Citizens of Kyrgyzstan are more often denied Schengen visas: according to the country's Foreign Ministry, over the past 10 months, more than 15% of those who applied, including journalists and civil activists, received refusals. Sources in Kyrgyzstan told The Insider that one of the reasons for this was the distribution of Kyrgyz passports to Russians with a dubious reputation.
Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Edil Baisalov, responding to a request from The Insider, assured that citizenship is granted in accordance with the law:
“Since no laws of our country are violated when obtaining citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, sanctions cannot affect us either. And we do not check whether applicants are on the sanctions lists. Kyrgyzstan in the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine adheres to neutrality. We did not join the sanctions. And these questions do not concern us. We can only extradite this or that citizen to a state with which there is an extradition agreement.”
Earlier in the Russian media there were reports that Russian officials and their families, as well as businessmen with a dubious reputation, receive Kyrgyz passports. Among them were, in particular, the wife and son of State Duma deputy Yuriy Petrov, who is on the sanctions lists of the European Union, the United States and other countries, and in Ukraine was convicted in absentia on charges of encroaching on the territorial integrity of the country. Kirill Kaem, vice-president of the Skolkovo Foundation, which fell under US sanctions, and Anton Shkurenko, co-founder of the Bitzlato crypto exchange, who was wanted by Interpol, also acquired Kyrgyz citizenship.
Russians receive Kyrgyz citizenship in a simplified manner thanks to an agreement signed between Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.