Gifts from foreign delegations will become state property

Gifts received by Kyrgyz officials from foreign delegations during official meetings and international events will no longer be considered their personal property. This provision is enshrined in the new law ‘On State Protocol of the Kyrgyz Republic’, signed by Sadyr Japarov.

The document stipulates that all gifts presented to heads of state bodies in the course of their official duties become state property. Every such gift must be recorded.

The law also determines the future of diplomatic gifts. They will be displayed for public viewing in government buildings or transferred to the republic’s museum collection. According to the legislators’ intention, this will help preserve items of historical, cultural or diplomatic value and make their handling more transparent.

A special storage regime is provided for the most valuable gifts. Such items will be transferred to the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan. However, the criteria for classifying a gift as particularly valuable are yet to be determined separately.

The Cabinet of Ministers must now draw up detailed procedures for the valuation, recording, transfer, storage and use of gifts received during official events. The government must also approve a mechanism for their registration and establish the criteria by which particular items will be recognised as particularly valuable.