BISHKEK, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan's parliament Thursday approved by majority vote the appointment of Marat Alapayev as chairman of the National Bank.
"We are planning to ensure the security of bank deposits and protection of commercial secrets," Alapayev said after the vote, adding that he was looking to gradually introduce a series of protectionist measures to develop the Central Asian country's banking institutions.
He said more than 70% of banking capital in Kyrgyzstan belonged to foreign investors, mainly from Kazakhstan.
"Last year, investment in the banking sector totaled 480 million soms [about $10 million], and we are receiving petitions from Russia, China and other countries to open banks [in Kyrgyzstan]," Alapayev said.
But he said the unstable political situation in the republic had a negative impact on the banking environment.
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev reshuffled the government earlier in May following a series of resignations in a political crisis that has engulfed the former Soviet republic.
The move came amid increasing public discontent over the slow pace of change since the "tulip revolution" of spring 2005 brought Bakiyev to power in Kyrgyzstan, one of the poorest countries in Central Asia.
