reported being informed of the transfer when attempting to deliver a package to the journalist​.

Khakimova was sentenced to eight years in prison on February 5, 2025, following a closed-door trial. Her case is among several related to an alleged attempted coup. Despite the prosecution’s request for a 17-year sentence, the court handed down an eight-year term. The judge did not account for Khakimova’s family circumstances; she is the mother of two young children, the eldest only two and a half years old, and the youngest nine months. She was taken into custody directly from the courtroom​.

The case against Khakimova was initiated in June 2024 by Tajikistan’s General Prosecutor’s Office under charges of high treason. The accusation stemmed from a journalistic survey she conducted on China’s influence in Tajikistan. In the course of her reporting, Khakimova interviewed several individuals later implicated in the purported coup case, including former MP Saidjafar Usmonzod, who received a 27-year sentence, and her uncle, Shokirjon Khakimov, sentenced to 18 years. However, her interviews also included individuals unconnected to the alleged conspiracy.

Before her arrest, Khakimova was placed under a travel restriction enforced by a signature bond, and all her identification documents had been confiscated. She was living in a rented apartment in Dushanbe. At the time of her arrest, authorities reportedly seized approximately 230,000 somoni ($21,427) from her personal bank account, funds she and her husband had saved toward purchasing a home.

Khakimova is one of the few women in Tajikistan working openly with independent media. Her sentencing has become emblematic of the country’s increasing suppression of free speech. Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, and The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, have condemned her prosecution as a violation of press freedom, and have called for her immediate release.

Additionally, a petition signed by 130 women in Tajikistan appealed to President Emomali Rahmon to commute Khakimova’s sentence, urging humane consideration for the mother of two. These efforts, however, have thus far failed to change her legal status.