Results
The terms of reference, technical specifications for the RDF website, and recommendations for the future of subsoil revenue monitoring are finalized through recommendations gathered from workshops and stakeholder roundtable with civil society and government agencies;
The capacity of local stakeholders is enhanced through training workshops conducted by Nash Vek;
Eighteen active RFDs and 250 local government officials are trained in the use of the RDF website;
Approximately 3,000 local activists and citizens are familiar with and can use the website;
A search for donor organizations is conducted to further implement and improve the RDF website.
Challenges
Annually, in the regions of Kyrgyzstan the unrests occur due to the lack of transparency in the work of subsoil users. Social allocations of subsoil users, which they transfer bypassing the budget to keep the mouths of local community shut. They are not transparent and cause even greater outrage and mistrust of the general population. They are 2643 valid licenses in Kyrgyzstan (http://open.gkpen.kg/Licenses/Licenses/LicensesList?isLicense=True), the subsoil users of which are engaged in exploration and development. In Kyrgyzstan, the budget of Regional Development Funds consists of 2% deductions from subsoil users (mainly gold deposits). Information is available through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PodYl0Pt4sc
Residents of local regions, civil society organizations (CSOs), local governments (LGs), and the Regional Development Funds (RDFs) often do not have information about the amounts that subsoil users allocate to the RDFs budget and cannot forecast future projects. Only local governments can submit projects to the RDF. It is necessary to improve the portal on the RDF (at the first stage) so that this portal is synchronized with the open budget (at the second stage), and so that all residents of the country can see real-time receipts from subsoil users. This activity will ensure a democratic relationship between society and the state, as well as the transparency of the activities of the RDF and LG in Kyrgyzstan.