Published
06/02/2026, 13:56Kyrgyzstan has officially taken over from Italy as the host of a round of the UIM F1H2O World Championship—the most prestigious competition in Formula 1-class powerboat racing.
The handover ceremony took place in the Italian region of Sardinia as part of the latest round of the world championship. The event was attended by Kyrgyzstan’s Ambassador to Italy, Ermek Omuraliev, and the Director of the State Agency for Tourism Development, Eduard Kubatov.
The handover marks the start of the final stage of preparations for this historic event for the country. On August 1–2 of this year, Issyk-Kul will host a stage of the UIM F1H2O World Championship for the first time, becoming the first venue in Central Asia to host a competition of this level.
During the events, representatives of Kyrgyzstan and the championship organizers discussed preparations for the upcoming stage, the development of cooperation in the fields of sports and tourism, as well as the promotion of Issyk-Kul as an international venue for major sporting events.
The UIM F1H2O Championship is considered the world’s premier powerboat racing competition. The racing boats can reach speeds of over 250 kilometers per hour, and the stages themselves attract athletes, teams, sponsors, and thousands of spectators from around the world every year.
It is expected that hosting the championship on Issyk-Kul will significantly raise Kyrgyzstan’s profile on the international stage and provide an additional boost to the development of the tourism industry.
Participation in the UIM F1H2O events took place as part of a working visit by the Kyrgyz delegation to Sardinia. In addition to the sports agenda, meetings were held with regional leaders to discuss prospects for cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Sardinia in the areas of trade, economy, investment, tourism, and culture and humanitarian affairs.
