Japarov: Kyrgyzstan will launch electric vehicle plant by year-end or March–April next year

An electric vehicle manufacturing plant will begin operations in Kyrgyzstan by the end of this year, or if delayed, by March–April next year. President Sadyr Japarov made this announcement at a meeting with residents of Tash-Kumyr and Kara-Kul in Jalal-Abad Region.

The announcement came in response to an appeal from a Tash-Kumyr resident, who asked the head of state to allocate five to six electric buses to the city, citing the fact that local transport is worn out, with some buses already 20–30 years old.

According to Japarov, the plant will begin work by year-end or in March–April, and "our electric vehicles will start rolling off the line, from light vehicles to large vehicles."

According to him, the enterprise will be able to produce approximately 10,000 vehicles per year. Moving forward, authorities intend to develop a state program to replace obsolete vehicles with electric ones. According to the president, all state vehicles will be converted to electric vehicles over "15–20 years."

Earlier, it became known that preparations were underway for assembly of electric vehicles under the national BARS brand on a 15-hectare plot of land; the project envisions creating 100 jobs. The Ministry of Economy did not disclose the project initiator or the volume of initial investments.