Sadyr Japarov: Kyrgyz village officials handed out land for a kilogram of plov

President Sadyr Japarov said local officials in Kyrgyzstan handed out state land in exchange for a kilogram of plov or a single trip to the sauna. He made the remarks at a meeting with a resident of Bazar-Korgon district, who said he was allocated land many years ago.

The resident said he holds all archive documents, orders and resolutions, but the plot was never handed over, no certificate was issued and the boundaries were never defined. He said he has been applying to various bodies for years. Japarov said the problem is widespread across many regions, with ayil okmotu heads issuing land decisions chaotically and corruption flourishing. Some plots were allocated several times to different people.

Japarov said one plot in Osh had been assigned to five people, and similar cases occurred in Kara-Suu district. Heads of ayil okmotu carried folders of resolutions in their car trunks from the 1990s to the 2020s. Plots were sold for a kilogram of plov, a sauna visit, a holiday or 1–2 thousand soms. "We are now putting this in order," he said.