The Ukraine War has turned Kyrgyzstan into a key intermediary for Russian imports, but economic growth is unevenly shared.
In Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan—a mountainous, landlocked country of 7 million people—has long relied on remittances and gold exports to sustain its economy. In recent years, however, the country has experienced an unexpected surge in economic growth. Preliminary figures indicate GDP growth of 10.2 percent during the first 11 months of 2025, while year-end projections from the World Bank and the IMF range from approximately 6.8 percent to 8.5 percent. These figures place Kyrgyzstan among the fastest-growing economies in the region. If current growth rates continue, Kyrgyzstan could begin to close the gap with Kazakhstan’s GDP per capita within the next five years.
A significant share of this growth is directly linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Western sanctions that followed. As sanctions restricted Russia’s access to Western markets, Moscow increasingly turned to Bishkek as a convenient intermediary.
Re-exports of machinery, electronics, and goods with potential dual-use applications—many originating in China or the European Union—flowed through Kyrgyzstan alongside remittances, infrastructure financing, and cryptocurrency transactions that help sustain Russia’s wartime economy. Russia has relied not only on Kyrgyzstan’s financial system but also, to varying degrees, on Armenia and smaller volumes routed through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
Read the full article on The National Interest.
Aigerim Turgunbaeva is a Research Fellow at the Turan Research Center.