According to Saparbek Balkybekov, the Director of “Severelektro”, in 2003 the company had commercial losses in the amount of 400 million soms. As Balkybekov explained, the enterprise is being given to concession to reduce losses and to attract investment in order to improve its technical resources. In the coming 5-10 years the company needs US$50-80 million. Neither the company, nor the government have that money, says the Director.

Ravshan Jeenbekov, Head of the State Committee on State Property Management, in an interview to RFE/RL said that the energy sector nowadays is facing enormous problems, which the government is unable to resolve. The debt in the energy sector is nearly 6 billion som. The equipment is old and needs renovation. The only way out of the situation is privatization of the sector, which would open the way for investment in the amount of 60-100 million US dollars, Ravshan Jeenbekov says.

However, some deputies have been very skeptical and many more deputies have been staunchly opposing the proposal of the government to privatize energy sector. Marat Sultanov, member of the Legislative Assembly, has expressed deep concern saying that if the privatization effort succeeds, the cost of supplying the population with electricity may increase. “Today supplying the population with electricity is not being easy. Electricity is turned off frequently. Privatization of the energy sector will increase the electricity fee and may lead to exacerbation of the existing problems”, worries the member of the Parliament.

Other deputies hold more radical stance on the issue. In the opinion of Orozbek Duisheev, member of the Legislative Assembly, the executive branch in the last several years has been trying to artificially demonstrate the energy sector as an expensive sector with an intention to sell it. According to him, the energy sector is the most profitable sector in Kyrgyzstan and, for instance, in 2001 the energy sector brought 1.5 billion som in profits.

Adahan Madumarov, another member of the Kyrgyz parliament, is concerned about another aspect of the issue. According to him, privatization of the energy sector may have a dramatic impact not only on the economic independence, but it may also put the political independence of the state under threat.

Meanwhile, a protest action involving a number of political parties, non-governmental and public organizations recently took place in Bishkek. The aim of the action was to express opposition against privatization of the energy sector and to attract public attention to the issue. Bolot Januzakov, first deputy head of the presidential administration, in an interview to RFE/RL, said that there was no ground for holding protest actions and that the privatization issue should be resolved by relevant specialists who know the problem well. Omurbek Tekebaev, a Legislative Assembly member on the other hand said the protest action had a significant meaning as it allowed the people to express their opinion with regard to the government’s policies. If such campaigns are conducted more actively and in other parts of the country, maybe it would make the government to reconsider its policies, he said.