The som was reintroduced in May 1993 when Kyrgyzstan broke from the ruble zone, becoming one of the first former Soviet republics to establish an independent currency — a decision made in part because Russia's monetary policy was exporting inflation across the region at a damaging rate. By 2008, this denomination had been in continuous production for over a decade with only incremental changes to the planchet specification.
The som was reintroduced in May 1993 when Kyrgyzstan broke from the ruble zone, becoming one of the first former Soviet republics to establish an independent currency — a decision made in part because Russia's monetary policy was exporting inflation across the region at a damaging rate. By 2008, this denomination had been in continuous production for over a decade with only incremental changes to the planchet specification.