Aizada Kutueva, an investigative reporter and correspondent for RFE/RL’s Central Asian Newswire in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan won the Best Anti-Corruption Online Publication Award for her reporting on corruption in Kyrgyzstan.
Kutueva’s investigative story, Kyrgyzstan In The Eurasian Economic Union: Fuel Smuggling Increases, uncovered a sharp rise in smuggling after Kyrgyzstan joined the Eurasian Economic Union eight months ago. After joining the Union, Kyrgyzstan was required to impose the same border and customs controls as the other members, but this did not deter smuggling, Kutueva found. Her investigations revealed that 30 percent of Kyrgyz petroleum products are imported into the country illegally. The story was published by the Kyrgyz Service website in both Kyrgyz and Russian.