In Bishkek, trolleybus drivers are on strike.

On the morning of Thursday, March 24, in the Kyrgyz capital, a strike by trolleybus drivers began. More than 600 people did not show up for work, demanding the attention of the new mayor of the capital, Albek Ibraimov, to their pressing issues and the actions of the management, which has set too high a standard for them. As a result of the protest, vulnerable social categories of the population—schoolchildren, students, and pensioners—were left without the usual public transport.

The list of demands includes salary increases, fare hikes, and improved working conditions. The drivers are outraged by the number of minibuses on the roads, which forces them to violate traffic rules and pay fines—sometimes as much as a third of their earnings goes to this. The city administration and the management of the trolleybus line have taken no action in this regard: trolleybus drivers have repeatedly negotiated with their management, but their requests have gone unheard. Thus, they decided to organize a protest. The vice-mayor, Gennady Militsky, arrived at a meeting at trolleybus depot No. 1, and after listening to the demands of those gathered, he promised them a meeting with the mayor and a discussion of the pressing issues with the help of six activists from the depot.

The crowd did not disperse. Colleagues from trolleybus depot No. 2 arrived to support the strikers, who had initially gone out on their routes that morning but later decided to join the protest. To calm the gathered crowd, Militsky announced that he was temporarily suspending the head of the Bishkek Trolleybus Administration, Madylbek Abdrzakov, and his deputy Marat Umetov from their duties. However, the trolleybus drivers did not disperse and remained agitated, awaiting the promised negotiations from Militsky. The meeting at the city hall is scheduled for 3:00 PM, and a decision will be made at its conclusion regarding when the trolleybus service in the city will resume.

It is worth noting that a similar protest with comparable demands was previously held by taxi drivers. In 2014, Bishkek was without its most popular mode of transport on the eve of one of the main Muslim holidays, Orozo-Ait, on July 28. Some residents could not get to work, while others could not reach the markets to shop for the holiday. After negotiations with the authorities, the minibus drivers returned to the routes, but most of their demands remained unmet. The latest decisions by the city administration regarding transport issues have been aimed at reducing or eliminating the number of minibuses by increasing the number of buses and trolleybuses.