Russia donates $6 million of military equipment to Kyrgyzstan
Russia has given Kyrgyzstan a new shipment of armored vehicles and helicopters worth around $6 million, the Russian Defense Ministry announced, as cited by Interfax.
At the handover ceremony held at the Russian air base in Kant, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu clarified that Kyrgyzstan would be receiving two multipurpose Mi-8MT medium helicopters and nine reconnaissance and patrol vehicles. He remarked that the helicopters would help with transport and search-and-rescue operations in the hard-to-access mountainous terrain, and the armored vehicles would “improve the combat capability and mobility of the infantry divisions”.
In 2017, Russia wrote off $240 million owed by the Kyrgyzstan government as part of a bilateral agreement to deal with the country’s debt from prior lions granted by Russia. Overall, Moscow has written off half a billion dollars owed by Bishkek.
In March 2019, the Russian government granted Kyrgyzstan $30 million in free financial assistance to support the country’s national budget.