Independent Newspapers Appears In Uzbekistan
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, Feb 28: An independent Uzbek-language newspaper has been launched, centrasia.ru reported on 28 February, citing a local Deutsche Welle correspondent. `Mustaqil gazeta` (`Independent Newspaper`) is owned by businessman Mirolim Mirahmedov, who said that he will take seriously President Islam Karimov`s call for the press to be aggressive. Mirahmedov particularly mentioned the bureaucracy and corruption as his paper`s targets. The paper`s first issue includes stories on alleged corruption at the Tashkent Law Institute and an investigation into a Ferghana Valley court case.
Kyrgyz President`s Income Exceed 2 Million Soms In 2002
Interfax
Bishkek, Feb 28: Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev has published information on his income in 2002. Last year, Akaev`s salary was 501,222 soms ($10,872). He received 1,384,800 soms ($30,039) as royalties from his books. The value of international awards received by Akaev reached 923,200 soms (some $20,026). Akaev owns a house with a total area of 331.8 square meters. The president also owns a 1995 Mercedes jeep and 152 shares in the joint stock company Kyrgyztelecom. In addition, he owns six weapons and two stallions.
Akaev Calls For Jury System In Kyrgyzstan
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, Feb 27: Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev told a national conference of judges on 27 February that instituting a jury system would increase public confidence in the judicial system, Interfax reported. It could also curb arbitrariness. Akaev was quoted as saying that the new version of Kyrgyzstan`s Constitution would authorize juries. In what he said was an effort to end corruption in the court system, Akaev announced that he had signed a decree on 26 February raising judicial salaries by 50 percent.
OSCE Observers Concerned About Arrest Of Armenian Opposition Members
Interfax
Yerevan, Feb 27: OSCE observer mission chief Peter Eicher, currently in Armenia to watch the presidential election, is concerned about the arrest of opposition activists. There is no place for violence and persecution in a democratic election, Eicher told Interfax on Thursday. The opposition activists were convicted at closed-door court hearings in the absence of lawyers, he remarked. Following last week`s rallies in support of People`s Party leader Stepan Demirchian, who will take part in the second round of elections, the Armenian police arrested more than 100 opposition activists. Most of them were sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest on charges of breach of order and petty hooliganism.
Radio Show May Promote Democracy
Central Asia Daily
Islamabad, Feb 27: A new programme on Tajikistan`s independent radio station, Asia Plus, is expected to boost debate on pluralism and democracy in the impoverished nation, still reeling from the effects of five years of civil war. `Our intention is to strengthen democracy and we will keep on doing our best,` Scott Kearin, country director for the US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) who are funding the initiative, told IRIN, on Thursday from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. On Tuesday, Asia Plus, a popular radio station in the capital, broadcasted a one-hour talk show entitled `Your Position` on the benefits of multi-party democracy, involving Rematullov Zarioz, chair of the Social Democratic Party and a presidential adviser, along with Mahuddin Kabiri, deputy chairman of the Islamic Renaissance party, an erstwhile Islamist opposition group during the civil war.
Referendum In Tajikistan Could Extend President`s Term
Gazeta
Dushanbe, Feb 26: The lower house of the Tajik parliament has paved the way for a referendum in June that could extend President Emomali Rakhmonov`s time in office past its expected expiration in three years. RFE/RL correspondent Antoine Blua reports the practice is common in Central Asia, where all of the leaders in one way or another have extended their terms in office to hold on to power in the past decade. The lower house of Tajikistan`s parliament has reportedly taken the first step toward holding a referendum in June on amending the constitution. It is hoped that the changes will increase the role of parliament, strengthen mechanisms for protecting civil rights, and promote the development of a market economy. The changes would also allow President Emomali Rakhmonov to seek another seven years in office when his term expires in 2006. Muhammadsharif Himmatzoda, a member of parliament of the Islamic Renaissance Party, spoke to RFE/RL.
Kyrgyz Human Rights Official Critiques The Opposition
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, Feb 25: Human Rights Commissioner Tursunbai Bakir uulu told journalists on 24 February that he sees little difference between the banned Islamic extremist organization Hizb-ut Tahrir and Kyrgyzstan`s opposition Socialist and Communist parties, Interfax reported on 25 February. Hizb-ut Tahrir wants to change the country`s constitutional system as do the latter parties, but the Communists and Socialist seek to do so by legal means. Bakir uulu also said he has no intention of dropping a libel suit against a Bishkek newspaper that claimed he was in league with extremist Muslim groups. Opposition figures assert that such suits by state officials are intended to discourage freedom of speech.
Final Armenian Presidential Election Results Released
Radio Free Europe
Yerevan, Feb 25: The Central Election Commission (CEC) on 25 February made public the final returns of the 19 February presidential ballot, RFE/RL`s Armenian Service and ITAR-TASS reported. According to those figures, incumbent President Robert Kocharian received 49.5 per cent of the vote, 0.3 per cent less than the preliminary figure made public on 20 February. People`s Party of Armenian Chairman Stepan Demirchian placed second with 28.2 per cent of the vote, followed by National Unity Party (AMK) Chairman Artashes Geghamian with 17.6 per cent, Centre for Strategic Initiatives head Aram Karapetian (2.95 percent), and National Democratic Union Chairman Vazgen Manukian (0.91 per cent). The remaining four candidates also polled less than 1 per cent each.
Kazakh Opposition Supports EU Resolution
Radio Free Europe
Astana, Feb 25: At a news conference on 24 February, Kazakh opposition groups called on the government to take notice of a 13 February European Parliament resolution that accused Kazakhstan of committing human rights violations, suppressing opposition, and failing to reform its judicial system. The Kazakh leadership has rejected the resolution. The opposition figures also demanded the release of journalist Sergei Duvanov, who was convicted in January on a statutory-rape charge that is widely believed to have been politically motivated, and called for the re-examination of the cases of Mukhtar Ablyazov and Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan leaders who were convicted of corruption last year, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported on 25 February.
At President`s Audience
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, Feb 24: The President`s press-service reported Nursultan Nazarbayev to have met with the country`s Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov on Monday. The head of the Government reported on state of the country`s socio-economic development. According to him the accumulations of National fund exceeded 2 billion dollars. The issues concerning implementation of village regeneration program and the problems of unemployment struggling in the regions were discussed in the course of the meeting.
Uzbek Parliament Considers Co-operation With EU Member-states
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 24: Oliy Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan hosted international conference on implementing the Agreement of Partnership and Co-operation (PCA) between Uzbekistan and the EU member-states in Uzbekistan`s legislation. The forum was organised by the Parliamentary institute for monitoring current legislation and the Secretariat of PCA, UzA reported. The Uzbek and European specialists presented reports legislation of corporate matters, customs and taxation, as well as with regards to foreign investments and competition.
Uzbek Journalist Charged With Libel
Uzbek Daily
Tashkent, Feb 22: An Uzbek journalist who wrote articles published abroad criticizing corruption among officials has been arrested and faces charges including libel, a human rights activist said Saturday. Ergash Bobozhonov, 61, was arrested Monday in his home in the Ferghana region. He also faces charges of threatening murder and disclosure of secrets, said Abdusalom Ergashev, a local human rights activist in Ferghana. Bobozhonov is also an active member of Birlik, an opposition movement. Authorities have confirmed the libel charge is linked to articles Bobozhonov wrote for the Respublika newspaper in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan in 1999 and 2001, alleging corruption of local officials, Ergashev said. Authorities have given no information as to when Bobozhonov`s case might go to trial, Ergashev said.
Indian Defence Minister Visits Uzbek Aircraft Plant
Uzbek Report
Bishkek, Feb 28: Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes and other members of the delegation visited the Tashkent aviation production association on 28 February. The visitors acquainted themselves with the potential of the only aviation plant in Central Asia. They viewed the process of manufacturing aircraft, Uzbek TV reported. There is an agreement between Uzbekistan and India on repairing Indian transport aircraft in Tashkent. Accordingly, the visitors also familiarised themselves with the state of affairs in this field. The Indian defence minister visited testing ground No 3. There, he was presented with a symbolic key to new IL-78 MAR (Mid Air Refueller) transport aircraft, which has been manufactured in keeping with a mutual agreement.
Uzbekistan Rejects Kyrgyz Call To Remove Border Mines
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, Feb 28: Uzbekistan has officially rejected a request by Kyrgyzstan for maps of Uzbek minefields along the countries` common border and also for the removal of some of the mines, the official Kyrgyz news agency Kabar reported on 28 February. Uzbek Foreign Ministry spokesman Kadyr Yusupov told a press conference in Tashkent the previous day that Uzbekistan insists on its right to defend its borders in the face of international terrorism.
Azerbaijan, Russia Sign Agreement On Military-technical Co-operation
Central Asia Daily
Baku, Feb 28: The defence ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan signed an agreement Thursday on military-technical cooperation, boosting a relationship that had cooled in the wake of Baku`s friendship with the United States and Moscow`s close relationship with Armenia, Azerbaijan`s rival, AP reports. `This agreement will allow the Russian and Azerbaijani sides to realize wide-scale military and military-technical co-operation,` said Russian defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. He said that it provided for the supply of military equipment and spare parts to both countries, as well as military training. Azerbaijani defence Minister Safar Abiyev expressed satisfaction that the agreement recognized Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity and the inviolability of its frontiers.
Indian defence Minister In Uzbekistan
Pravda
Moscow , Feb 28: A high level Indian delegation led by defence Minister George Fernandes is arriving on official three day visit to Uzbekistan February 27 late night by special Boeing army flight. February 28, Mr. Fernandes will receive keys of six IL-78 feeder aircraft worth 150 million US $ ordered by Indian government. Since independence this is the first time when Uzbekistan is receiving this type of delegation and selling aircraft to the Government of India. As per the reliable sources from the Tashkent Aircraft Building Plant named after CHKALOV six `ILIYUSHIN-78` aircraft have been assembled for India on the basis of agreement signed in late 2001. It may be mentioned here that this type of aircraft can be refuelled in the air. IL-78 was designed by the Iliyushin design bureau in 1983 on the basis of strategic operational military cargo aircraft IL 76 MD. The industrial production of IL-76 was began at Chkalov in 1984 and till 1999 Tashkent has commenced 40 aircraft IL78 and IL-78M. The aircrafts are now included in the Russian and Ukraine air force. Sources added that officials from the Indian Ministry of defence who arrived month earlier to Tashkent already inspected all the booked six aircrafts and found them ready for use. Mr. Fernandes during his three days visit in Uzbekistan will call on President of Uzbekistan Mr. Islam Karimov including the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and his Uzbek colleague the defence Minister. Among other members of the official delegation are Secretary of defence, Joint defence Secretary& Vice of the Air Force chief`s. The delegation will also visit to Samarkand and Bukhara.
Russian Probe Into Deliveries Of Weapons To Armenia Closed
Interfax
Baku, Feb 27: Russian defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said an investigation into allegedly illegal supplies of Russian weapons to Armenia has been closed. `The prosecutor`s office has dropped this case due to the absence of any crime,` Ivanov told a news conference in Baku on Thursday.
George Heads For Uzbekistan Today
Hoover`s Online
Tashkent, Feb 26: Defence Minister George Fernandes travels to Uzbekistan tomorrow, a day before the Budget is presented, in a bid to promote defence contacts between New Delhi and Tashkent. The visit comes in the wake of New Delhi`s decision to send troops for joint airborne exercises with Tajikistan later this year. New Delhi is keen on engaging the strategically important Uzbeks for meaningful dialogue and partnership. While South Block is tight-lipped over the visit, it is understood that Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal M. Mcmahon will also travel to Tashkent to receive the first batch of IL-78 air-to-air refuellers for the IAF. While India has contracted six IL-78s, the first two are expected to be introduced early this year. The acquisition of the refuellers will give a major strategic advantage to Indian combat aircraft, adding to their existing range. Indian pilots are already in Uzbekistan preparing themselves for the transfer of the aircraft.
Uzbekistan To Export Six IL-76 Tanker Planes To India
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 26: Uzbekistan will begin his week deliveries of IL-78 tanker planes to India, The Times of India said on Wednesday. The planes are intended for the refuelling of the Indian air force`s fighter jets.
Kazakhstan To Create Caspian Military Navy
IRNA
Baku, Feb 26: Kazakhstan will create a Caspian military navy, although it will not be targeted at any of the other Caspian states, Kazakh First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Abuseitov said. He is visiting Azerbaijan, which is one of the five littoral states, apart from Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran. Abuseitov told reporters on Wednesday that Kazakhstan needs a streamlined and mobile navy that `could fight against new threats, primarily terrorism`.
Russia, Kyrgyzstan To Sign Accord On Military Exports To Other Countries
Interfax
Bishkek, Feb 26: Russia and Kyrgyzstan will soon sign an agreement on cooperation in exporting military products to other countries, Sadriddin Dzhiyenbekov, Kyrgyz Foreign Trade and Industry Minister, told Interfax on Wednesday. `The signing of the agreement that was drafted and discussed last year is slated for March-April when the Kyrgyz-Russian Commission for military-technical cooperation will meet for its third session,` Dzhiyenbekov, who is also co-chairman of the bilateral commission for military-technical cooperation, said. Kyrgyzstan worked out proposals for joint participation in repairs and completion of products for the Russian Navy, military equipment upgrades in other countries and tests of torpedoes on Issyk-Kul Lake. Moreover, manufacturing of aircraft computers can be resumed on the Ainur plant and the two countries` defence companies may forge new ties, he said.
Uzbek TV Reviews Local Media Delegation`s Visit To NATO
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 25: A group of Uzbek journalists visited the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Uzbek TV reported in a 20-minute programme highlighting Uzbek-NATO cooperation. `The delegation of Uzbek journalists visited NATO headquarters in Brussels and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium. During the visit the Uzbek journalists held talks with officials and leading specialists of this top-level organisation,` the TV said. The report went on to say that journalists held a meeting with Eric Lebedel, the head of the Co-operative Security and Political Crisis Management Section. Lebedel told the journalists that NATO has drawn up measures for cooperation with the Central Asian states in the field of fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, the report said.
Border Troops Of Russia, Georgia And Azerbaijan To Conduct Exercises
Pravda
Moscow, Feb 25: The border troops of Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan will for the first time conduct tripartite command and staff exercises on the territory of Dagestan (a North Caucasian republic of the Russian Federation) from Tuesday to Thursday. Their aim is to co-ordinate and solve in practice the issues of collaboration of in protecting the CIS state borders in the Caucasus on the basis of the Kaspiisky border detachment. Georgia and Azerbaijan will be represented by deputy heads of border departments and chiefs of staff. The Russian military will be headed by acting chief of the North Caucasian regional directorate of the Russian frontier service Lieutenant-General Valery Putov.
NATO Civil Emergency Exercises To Be Held In Eastern Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 22: A Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Co-ordination Centre of NATO will carry out Ferghana-2003 (eastern region of Uzbekistan) civil emergency exercises from 26 to 30 April, Uzbek TV correspondent Nodir Tulyaganov reported from Brussels, Belgium. `About 14 countries will take part in the Ferghana-2003exercises. The aim is to work on ways of dealing with emergency situations specific to the region and also increase cooperation, including the demonstration of possibilities, strength and means,` - Evert Sommer, the head of the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Co-ordination Centre told Uzbek TV. Such exercises have already been held in other countries, demonstrating high efficiency. The Uzbek Emergency Situations Ministry is considered in NATO as a serious partner both for positive recommendations and practical activities.
Afghanistan Extradites Militant To Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 28: Afghanistan has extradited Muhiddin Nuriddinov, a militant from an international fundamentalist and terrorist organisation, to Uzbekistan. He has repented for his deeds and is making open-hearted confessions, the Uzbek authorities reported today. In an interview with an Itar-Tass correspondent at a remand centre of the Uzbek National Security Service, Nuriddinov said that he had been in contract with Tohir Yoldoshev, a leader of the terrorist organization Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, since 1994. Yoldoshev instructed him to set up a group of religious extremists and send them for training to `Uzbek mujahideen` in Tajikistan. Nuriddinov perpetrated the blowing up of a hydrometeorological station in Uzbekistan in 1999. In all, 10 staff members of the station, 4 Japanese mountaineers and 10 Kyrgyz policemen were taken hostage that time. Nuriddinov said that all of them had been set free for a ransom of USD 4 mln. The militant was arrested when the anti-Taliban coalition seized the northern Afghan town of Kunduz in December 2001. He has been extradited to Uzbekistan, in keeping with a decision by the Afghan interim government.
Are Destabilising Forces Becoming Active In Kyrgyzstan?
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, Feb 25: Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev, citing information from the National Security Service, told a government meeting on 24 February that `destabilizing forces` are becoming active in parts of the country, akipress.org reported on 25 February. Tanaev specifically mentioned Hizb-ut Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, both of which are banned. However, there have been indications in recent months that Hizb-ut Tahrir, at least, has continued to grow despite government efforts to stop it.
Tajikistan court sentences nine Islamists to death
The Daily Times
Dushanbe, Feb 25: Nine members of Tajikistan`s armed Islamist opposition have been sentenced to death by firing squad, the supreme court`s military tribunal said Tuesday. The court in the Central Asian country late Monday also handed down sentences ranging from 18 months to 25 years in prison to 72 other accused Islamists, and released one man for health reasons, it said. The trial of the 82 men on charges of hostage-taking, terrorism, murder and belonging to illegal armed groups, had dragged on since May. They were accused of belonging to two Islamist groups headed by two rebel leaders - Rakhmon Sanginov, nicknamed `Hitler`, and Manur Muakalov - who were killed in July 2001 during special operations against the groups.
Shevardnadze Admits That Guerillas May Still Be Hiding In Pankisi Gorge
Interfax
Tbilisi, Feb 25: Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has said he does not rule out that there might be some guerillas hiding among Chechen refugees in the Pankisi Gorge. `Finding these people with the help of American and Russian special services will not be very difficult,` he said.
Kazakh Govt Sees Q1 `03 GDP Growth At 9.1 Pct
Kazakhstan News
Almaty, Feb 28: Kazakhstan`s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to expand by 9.1 percent in the first quarter of this year after rising by 10.7 percent in the same year-ago period, the economy ministry said on Friday. The Central Asian state`s booming economy grew by 9.5 percent over the whole of last year. In 2001 GDP rose by an impressive 13.5 percent. The ministry said in its statement published in the government Kazakhstanskaya Pravda daily that it saw annual consumer price inflation to slide to 5.3 percent this year from 6.6 percent in 2002.
EBRD To Lend Azerbaijan $170 Mln Under Natural Gas Projects
Interfax
Baku, Feb 28: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to allocate $170 million to finance Azerbaijan`s share in projects to develop the Shakh Deniz gas field and lay the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline, the EBRD`s Baku office said on Thursday. The EBRD and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) had reached preliminary agreements on all points, including terms and dates for funding, but a final decision will not be possible before the projects receive environmental and social assessments, the office told Interfax.
China Presses For Increased Kazakh Oil Production
Radio Free Europe
Astana, Feb 27: The head of Kazakhstan`s state oil-and-gas firm, Lyazzat Kiinov, told Interfax on 27 February that China would like to start importing oil from Kazakhstan this year. But when the question of building a pipeline was raised, the Chinese side said that current Kazakh production levels are too low to justify the expense. China would like to import 50 million tons of Kazakh oil annually, but at present Kazakhstan is able to produce only 47 million. According to Kiinov, China is asking to participate in larger projects in Kazakhstan in order to raise financing for a pipeline.
ADB Gives 580,900 Dollars To Kyrgyzstan To Improve Control Over Investments
Hoover`s Online
Bishkek, Feb 26: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the allocation of a 580,900-dollar technical grant to Kyrgyzstan on 18 February 2003. The grant is aimed at strengthening the possibilities and improving the quality of management of investment projects involving foreign donors. `The Kyrgyz government needs to improve the quality of implementing such projects. In future, the size of foreign aid will decline significantly within the next three years due to the need to reduce [Kyrgyz] debt burden,` the ADB report says.
High Unemployment Figures In Tajikistan
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, Feb 25: Askar Sharipov, the head of the Information Department of Tajikistan`s Republican Centre for Employment, told Asia Plus-Blitz on 25 February that the number of people officially registered as unemployed has increased from 8,000 at the moment of independence in 1991 to 52,000 in 2002. But the actual unemployment figures are far in excess of that number, Sharipov said.
Kazakh Group Set Up For Co-operation With Russian Firm In Prospecting For Oil
Hoover`s Online
Astana, Feb 26: A working group has been established at Kazakhstan`s KazMunayGaz national oil and gas company for the joint development of oil and gas deposits in the northern part of the Caspian Sea shelf together with Russia`s LUKoil. Advertisement: Explore Within This Space `A working group has been set up from our side, I have got an order to this effect, only it is yet to be signed,` the president of the KazMunayGaz, Lyazzat Kiinov, told a news conference today, answering a question from the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency. The document on setting up of the working group will be signed within a week, the managing director for the development of KazMunayGaz company`s offshore projects, Bakytzhan Khasanov, explained. He said that the Kazakh group would be headed by the first vice-president of the company, Timur Kulibayev [a son-in-law to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev].
International Transport Market In The Focus
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, Feb 26: The first international exhibition and conference of Caspian and Black sea states (I&S Caspian and Black Sea Transport 2003`) started its work at Istanbul. The goal of the project is to promote mutually profitable co-operation, attract investments in transport sector of Caspian and Black sea states. The two-day conference participants will gain an opportunity to discuss a list of urgent issues. They are the problems of energy carriers transportation from Caspian region to European and world energy markets, the future of North -South transport corridor, customs and border control procedures reforming and standardization. Over 150 Turkish, Russian, Kazakh, Azerbaijan, Georgian, Romanian, Armenian, German, Chinese, British, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Belgian and Italian companies are expected to take part in the exhibition. Roundtable meetings, seminars and business negotiations will be held within the conference frameworks.
Azerbaijan Hopes For More Chinese Investment In Oil
Interfax
Shanghai, Feb 26: Azerbaijan`s Ambassador to China, Yashar Aliyev, speaking in Beijing this week, expressed his hope that more Chinese companies could invest in Azerbaijan, especially in joint oil development. In the press conference held by the Azerbaijan Embassy, the Ambassador said that Azerbaijan puts great stress on developing its relationship with China, especially in the economic and trading sectors, according to Zhongguo Shiyou Shangwu Wang, a commercial news web site for the oil industry. The scale of bilateral trade should be further expanded after a four-fold increase last year. Aliyev took the opportunity to discuss the rich oil and natural gas resources in Azerbaijan, and predicted that total oil exports from Azerbaijan would reach 50 mln tons by 2010. Last year, the country exported 9 mln tons of oil.
Foreign Investment In Geological Exploration In Kyrgyzstan Up 130 per cent In 2002
Interfax
Bishkek, Feb 25: Foreign investment in geological exploration in Kyrgyzstan in 2002 increased 130 per cent year-on-year to amount to 159.9 million som (about $3.5 million), Sheishenaly Murzagaziev, director of the State Geology and Mineral Resource Agency, said. He said that total investment in geological exploration in 2002 amounted to 173.8 million som, which is 6.6 per cent more than in 2001. Foreign investment in 2001 amounted to 72.2 million som or about $1.5 million. The largest foreign investment in 2002 was in studying gold ore deposits - 117 million som, with about 37 million som spent on the exploration of oil and gas fields.
Foreign Companies To Increase Oil Production In Turkmenistan 400 per cent
Interfax
Ashgabat, Feb 25: Foreign oil companies working under production sharing agreements in Turkmenistan, plan to increase oil production more than 400 per cent in 2003 - from 508,000 tonnes to 2.6 million tonnes, a source in the republic`s Ministry for the Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources told Interfax. Commenting on a program for the development of the oil and gas industry in 2003, confirmed by Turkmenistani President Saparmurat Niyazov, the source said that this year the republic plans to increase oil production 50 per cent year-on-year to 13.5 million tonnes with gas production up 26 per cent to 67.6 billion cubic meters. It is planned that the state company Turkmenneft will produce about 10 million tonnes of oil in 2003, with foreign companies operating under production sharing agreements accounting for 2.6 million tonnes.
Shakh-Deniz Gas Project To Start Late March
Interfax
Baku, Feb 25: Phase One of the development of the Azerbaijani offshore Shakh-Deniz gas condensate field should begin at the end of March. A ceremony for the start of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline is also planned for the end of March, David Woodward, president of BP Azerbaijan, told Interfax. Phase One of the project costs $3.2 billion, including construction costs for the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline, which will have an initial capacity for 22 billion cu m of gas annually, and a maximum, capacity of 30 bcm. Phase One will bring Shakh-Deniz`s annual output to 8.1 billion cubic meters starting in 2006.
Japan Interested In Exporting Oil From Azerbaijan
Interfax
Baku, Feb 24: Japan is interested in exporting oil and other natural resources from Azerbaijan and can supply high technologies in return, Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Tetsuro Yano told a news conference in Baku on Monday. Japan has already invested $380 million in Azerbaijan`s energy industry and has also provided $22 million in grants for the development of agriculture, culture and some other projects, Yano said. During the negotiations in Baku, Japan and Azerbaijan confirmed their interest in continuing this cooperation, he said.
Kazakhstan Considers Alternative Sources Of Power Generation
Hoover`s Online
Astana, Feb 24: The Kazakh Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry plans to carry out a pilot project to build a windmill in mountainous areas in [southern] Almaty Region. `We have designed the world`s only windmill which can operate round the clock at wind speed 30-35 m per second at the Dzhungar Gate [the name of a corridor between mountains],` Kazakh Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Vladimir Shkolnik told the Kazakh parliament during parliamentary hour today. In addition, Shkolnik noted that `this is a Kazakh-made windmill`. The ministry is currently holding talks with the Kazakh government on carrying out the country`s first pilot project to build a windmill with a capacity of 5 MW. This project is expected to be funded by the UNDP and the KEGOC national power grid company, the minister said.
Kyrgyz Government Details Socioeconomic Performance In 2002
Hoover`s Online
Bishkek, Feb 23: The government has summed up the results of socioeconomic development in 2002 and has set the objectives for 2003. Last year`s results show that inflation amounted to 2.3 per cent against 3.7 per cent in 2001. The consumer price index stood at 2 per cent, while the index for non-food goods was 0.9 per cent and for services 4 per cent. The economy`s money supply grew by 35.1 per cent, while deposits in commercial banks increased by 43 per cent. The country`s foreign-trade turnover during the first 11 months of 2002 reached 971.1m US dollars 13.8 per cent up on the same period in 2001. GDP totalled 75.2 billion soms [the official rate is about 46.13 soms to the dollar] at current prices a fall of 0.5 per cent in real terms. The main reason for the drop was the considerable reduction in industrial output, which was not offset by the growth in agriculture and services. Disregarding the enterprises developing the Kumtor field [Kyrgyzstan`s largest gold deposit], real GDP increased by 3.1 per cent. A positive rate of growth in production occurred in light industry (8.8 per cent up) and the food industry (9 per cent). In the country as a whole, 156 enterprises are now idle, while the 664 in operation are working at only 30 per cent of their capacity, apart from the Kant integrated cement and slate works [in the northern Chuy Region] and the Mayli-Say electric light-bulb factory [in the south-western Dzhalal-Abad Region], where production is running at 100 per cent. To ensure a 10-per-cent growth in the economy, we shall have to rely on existing reserves such as the Haydarkan integrated ore-mining plant [in the southern Batken Region], [the] Tekstilshchik [textile joint-stock company] and the development of the deposits at Taldy-Bulak Levoberezhnyy [left bank] [in the north-western Talas Region, where there is a gold deposit], Dzheruy [untraced] and so on. There is potential in the agrarian sector. Last year`s figures show that gross agricultural output increased by 3.3 per cent against 7.3 per cent in 2001. In the year that has just begun, it is planned to improve the marketing in that sector of the economy and to export produce.
Kyrgyz Constitutional Court Rejects Demand To Reconsider Border Agreements With China
Interfax
Bishkek, Feb 28: The Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan has rejected demands made by a group of parliamentarians to recognize the interstate agreements on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border. Cholpon Bayekova, Constitutional Court chairman, said while announcing the ruling on Friday that the interstate agreements on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border were adopted and ratified by the president, the government and the parliament in accordance with the constitution.
Islam Karimov Offers Condolences To Tajik Avalanche Victims
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 28: Uzbek President Islam Karimov has sent a telegram of condolences addressed to Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov, , a Khovar news agency correspondent has reported. It says: Dear Emomali Sharipovich, With a deep feeling of regret and pain the people of Uzbekistan have learnt of the news about the tragic death of people as a result of avalanches in Mountainous Badakhshon Autonomous Region and the Anzob pass. I offer my sincere condolences on behalf of the Uzbek people and myself personally to relatives and kith and kin of the victims.
Kazakhstan Hopes For Quick Resolution Of Caspian Issue
Interfax
Baku, Feb 27: If resolving the legal status of the Caspian drags out, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will have to agree the construction of the Aktau-Baku underwater pipeline with Iran, Kazakh First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Abuseitov said in Baku on Thursday. Abuseitov is in Baku to participate in the eighth meeting of the special working group to develop a draft convention on the legal status of the Caspian.
Collective Response To Modern Threats.
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, Feb 27: `Challenges and Threats to Security in First Decade of XXI Century` International conference, organized by Kazakh Institute of Strategic Researches, F. Ebert and K. Adenauer Funds wrapped up its work at Almaty on Thursday. The heads of similar institutions of Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Russia, representatives of Security Councils, Foreign Ministries, defence Departments, experts of international organizations, ambassadors and specialists of diplomatic missions accredited in our country took part in the event. The conference analysed challenges and threats to the region`s security, possibilities of collective response to them, military - political and international security problems, their economic and humanitarian aspects. KISR director Maulen Ashimbayev focused on terrorism and extremism spread problems, drugs traffic, situation in Caspian region, on the responses to globalization processes development in the report he delivered. He also excluded possibility of terrorist groups strengthening in the region, due to military operation started in Iraq. He considers the conflict, bringing destruction, sufferings and deaths to ordinary people, able to escalate the tension existing between the region`s richer and poorer states and weaken peace in Afghanistan. Having analysed external sources of main threats M. Ashimbayev proposed several measures to neutralize them. He considers it necessary to continue rendering support to Afghanistan in its intention to regenerate the country`s economy. A balance of interests of littoral states, leading word states and biggest companies -oil suppliers` is necessary to observe in Caspian resources development, for to avoid the region states` turn to hostages. The scientist suggested opposing of regional co-operation and its efficient forms to severe globalization process.
Turkmen President Expressed Condolence To Heads Of China
Turkmenistan.RU
Ashgabat, Feb 27: Correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru informs from Ashgabat that the Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov has directed messages to the chairman of Chinese People`s Republic Dzian Dzemin and Prime Minister of CPR Chju Juntsun. The president has expressed deep condolences in regards with a tragic earthquake in Sinztsjan-Uygur autonomous region, entailed human victims.
Belarus Offers To Become `Link` In Talks Between Non-Aligned Movement And CIS Countries
Pravda
Moscow, Feb 26: Belarus is willing to provide the link in talks between the non-aligned movement and CIS countries on urgent present-day problems. This was announced by Belarus Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvostov at a non-aligned movement summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, February 24. Mr Khvostov said that a dialogue between nations and civilizations should be fundamental to the activity of the non-aligned movement.
Uzbek Envoy Holds Talks With Northern Afghan Official
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 26: Ustad Mohammad Sardar Saidi, the head of the office for political affairs of the Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami party and spokesman for the council of leaders of the northern Afghan zone, received Alisher Aliyev, the head of the Uzbek consulate in Mazar-e Sharif. At the meeting, in which Sultan Ali Sultani, the head of security of Hezb-e Wahdat-e Eslami Afghanistan in the north, and Atiqollah Begzada, the official in charge of consular affairs participated, the two sides discussed past relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and the contribution of Uzbekistan to the process of reconstruction of Afghanistan. At the end, the Uzbek consul presented some gifts to Sardar Saidi, Afghan Balkh Province television reported on 25 February.
China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Construction Begins In 2005
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 26: The construction of the railway China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan is expected at the end of 2004 and in the beginning of 2005, KABAR reported. Now, trilateral commission prepares an agreement to sign on a high level of three states on construction of transnational railway, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Communication of the Kyrgyz Republic Kubanychbek Jumaliev told in his interview to journalists. According to his data, the project sum of outlays of for construction of the Kyrgyz site has decreased from USD 1 bn to USD 950 mln. One of the reasons of cutting down outlays became reduction of the length of the road by 30 km. The railway would be built through setting up consortium that will include Governments of China, Kyrgyzstan and other companies interested to participate in the project, in particular, Germany, Iran, Asian Development Bank, K. Jumaliev said. The recoupment of project is 14 years. The transnational railway will start in Kashi town (China). In Kyrgyzstan it will run through Jalal-Abad, Torugart and finish in Andijan (Uzbekistan). The total length is 577 km. 226 km will belong to Kyrgyzstan.
India Officially Asked To Join Trans Afghan Project
Turkmenistan.RU
Ashgabat, Feb 26: As a result of the regular session of the committee on construction of Trans Afghan pipeline Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan officially invited India to join their $3.2-billion natural gas pipeline project. The press office of the Turkmen government informed that Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Yully Qurbanmuradova, heading the Turkmen delegation during the talks in Islamabad informed that at the session with participation of Afghan Petroleum and Mines Minister Juma Mohammad Mohammadi and Pakistani Petroleum Minister Nauraiz Shakoor, the sides discussed the technical and commercial aspects of the project. The next meeting of the committee on implementation of the Trans Afghan project is scheduled for April 8-9 of this year in the headquarters of the Asian Bank for Development in Milan.
Co-operation Development Guaranteed
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, Feb 26: Justice Ministry`s press-service reported Attorney-General Onalsyn Jumabekov to have met with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Ambassador to our country James Lyal Sharp. Having called the fact that he started his first day in the role of the head of the department meeting the diplomatic mission a guarantee of co-operation, Jumabekov informed the guest on the work to perfect the legislation, the course of penal system reforming and the process of discussion of death penalty abolishment.
Niyazov Addressed A Condolence Message For Afghan Government
Turkmenistan.RU
Ashgabat, Feb 26: Ashgabat`s correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru was informed in the press-service of the Turkmen president that Saparmurat Niyazov has directed to the head of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai a message in which he has expressed sincere condolences in connection with tragic death in aircraft crash of minister of petroleum and mines of Afghani government Dzhum Mohammad Mohammadi and persons accompanying him.
Message Of Condolence
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, Feb 26: February the 25th Nursultan Nazarbayev sent a telegram of condolence to the Chairman of the People`s Republic of China Jiang Zemin. From behalf of Kazakhstan`s people and personally the President of RK expresses sincere condolences to people of China, bereaved families in connection with the earthquake in Xinjiang-Uighur autonomous district of China and gas explosion in a mine of Guizhou province.
Turkmen Delegation Taking Part In Caspian Discussion
Turkmenistan.RU
Ashgabat, Feb 26: Delegation of Turkmenistan is taking part in a two-day session of Special working group for defining the status of the Caspian sea, which has opened today in Baku. As correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru informs from Ashgabat, the chairman of the state enterprise on Caspian sea questions attached to the president of Turkmenistan Khoshgeldi Babaev and head of Legal department of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan Yagmur Kochumov are among the members of the delegation.
Diplomatic Meetings
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, Feb 26: February the 25th the Secretary of State Qasymzhomart Toqaev met with the USA Ambassador to RK Larry Napper on his request. The sides discussed issues of bilateral relations. In particular, they confirmed mutual interest in developing cooperation at the spheres of power resources, defence and fighting international terrorism. The sides also discussed topical problems of international security. The American Ambassador delivered a message of the US Secretary of State Colin Powell to Mr Toqaev. At the same day Qasymzhomart Toqaev talked to the Ambassador of Mongolia Damdinzhavyn Dashnyam. The politicians considered agenda of the third session of intergovernmental commission on trade-economic cooperation, discussed preparation to signing of a number of agreements in some spheres.
Caspian Status Special Working Group To Meet In Baku
Interfax
Baku, Feb 26: The eighth session of the special working group on determining the legal status of the Caspian Sea began in Baku on Wednesday. The meeting is being attended by deputy foreign ministers from Azerbaijan (Khalaf Khalafov), Russia (Viktor Kalyuzhny), Iran (Mehdi Safari) and Kazakhstan (Kairat Abuseitov) and Turkmen chairman of the State Enterprise for the Caspian Sea Khoshgeldi Babaev. Opening the session, Khalafov said he hoped the meeting would help bring the positions of the Caspian states closer and would serve as an additional impulse for cooperation. He stressed the importance of bilateral and multilateral talks on this issue. Azerbaijan is `satisfied` with its dialogue with Iran and is ready to resume talks with Turkmenistan, he noted. He said he supported the idea of expanding the special group`s authority. The group could play the role of a political coordination structure for approval of draft cooperation agreements. The Caspian states need to agree on the principles of forming a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea and start working clause-by-clause, Kalyuzhny said. The working group has prepared for this meeting for a long time, he commented.
Uzbekistan, Switzerland Sign Accords On Drugs, Water Supply
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 25: The Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs, Micheline Calmy-Rey, and the Uzbekistan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulaziz Kamilov, signed in the Swiss capital Bern two co-operation agreements in the fields of drug addiction treatment and water supply on February 24, 2003, Swiss Edipresse reported. Under the agreement, Switzerland will distribute syringes to drug addicts in Uzbekistan and will take part in a project for the construction of a water supply network in Bukhara and Samarkand, both in southern Uzbekistan, under the agreements.
Karroubi To Visit Tajikistan Sooner Than Schedule
Tehran Times
Dushanbe, Feb 25: Iranian Majlis Speaker Mahdi Karrubi is to visit Tajikistan on March 4 at the head of a delegation, Iranian Ambassador to Tajikistan Nasser Sarmadi Parsa said here on Tuesday. Karrubi was supposed to pay a visit to Dushanbe on March 6, the date of the trip was changed due to unknown reasons, the ambassador added. During the Iranian delegation`s stay in Tajikistan, the two sides are expected to discuss ways of bolstering bilateral political, economic, cultural and parliamentary ties.
About 65,235 Uzbeks Migrated To Russian Federation In 2002
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 25: According to Federal Migration Service of Russia`s database, the total number of registered refugees in the country was 505,700, 12.9 per cent from Uzbekistan (or about 65,235 people). Other 43 percent came from Kazakhstan, and 8.9 percent from Tajikistan. The Russian population decreased by 856,700 last year, as the death rate soared to a high not seen since World War II, the State Statistics Committee said. As of 1 January, the population has slumped 0.6 per cent to 143.1 million people, the committee said in a preliminary report issued Friday.
Kyrgyzstan Welcomes Intensified Integration Processes In Former USSR
Pravda
Moscow, Feb 25: Kyrgyzstan welcomes the creation of a common economic space on the territory of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, said head of the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry`s CIS department Erkin Mamkulov. Official Bishkek `has always been an active advocate of integration processes on all post-Soviet territory`, the diplomat emphasised. Kyrgyzstan views the creation of a new union of four CIS member states `within these processes, he pointed out.
Experience Exchanged.
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, Feb 25: The chairman of Parliament Lower Chamber Zhamarkhan Tuyakbaui met with the Ambassador of Iran to Kazakhstan Doctor Morteza Saffari. The chamber`s press-service reported the interlocutors to have stressed the two states` economic relations developing and great opportunities for to expand them existing. The guest said development of the two parliaments` relations able to become one of most efficient factors of Kazakh-Iranian co-operation. Z.Tuyakbai informed the Ambassador on the work of the republics` parliament and stressed the importance to exchange experience in lawmaking. According to his words, Iranian experience in division of responsibilities among authority branches and their interaction is interesting for Kazakhstan. Doctor M. Saffari invited the speaker of lower chamber to pay a visit to Iran, heading the delegation of Kazakh Parliament.
Turkmen Leader To Visit Iran
Interfax
Ashgabat, Feb 25: Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov will visit Iran on March 10. He announced the plans at a Monday evening ceremony to commission a gas turbine power station in Turkmenbashi. In Iran he intends to discuss the construction of a dam on the border river Tejen in the village of Pulihatum, which is expected to be commissioned next year. Niyazov said that Turkmenistan`s supply of electricity to Iran and a rise in Turkmen natural gas sales will also be considered.
Constitutional Court Of Kyrgyzstan To Consider The Legality Of Kyrgyz-Chinese Accords
Pravda
Moscow, Feb 24: The Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan will continue to examine on Monday the statement by the deputies of the lower house of the Kyrgyz parliament about the unlawfulness of the Kyrgyz-Chinese border accords. Deputies of the legislative assembly of the Kyrgyz parliament Ismail Isakov, Ishenbai Kadyrbekov and Azimbek Beknazarov are acting as plaintiffs in the judicial process. Speaker of the legislative assembly Abdygany Erkebayev, justice minister Kurmanbek Osmonov and foreign minister Askar Aitmatov will defend the position of official Bishkek. The Constitutional Court began to examine the case on February 20. Earlier, the consideration of the case was postponed many times due to the illness of plaintiffs or due to their absence. The treaty deals with the division of the disputable border territory of over 270,000 hectares on the Uzengi-Kuush section in mountainous areas in the south of Kirghizia. According to the ratified document, Kirghizia has received 70 per cent of the lands whereas in the previous version the Chinese side insisted on the 50/50 division. In May last year 11 deputies of the legislative assembly filed a suit to the Constitutional Court claiming that these accords had been ratified in violation of several articles of the country`s Constitution.
Uzbek Foreign Minister Begins Two-day Visit To Switzerland
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 24: Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov started his two-day official visit to Switzerland on Monday, 24 February 2003. According to RIA Novosti, during the talks with the head of Federal Office of Foreign Affairs of Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey it is planned to discuss conditions and perspectives of bilateral relations, situation in Central Asia with regards to Afghanistan, as well as problems of Swiss economic and humanitarian assistance to countries in the region. At the same day, Kamilov will address the same issues in the meeting with the President of Confederation Pascal Couchepin, as well as the head of the Federal Office of Economic Affairs Josef Deiss, who visited Uzbekistan in April 2002.
Greece And Turkey Sign Gas Pipeline Deal To Link Caspian
Hoover`s Online
Thessaloniki, Feb 23: Greece and Turkey agreed Sunday to construct a pipeline linking natural gas producers from the Caspian Sea region with the European market. The $265 million deal, signed at the end of a two-day meeting of European Union energy ministers, is another move by both nations to focus on economic cooperation and set aside territorial rivalries that have brought them close to war three times in the past three decades. Greek Development Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos and Turkish Energy Minister Mehmed Guler signed the deal to extend the pipeline from the town of Karacabey in western Turkey to the city of Komotini in north-eastern Greece. Caspian nations, including Iran, have been expanding efforts to ship their oil and gas riches to the lucrative European market. The pipeline could bring natural gas from Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Europe. The pipeline - with 120 miles in Turkey and 50 miles in Greece - is expected to be completed by 2005.
Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan Agree To Form Free-Trade Zone
Voice of America
Moscow, Feb 23: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterparts from three other former Soviet republics have signed a joint declaration in Moscow aimed at creating a free-trade zone. The document, signed Sunday in the Kremlin by presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Kazakhstan`s Nursultan Nazarbayev and Ukraine`s Leonid Kuchma, says the countries plan to create a single economic mechanism by September.
Azeribaijani President Travels To US For Meeting With Bush
Voice of America
Baku, Feb 23: Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliyev is on his way to the United States for an official visit that is to include meetings with President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and other high-ranking officials. Heidar Aliyev Before his departure from the Baku airport, Mr. Aliyev said his talks with U.S. officials will focus on international issues as well as a settlement of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.
U.S: Azerbaijan Is A Key Partner Of U.S
Baku Today
Washington DC, Feb 23: George Bush, U.S. President, and Heidar Aliyev, Azerbaijani President, will hold meeting in Washington, on February 26, in the White House, Trend news agency reported. The sources in the White House stated that Azerbaijan is a key partner.
Deputy Prime Minister Of Turkmenistan Arrived In Pakistan
Central Asia Daily
Islamabad, Feb 23: The Deputy Prime Minister of Turkmenistan Yolly Qurbanmurabov has arrived in Islamabad to attend a Ministerial meeting on a joint gas pipeline project with Pakistan and Afghanistan. Talking to newsmen Turkmen Petroleum Minister Tagiev Tachverdi accompanying the Deputy Prime Minister, described the three point two billion dollar project as significant and important for Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as the whole region. He said if we manage to implement this project, it will bring more closer trade relations between Pakistan and his country in addition to create a lot of jobs in the region.
Kyrgyz Village To Join Uzbekistan?
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, Feb 22: Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev met on 21 February with inhabitants of the exclave of Barak in the Karasu District of southern Kyrgyzstan after they had demonstrated in the regional capital Osh, complaining that the government paid no attention to their problems, according to akipress.org and `Obshchestvennyi reiting` on 22 February. The villagers want either the establishment of a corridor that would give them access to the rest of the country or that the exclave be transferred to Uzbekistan. Tanaev promised to raise the villagers` grievance with the Uzbek authorities.
India Invited To Joint Pipeline Project
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, Feb 22: At a regular co-ordinating meeting of top officials of Turkmenistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan -- the three countries involved in the Afghan gas pipeline project -- participants agreed to invite India to join the project, centrasia.ru reported on 22 February. A joint declaration issued at the meeting stated that the profitability of the pipeline, which is intended to carry natural gas from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan to Pakistan and beyond, will depend on extending it to India.
Customs Officers Seize 1.13 Kg Of Heroin At Tashkent Airport
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 27: Customs and national security officers at the international airport in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, detained two women attempting to smuggle heroin out of the country on 24 February, Uzbek TV reported on 26 February. It said that 868 g of heroin was seized from a woman living in Tashkent Region and 262 g of heroin was seized from a female resident of Tashkent.
Seventy Kilograms Of Heroin Seized In Northern Tajikistan
Interfax
Dushanbe, Feb 26: A drug boss has been detained in northern Tajikistan. Seventy kilograms of heroin were seized during his detention, Tajik Interior Ministry Department for Combating Organized Crime chief Makhmad Mirzoyev told Interfax on Wednesday. Another leader of the drug ring was detained earlier in February, Mirzoyev said. He did not disclose the name of the drug trader. Mirzoyev said he was detained in the town of Istaravshan on February 19, during an operation that seized 340 kilograms of heroin.
Switzerland To Help Uzbekistan With Drug Treatment
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, Feb 25: During a two-day visit to Switzerland at the beginning of the week, Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov and his Swiss counterpart Micheline Calmy-Rey signed agreements under which Switzerland will provide assistance to Uzbekistan`s drug-treatment program, including providing syringes for addicts, Uzreport.com reported on 25 February.
Russian Authorities Free Uzbek After Espionage Accusation
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 27: An Uzbek citizen, detained at Novosibirsk airport in southern Russia two weeks ago, has been freed after an accusation of industrial espionage, the Uzbek newspaper Zerkalo 21 reported on 27 February. It said that the man`s problem was that he had failed to declare at the airport the technical documentation and blueprints he had legally bought from a Novosibirsk design office for 3,500 dollars. `He was detained attempting to take technical documentation out of the country. There is an absence of crime in his act,` a Russian customs official identified as Konstantin Vins told the paper. The paper said that the man had already been set free, however the blueprints had not been returned to him. The paper accused the Russian media of whipping up spy fever.
Three Azerbaijanis Sentenced For Espionage
Radio Free Europe
Baku, Feb 26: Following a one-week trial, Azerbaijan`s Court for Particularly Serious Crimes passed sentence on 25 February on three Azerbaijanis found guilty of spying on behalf of Russian military intelligence, Turan reported on 26 February. The court established that Seyar Ahundov, Sergei Namazov, and Mubariz Ahundov were recruited by Russian military intelligence in the 1980s and that between 1993 and their arrest in July 2002 they provided information on the political situation in Azerbaijan, military sites, and the state of the armed forces.
Row In Kazakhstan Over Proposed Nuclear Plant
Uzbek Daily
Astana, Feb 27: A number of non-governmental organizations in Kazakhstan are opposing construction of a new nuclear-power plant at Balkhash, the weekly `Panorama` reported on 27 February. Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik told the lower house of the Kazakh parliament on 24 February that the fate of the plant, which he promised would be built in strict accordance with Kazakh laws on nuclear energy, should not be decided by environmental groups such as Greenpeace. The minister also assured deputies that alternative sources of power such as wind energy are being explored.
PM Wants Budget Financing For Kazakh Radioactive Waste Disposal Drive
Interfax
Astana, Feb 25: Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov has suggested providing funds from the budget for the disposal of radioactive waste. `I do not think that $1 billion [which is required for the country`s disposal effort] is too much for our country,` Tasmagambetov said at the Cabinet session on Tuesday. The prime minister complained that the government has not yet been provided with a feasibility study of the disposal program.
Kazakhstan Received 2.7 Mln Euros Under Tacis Nuclear Safety Program
Interfax
Astana, Feb 25: The European Union has offered 2.7 million euros in technical assistance to Kazakhstan under the Tacis nuclear safety enhancement program, Kazakh Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik said during question hour in the lower house of parliament on Monday. He said Tacis has a total of 14 programs in the sphere in Kazakhstan, seven of which have been completed. Co-operation in this sphere creates a foundation for intensifying Kazakh uranium sales on the European market,` he said. The bulk of EU assistance in nuclear safety has been related to the decommissioning of a BN-350 fast reactor at the Mangyshlak nuclear energy combine in the western part of the country, Shkolnik said.
Kazakhstan Should Hold Tender For Nuclear Plant Construction - Minister
Interfax
Astana, Feb 25: Kazakhstan should hold an international tender for the construction of the projected Balkhash nuclear power plant, Kazakh Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik said during question hour in the lower house of parliament `Kazakhstan needs a nuclear plant from the environmental and social point of view and also considering its raw material resources and scientific potential,` he said.
Kazakh Lawmakers Discuss Proposal To Build New Nuclear Power Plant
Hoover`s Online
Almaty, Feb 24: Kazakhstan is preparing for an international tender to build a new nuclear power plant in cooperation with Russia, the country`s energy minister told parliament Monday. Vladimir Shkolnik said there was still no concrete deal with Moscow to build the plant at Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) northwest of the country`s commercial capital Almaty. He underscored the country`s need for atomic energy, and said more details needed to be discussed before an international tender could be announced for the plant. Plans for the US$2 billion plant call for it to go online in 2005. But the proposal has met with opposition among Kazakh citizens who are still dealing with waste from the country`s Soviet-era nuclear power projects. Officials say there are already 237 million tons (261.25 U.S. tons) of nuclear waste in this Central Asian country. Earlier this year, the only currently operating nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, located near the Caspian Sea, declared bankruptcy citing reduced power demand there and low prices enforced by anti-monopoly regulators.
China Grants Forensic Equipment To Uzbek Interior Ministry
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 28: A remarkable function on the occasion of granting forensic laboratory equipment to Uzbekistan by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been held at the forensic department of the Uzbek Internal Affairs Ministry. A deputy internal affairs minister of Uzbekistan, Col Kh. Ibrohimov, and the Chinese ambassador to Uzbekistan, Zhang Zhiming, attended the function. Uzbek Deputy Interior Minister Kh. Ibrohimov thanked his Chinese colleagues for their free aid and expressed his confidence that friendly and mutually advantageous relations between the two countries and their law-enforcement agencies would expand in the future.
Kyrgyzstan Braces For Possible Iraq War
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, Feb 28: Kyrgyzstan`s National Security Service Chairman Kalyk Imankulov told journalists in Bishkek on 27 February that the country will intensify its security precautions if war starts in Iraq, Interfax reported the following day. Imankulov was quoted as saying that he expects no significant destabilization in the Central Asian region in the event of a war, but he said there could be terrorist attacks. While he expects the international environment to become more tense, he doubts that Kyrgyzstan would become a target for terrorism because of the U.S. military presence in the country. According to Imankulov, anti-terrorism forces have already been deployed at Manas Airport.
Russian, Central Asian Officials To Discuss Security Issues
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 26: Heads of institutes of strategic studies of Central Asian states and Russia, experts of state and independent analytical structures of Kazakhstan as well as the representatives of international organisations and diplomatic missions will participate in the international conference `Challenges and threats to safety in the first decade of the 21th century`. The conference will be held on 27 February in Almaty, Kazakh news agency reported. Its aim is to search for new directions of multilateral cooperation, analysis of common threats to safety in global and regional scale and development of mechanisms of their joint elimination. In particular, the forum will discuss problems of terrorism, extremism, drug traffic, international organised crime and social development of the region, including poverty and unemployment issues. Institute of Strategic Studies under the President of Kazakhstan is the organiser of the conference.
Prosecutor Office Discusses Corruption In Law-enforcement Agencies
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 28: A scientific and practical conference entitled `Corruption in judicial and law-enforcement agencies: its special features and ways of fighting it` was held at the Uzbek Prosecutor-General`s Office on 27 February, Uzbek TV reported. `The conference will contribute to fighting corruption in some way. We can`t say that it will resolve all the problems of fighting corruption, however the conference will help to understand the mechanisms and underlying causes of corruption, the conditions giving rise to this kind of crime and, most likely, outline measures to fight it,` Prosecutor`s official told the state-run TV. It should be noted that this topic has never previously been discussed by judicial and law-enforcement agencies.
Uzbek Leader Appoints New Minister For Emergency Situations
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, Feb 27: Uzbek President appointed Bahtiyor Djumabaevich Subanov the minister for emergency situations of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Islam Karimov has signed the corresponding decree on 26 February 2003, UzA reported.
Turkmen Foreign Minister Named Deputy Prime Minister
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, Feb 22: At the same cabinet meeting, Rashid Meredov was named a deputy prime minister, turkmenistan.ru reported on 21 February. Meredov has served as foreign minister since July 2001. The last foreign minister to hold the rank of deputy prime minister was Boris Shikhmuradov, who was dismissed in 2000 and placed in charge of Caspian Sea negotiations.
Turkmenistan Names New Interior Minister
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, Feb 22: Ashir Ataev, a 50-year-old native of Ahal Welayat who served in the Soviet-era Administration for the Struggle Against the Embezzlement of Socialist Property, was named interior minister at the 21 February cabinet meeting, turkmenistan.ru reported the same day. Ataev is the third person to hold the post in less than one year. From 1990-99, Ataev headed the country`s traffic police, and he later served with the police in Ashgabat. In January, he was appointed head of the Interior Ministry`s Main Department for Crime Prevention and Detection and named deputy interior minister. Ataev`s immediate predecessor, Annaberdy Kakabaev, was appointed to head the ministry in May 2002, replacing veteran Interior Minister Poran Berdiev, who took over the National Security Committee (KNB) during the purge of that agency`s leadership.
Special Focus
National Armies Of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan Changing With The TimesWith the arrival of US-led coalition troops, Central Asian Republics like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have initiated plans to modernised their armies, mostly with the support of the United States which is providing both equipment and money towards this purpose. Uzbek and Tajik officials are of the view that the military reforms introduced by the two countries will receive significant support from their new strategic partners in the West.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp022203.shtmlAppeal Date Set For Jailed Journalist In KazakhstanKazakh authorities have scheduled an appeal hearing for 11 March to review opposition journalist Sergei Duvanov`s rape conviction. The case, which supporters say is politically motivated, is helping to fuel domestic political turbulence. Foreign governments and international organisations, including the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, have publicly expressed doubt that the opposition journalist received a fair hearing.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav022403.shtml
Turkey seeks to boost trade relations with Central Asia
Turkey`s governing party, the Islamic-based Justice and Development Party (AKP), is working to boost trade with states in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Mevlut Katik argues that the new initiatives are driven less by the desire to affirm traditional ethnic and cultural ties, and more by a desire to establish a solid framework for the regulation of commerce.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/eav022503.shtml
Domestic issues loom large over Azeri President`s US visit
Azerbaijani President Heider Aliyev`s visit to the United States has been reportedly planned in a haste. Though Opposition leaders say that health concerns prompted the trip, Aliyev aides insist that the president is `hale and hearty.` Meanwhile, political analysts in Baku believe that Aliyev seeks to use his meetings with US leaders to effectively launch his re-election campaign.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav022603.shtmlChina`s Quest For Eurasia`s Natural ResourcesAs China continues its impressive economic growth, access to natural resources and raw materials is becoming increasingly vital, and will feature more prominently on the policy agenda of the decision makers in Beijing. If China seeks to maintain its economic growth rate of 1985-2000, it will face a major raw materials shortage and will be forced to focus on Eurasia as a source of major energy resources, water and food. Ariel Cohen argues that this is likely to lead to growing economic and political engagement of China with both Russia and Central Asia.
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http://www.cacianalyst.org/view_article.php?articleid=1103Kazakhstan`s New Foreign Investment LawRobert M. Cutler argues that the recent difficulties with the flagship Tengiz oil venture project are emblematic of problems that foreign investors fear will become general conditions under the new foreign investment regime in Kazakhstan, bringing international concern over the business environment there to a head. The new law, signed in January 2003 by President Nazarbaev, removes guarantees against changes in government agreements with foreign concerns in the future, although protecting such guarantees for contracts already signed. It also puts into question the right of foreign investors to have automatic recourse to international arbitration courts and other forums outside Kazakhstan in case of contractual dispute.
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http://www.cacianalyst.org/view_article.php?articleid=1101 Monitoring Reports Provide Details On Election Violations In ArmeniaReports prepared by an election monitoring group in Armenia detail widespread violations during all phases of the country`s first-round of presidential election. The reports question the impartiality of those entrusted with overseeing the balloting, thus raising concern about the legitimacy of the upcoming 5 March run-off between incumbent President Robert Kocharian and opposition candidate Stepan Demirchian.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav022703.shtmlCaspian Deal A Step CloserIn this article, Sergei Blagov argues that the decade-long dispute over how to divide the oil-rich Caspian Sea may be settled soon. However, statements by some Russian officials indicate that Moscow still views itself a bit more equal than the other four littoral nations.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EC01Ag01.html
28 February 2003