The patent system, which existed since 2003, was abolished in 2023. This was announced on January 16, 2026, at a meeting of the "Ala-Too" deputy group by Azamat Kerimbek uulu, a representative of the "Legprom" Association.
According to him, around 9,800 sewing workshops operated in the textile and garment sector during this time. At the same time, access to international marketplaces significantly accelerated the process of business legalization.
"Since the emergence of the Wildberries company in the market in 2023, about 23,000 individual entrepreneurs from Kyrgyzstan have registered, and around 7,000 more operate through Ozon. Thus, in two years, marketplaces have attracted nearly 30,000 entrepreneurs into legal business, which significantly exceeds the results of the patent system over 20 years," he noted.
He also reported that previously, the cost of a patent ranged from 1,500 to 3,000 soms. Currently, the country has a unified tax system consisting of two regimes: 2% on turnover for wholesale and retail trade and 0.25% under a simplified system for manufacturers. In his opinion, such favorable conditions for manufacturers do not exist in any other countries.
However, the industry faces sales challenges. The majority of products from Kyrgyz sewing factories are exported to Russia, and offline trade has almost completely transitioned to an online format. In the last two years, marketplaces have shown significant growth.
The association representative also noted that after the border closure on September 15, sales temporarily ceased, and the cost of cargo transportation increased from 50 to 250 rubles, which raised business expenses.
"In 2023, Tatyana Bakalchuk, the founder of Wildberries, visited Kyrgyzstan and met with then-Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov, expressing a request for a land plot for a logistics center. However, after that, the company implemented a similar project in Uzbekistan, where a site was allocated for a distribution center, the opening of which is scheduled for 2026," he added.
At the same time, as emphasized by Kerimbek uulu Azamat, Uzbekistan is not a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, unlike Kyrgyzstan, which, in his opinion, should have provided a competitive advantage for creating a large logistics hub.
