Most jewelry is smuggled into Kyrgyzstan. The head of the Department of Precious Metals under the Ministry of Finance, Almaz Kadyrakunov, said at a meeting of the Committee on Fuel and Energy Complex, Subsoil Use and Industrial Policy of the Parliament.
He told that the precious metals market is growing, but this growth comes from reselling jewelry, not from increased production. The main barrier to production growth is the lack of access to raw materials for local manufacturers.
This problem arose because the National Bank has priority rights to purchase gold from the refinery. Buying gold from the National Bank or Kyrgyzaltyn later is too expensive, Kadyrakunov believes.
He added that the Precious Metals Department also holds priority right to purchase gold from the refinery. To resolve this issue, the department is ready to buy gold for jewelers and sell it to them without any markup.
