WASHINGTON, November 4 (Itar-Tass) - The World Bank on Tuesday approved a number of loans for Kyrgyzstan, its press service reported in Washington.

According to the release, World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on November 3 approved the following project: ‘Kyrgyz Republic: National Road Rehabilitation Project. It says it approved the Osh-Batken-Isfana automobile road modernisation project. For these purposes the WB provides as a loan and grand a total of 25 million US dollars. Besides, 8 million US dollars are given as additional financing of various investment projects for the development of the republic’s rural areas. It assigns 1 million US dollars to Bishkek as a grant of the Global Ecological Fund for support of natural reserve zones in the Tyan-Shan mountain system area. Within the same project the WB provides a 25-million dollar grant to Kazakhstan.

According to the WB release, it provided to Kyrgyzstan an IDA Credit: US$13.75 million equivalent on the following terms - maturity = 40 years; Grace Period = 10 years. IDA Grant: US$11.25 million equivalent.

Project Description: The National Road Rehabilitation (Osh-Isfana) Project for the Kyrgyz Republic aims to contribute to the reduction of transport costs and travel time along the Osh-Batken-Isfana road corridor; and to improve road safety planning. There are three components to the project: 1) rehabilitation of a section of the Osh-Batken-Isfana road corridor; 2) road safety planning improvement; and 3) project management and implementation, the WB release says.

It says that the objectives of the National Road Rehabilitation (Osh-Isfana) Project for the Kyrgyz Republic are: to contribute to the reduction of transport costs and travel time along the Osh-Batken-Isfana road corridor; and to improve road safety planning. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is rehabilitation of a section of the Osh-Batken-Isfana road corridor. This component will finance the provision of works and consultants' services for the rehabilitation of about 30 kilometres of the Osh-Batken-Isfana road corridor. This includes consultancy services for construction supervision and physical and price contingencies. The second component of the project is road safety planning improvement. This component will finance the provision of goods, and consultants' services for: the development and launch of a national road safety program; preparation of demonstration projects for road safety; and improvement of road safety planning. The third component of the project is project management and implementation. This component will finance the provision of goods, consultants' services, training, and operating costs, including an audit, to support project coordination, implementation and management. Consulting services will be used to assist the Project Implementing Unit (PIU) with the preparation, management and implementation of all activities associated with the project, including the update of the feasibility study and technical designs, and the supervision of all safeguards and fiduciary aspects of the project.

Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east.

The early 1990s brought considerable change to Kyrgyzstan. By then, the Kyrgyzstan Democratic Movement (KDM) had developed into a significant political force with support in Parliament. In an upset victory, Askar Akayev, the liberal President of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, was elected to the Presidency in October 1990. The following January, Akayev introduced new government structures and appointed a new government composed mainly of younger, reform-oriented politicians.

On August 19, 1991, when the State Emergency Committee assumed power in Moscow, there was an attempt to depose Akayev in Kyrgyzstan. After the coup collapsed the following week, Akayev and Vice President German Kuznetsov announced their resignations from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and the entire bureau and secretariat resigned. This was followed by the Supreme Soviet vote declaring independence from the Soviet Union on August 31, 1991.

In October 1991, Akayev ran unopposed and was elected president of the new independent Republic by direct ballot, receiving 95% of the votes cast. Together with the representatives of seven other Republics that same month, he signed the Treaty of the New Economic Community. Finally, on December 21, 1991, Kyrgyzstan joined with the other four Central Asian Republics to formally enter the new Commonwealth of Independent States. In 1992, Kyrgyzstan joined the UN and the OSCE.

The “Tulip Revolution,” after the parliamentary elections in March 2005, forced President Akayev’s resignation on April 4, 2005. Opposition leaders formed a coalition, and a new government was formed under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Prime Minister Feliks Kulov. The nation's capital was also looted during the protests.

Current concerns in Kyrgyzstan include privatisation of state-owned enterprises, expansion of Western influence, inter-ethnic relations and terrorism.