Former President of Kyrgyzstan

Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Former President of Kyrgyzstan

Born on August 1, 1949 in the village Masadan (Teyit), Suzak district, Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyz USSR.

Childhood
Kurmanbek Bakiev grew up in the little village of Masadan, with population of about 70-80 families. Later, his family moved close to the city of Jalal- Abad, and Kurmanbek went to the Russian school №3 there. Following this he moved to a boarding school in Kochkor Ata. He finished his Kyrgyz schooling in a village for domestic reasons.

His love of hard physical work was instilled in by his father Sali Bakiev, a chairman of the collective farm “Kyzyl-Meenet”, who said “Every man who respects himself should be trained with physical labour from his childhood”.

Family
Kurmanbek Bakiev met his future wife at Kuibyshev polytechnical institute of Russia, where he graduated. A modest and white-haired girl with vast eyes charmed the heart of boy from this mountainous country and she accepted his proposal. Their wedding was a nice affair, with just a circle of close friends and family?

After graduation, the newlyweds lived and worked in Kuibyshev town for 9 more years. This Russian town became was the cradle for their sons Marat and Maksim.

One of his sons Marat Bakiev is a deputy chief of department in Kyrgyz Republic National Security Service today. Maksim Bakiev is a businessman.

First working steps
Kurmanbek Bakiev’s labour activity started in the plant named after Maslennikov in Kuibyshev town. He was acting as a second-class batcher there. Then he worked as a loader in a fish factory after which he served in the ranks of the Soviet Army.

After acquiring a speciality of computer engineer, he worked as a 5th class electrician and electrical engineer in the plant named after Maslennikov.

Labouractivity in the homeland
His family came back to his homeland, the town of Jalal-Abad in the Kyrgyz Republic, in 1979. He was appointed to the position of senior engineer of “Plug-and-socket connections” plant in Jalal-Abad town.

The business acumen and organizational abilities of the young specialist who demonstrated his professionalism in practice were worthy of notice and he was appointed director of “Profile” plant, which moved into prosperous enterprise in a short space of time.

In 1990 Kurmanbek Bakiev was elected to the post of 1st secretary of Kok-Jangak municipal committee.

He was appointed to the position of Akim – head of the remote district Toguz-Toro after two years. Toguz-Toro district had practically no conditions for field workers and the road that leads to this district often closed in the winter. As new head of the Toguz-Toro district administration Kurmanbek Bakiev achieved good results. In particular, 35% of tax proceeds from gold (ore) mining enterprise “Makmal” were transferred to district budget, this was reflected in the resolution of some of the social-economical problems in the region.

After two years Kurmanbek Bakiev was appointed first to the position of deputy chairman of State Property Fund and then to the position of Governor of Jalal-Abad Region. In this position, all his efforts were directed to reconstruction of businesses that had closed, extension of irrigation areas and construction of new and reconstruction of old canals.

In 1997 he was appointed to the position of governor – head of Chui region. As a new head of the region, he began by accelerating land reforms and forming of new commercial and economic relations with Russian Federation regions. Industrial enterprises with good quality modern production were encouraged, and have started production. During his stay as a governor of Chui region, investments worth about 40 million U.S dollars were attracted to the Chui region of Kyrgyz Republic.
In 2001 in recognition for his true worth, his superiors suggested Kurmanbek Bakiev run for the post of prime minister of Kyrgyz Republic. Acting Prime-minister Amangeldi Muraliev was the main opposition candidate, but the majority of elected representatives of the people elected Kurmanbek Bakiev. During his stay as Prime minister, the Kyrgyz government repayed 42 million U.S dollars external debt.

Resigning from the post of Prime minister after the tragic events in Aksy, Kurmanbek Bakiev decided to stand for deputy of Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of Kyrgyz Republic from Ala-Buka electoral district №15. The Ala-Buka electoral district included some villages of Aksy district where tragic events took place. In the end, the vast majority of electorate voted for him and provided his convincing victory at elections.

Opposition leader
As a deputy of Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of Kyrgyz Republic, on February 2003, he was considered as one of the Centralist group who opposed the existing regime. In autumn 2004, Kurmanbek Bakiev was elected as a Chairman of Central Council of political forces “Kyrgyzstan People’s Movement” which included 9 political parties. In particular, the “Kyrgyzstan People’s Movement” was at the head of mass people’s protests against falsification of election result during parliament elections that took place in February and March 2005. These protests led to the people’s revolution on 24 March 2005.

Since this revolution Kurmanbek Bakiev has been acting President and Prime-minister of Kyrgyz Republic.