Published
04/16/2026, 12:01President Sadyr Japarov has announced plans for a radical reform of the country’s administrative-territorial structure. According to him, in the long term, the regions and districts of Kyrgyzstan may be abolished and replaced by around 20 districts.
The announcement was made during a meeting with residents of the Nookat District in the Osh Region. The head of state noted that the current changes are a continuation of the reform of the local governance system that has already begun.
The first stage involved the consolidation of rural administrations. Whereas there were previously 465 aiyl okmotu in the country, following the reform their number has been reduced to 232. According to the President’s assessment, this has enabled a significant reduction in budgetary expenditure and saved billions of KGS.
The next stage involves abolishing the regional and district levels of administration and transitioning to a new model of division into districts. Implementation of this part of the reform is expected to take two to three years.
The reform will be carried out in stages. Initially, the plan is to create a single pilot district, which will operate on an experimental basis. The authorities will assess its capacity for self-governance and financial sustainability without subsidies.
If successful, the model will be scaled up to cover the whole country. According to the president, this should improve the efficiency of governance, reduce costs and strengthen the financial independence of the regions.
