Paper abstract

The analysis of whether the Electronic Payment System (EPS) has an impact on bank performance, the attention is often paid to its direct impact on economic growth. Therefore, this study intends to show the indirect impact of EPS and proposes to look at the bank performance, rather than economic growth. Combined methods of analysis and procedures such as the Unit-Root test, LM serial correlation test, and Vector Auto-Regressive (VAR) were used to measure the impact. We have used consolidated quarterly data on the EPS and banking sectors of the Kyrgyz Republic for the period between 2008 and 2019. The results of the study show that Bank Card Payment systems are the most meaningful to measure the changes in Income from Fees, Services, and Commissions. It also stresses the problem of speed adjustment due to the asymmetric distribution in regard to the source of income formation of the bank profitability.

Paper abstract

Every year, millions of people leave their places of residence for various reasons and travel to other countries or regions. With this temporary displacement event, the hotel industry has come to the fore to meet overnight stays and other needs. Hotels, which constitute the most essential sub-branch of the tourism sector, provide accommodation, food and beverage, entertainment, etc. As Sezgin (1995) claims that 25% of their expenditures in foreign countries are reserved for the hotel industry. However, hotels play an important role in the economic, cultural, and social terms in the development of their structures. On the other hand, with the rapid globalization process experienced in recent years, both local and international markets have faced an intensely competitive environment. In this context, it is witnessed that the enterprises work hard to remain more competitive (Çucu, 2010). One of the factors that make organizations competitive is their effective brand value. Considering that the brand phenomenon covers all tangible and intangible values of a company, it is better understood how important and necessary it is in today's business world (Yıldız, 2013).

The business name is the first step to entering the world of consumers. Even a correctly chosen business name is associated with the organization. It can be said that it is the first bond established between customers. In this context, in the process of naming the business that is planned to be established, attention should be paid to its pronunciation, and care should be taken to choose a name that has a meaning in people's minds and evokes products. The process of naming the brand is considered one of the important business decisions. Based on all these assumptions, the problem statement of this research was determined as follows: "Which points do hotel entrepreneurs focus on when choosing a name?".

In this study, hotel names were examined by the content analysis method. The lodging enterprises in Bishkek were chosen as examples. In the research eighty hotel names were analyzed; it was determined that the names of the hotels were primarily foreign words and "special lexical meaning" and "name or latest title of the owner or a family member" oriented. However, it was determined that the hotel names which derive the family differ according to the type of business.

Paper abstract

This article focuses on the geopolitical issues of cryptocurrencies and the development of their mining industries in Central Asia. Cryptocurrency mining is a lucrative industry with a particular and shifting geography. The location of the activity is determined by the availability of resources (electricity) and technical or climatic characteristics, enabling the operation of computer processors that secure alternative financial networks, such as Bitcoin. In Central Asia, mining has been particularly developed in Kazakhstan, which has an important Soviet industrial legacy that has facilitated its development on a large scale. It increased from September 2021, with the relocation of a significant amount of computing power previously installed in China and banned by the Beijing authorities. In January 2022, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, which share an interconnected power grid dating back to the Soviet era, experienced a simultaneous power outage. Following this incident, Kazakhstani authorities pointed to energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining as the cause of the blackout, failing to mention the huge limits of regional power grid.

This presentation is based on field of research and interviews conducted in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan between March and June 2022, with cryptocurrencies miners and regulators. The objective is to study the geography and location factors of cryptocurrency mining in the region, through the support of cartography. In addition, this study sheds light on the actors and power networks that have emerged around its development. Indeed, although Central Asian governments are now trying to regulate mining, it is developing in an opaque way with the help of some circles of power and security forces. This is because the local authorities have officially tried to strongly regulate mining, which in official discourse is the cause of the high tension on the regional electricity network. While mining does indeed consume a lot of electricity, its study highlights the significant limitations of an ageing and poorly maintained electricity production and distribution network that is no longer adapted to supplying an increasingly large population. Finally, cryptocurrency mining, which initially appeared as a threat to the power grid in the region, could emerge as a potential solution. Indeed, local initiatives are emerging to develop electricity production infrastructures, made profitable through mining. In Kyrgyzstan, private entrepreneurs mine bitcoins using hydroelectric stations that they build on mountain rivers and sell part of the electricity produced to the state. In May 2022, the government of Uzbekistan authorized solar-powered cryptocurrency mining.