Sopubek Begaliev (russian: Сопубек Бегалиевич Бегалиев) (March 29, 1931 – October 9, 2002) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-era

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the founder of the Assembly of People of the

Kyrgyz Republic Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east ...

, an organization that promotes inter-ethnic harmony, civil peace, and unanimity. Through his efforts, Begaliev worked to lay the foundation for a strong and peaceful society in the country. Other

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

have since followed the Kyrgyz example.

Life and career

Soviet era

Sopubek Begaliev was born in the village of

Chon Tash CHON is a mnemonic acronym for the four most common elements in living organisms: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The acronym CHNOPS, which stands for ''c''arbon, ''h''ydrogen, ''n''itrogen, ''o''xygen, ''p''hosphorus, ''s''ulfur, r ...

Chuy Province Chuy () is a city in the extreme east of Uruguay, in the Rocha Department, northeast of Montevideo. It lies on the border with Brazil, separated from its Brazilian sister town of Chuí only by a shared avenue that serves as the border, and by th ...

, close to the

Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...

capital, Frunze. After his graduation from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

’s

Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics The Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (russian: Российский экономический университет имени Г. В. Плеханова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1907 by ent ...

in 1954, Begaliev started his career as an economist in

Gosplan The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan), was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...

, the central economic agency of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and by 1960 he had risen to the rank of Deputy Chairman. In 1962, he became Minister of Local Economy and in 1963, due to a restructuring of the ministry, he became Minister of Municipal Economy. A year later he returned to Gosplan, where he was appointed First Deputy Chairman. In 1968, Begaliev served as both Deputy Premier of the

Kirghiz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...

and Chairman of Gosplan and would lead the agency on the economic development of the region for more than two decades. During his Soviet career, Begaliev was elected as a parliamentarian six times and was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

three times. In 1979 he was awarded the title Honored Economist of the Kirghiz SSR.

Kyrgyz independence

In 1991, Begaliev was offered the position of Advisor on the Economic Issues of the

Central Asian Republics Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

to the

President of the Soviet Union The president of the Soviet Union (russian: Президент Советского Союза, Prezident Sovetskogo Soyuza), officially the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), abbreviated as president of the USSR (), was ...

. However, this position was short-lived as the

collapsed the same year and

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

became independent. From 1991-1994, he worked as an advisor to the Committee on Economic Issues of the Kyrgyz Republic. In 1994, the first ''kurultay'' (congress) of all the ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan elected Begaliev as Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of People of the Kyrgyz Republic. For the next eight years, he worked closely with Max Van der Stool, the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

High Commissioner on National Minorities and, after July 2001, with Van der Stool's successor, Rolf Ekeus. In 1997, Begaliev was awarded the prestigious

Order of Manas The Order of Manas ( ky, Манас ордени; russian: Орден «Манас») is the second highest order of Kyrgyzstan. The order is awarded by the President of Kyrgyzstan. Established in 1996, the order recognizes outstanding service to ...

for a life devoted to public service, for his contribution to the promotion of inter-ethnic harmony and for furthering the development of the Assembly of People of the Kyrgyz Republic. In 2001, he was awarded the

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

External links

Begaliev's entry in Who's Who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begaliev, Sopubek 1931 births 2002 deaths People from Chüy Region Communist Party of Kirghizia politicians Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Plekhanov Russian University of Economics alumni Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Soviet economists Soviet politicians People's commissars and ministers of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic