Uzbek Lawyers On Strike Over Official Interference, Low Pay
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, December 4: More than 400 lawyers in Tashkent have declared a strike from 3 to 13 December to protest the interference of government agencies -- the Interior Ministry, National Security Service, prosecutors, and judges -- in their work, Prime-News reported on 4 December. The Initiative Group of the Independent Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan reported that the striking lawyers were also protesting their low pay -- the average monthly wage of a lawyer as set by the government is 8,000 soms (about $8). The strikers said they were also angered by the constant flouting of the Criminal Procedural Code by prosecutors who question accused persons in the absence of their lawyers, by the falsification of investigation and court records, and by unjust sentences handed down in the courts.
Tajik Gas Chief Says His Firing Was Political
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, December 4: Former head of the Tajik state gas company Mahmadruzi Iskandarov has said that his firing by President Rakhmonov on 28 November (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 4 December 2003) was politically motivated, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 4 December. Iskandarov, who heads the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, attributes his dismissal to his party`s rejection of the 22 June referendum on constitutional amendments (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 17, 23, and 24 June 2003). According to official accounts, he was fired because of his inept management of the gas firm. He admitted that he has violated government instructions and has collected some gas debts in kind rather than in cash, but argued that he was not guilty of nepotism or cronyism, and he managed to raise the level of payment of gas debts from 19 percent in 1999 to 73 percent in 2003. Iskandarov`s successor, Husein Aliev, a former deputy minister of power engineering, has been given the primary task of collecting gas debts.
President Visits Andijan Region To Award Region For Achievements
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 4: Uzbek President Islam Karimov visited Andijan region on 3 December to award the region with Amur Temur order. The President signed the decree on awarding the region in August, on the eve of the 12th anniversary of Uzbekistan´s independence. Speaking in the awarding ceremony, Islam Karimov noted the achievements of Andijan people in development of economy, in particular in car industry and attraction of investments to the region. President Karimov presented Amir Temur order to the governor of Andijan region Qobil Obidov. At the same day, the president visited academic lyceum under Andijan Medical University and familiarised with conditions created for students and education process.
Cabinet Resolves On Improvement Of Capital Construction
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 4: The Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan has adopted a resolution `On measures on improvement of activity of the State Committee for Architecture and Construction of Uzbekistan` on 2 December. The document is aimed at improvement of the activity of the State Architecture and Construction Committee in the sphere of capital construction. The resolution has approved a new structure of the committee with 96 persons of staff, including 85 managing personnel. A Centre for economic reforms and price formation in capital construction ill be created on the basis of Scientific-research institute of economy, oganisation of construction and new technologies.
Uzbek Electronic Media Forms Association
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, December 3: An Association of Electronic Mass Media held a constituent congress in Tashkent on 3 December, Deutsche Welle reported. The group includes 65 radio, and broadcast- and cable-television outlets. The association`s charter, which was adopted at the congress, states that the group is independent of the authorities and seeks to create the economic conditions necessary for an independent electronic media market. It also intends to defend the electronic media and its employees against state interference, and to work with foreign radio and television companies. Chairman of Samarkand Public Radio and Television and parliamentarian Firdaus Abdukhalikov was elected chairman of the association.
Kazakh Independent Website Complains Of Government Interference
Radio Free Europe
Astana, December 3: The editor in chief of the Kazakh independent Internet publication `Navigator` (http://www.navi.kz), Yurii Mizinov, has said that the authorities are blocking access to the site from inside Kazakhstan, Deutsche Welle reported on 3 December. The site can be accessed without problems from Europe, the United States, and Russia. Mizinov claimed the interference came in response to the publication`s reporting in recent months on the opposition Ak Zhol Party and on Asar, the party of President Nursultan Nazarbaev`s daughter Dariga, as well as to the site`s dissemination of a number of satirical items that some political officials apparently believed were aimed at them.
President Signs Amnesty Decree On 1 December
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 3: On 1 December 2003 President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a Decree on amnesty in connection with the 11th anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of Uzbekistan. Under the decree, the following categories of convicts condemned for the crimes that are not especially grave are freed from their sentence: - women serving their sentence for crimes committed for the first time; - persons who were under 18 at the moment of committing a crime; - persons recognised as disabled of the 1st and 2nd groups before the decree came into effect; - men having reached the age of 60 on the date of entering of the decree into force; - persons that had been recognised as suffering from serious illnesses, complicating serving their sentences, not earlier than one year before the decree took effect; - citizens of foreign countries who had permanently lived outside Uzbekistan and have no legal bases for staying in Uzbekistan after their release.
Security Council Of Azerbaijan Holds Sitting Under Chairmanship Of President Ilham Aliyev
Baku Today
Baku, December 3: The Security Council of Azerbaijan has held a sitting yesterday under chairmanship of President Ilham Aliyev. National TV of Azerbaijan reports that Ilham Aliyev delivered a detailed report on measures for intensification of socio-economic development of Azerbaijan and public-political situation after 15 October elections in Azerbaijan and the region. The sitting also discussed issues related to implementation of international, regional and domestic projects of Azerbaijan.
Tajik Communist Party Attacks Draft Laws Ending Veterans` Privileges
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, December 3: The Communist faction in the lower house of the Tajik parliament attacked draft laws submitted on 3 December that would end privileges of veterans and the disabled for receiving gas and electricity, Asia Plus-Blitz reported the same day. The draft laws were submitted to the legislature by Shermuhammad Shoev, President Rakhmonov`s representative to the parliament, as part of the country`s Poverty Reduction Strategy. Communist Party Chairman Shodi Shabdolov told the lower house that the drafts violate the country`s constitution, adding that few World War II veterans are still alive in Tajikistan. He went on to criticize the low level of pensions in Tajikistan, which he said have not kept pace with rising costs.
Tajik Oppositon Fears Firing Might Destablise Political Situation
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, December 3: Members of the Tajik opposition fear that President Imomali Rakhmonov`s firing of Tojikgaz Chairman Mamadruzi Iskanderov on 28 November might destabilize the political situation in the country, centran.ru reported on 3 December. Iskanderov, who heads the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, part of the United Tajik Opposition during the country`s civil war (1992-97), was fired in the course of a government meeting in which the Tajik gas industry was severely criticized for its poor performance in supplying gas to the population. Iskanderov obtained the post under the peace accord that ended the civil war, which gave one-third of all government posts to the opposition.
Georgia To Hold Parliamentary Runoff Elections On January 4
Interfax
Tbilisi, December 2: While it has annulled the results of the proportional representation polls in the November 2 parliamentary election, Georgia`s Supreme Court has found no fault with the majority vote polls, and majority vote runoffs were scheduled for January 4 on Monday. The runoffs will be held the same day as the presidential election, by decision of the Central Election Commission. There will be runoffs in several districts of the capital Tbilisi and several other parts of the country. Majority vote elections fill 85 of the 235 parliamentary seats.
Georgian Minister Doesn`t Object To Asatiani`s Participation In Opposition
Interfax
Tbilisi, December 2: Georgian State Minister Zurab Zhvania does not object to the formation of an opposition led by Akaky Asatiani, who was an active participant in the `rose revolution.` `There is nothing dramatic in the fact that Akaky Asatiani, who until recently has been our comrade, publicly stated his position, which is different from ours. The new reality is leading to the redistribution of political forces, and this is a normal process, which is characteristic of a democratic state,` Zhvania said on Georgian television. Asatiani, who leads the Union of Georgian Traditionalists, recently criticized presidential candidate Mikhail Saakashvili, saying he should not become president due to his personal qualities and the unrealistic promises he has given. In the meantime, some Georgian politicians believe Asatiani was appointed by Zhvania as an opposition leader to campaign against Saakashvili.
Shevardnadze Urged To Leave Georgia
Associated Press
Tbilisi, December 2: Georgia`s top presidential candidate on Tuesday urged deposed president Eduard Shevardnadze to leave the country before elections to replace him next month. Mikhail Saakashvili, who led the protests that toppled Shevardnadze, made the appeal while campaigning at a subway station just before the filing deadline for candidates interested in joining the Jan. 4 race. The statement reflected concerns that Shevardnadze`s presence in Georgia could encourage forces loyal to the ousted leader to try to reverse his forced removal last month. Shevardnadze resigned Nov. 23 facing a tide of opposition protests which followed Nov. 2 parliamentary elections widely seen as fraudulent. `It would be better if he (Shevardnadze) leaves at least for the time of the election,` Saakashvili said, as he shook hands with potential voters.
Azerbaijan: Imprisoned Opposition Leaders Go On Hunger Strike Over Rigged Election
Radio Free Europe
Baku, December 1: A group of detained Azerbaijani opposition activists and their supporters began a hunger strike today demanding the release of about 100 protesters, imprisoned after October`s presidential elections, and an investigation into the alleged vote rigging. The head of the committee defending the rights of the detainees, Vagif Hajibejli, told RFE/RL that 24 people went on an indefinite hunger strike in a prison in the capital Baku and more than five joined them in Musavat and Umid party headquarters. 107 opposition activists were arrested and kept in detention in Azerbaijan after thousands of people protested over 15 October elections won by Ilham Aliyev, son of the ailing former president Heidar Aliyev. Musavat party leader Isa Qambar came second in the poll and accused the authorities of falsifying the results.
Turkmen President Urges Opposition-in-Exile To Come Home
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, December 1: Reacting to a meeting of the Turkmen opposition-in-exile that was held in Vienna on 23-24 November (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 26 November 2003), Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov on 28 November called on former high-ranking officials now in exile to return home and face criminal charges, turkmenistan.ru reported on 1 December. Niyazov, who was speaking to a meeting of heads of law enforcement agencies, specifically called on former Deputy Prime Minister Khudaiberdy Orazov, former Turkmen Ambassador to Turkey Nurmukhammed Khanamov, and former Deputy Minister of Agriculture Saparmurad Yklymov -- all of whom are now leaders of the opposition in exile -- to return, asserting they are false democrats who have sold out their homeland. Niyazov also criticized the countries that gave them asylum, saying they should return the `terrorists and criminals` to Turkmenistan. At the same meeting, Niyazov removed Security Minister Batyr Busakov, appointing in his place border guards chief Annageldy Gummanov.
Hearing On Kazakh Media Law Warns Of Potential For State Interference
Radio Free Europe
Astana, December 1: A public hearing on the draft media law presently being debated in the Kazakh Parliament was held in Almaty on 1 December, at which local lawyers for international media foundations warned that the government version of the draft would give state authorities more opportunity to interfere in radio and television broadcasting than they have at present, Gazeta.kz reported. Iliodor Kalsin, a lawyer for the press-freedom NGO Adil Soz (Free Word), argued that the draft law would authorize certain agencies, rather than the courts, to revoke broadcasting licenses.
Georgia Leaders Remove Shevardnadze Fence
Associated Press
Tbilisi, December 1: Georgian government officials tore down an iron fence Monday in front of the president`s office, saying they were removing a symbol of ousted leader Eduard Shevardnadze. Zurab Zhvania, a former parliamentary speaker who now serves as head of the Cabinet, made the first cut in the fence before others quickly tore it down. `We were chosen by the people and should not fence ourselves off from the people,` said Zhvania, one of three opposition leaders who led protests that forced Shevardnadze`s Nov. 23 resignation. The demonstrations were sparked by Nov. 2 parliamentary elections that were widely criticized as fraudulent, as well as popular discontent with Georgia`s economy and endemic corruption. The fence in central Tbilisi was built about 18 months ago to prevent protesters from blocking the state chancery, where the offices of the president and other officials are located.
Kazakh Opposition Movement To Set Up Full Fledged Party
Radio Free Europe
Astana, December 1: Asylbek Kozhakhmetov, a leader of the opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement, told a news conference on 1 December that the DVK political council has decided to transform the movement into a full-fledged political party, gazeta.kz and Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. Kozhakhmetov heads the organizing group for the new party, which he said would be called the People`s Party-Democratic Choice Of Kazakhstan. The party`s platform will include replacing the current presidential system with a parliamentary one, expanding the number of members of parliament, election of half of the members of parliament according to party lists, and election rather then appointment of local-government organs. The party will also seek revision of the electoral system and the protection of media freedom. The DVK movement was formed in late 2001. It reportedly now has about 32,000 members throughout the country and has tried several times without success to register with the authorities.
Georgian Armed Forces Will Not Interfere With Politics
Pravda
Moscow, November 29: Georgian Defense Minister David Tevzadze assured on Saturday that the country`s armed forces did not intend to interfere with politics. Tevazadze stated that `the armed forces are not a means to use in the intra-political struggle. Revolution, counterrevolution were the terms used in internal politics with which the army would not interfere.` He made that statement in response to reports in Georgian mass media on a military rebellion allegedly being prepared in the country. The Georgian defense ministry possesses information that `former military figures dissatisfied with social conditions and full of political ideas might exert political influence on military units and the ministry is verifying that information.`
Georgia`s Elections Commission Members Resign Amid Political Crisis
People`s Daily
Tbilisi, November 29: All the members of Georgia `s Central Elections Commission (CEC) announced their resignations on Friday amid political turbulence, according to reports reaching here from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Nana Devdariani, chairwoman of the CEC, and the other five members were all appointed in September by Eduard Shevardnadze, who was forced to resign early this week after three weeks of protests led by the opposition. Acting President Nino Burdzhanadze, who assumed the presidency after Shevardnadze resigned, will have to appoint new members of the commission. Burdzhanadze said that she preferred appointing lawyer David Usupashvili to be the new chief of the commission. Also on Friday, an extraordinary session of Georgia `s interim parliament has for the second time failed to decide on the date ofnew parliamentary elections since the Nov. 2 poll was invalidated recently on the grounds of fraud. The meeting succeeded in extending the registration period of presidential candidates for five days till Dec. 1. The pre-term presidential election in Georgia was set for Jan. 4 by the interim parliament three days earlier, which left only one day for the submission of documents to the Central Electoral Commission under the Georgian constitution. The parliamentarians decided Friday to suspend the CEC`s duty of summing up ballot results, which shall be announced with due consideration of court rulings.
Ballistic Missile Launched In Kazakhstan For Test Purposes
Uzbek Daily
Moscow, December 5: An intercontinental ballistic missile lifted off from Russia`s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday as part of a test to determine if it was still combat ready. `The missile was launched to test whether all its parameters were in order and whether it was safe to use,` the Russian Space Forces spokesman told The Associated Press. The launch was carried out successfully. For test purposes, the missile did not carry warhead. The RS-18 missile has a range of over 6,200 miles. It has been used since 1980 and was last tested a year ago.
USA May Send US Military To Georgia
Pravda
New Delhi, December 5: According to a source in the Georgian State Office, today`s talks between US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the new Georgian authorities touched upon the presence of US military in Georgia. Rumsfeld said at a briefing after the talks that the USA was thinking about deploying direct-action corps in the region. However, neither specific recommendations were put forward nor actions taken in this respect as yet, he added. The US official also reported that the program of military assistance to Georgia was approaching completion. Under the program, 2,750 special Georgian servicemen should be trained and equipped by the end of this year. The USA has already spent $64m for the program, and the US Defense Department and the Georgian Defense Ministry have just agreed that the program of military assistance would be continued.
U.S. Defense Chief Arrives In Strategic Azerbaijan
Tehran Times
Baku, December 3: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held top-level talks Wednesday in Azerbaijan, part of a Caucasus region which holds strategic importance for the United States but where regional superpowers Russia and Iran are also jealously guarding their own interests. The Pentagon chief met with Azerbaijan`s recently-elected President Ilham Aliyev and Defense Minister Safar Abbiyev. `We do value the strategic relationship between our two countries,` Rumsfeld told reporters in between meetings. `We want our relations to cooperate in all these fields -- the economy, military, energy,` Aliyev said. There was speculation that Rumsfeld could use Azerbaijan, an oil-rich state wedged between Russia and Iran, as a jumping-off point for visits to other states in the region, but this has not been confirmed by Pentagon officials. It was expected that Rumsfeld`s talks in Azerbaijan would focus on growing military cooperation between the two countries, which are bound by a shared interest in the region`s oil reserves and wariness of the intentions of Russia and Iran. Analysts said the Pentagon could be seeking agreement on stationing U.S. troops on Azeri soil as part of a Defense Department review of how American forces are deployed in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Azeri officials have refused to confirm if this subject will be on the agenda for the talks. General Chuck Wald, deputy chief of the U.S. European Command, hinted earlier this year that troops could be deployed to Azerbaijan to protect the country`s Caspian Sea oil fields and the pipelines for shipping the crude to western markets.
Rumsfeld Says U.S. Trying To Help New Ally Azerbaijan Guard Against Caspian Sea Threats
Kazakhstan News
Baku, December 3: The United States is committed to a bigger role in helping former Soviet republic Azerbaijan protect against terrorists and illicit trafficking in weapons and drugs, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday. `The goal would be to work with the Azerbaijani navy and maritime forces to better enable them to deal with` such threats, Rumsfeld said at a joint news conference with Col. Gen. Safar Abiyev, the nation`s defense minister. The United States recently delivered a Coast Guard cutter to Azerbaijan as part of its assistance effort. Rumsfeld said Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Wald, the deputy commander of U.S. European Command, was in Baku recently to discuss ways of improving and broadening cooperation on these matters. Rumsfeld arrived in this Caspian port city from Brussels, Belgium, where he had participated in two days of talks with NATO members. Abiyev accompanied Rumsfeld on the flight to Baku after participating in a meeting Tuesday between NATO defense ministers and representatives of nonmember counties associated with the alliance through a program called the Partnership for Peace. Rumsfeld also met with President Ilham Aliev and congratulated him on his October election victory.
Official Denies Azerbaijan Will Host US Military Base
Radio Free Europe
Baku, December 2: There is no truth to rumors that Azerbaijan will host a U.S. military base, presidential administration foreign relations department head Novruz Mamedov told journalists on 2 December, according to Interfax. He added that bilateral military cooperation with the United States focuses on cooperation in the war against international terrorism, participation in international peacekeeping operations, and NATO activities.
Georgian Leader Wants Russians Out
The Moscow Times
Maastricht, December 1: Georgia`s Acting President Nino Burdzhanadze called Monday for a swift withdrawal of Russian troops and said her country had earned the right to be integrated into Europe after its peaceful revolution. With Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov looking on, Burdzhanadze accused Russia of undermining Georgian sovereignty by supporting separatist provinces and by hosting their leaders last week in Moscow. That meeting `ruined all the positive messages` by Russia when it helped broker the resignation of former President Eduard Shevardnadze, she told a meeting of foreign ministers of the 55-nation Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Early Elections Take Place At Russian Air Base In Kyrgyzstan
Pravda
Bishkek, November 29: On Saturday early State Duma elections are taking place at the Russian air base in the city of Kant (Kyrgyzstan). About 200 Russian citizens out of soldiers and officers of the air base and their family members are expected to participate in the elections. According to air base commander Andrei Samotsvet, election campaign at the base was not organized in the military unit. Servicemen were able to familiarize themselves with programs of candidates during viewing of Russian TV channels. Elections on the territory of the unit are carried out very democratically, soldiers are coming to the poll not by platoons but as free time permits. In the wake of the elections sealed ballot boxes will be dispatched to the Russian Federation embassy to be kept in custody there till December 7, 20.00 Moscow time - the end of elections to the State Duma.
Kyrgyz National Security Chief Says Ban On Extremist Group Makes His Work Easier
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, December 3: National Security Service head Kalyk Imankulov has said that the Kyrgyz Supreme Court`s recent ruling banning the activities of a number of terrorist and extremist groups (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 20 November 2003) is making it easier for the Security Service to operate, Interfax reported on 3 December. Among the groups listed are the Islamic extremist party Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Party of Turkestan, formerly the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Imankulov said that the court ruling allows his agency to take harsher measures against the extremists in accordance with the law, but most importantly, it gives the authorities backing for anti-extremist campaigns among the population. He indicated that Hizb ut-Tahrir members could face harsher punishments than the fines some of them have been given for distributing party literature. Mere membership in the party is not grounds for detention. Imankulov added that it is not always easy to gather clear evidence that party members have incited interethnic hatred or called for the overthrow of constitutional order, the usual charges brought against them.
Armenian Parliament Gunmen Sentenced To Life
Interfax
Yerevan, December 2: The Yerevan Court on Tuesday sentenced six out of seven people involved in the October 27, 1999 shooting in the Armenian parliament to imprisonment for life. The seventh was sentenced to 15 years in jail, an Interfax correspondent reports. The court, presided by judge Samvel Uzunyan, found them guilty of terrorism, high treason and several other crimes. Under amendments to the Criminal Code earlier approved by parliament and the president, people sentenced to life for terrorism cannot be pardoned until they have served for 20 years. The attackers shot killed the speaker of parliament, the prime minister and several other MPs.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir Denies Involvement In Alleged Plan To Attack Air Base In Kyrgyzstan
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, December 1: The banned radical Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir distributed a declaration in Kyrgyzstan on 1 December denying the party`s involvement in an alleged planned terrorist act against the international antiterrorism coalition air base at Bishkek`s Manas Airport, akipress.org reported the same day. The Kyrgyz National Security Service announced in early November that three persons from Talas Oblast had been arrested in the process of preparing the attack (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 5 November 2003). One of the detainees allegedly asserted that Hizb ut-Tahrir planned the action. Some members of the Kyrgyz opposition later expressed doubts that an attack as described by the security agency had actually been planned.
Belgium Experts On Terrorism Hold Talks In Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, November 29: The expert group on terrorism and religious extremism of the Federal police of Belgium has visited Uzbekistan. It held meetings and negotiations with representatives of law-enforcement bodies of Uzbekistan. The sides considered issues on establishment of ties in fighting terrorism, religious extremism and organised crime, as well as drug trafficking and weapon smuggling. According to head of the Belgium delegation, V.Gompel, terrorism has become a real threat to security of Belgium, where a large number of migrants representing different nationalities and religions live. Taking advantage of liberal laws, many radical and extremist organisations are trying to spread ideas on overthrowing the constitutional regime, firing religious fanatism and international discord under the cover of religion. Taking this into account, the Belgian government included Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) to the list of terrorist organisations, while the law-enforcement bodies have intensified collection of information regarding other radical groups and organisations operating in the country. The sides stated the importance of information exchange in determination of terrorist organisations and their financing sources, as well as strengthening joint efforts to eliminate threats, search and extradition of criminals. The Belgian delegation highly evaluated Uzbekistan`s role in ensuring peace and security in the region, as well as in the anti-terror coalition in Afghanistan, Jahon reported. During the negotiations the sides agreed to prepare an Uzbek-Belgian agreement on cooperation between the law-enforcement bodies.
World Bank Announces Small Grant Programme In Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 5: The World Bank´s Country Office in Uzbekistan has announced its Small Grants Programme. The Small Grants Programme (SmGP) was created in 1983 to provide a way for the World Bank to promote dialogue and dissemination of information about international development in forums outside its own operations. Any institution involved in development broadly defined may apply for a grant. However, the SmGP prefers to support nonprofit, non-governmental, non-academic organisations. Activities supported by the SmGP are intended to promote dialogue and issemination of information, and enhance partnerships with key players in upport of the economic and social development process. In 2004, the SmGP ill support activities related to civic engagement for the empowerment of marginalised and vulnerable groups. Civic engagement is defined as the process through which civil society organisations inter-act with the state and with other development actors to address issues of public concern. Thus, the special focus of the 2004 SmGP is to support the empowerment of citizens towards greater ownership of the development process, thereby making the latter more inclusive and equitable. Individual grants are expected to be in the range of US$1,000-7,000. The SmGP will fund only 50 per cent of the cost of a proposed activity, which should be completed within one year of the date the grant is awarded.
PetroKazakhstan`s COO Steps Down
Toronto Star
Calgary, December 5: The chief operating officer of PetroKazakhstan Inc. is stepping down due to health reasons, the oil and gas producer announced today. PetroKazakhstan said Marlo Thomas, who is also an executive vice-president of the company and president of two operating subsidiaries based in Kazakhstan, will leave the firm for an indefinite period of time. Thomas Dvorak has been appointed president of subsidiaries, PetroKazakhstan Kumkol Resources (PKKR) and PetroKazakhstan Oil Products (PKOP), replacing Thomas in these two positions, based in the city of Almaty in the former Soviet republic. Dvorak was previously vice-president, legal and contracts, based in Almaty.
LUKoil President Joins Kazakh Foreign Investment Council
Newscuts
Astana, December 5: LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov has entered Kazakh Foreign Investment Council. LUKoil said the respective ruling was signed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, the head of such Council. Foreign investors, including but not limited to ChevronTexaco, BG Group, Total, EBRD, are the Council members. However LUKoil is the only Russia`s company represented in the Council, LUKoil said. LUKoil has invested around $1.5 bln in Kazakh projects over the recent 8 years. Today it is implementing 7 project there and project number may grow.
Half Onshore Oil Fields In Azerbaijan Explored By Foreign Companies
Baku Today
Baku, December 5: Half oil production onshore Azerbaijan (1.5 million tons) falls at operating companies and joint ventures, said SOCAR president Natig Aliyev.`Azneft union (SOCAR structure) is gradually reducing the production of oil, while projects with foreign companies provider oil production growth`, he noted. Particularly, Kursengi-Garabagli field (Salyan Oil operating company) produced 306 thousand tons of oil in 2002, while in 2003 production increased up to 500 thousand tons. He noted that SOCAR does not have the sufficient funds for normal operation because its onshore fields are in terrible environmental condition. Aliyev stressed that SOCAR does not have the funds to invest into recultivation and rehabilitation of lands.
Azerbaijan To Finance BTC Pipeline With Petroleum Fund
Interfax
Baku, December 5: Azerbaijan will spend 9 billion manat (4,918 manat/$1 on December 5) from its state petroleum fund on the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) export pipeline in 2004. Samir Sharifov, the fund`s executive director, said 95 per cent of the money would go towards servicing a credit of $200 million that the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) received from shareholders of BTC Co., the pipeline project operator. The other 5 per cent will be spent on administrative costs incurred by AzBTC Ltd., which represents the state in the project. SOCAR will repay the $200 million after international financial institutions have, at the start of 2004, issued other loans for the BTC project. The SOCAR creditors will receive $4 million in interest, according to the agreement. Some of the interest was paid in 2003, Sharifov said. Another payment is due in January, and the petroleum fund has budgeted for that. The cost of the BTC project is $2.95 billion.
Kyrgyzstan To Double Foreign Debt Payments In 2004
Interfax
Bishkek, December 5: Kyrgyzstan plans to spend 3.098 billion som on foreign debt in 2004, up 90 per cent year-on-year, Finance Minister Bolot Abildaev told Interfax. Kyrgyzstan intends to spend 1.613 million som on principal (about $37 million and 1.485 billion on interest (about $34 million), he said. The exchange rate is forecast at 44 som/$1. `The foreign debt payments amount would be bigger if it were not for the deferment of 1.244 billion som, that was offered by the Paris Club of creditors in the restructuring of Kyrgyzstan`s foreign debt.` Spending on servicing foreign debt in 2003 should reach 1.677 billion som (about $39 million), including 1.15 billion som in principal and 527.17 million som in interest.
Tajik Cotton Harvest Up 3.5 per cent In 2003
Interfax
Dushanbe, December 5: Tajik cotton growers harvested 533,177 tonnes of raw cotton this year, 3.5 per cent more than last year. That represented 87.4 per cent of the government`s 610,000-tonne order for this year, First Deputy Agriculture Minister Ikhtiyer Ashurov has told Interfax. Virtually all the cotton Tajikistan grows is exported. The country exported 137,200 tonnes last year for $128 million. That represented 17.4 per cent of exports overall for Tajikistan.
Uzbekistan Toughens Terms For Foreign Loan Guarantees
Interfax
Tashkent, December 5: Uzbekistan will not provide government guarantees for foreign borrowing to companies in which the government owns less than 50 per cent, a Cabinet resolution says. Proposals on government guarantees for foreign loans will be submitted to the government only by the finance ministry after prior consideration of the loan and information on foreign loans raised previously.
Kazakhstan, Germany Want To Double Trade Within 3 Years
Interfax
Astana, December 5: Kazakhstan and Germany want to double bilateral trade within the next three years. `We have a very ambitious goal of doubling bilateral trade within the next three years,` German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a briefing after Thursday negotiations with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana. Germany will broaden cooperation with Kazakhstan in mineral development and high-technologies, Schroeder said. The German chancellor said he discussed the activities of Winters Hall, EADC and Siemens in Kazakhstan with Nazarbayev. German businessmen are interested in Kazakhstan because it has rich mineral resources and political stability, he said. Kazakhstan is playing an important stabilizing role in the turbulent Central Asian region, and President Nazarbayev realizes the importance of economic development for the stability of his country and the region, he said. Bilateral trade amounted to $619.6 million in January-September 2003, including $108.1 million in Kazakh exports and $551.5 million in imports. German investments in the Kazakh economy totaled $664 million by July 1, including $198 million in direct investments, $5 million in portfolio investments, and $461 million in other types of investment. Bilateral trade was $806.5 million in 2002, including $220.3 million in Kazakh exports and $586.2 million in imports. A total of 145 offices of German banks and companies are functioning in Kazakhstan, and the number of Kazakh-German joint ventures is 266.
Tajik President Signs Privatisation Plan
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, December 4: Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov has signed a decree entitled `Strategic Plan for the Privatization of Medium-Sized and Large Enterprises in the period 2003-07,` Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 4 December, quoting presidential press secretary Zafar Saidov. The plan defines Tajik policy on privatization of larger enterprises and the restructuring of natural monopolies, and includes a list of affected enterprises, with the goal of full privatization by 2007. The authorities see this as the next step in market reform and development of the private sector. The plan is also intended to help attract domestic and foreign investment and create jobs, Saidov said. He gave the figure of 459 large enterprises that will be privatized.
Kyrgyzstan`s Gas Bill To Uzbekistan Tops $11 Mln
Interfax
Bishkek, December 4: Kyrgyzstan`s gas debt to Uzbekistan totals $11.3 million for 2003, Tairbek Sarpashev, chairman of the Kyrgyz legislative assembly`s fuel and energy committee, told Interfax. Paying `such a sum at once is not possible, and it the government or Kyrgyzgaz are unable to reach an agreement with Uzbek suppliers, this could have undesirable consequences for the country,` Sarpashev said. `Another worrying factor for uninterrupted supplies of gas for the country in 2004 is the demand of Uzbek suppliers to conduct 100 per cent of settlements in hard currency,` he said. Under the contract for 2003, Kyrgyzstan pays 55 per cent in hard currency and 45 per cent in kind, he said.
Turkmenistan, Ukraine Could Strike 25-yr Gas Deal
Interfax
Ashgabat, December 4: Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and chief of the Ukrainian national stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy Yury Boiko discussed preparations for a new, long-term (from 2007 to 2032) natural gas agreement at a Thursday meeting in Ashgabat, the Turkmen presidential press service has told Interfax. The draft of the agreement, stipulating 3-4 trillion cubic meters of gas, will be presented during an upcoming visit by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma in February or March of next year. A five-year contract for 2002-2006 has Ukraine receiving 34-36 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas annually at $44 per 1,000 cubic meters. Half the compensation is in money, the other half in goods and services.
Turkmenistan To Spend $52 Mln On Bagadzha Gas Field
Interfax
Ashgabat, December 4: Turkmenistan will invest just short of $52 million in the development of the Bagadzha gas field, a government official told Interfax. National gas company Turkmengaz will hire Canada`s Thermo Design Engineering Ltd to build a turnkey facility costing $32.7 million to remove sulfur and obtain liquefied gas at the field between January 2004 and October 2005. Turkmenneftegaz will offer contracts worth $13.677 million at procurement tenders to overhaul existing and drill new wells, and to build new infrastructure at the Bagadzha field.
Armenia Sees Highest Industrial Growth In CIS In Jan-Oct
Interfax
Yerevan, December 4: Armenia posted the highest rate of industrial output growth among CIS countries in January-October 2003 at 19.1 per cent, the CIS Interstate Statistics Committee reported Wednesday. Output was up 18.7 per cent in Moldova, 15.7 per cent in Ukraine, 15.1 per cent in Kyrgyzstan, 10.4 per cent in Georgia, 9.3 per cent in Tajikistan, and 8.0 per cent in Kazakhstan. Russia saw industrial production growth of 6.8 per cent. A lower rate was posted only in Belarus at 6.5 per cent and Azerbaijan at 5.6 per cent. The statistics committee does not have figures for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Average industrial production growth in the CIS was 8 per cent and GDP rose by an average of 7 per cent. GDP was up 15.7 per cent year-on-year in Armenia, 10.8 per cent in Azerbaijan, 10.6 per cent in Tajikistan, 9.1 per cent in Kazakhstan (January-September), 8.3 per cent in Georgia (also January-September), 7.2 per cent in Ukraine, 6.3 per cent in Belarus, and 6.0 per cent in Kyrgyzstan. Output in the key industries rose 6.9 per cent in Russia. GDP in Moldova rose 6.5 per cent in the first half.
Japanese Government Issues Grants For US$176,500
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 4: Japan has issued four grants worth US$176,500 within the framework of the no-string aid of the Japanese government to grass-root projects. According to Japanese Embassy in Tashkent, the grants will be directed to Margilan-based youth centre Ilm Yorugligi (US$36,494), Qoqand board school for children with poor eyesight (US$63,371), a secondary school in Ferghana region (US$60,440) and the Regional centre for adaptation of women and disabled (US$16,141). The funds will be used for purchase of equipment and reconstruction of the buildings. The grant contracts will be signed on 5 December.
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Credit Agreement To Be Signed By December 20
Interfax
Baku, December 3: BTC Co., the operator for the Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, will sign a credit agreement with financial organizations by December 20. A source in BP-Azerbaijan told Interfax that an exact date has not yet been set `but we can say that the document will be signed in the third week of December in London.` The total amount of funds attracted for the project, including interest rates, will amount to $2.5 billion, with a total project cost of $3.6 billion, the source said. Direct construction costs will amount to $2.95 billion, of which 30 per cent will be invested by shareholders and 70 per cent will be received as credits. Other expenditures include the acquisition of 10 million barrels of oil to fill the pipeline [about $250 million - Interfax], and servicing of credits,` the source said. Creditors for the project break down into four groups.
Azerbaijani Oil Exec Doubts Russia Is Preparing Sabotage On Pipeline
Interfax
Baku, December 3: Azerbaijani State Oil Company President Natik Aliyev has denounced Western media reports that Russian special services are preparing acts of sabotage on the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan oil pipeline. `I do not believe such reports. We maintain very close ties with Russia. Russian officials have not expressed serious dissatisfaction with the pipeline in the past few years,` Aliyev said.
Tenge Likely To Keep Strengthening Against U.S. Dollar - National Bank Chief
Interfax
Almaty, December 3: Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Grigory Marchenko has said he expects the national currency unit, the tenge, to continue strengthening against the U.S. dollar by the end of 2003. `We see that the tenge is again strengthening against the dollar now, and it has approached the mark of 146 tenge per $1 for the third time this year. It is quite possible that the tenge could overcome this level in December,` Marchenko said at a press conference in Almaty on Wednesday. The strengthening of the tenge against the dollar could possibly be explained by a traditionally increasing demand for the tenge at the end of the year, which is in turn connected with increasing tax payments to the budget, Marchenko said.
Kazakhstan Calls On German Companies To Develop Caspian
Interfax
Astana, December 3: Kazakhstan is inviting German companies to participate more actively in the development of the hydrocarbon reserves of the Caspian, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said during a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Astana on Tuesday. `Kazakhstan is ready to encourage broader participation by German companies in the development of fields in the Caspian, and given their high level of engineering development - to invite them to improve the service sector in the domestic oil production industry,` the presidential press service said in a press release. The German chancellor arrived in Kazakhstan on his first official visit to the republic on Thursday. He will be in Kazakhstan for two days. Nazarbayev informed Schroeder that at the moment the republic`s economy is changing from being largely dependent on the raw material sector to the accelerated development of the non-raw material sector, particularly the manufacturing sector, the press release said. Astana considers that there is good potential to set up Kazakh- German joint ventures to develop infrastructure in engineering, petrochemicals, construction, transport and communications, automobile assembly, insurance, agricultural processing and production of agricultural technology. The press release also noted significant possibilities for cooperation in the sphere of information and telecommunications technology.
Uzbek Government Seeks To Regularise Labour Migration
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, December 2: The Uzbek government has adopted a decree on regularizing the movement of Uzbek citizens going abroad in search of work, Kazinform reported from Tashkent on 2 December. The decree seeks to establish an orderly mechanism for Uzbek labor migrants, including developing an infrastructure of labor agencies in Tashkent, Ferghana, Karshi, and Nukus to help job seekers find work outside the country, inform them about conditions and legal requirements in various countries, and help them fill out necessary documents.
EBRD Extends Credit Line For Turkmen Small Business
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, December 2: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has extended its existing credit line for Turkmen small and medium-sized businesses to the end of September 2005, turkmenistan.ru reported on 2 December. The $15 million credit line was established in 1996 to promote economic reform through the development of private enterprise in accordance with the bank`s charter. So far it has financed 113 projects, providing credit averaging $75,000 for existing firms to expand or modernize their output of either goods or services.
Azerbaijani Companies Produce 1.5 Mln Tonnes Onshore In Azerbaijan
Interfax
Baku, December 2: Azerbaijani operating companies and joint ventures produced 1.5 million tonnes of oil onshore over the past year, which is exactly 50 per cent of total onshore production in this period, Natik Aliyev, president of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR), told Interfax on Tuesday. `From year to year Azneft [a SOCAR structure] is reducing oil production, while production in projects with foreign companies is growing,` he said. For example, production at the at the Kyursengi-Garabagly fields, where Salyan Oil is the operating company, amounted to 306,000 in 2002 and is expected to reach about 500,000 tonnes in 2003. Aliyev noted that the poor ecological condition at oil production sites.
Swiss Company Buys 50.2 per cent Of Uzbek Vegetable Oil Company
Interfax
Tashkent, December 2: Floil Ltd., of Switzerland has bough at 50.2 per cent government owned stake in Ugrench eg, one of the largest fats and oil companies in Uzbekistan, for $2.5 million. Floil has undertaken to invest $1.5 million in modernizing the company, the Uzbek state property committee told Interfax. Ugrench eg, which was established in 1997, has projected capacity to turn out 800 tonnes of vegetable oil a day. The plant can also produce 5 tonnes of drying oil a day and 2,000 liters of soft drinks a day.
Foreign Companies Lose Over $500 Mln Invested In Azerbaijani Exploration
Interfax
Baku, December 2: Foreign oil companies have lost over $500 million invested in exploring fields in Azerbaijan, State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) President Natik Aliyev said in the republic`s parliament on Tuesday. `Exploration work was carried out at several promising structures, seismic work was carried out to modern standards and wells were drilled. In some cases fields were even discovered, but our foreign partners refused to continue work for various reasons. As a result, the companies lost over $500 million that was spent on this work,` he said. The SOCAR chief also noted oil companies` successes in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian. `Initially under the contract for the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field we forecast reserves of 511 million tonnes of oil. But exploration work indicates an increase in reserves to over 700 million tonnes.
Kazakh President Signs Oil Export Duty Into Law
Interfax
Astana, December 2: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed off on a law introducing amendments to tax legislation involving, among other things, the introduction of an export duty on oil, the presidential press service said. The Kazakh parliament approved this document on November 27. The law, with the exception of a number of articles that do not directly concern oil operations, will come into force from January 1, 2004. The duties are to be paid by all exporters, with the exception of those working under production sharing agreements and those that signed contracts to carry out subsoil operations under license before this draft law came into force. According to the document, the duty will be charged on the value of exported oil, based on actual export volumes and the market price, minus sales expenses and taking the qualities of the crude into consideration. The tax rate, according to the law, will depend on the current market price for oil. The rate fluctuates between 1 per cent with a market price of $19 per barrel and 33 per cent for a price of $40 per barrel and over. At the moment there are no taxes on oil exports. The amendments to the law create two models for taxing oil companies. The first model will be applied to companies operating based on licenses for subsoil operations, granted after the new law has come into force.
Azerbaijani Oil Exports To Novorossiisk Up 0.9 per cent In Jan-Nov
Interfax
Baku, December 2: Exports of Azerbaijani oil through the Baku-Novorossiisk route in the first 11 months of 2003 amounted to 2.338 million tonnes, which is 0.9 per cent more than in January-November 2002, a source in the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) told Interfax. Supplies to the port in November amounted to 213,357 tonnes, the source said. Azerbaijan plans to export 2.5 million tonnes of oil through Novorossiisk in total in 2003, the same amount as in 2002.
Kazakhstan To Export Oil, Gas To Pakistan
Central Asia Daily
Islamabad, December 2: Kazakhstan plans to export oil and gas to Pakistan and expand trade via land route under a quadrilateral trading agreement. It was officially announced here on Tuesday after the fifth meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) between the two countries. The JMC meeting, a prelude to the next week`s state visit of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, also discussed five agreements in the field of investment support, banking relations, cultural exchanges, declaring two capitals as twin cities and ties between the universities. Zhaxybek Kulbekeyev, minister for education and science Kazakhstan and Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz addressing a joint press conference after the JMC meeting hoped the visit of Nazarbayev would lead to promotion of bilateral economic and trade relations between the two sides. The bilateral trade between the two sides is just $15 million, which is insignificant comparing international trade of Kazakhstan of $17 billion. Aziz hoped that Pakistan would be able to invest in, and export, textile and pharmaceuticals, while Kazakhstan can exports agricultural products and fertilizers. Kazakh minister said his country is keen to export its vast oil and gas reserves to Pakistan through Afghanistan, for onward export to other countries using Pakistani ports. Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in terms of area (27,17,300 sq km, including 47,500 sq km under water)), with under developed energy sector as its main contributor to $35 billion GDP. It borders China (1,533 km), Kyrgyzstan (1,051 km), Russia (6,846 km), Turkmenistan (379 km) and Uzbekistan (2,203 km). Aziz said that two sides have agreed to sign a Preferential Trading Agreement (PTA). He also offered Kazakhstan trade through Gwadar Port to have access to warm waters of the Arabian Sea. The two sides have also agreed to expedite formalization of 1998 quadrilateral agreement with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China to avail the trade and transit facilities through Karakurram Highway and the ports, bypassing the land route through Afghanistan.
Uzbek Gamers Pick Up Computer Skills
Uzbek Daily
Tashkent, December 2: Computer games are not usually considered to be a particularly useful or efficient use of scarce technological resources in developing economies. Most people in Uzbekistan go online from internet cafes But a group of researchers from the University of Washington believe they could play a more fundamentally important role than previously thought. In a country where the net and computers are scarce commodities, like Uzbekistan, they can be seen as an important way to get young people interested in using and exploring a world of computers, technology and what the web offers. `The majority of people who have ever used a computer in Uzbekistan have played a computer game, and this seems significant,` Professor Beth Kolko who led the research explains to BBC News Online. Game playing could, she argues, be a basis for innovation which could be exploited to produce future economic and social rewards.
Uzbekistan Wants Gas For Its Cash
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, December 2: Uzbekistan is demanding that Kyrgyzstan pay entirely in cash for imported Uzbek natural gas, instead of paying partly with agricultural produce, but Kyrgyzstan does not have the money to meet the Uzbek demand, Deputy Chairman of the gas-importing firm Kyrgyzgaz Kubanychbek Dzhusupov told a news conference in Bishkek on 2 December, kabar.kg and akipress.org reported. As a result of the dispute, the annual contract for delivery of Uzbek gas to Kyrgyzstan remains unsigned. According to Dzhusupov, this is the first time in 13 years that Uzbekistan has demanded full payment in cash. The Kyrgyz side wants to include in the contract a stipulation that gas will be supplied to Kyrgyz power stations, which so far the Uzbek exporters have been unwilling to do. Kyrgyzstan currently owes Uzbekistan the equivalent of $10.6 million for gas, but only $900,000 of that amount in cash, which Dzhusupov said will be paid on time.
Tashkent Hosts Charity Festival
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 2: A charity festival-marathon `Mehrjon-2003` (Mercy) was held in Tashkent. This year the traditional marathon was dedicated to the International Disabled Day (3 December). Children from orphanages, boarding schools and representatives of the elder generation took part in the marathon. All young participants of the festival were presented with gifts.
Kazakh President Signs New Law On Oil Export Tax
Radio Free Europe
Astana, December 1: Nursultan Nazarbaev has signed a law amending tax legislation introducing an export tax on oil, Interfax reported on 1 December, quoting the presidential press service. The Kazakh Parliament adopted the law on 27 November. The sections concerning oil exports will come into force on 1 January 2004. From that date, the taxes are to be paid by all oil exporters except those working under production-sharing agreements and those whose contracts predate the new law. The tax rate will be based on the current market price of oil, up to 33 percent on a price of $40 or more per barrel.
Inflation In Kazakhstan 1.6 per cent In November
Interfax
Astana, December 1: Consumer prices in Kazakhstan rose 1.6 per cent in November and 5.8 per cent in January-November, the National Statistical Agency told Interfax. Food and drink prices were up 1.9 per cent, non-food prices 1.2 per cent and services also 1.2 per cent in November, the agency said. In the 11 months, food and drink prices grew 5.6 per cent, nonfood prices 6.6 per cent and services 5.5 per cent.
Tajik Transport Firms Look To Government For Help With Uzbek Border Closings
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, December 1: Transport firms in the western Tajik town of Penjikent are looking to the Tajik government for help in ensuring that they can cross into Uzbekistan in order to transport goods and passengers to other parts of Tajikistan in winter, the northern Tajik news agency Varorud reported on 1 December. The closure of the Anzob Pass by snow prevents direct north-south transit within Tajikistan, making communication by road impossible without crossing Uzbek territory. The Penjikent shippers say that Uzbek border troops and customs officials are not always willing to open the nearest border-crossing point, resulting in major losses to the Tajiks, and they want the government to put pressure on the Uzbeks to ensure transit between north and south Tajikistan. A tunnel at the Anzob Pass, which is being constructed with Iranian assistance, is supposed to provide year-round transit through Tajikistan.
China CNPC Eyes Sister Co`s Central Asia Oil Stake
Kazakhstan News
Hong Kong, December 1: Chinese oil firm CNPC (Hong Kong) Ltd. (0135.HK) said Tuesday it is in talks to buy a sister company`s stake in a unit with holdings in an oil field in central Asia. It plans to buy less than 50 per cent of that unit. ADVERTISEMENT It gave no further details, noting contractual terms had yet to be finalized. CNPC is owned by China National Petroleum Corp., China`s largest oil and gas company. It didn`t name the sister company, other than to say it is a unit of China National Petroleum Corp. On Monday, 100.7 million shares in CNPC were traded, up from 61.1 million Friday. Just 9.3 million shares changed hands Nov. 24. CNPC shares have risen 10 HK cents, or almost 10 per cent in the past week, closing Monday at HK$1.15.
Lukoil To Increase Number Of Kazakh Projects In 2004
Interfax
Almaty, December 1: Russian oil major Lukoil hopes to increase the number of its projects in Kazakhstan in 2004, Lukoil Overseas regional director for Kazakhstan Boris Zilbermints told Interfax. `We are currently looking for new possibilities to participate in the Kazakh oil and gas industry, including possible acquisitions or alliances with other companies in other projects, both onshore and offshore,` he said. However, he did not say exactly which assets Lukoil plans to acquire in Kazakhstan next year. `Concrete negotiations are underway and some progress has been made, but it is too early for me to talk about this. Nevertheless, we expect that we will have new projects in Kazakhstan in 2004,` he said. Zilbermints also noted that given the status and possibilities of Lukoil, the company should have a large project onshore. `We will not agree to carry out geological exploration at a small structure - this is not interesting. The reason why we plan to work at sea is clear - Kazakhstan`s main oil and gas potential is in the Caspian,` he added. He also noted that the company is preparing to participate in tenders for blocks in the Caspian.
Budget Round Off
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, November 29: The Parliament adopted draft budget for the next year in the second reading. Budget receipts have KZT 13,7bln increase. Increment sources were: National Bank revenues, Astana airport, `Kuigenzhar` and `Kazakhstan engineering` companies` repayments to Republic Budget. The sum was raised at the cost of reduction of expenses for state debt service. All in all, lawmakers in collaboration with Government allocated 15,4 bln. The sum will be spent on minimal pension (KZT 5 800 next year) and students` scholarship increase, which was Deputies` demand. Vital problem of Almaty people - strengthening of seismic stability of schools and hospitals was also heeded to. Target transfers (previously earmarked for `depressive` regions only) are to be channeled to Talgar, Kurchatov, Serebransk and other towns.
Wooing Or Being Wooed In Central Asia
Deutsche Welle
Astana, December 5: Chancellor Schröder wrapped up his Asian tour with a visit to Kazakhstan. The ink is now drying on half a billion euros worth of business deals in Astana, a city dubbed the capital by an authoritarian president. Nursultan Nazarbayev has a particularly good vantage point. Not only does the Kazakh president run a country rich in oil, natural gas and coal, but since 9/11 the former Soviet republic has risen to strategic importance as a partner in the worldwide fight against terror. And Nazarbayev is now wooing Western countries to spend money in his state. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, accompanied by a large delegation of high-ranking business executives, responded to the call and went courting this week. `Kazakhstan is very important for German enterprises,` Schröder told reporters after his meeting with Nazarbayev on Friday. Germany is Kazakhstan`s third largest trading partner, and Schröder said his goal was to double trade levels with the Central Asian country within three years. The upshot of the first state visit from a German leader since Kazakh gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 was a stack full of signed contracts worth €550 million ($663.6 million). Siemens closed three of the deals, involving participation in modernizing a coal-run power plant for €100 million, a telecommunications project worth slightly less and outfitting the state trains with a control system for €50 million. Commerzbank and the Man engineering group also left Astana with fresh contracts in hand. Stable at what cost? `Kazakhstan plays a stabilizing role in this unquiet region, and economic cooperation contributes to stabilizing and calming the region,` Schröder explained to reporters. Indeed, Kazakhstan has had the same leader throughout it`s short period of statehood. Nazarbayev, previously head of the Kazakh communist party, is an authoritarian ruler with a penchant for appointing family members to positions of power. His oldest daughter controls state television and most of the country`s newspapers and has an effective monopoly over the news Kazakhs have access to. Independent journalists have been attacked, beaten and even killed by police according to human rights organizations. One of Nazarbayev`s son-in-laws is in charge of the country`s oil and gas business. With an iron hand, Nazarbayev quashes all opposition to his rule. Presidential decree Six years ago, Nazarbayev decreed that the country`s capital would move 1,300 kilometers from Almaty, the country`s biggest city to Astana. And now he`s busy furnishing his seat of government, spending hundreds of millions of euros from the country`s growing oil revenues on impressive city building projects. Meanwhile, experts estimate that more than 60 percent of Kazakhstan`s 16.8 million inhabitants live in poverty. Of those 16.8 million, around 300,000 are of German origin. The German government offers them incentives to stay in the country, financing 77 meeting facilities that cultivate German culture. It also sends money to family members left behind, offers language courses, helps needy Germans and provides free medical care. In the last 15 years 800,000 ethnic Germans have immigrated to Germany from Kazakhstan.
Germany Leader Meets Kazakhstan`s German Minority, Urges Closer Ties
Kazakhstan News
Astana, December 5: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met members of Kazakhstan`s German diaspora during a visit aimed at boosting ties with the Central Asian country. `Kazakh Germans have special significance, they create a bridge between Kazakhstan and Germany which will be very important for our future relations,` Schroeder said at a business forum in this former Soviet republic. Advertisement Schroeder`s visit focused mainly on strengthening business links at a time when Kazakhstan`s vast oil and mineral resources are gaining in importance for Western Europe. Earlier a number of trade deals were inked by German business leaders visiting Kazakhstan`s frozen capital on the northern steppe, including agreements on upgrades that Siemens will carry out to coal-fired power stations and telecom and rail infrastructure. Schroeder met briefly with representatives of Kazakhstan`s ethnic German community, whose ancestors settled in southern Russia in the 18th century before being deported to Kazakhstan by cattle trucks during World War II to work in slave conditions in coal mines and labour camps. Since the Soviet Union`s collapse some 800,000 Germans have taken the chance to move from Kazakhstan to Germany, leaving around 200,000 still in Kazakhstan. Berlin has given Kazakhstan`s German minority the right to resettle in Germany, but has also given funding to support the community in Kazakhstan, some members of which engage in business between the two countries. The German chancellor also visited a memorial to Soviet fighters in World War II. His visit came ahead of planned ones next year by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and by French President Jacques Chirac. It was the last leg of a tour which also took Schroeder to a number of cities in China. He was due to leave for Berlin around lunchtime on Friday.
Kazakhstan Is Germany`s Major Economic Partner In Central Asia - Schroeder
Interfax
Astana, December 5: Kazakhstan is an important economic partner of Germany in Central Asia, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a German-Kazakh business forum in Astana on Friday. `Because of its size and economic potential, Kazakhstan is a key Central Asian country and a major economic partner of Germany,` he said. The partnership between the two countries will be consolidated, Schroeder said. Schroeder noted Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev`s personal contribution to making Kazakhstan `a stabilizing factor in this volatile region.` Central Asian developments affect the whole of Europe, he said. Regional cooperation will help Central Asian countries in countering challenges such as terrorism, cross-border crime, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and in promoting the energy industry, transport links, water supply and other infrastructures, Schroeder said.
Tehran, Baku Inching Closer On Caspian Sea Legal Regime
IRNA
Baku, December 4: Deputy Azerbaijan foreign minister said here Wednesday that Tehran and Baku are inching closer on Caspian Sea legal regime. Khalaf Khalafov told reporters that two sides are striving to reach an agreement to finalize the issue. The Azerbaijan special representative for Caspian Sea legal affairs said that the experts will be in Tehran for a conference on December 9-10 to iron out their difference on the Caspian Sea legal regime. He said some of the issues have been agreed among the littoral states and Tehran meeting aims to further coordinate the positions. He added the timing of a two-way meeting between Iran and Azerbaijan will be set at the conference. `All the littoral states are against the militarization of the sea,` Khalafov said stressing the need for further cooperation among the states. Following the political developments in the Caspian Sea, the littoral states are after strengthening their own border security `but, this should not lead to increased military presence in the area`, he stated.
Kyrgyz Delegation In China To Strengthen Ties
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, December 4: A delegation of Kyrgyz officials headed by deputy head of the president`s office Temirbek Akmataliev visited China on 22-29 November to promote closer ties between the two countries, particularly in the economic sphere, KyrgyzInfo reported on 4 December. The delegation met with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and other government officials responsible for agriculture and commerce. Two hundred private Chinese firms are already functioning in Kyrgyzstan; the Kyrgyz side would like to attract further Chinese investment, particularly in tourism and the agricultural sector. The Chinese interlocutors expressed interest in processing of agricultural products, fisheries and fowl raising, improvement of seeds, and fertilizer production.
Kazakhstan: Schroeder Visit Likely To Touch On Ethnic Germans
Truthnews.com
Prague, December 4: Diplomatic observers say Schroeder is likely to tell Nazarbaev that Germany is looking to increase oil exports from Kazakhstan and is interested in taking part in working Kazakh oil fields in the Caspian Sea. Other economic issues are also expected to be addressed during the two-day visit by Schroeder, who is traveling with an entourage of 11 business executives looking to monitor ongoing plans like a telecommunications project run under the auspices of Siemens. The German chancellor`s visit also signals Europe`s desire to be involved in security issues and to find a niche in the strategically important region of Central Asia, where the United States has already established a military presence to support the antiterror campaign in Afghanistan. But talks will undoubtedly also focus on a more personal issue -- the situation of ethnic Germans who since 1989 have begun to leave Kazakhstan for Germany, as well as the circumstances facing those who remain. Schroeder is also traveling with the German commissioner for migration, Jochen Welt.
Kazakh President Requests Help For Kazakhstan`s Ethnic Germans
Radio Free Europe
Astana, December 4: During his 4 December talks with visiting German Chancellor Schroeder, Nazarbaev asked that Germany give further financial support to the ethnic Germans living in Kazakhstan, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported the same day. He mentioned particularly loans or other funding for small businesses. In the 1990s about 800,000 ethnic Germans emigrated to Germany from Kazakhstan, and the German government began providing assistance to those who wanted to remain in Kazakhstan in the hope of encouraging them not to emigrate. Kazakhstan, too, was eager for its ethnic German population to remain. Kazakh authorities estimate there are about 300,000 ethnic Germans left in Kazakhstan; about 12,000 emigrated between January and September 2003. Schroeder was scheduled to meet representatives of Kazakhstan`s ethnic German communities as well as Kazakh civil society activists prior to his departure.
Russian Doctors Visit Uzbekistan To Train Local Colleagues
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 4: The delegation of Novosibirsk Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedy (NITO) ahs visited Uzbekistan to organise practical seminars for local doctors. According to Novosibirsk city website, this was the first mission of Novosibirsk doctors to Uzbekistan. The aim of the Russian doctors was to train their Uzbek counterparts to conduct operations on endoprosthesis of knee-joints, as well as discuss issues of traumatology and orthopaedic surgery. Head doctor of NITO Dmitriy Hrapov said that the two-day visit to Tashkent Institute of traumatology and orthopaedy would assist Uzbek colleagues to conduct treatment at modern standards.
Russian Health Minister Meets Uzbek Senior Officials
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 3: President Islam Karimov received Russian Health Minister Yuriy Shevchenko at presidential residence Oqsaroy on 2 December. The head of the state expressed his satisfaction with the development of cooperation in the healthcare sector between Uzbekistan and Russia. The sides exchanged opinions on the issues on further development of cooperation in the health sphere, in particular, staff training, conducting joint researches and technical collaboration. On the same day, Russian Health Minister met his Uzbek counterpart Feruz Nazirov. The sides discussed the current state and further development of ties. During the talks, Shevchenko noted that development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Russia health bodies was very important and that the Russian side thought that it was an essential necessity.
Open World Programme Expands To Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 3: The Open World Leadership Centre announced on 2 December it is initiating pilot exchange programmes with Ukraine and Uzbekistan, hosting a total of 99 political and civic leaders from the two countries in the United States in December 2003. The US Congress established the Open World Programme in 1999 to bring emerging Russian political and civic leaders to the United States for 10-day visits to meet their American counterparts and gain firsthand knowledge of how American civil society works. Open World´s implementing agency, the Open World Leadership Centre, is an independent legislative branch entity that works cooperatively with the US Department of State and other US executive and judicial branch agencies.
Martz Fetes Kyrgyzstan`s Leader
Kazakhstan News
Helena, December 3: A red carpet was waiting when the presidential plane of Askar Akaev, leader of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and Montana`s first foreign head of state visitor, touched down here Tuesday. Across town at the governor`s mansion, Betty St. Clair and Marsha Grondin, the house cooks, were fussing over four enormous, Montana prime rib roasts to be served at a dinner hosted by Gov. Judy Martz and her husband Harry for Akaev and 28 other guests. It`s hopeful, Martz said in a brief interview at the governor`s mansion before Tuesday night`s dinner, that two peoples raised to be enemies should now be sitting down to eat together. `We have so much more in common than we ever realized,` Martz said. `This is just a peaceful relationship. It`s humanitarian.` Akaev`s two-day visit is the culmination of a seven-year pairing between Montana and Kyrgyzstan - a breakaway nation of the former Soviet Union - that began as part of a Pentagon effort linking National Guard programs with the emerging democracies of the defunct Soviet Union. Martz invited Akaev to come to Montana this fall, as part of what she said is an effort to better understand the two nations and foster peace.
Tehran, Baku Inching Closer On Caspian Sea Legal Regime
IRNA
Baku, December 3: Deputy Azerbaijan foreign minister said here Wednesday that Tehran and Baku are inching closer on Caspian Sea legal regime. Khalaf Khalafov told reporters that two sides are striving to reach an agreement to finalize the issue. The Azerbaijan special representative for Caspian Sea legal affairs said that the experts will be in Tehran for a conference on December 9-10 to iron out their difference on the Caspian Sea legal regime. He said some of the issues have been agreed among the littoral states and Tehran meeting aims to further coordinate the positions. He added the timing of a two-way meeting between Iran and Azerbaijan will be set at the conference. `
US Bonds With New Leader In Baku
BBC
Washington DC, December 3: US bonds with new leader in Baku Mr Rumsfeld would not be drawn on the issue of military bases The US defence secretary has pledged to maintain military ties with Azerbaijan following the controversial election of a new president there in October. `We intend to continue [our] military to military relationship with the new administration here,` Donald Rumsfeld said on a visit to the capital Baku. He appeared to evade a press question about the alleged vote-rigging which handed Ilham Aliyev the presidency. The US, he said, would do more to help Baku fight terror and drug trafficking. `The goal would be to work with the Azerbaijani navy and maritime forces,` Mr Rumsfeld told reporters after talks with the Azerbaijani Defence Minister, Safar Abiyev. Earlier, he had talks with President Aliyev who described the US as a `strategic partner for Azerbaijan`.
Foreign Minister Confirms Russia`s Readiness For Constructive Dialogue With Georgia
Interfax
Moscow, December 2: Russia is ready for a constructive dialogue with Georgia, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has said. `Of course, Russia has always been ready for a constructive dialogue on the whole range of Russian-Georgian relations,` Ivanov told Channel One in a telephone interview from the Dutch city of Maastricht. The foreign minister said that he and acting Georgian president Nino Burjanadze had discussed cooperation between their countries during a meeting earlier today. `Mrs. Burjanadze said that Georgia`s new authorities would like to open a new page in relations between Russia and Georgia and would like to resolve all problems that have been plaguing bilateral relations in a constructive fashion and in a way that will allow relations to be brought to a new level,` Ivanov said.
Strengthening Business Partnership
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, December 2: Delegation headed by James L.Sharp, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of United Kingdom and Northern Ireland to Kazakhstan, paid a visit to West Kazakhstan oblast. They had talks with Nurgali Ashimov, oblast akim, on economic links and import substitution program implementation. Great Britain is interested in KZ oil and gas sector, British Ambassador said. For this reason British trade and investment representative office was opened in Atyrau. Business partnership prospects in other spheres are studied.
Pak-Kazakh JMC To Discuss Visa Restrictions
Newscuts
Islamabad, December 2: Pakistan and Kazakhstan would today (Tuesday) discuss visa relaxations for the business community of Pakistan, which the former USSR had slapped owing to Pakistan`s opposition to its invasion on Afghanistan, an official source in the finance ministry said here Monday. `The Pakistan-Kazakhstan Joint Ministerial Conference (JMC), with finance minister Shaukat Aziz in the chair, would be held Tuesday to discuss the modus operandi for visa relaxations apart from exploring ways and means to enhance the bilateral trade volume,` said the official. `Kazakh finance minister Daureu Erdebay would lead his country`s eight-member team during the fifth session of the JMC.` According to the source, under the modus operandi prepared by Pakistan, Kazakhstan would issue visas to those Pakistani businessmen who have NoC from the Export Promotion Bureau, the ministry of commerce and the Pakistan embassy in Kazakhstan. `In addition, Pakistan and Kazakhstan would exchange data with regard to cooperation in the food and agriculture sectors,` he said.
Powell Calls On International Community To Support Georgia`s Territorial Integrity
Uzbek Daily
Amsterdam, December 2: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has pledged to support the new government of the former Soviet republic of Georgia and said no help should be given to separatists in that country. He was speaking at a ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe being held in the Dutch city of Maastricht. Colin Powell`s message to some 40 foreign ministers was clear. `The international community should do everything possible to support Georgia`s territorial integrity throughout and beyond the election process,` emphasized Mr. Powell. `No support should be given to breakaway elements seeking to weaken Georgia`s territorial integrity.` Secretary Powell`s words come the day after Georgia`s new acting president accused Russia of undermining her nation`s sovereignty by meeting with separatist leaders from the country`s provinces.
Europe Plans Large Expenditures In Kyrgyzstan In Next Three Years
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, December 2: European agencies plan to spend more than 13 million euros ($15.5 million) in Kyrgyzstan`s Batken Oblast, the poorest in the country, over the next three years and 900,000 euros in Issyk-Kul Oblast, KyrgyzInfo reported on 2 December. The funding is to be spent on the reduction of poverty and general development programs, with particular emphasis on training officials and the public how to monitor expenditures. Activists of local NGOs involved in development work have commented that European aid money would be better spent on social and economic development in rural areas, although the European Union has already committed 9 million euros to rural development and the World Bank is contributing $15 million, with an additional $15 million earmarked for grants to small towns.
Ukrainian, Turkmenistani Presidents To Discuss Gas Cooperation In February
Interfax
Ashgabat, December 2: Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma plans to discuss gas cooperation with Turkmenistani President Saparmurad Niyazov during a visit to Ashgabat in February 2004. A source in the Turkmenistani presidential office told Interfax that the presidents agreed this during a telephone conversation on Monday. In particular, Niyazov and Kuchma stated that the sides will meet all their obligations, both in terms of gas supplies and payment. Ukraine currently receives 34 billion -36 billion cubic meters of gas per annum from Turkmenistan under a five-year agreement for 2002- 2006, at $44 per 1,000 cubic meters. Ukraine pays for 50 per cent of these supplies in cash and 50 per cent in consumer goods. The sides are currently preparing a long-term agreement for gas supplies in 2007-2032, under which Ukraine may receive 3 trillion - 4 trillion cubic meters of gas. Ukraine is the main importer of gas from Turkmenistan.
US Secretary Of State Accuses Turkmenistan Of Violating Code OSCE Commitments
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, December 2: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on 2 December accused Turkmenistan of violating their basic commitments as participating states of the OSCE, RIA-Novosti reported. Powell was speaking at the annual OSCE Ministerial Council in Maastricht. He said that Turkmenistan`s leadership was flouting OSCE commitments on human rights, in both the political and religious spheres, and called on Ashgabat to act exclusively in accord with the international standards set out by the OSCE.
Turkmenistan President Meets With Russian Ambassador
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, December 1: Saparmurat Niyazov held an uncharacteristically long meeting with Russian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Andrei Molochkov on 1 December to discuss a range of bilateral issues, with a particular focus on cooperation in the oil-and-gas industry, turkmenistan.ru and Interfax reported. The three-hour talks also dealt with ongoing efforts to define the legal status of the Caspian Sea. A 2 December report in `Vremya novostei` noted that the meeting came soon after a Russian State Duma hearing on 27 November (see `RFE/RL Newsline` 1 December 2003) censured Turkmenistan for its treatment of Russian citizens living in the country, and a Russian Foreign Ministry official said that communications between the embassy in Ashgabat and the Turkmen Foreign Ministry have been difficult (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 1 December 2003). Molochkov later said that his talks with Niyazov were constructive.
Pakistani Students To Graduate In Kazakhstan
Uzbek Daily
Islamabad, December 1: Minister of Education, Zobaida Jalal on Monday accepted in principal, the requisition and demand made by the Zhaksibek Kulekeev, Education Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan to send Pakistani students to Kazakhstan for undergraduate and graduate studies. Both the ministers also discussed matters of mutual interest and assured each other of the maximum help and support in education sector. Zobaida gave a briefing to her counterpart about the steps taken in the field of education and said education sector is enjoying a priority status under the political government and the ministry would hopefully be able to achieve the desired targets. She said, relationship between Kazakhstan and Pakistan had always been very warm and cordial and Education Ministry would be very pleased to send its students to Kazakhstan to further strengthen these ties. `The Pakistan Government would extend every possible help to the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the education sector,` she added. Commenting on the Education Sector Reforms, the Minister said, basically it is the continuation of the past good policies. She said the government envision to provide quality education to all the citizens in making them reach their maximum potential, produce responsible, enlightened and skilled citizens and to integrate Pakistan into the global framework of human-centered development. `Our policy aims at enhancing educational opportunities, especially for the girls in the rural areas, improve service delivery through quality assurance across the board, expand technical and vocational education and to promote public private partnership,` she added. She said the Pakistan Government is very keen to introduce students exchange programmes with the government of Kazakhstan that could be helpful to both the countries to strengthen cooperation in education sector. Zobaida said the government is committed to make the education system in the country more approachable and accessible for every citizen of the country. She maintained, devolution of power benefitted the education sector a lot and now the Education Ministry bears the role of a facilitator and supervision, to avoid undue bureaucratic hurdles. `Fiscal devolution down to the districts had made the education more approachable and easily accessible by all the dwellers of the districts,` she added. She moreover briefed the delegate about the steps that are being taken to promote and strengthen educational cooperation between Pakistan and other countries. Her counterpart hailed the policies and projects launched by Pakistan in the field of education. Education Minister of Kazakhstan said, after impressed by the policies and projects introduced by Pakistan in the education sector, similar policies would be introduced in Kazakhstan to bring revolutionary changes in the educational system. The Kazakhstan delegation also sought Pakistan`s help and assistance in the field of Education that was positively responded by Pakistani, Education Minister.
New Envoys Present Credentials To Uzbek President
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 1: The Uzbek President Islam Karimov received credentials from four newly appointed extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors to Uzbekistan on 1 December. Islam Karimov received Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan Tleuhan Kabdrahmanov, Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Vietnam Fay Zuy Shon, Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Ambassador of China Gao Yusheng and Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Iran Mohammad Fathali. In the meetings at presidential residence Oqsaroy, Uzbek leader and ambassadors exchanged opinions on development of relations in trade, investments, tourism, agriculture and other spheres.
Acting Georgian President Makes International Debut At OSCE Meeting
Voice of America
Amsterdam, December 1: Georgia`s acting president made her international debut at a ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the Dutch city of Maastricht. While she criticized Russia, she also expressed hope for improved relations between the two countries. Russia`s foreign minister looked on as Georgia`s acting president, Nino Burjanadze, told the OSCE delegates that Russia undermined her nation`s sovereignty by meeting with separatist leaders from the country`s provinces. But she said Georgia`s new leadership, which came into power last week after a peaceful revolution ousted long-time leader Eduard Shevardnadze, is ready to overcome past problems with Russia. The acting president also said her country`s peaceful transition of power proved that it deserves to be part of a new, wider democratic Europe. She was speaking at the opening of a two-day meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht.
Uzbekistan Transfers Over 90 Kilometers Of Railroad To Kazakhstan
Interfax
Shymkent, December 1: Uzbekistan has transferred two sectors of a railroad over 90 kilometers long to the jurisdiction of Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan`s Temir Jularri State Railroad Company used to control the lines. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy obtained two railroad sectors, 54 and 37 kilometers long, on December 1, first deputy head of the company`s Chimkent department Khairula Sarsenov told Interfax. Representatives of the Uzbek and Kazakh railroad administrations signed a relevant protocol in Tashkent in 2002. Kazakhstan obtained five railroad stations, about 185 kilometers of the railroad track, and 80 shunting systems. The transfer will halve transit charges and cargo shipments via the Saryagash station on the Uzbek border will grow, Sarsenov said. Yet the transferred railroad lines require repairs, and trains cannot go faster than 40 kilometers per hour in some places. Many stations need repairs, too, Sarsenov said. Repair expenditures are preliminarily estimated at about 1 billion tenge (146.63 tenge/$1).
Baku Intends To Expand Ties With Moscow - Azerbaijani President
Interfax
Baku, November 30: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has called for expanding ties between his country and Russia. Speaking with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko in Baku on Friday, Aliyev said that economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia has good prospects for developing. `Our countries constantly hold consultations and clarify their positions. Cooperation in economic matters has a good political foundation. We will make efforts to further increase trade turnover between the two countries, especially taking into account that potential and prospects of cooperation are great,` Aliyev said.
Shevardnadze Blames Financier Soros For Provoking Crisis In Georgia
Interfax
Tbilisi, November 30: Georgia`s ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze has blamed American multibillionaire George Soros for the recent political crisis in Georgia that culminated with the former leader`s resignation. `Soros is behaving badly, politics is not his business, but he devised a philosophy of holding elections in Georgia so that different people become government members and setting up bodies that were once set up in Yugoslavia,` Shevardnadze said on the TV program Vesti Nedeli broadcast on Russia`s state-run television Rossiya on Sunday. The recent developments in Georgia were orchestrated according to `Soros`s plan,` in which the financier planned even minor details concerning the recipients of his money and contacts with non-government organizations, Shevardnadze said. The ex-Georgian president branded the seizure of the parliament as `a coup attempt,` which he said must not be tolerated in big-time politics. Shevardnadze also commented on the elections and vote-counting procedures, which were entrusted to an American organization. He refrained from specifying its name. The firm undertook the handling of voter lists using computer technologies, but, as a result, many voters were missing from the lists.
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine Fail To Come To Terms On Free Trade Zone
Interfax
Kyiv, November 30: The high-level group for creating a single economic space between Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine failed to come to terms on the mechanism for creating the free trade zone in Kyiv on Saturday. `The high-level group will continue the talks on the basic measures to create a free-trade zone at a meeting of the Economic Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow on December 18 and 19,` Vitaliy Lukyanenko, spokesman for Ukraine`s first deputy prime minister, told journalists on Saturday. `The Moscow meeting will address about one third of the problems connected with the free trade zone on which no agreement has been reached,` he said.
Putin Praises Russian-Armenian Economic Cooperation
Interfax
St. Petersburg, November 30: Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the development of Russian-Armenian trade and economic cooperation. `Trade turnover between our countries is quite small in absolute terms, but it grew by 84 per cent in the first nine months of this year. That`s an impressive figure,` Putin said meeting with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian in St. Petersburg on Sunday. Russia and Armenia `are adequately pursuing a program concerning [Armenia`s] debt obligations,` under which Armenia is paying out its debts by transferring assets in its enterprises to Russia. At the same time, Putin said he would like to discuss `some technical issues [with Kocharian] so that the rate of the program does not slow down.` Putin also pledged that Russian agencies would provide comprehensive assistance to Armenia in organizing a special exhibition at a CIS economic forum in St. Petersburg next year. Kocharian said `the implementation of decisions made earlier is significantly boosting economic relations between Armenia and Russia.`
Turkish Prime Minister Postpones His Visit To Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, November 30: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has postponed his Uzbekistan trip for two days to be able to attend Seb-i Arus ceremonies in Konya on 17 December for the 730th anniversary of the Mevlana´s death. Erdogan will visit Tashkent on 18 December instead of 16 December. According to Zaman, Turkish Foreign Affairs Ministry has obtained the approval of Uzbekistan for the change in schedule.
Norweigian Prime Minister Lauds Relations With Kyrgyzstan
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, November 29: Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, meeting in Oslo on 28 November with Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev, said that Kyrgyzstan is Norway`s most important partner among Central Asian states, kabar.kg reported on 29 November. Bondevik added that the next stage of the partnership between the two countries is the further development of trade and economic relations. The leaders also discussed developing ecotourism in Kyrgyzstan, opening an air route between the two countries, possible Norwegian assistance to Kyrgyz women living in rural areas, and additional Norwegian funding for a controversial OSCE police-training project. They also discussed possible Norwegian investment in the Kyrgyz hydropower sector, particularly in the creation of a network of small power plants. The talks ended with the signing of joint statement on further cooperation.
Close Ties
Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
Astana, December 29: Danial Akhmetov, RK PM and Herman Greff, Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade had a meeting in Astana. D.Akhmetov made a talk on Kazakhstan reforms: reconstruction of rail transport, telecommunication market, energy sector and outlined 2006 RK Governmental priorities electricity retail market, competitive telecommunication system. Herman Greff noted in his turn, that Kazakhstan would never be a foreign country to Russia. According to the Russian Minister, integration expansion is Russian Government`s priority. And creating both states` equal market shares will take some time. The Russian Minister offered a share for Kazakhstan powermen in privatization of Russian energetic complex and other large-scaled projects.
Government Blocks Conference On Death Penalty
Central Asia Daily
New York, December 5: The Uzbek government refused to allow a civil society group to hold a conference on the death penalty in Tashkent yesterday, Human Rights Watch said. `Once again, the Uzbek government has revealed its hostility toward nongovernmental organizations,` said Rachel Denber, acting director of Human Rights Watch`s Europe and Central Asia Division. `It is again stopping debate on important human rights issues.` Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture, a local group, planned to hold a conference, `Death Penalty: Analysis, Tendencies and Realities,` on December 5 in Tashkent. The conference was sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the British embassy and Freedom House. On December 3, a representative of the hotel where the conference was to take place informed the group that government authorities had told them in person not to allow their premises to be used for the conference. On December 4, a representative of the National Center for Human Rights, a department under the Presidential Administration, told the Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture that the conference had been prohibited from going ahead. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told diplomats that the meeting could not take place because the group was not a registered organization.
Georgian Police Investigate Blast Outside TV Station
Voice of America
Tbilisi, December 4: Police in the former Soviet republic of Georgia are sifting through debris outside state television, hours after an explosion sparked fears of violence in the run-up to January`s scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections. A U.S. delegation continued talks with Georgia`s interim leadership Thursday in a bid to help the democratic process. Georgia`s prosecutor general, Nugzar Gabrichidze describes the blast at state television in the capital, Tbilisi, late Wednesday as an act of terror and says officials are investigating. There were no injuries or casualties. And no one has claimed responsibility for the explosion, which blew out windows in the building but did not force the evening news broadcast off the air.
Uzbek President Decrees Amnesty
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, December 3: Islam Karimov has signed an amnesty decree in connection with the 11th anniversary of Uzbekistan`s constitution, uzreport.com reported on 3 December. As is usual practice in Uzbekistan, the amnesty covers convicts sentenced for petty crimes, women serving first-time sentences, men over 60 years of age, disabled people, and prisoners who are seriously ill. Foreigners who are not permanent residents of Uzbekistan are also covered, as are persons sentenced to 10 years or less for participation in an extremist organization or committing crimes against the constitutional order, if they have indicated they will not offend again. Sentences of convicts not covered by the amnesty are to be reduced by one-fourth if the sentence was 10 years or less, by one-fifth if the sentence exceeded 10 years. The report did not indicate how many prisoners would be included in the amnesty.
Rights Groups Discount Announced Amnesty
IRIN News
Ankara, December 3: Rights activists have dismissed a proposed amnesty by the authoritarian government of President Islam Karimov to free up to 7,000 prisoners, describing the move as mere window dressing to appease international pressure groups. `There was such an amnesty last year. The government is under international pressure as thousands of Muslims have been wrongly prosecuted and imprisoned following court hearings that were unfair,` Tolib Yokubov, the head of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, told IRIN from the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on Wednesday. His comments came one day after a decree published in government newspapers said repentant prisoners serving up to 10 years for a first offence of belonging to `extremist religious organisations` might be freed, a Reuters report said. Petty criminals, women, men over 60, foreigners and seriously ill prisoners would also be eligible for the amnesty. No exact figures for the number of prisoners eligible were available, and senior police officials could not be reached for comment.
Kyrgyz Justice Minister Re-registers Illegal Human Rights Group
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, November 29: The Kyrgyz Justice Ministry has reregistered the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) under the chairmanship of Bolot Tynaliev, despite a recent warning from the Vienna-based International Helsinki Federation (IHT) that doing so would be illegal (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 25 November 2003), `Obshchestvennyi reiting` reported on 29 November. The IHT and other international human rights groups have refused to recognize the August election of Tynaliev, who was not even a member of the KCHR at the time, to replace long-time KCHR head Ramazan Dyryldaev, one of Kyrgyzstan`s most uncompromising human rights activists.
Uzbek Police Detains 30 Kg Of Drugs In November
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 3: Officers of the Department on fighting drug trafficking and illegal drug circulation under the Internal Affairs Ministry of Uzbekistan seized 30 kg of drugs in November 2003. During the operative actions carried out in Syrdarya region 9 kg of marijuana were seized at the house of Akram Tirkashev. Another 4 kg of marijuana were found at the loft of Bakhadir Jalgashev`s house. Citizens of Tashkent city Ulugbek Tashpulatov, Tashkent region Abdulla Nurimov and Syrdarya region Olim Mavlonberdiev and Shamsiddin Shadmonkulov were arrested while trying to sell 2 kg of opium for US$8,000. The attempt of citizens of Kazakhstan Rustam Lyazgiev and Tajikistan Buston Mengatov, and residents of Syrdarya region to sell 5 kg of heroin for US$35,000 in Chilanzar district of Tashkent city was also halted. In Almalyk region the officers detained Hamroz Utapov for storage and attempt to sell 1 kg of marijuana for 140,000 soums. The investigation showed that he received drugs from Zinaida Goncharova from Tashkent and Lyubov Narushova from Almalyk. 1 kg of marijuana was found during the search in Goncharova´s country house. Syrdarya residents Muzaffar Ermatov and Nadyr Yusupov were arrested for the attempt to sell 500 grams of heroin for US$2,000. Criminal cases have been launched on the above-mentioned crimes and investigations are underway, Uzbek TV`s Akhborot news programme reported.
Khrunichev Hopes To Be Chosen To Make Telecom Satellite For Kazakhstan
Interfax
Moscow, December 3: Experts from Russia`s Khrunichev space corporation will fly to Kazakhstan on Wednesday for talks on building a Kazakh telecommunications satellite. `Kazakhstan plans to launch its first communications satellite. Four Russian companies, including the Khrunichev center, and one foreign company are participating in a tender to build the satellite,` the company`s deputy general director, Denis Pivnyuk, told Interfax on Tuesday. `Winning the tender will provide us with new orders, new jobs, higher salaries and the possibility of developing new projects. We are on the start of this path and there is still much to be done,` he said. On November 26, the Kazakh presidential press service announced that Khrunichev had been chosen to be Kazakhstan`s main partner in developing a national satellite communications system. Talks are to begin shortly. Khrunichev proposed that the satellite be launched on the recently created Yakhta platform. The national satellite will ensure Kazakhstan`s informational independence. Its service life is 12-15 years. The other participants in the tender are the French company Alcatel Space, the Russian telecommunications company Gazkom, the space corporation Energiya and the Reshetnev research center of applied mechanics.
Turkmen TV Head Fired After Five Months
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, December 3: Turkmen State Television head Gurbansoltan Handurdyeva has been fired by President Saparmurat Niyazov after only five months in office, turkmenistan.ru reported on 3 December. The presidential decree on the firing stated that Handurdyeva and her two deputies, Klychmurad Kurbanov and Annaberdy Silabov, who were fired at the same time, were unable to discharge their responsibilities. Prior to the firings, Niyazov had criticized state television for its low level of professionalism and its failure to produce programming that can attract viewers. He used the same arguments when firing Handurdyeva`s predecessor in July (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 16 July 2003).
Special Focus
Uzbekistan: Security Service Rebuts Charges It Knew Of Tashkent Bombings In Advance
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people were arrested or detained in the aftermath of the 1999 bombings in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. When a series of trials started a few months later, the testimony of suspects matched almost exactly the initial suspicions of Uzbek investigators.
To read more, click on the link:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/pp112903.shtmlTurkmens Get Rare Look At Relations With US - From Both Sides
Two separate interviews that Turkmens were able to hear recently provided some interesting insights into the way the United States and Turkmenistan view each other and view events in Turkmenistan.
To read more, click on the link:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/pp113003.shtmlAmid Risk, Baku - Ceyhan Pipeline Edges Forward
On December 1, an association of environmentalist groups stepped up its campaign against the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, a 1,760-kilometer project designed to carry oil from the Caspian Sea through Georgia to a Turkish port on the Mediterranean.
To read more, click on the link:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/eav120103.shtmlRussia Turning Up Pressure On Georgia
Russia, concerned about geopolitical slippage in the Caucasus, is intensifying the pressure on the Georgia. Georgia`s pro-Western provisional leadership says the normalization of Tbilisi-Moscow ties are a priority, but many regional political observers believe bilateral tension will grow with the approach of the Georgian presidential elections.
To read more, click on the link:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav120103.shtmlWestern Leaders Embrace Georgia`s Interim President At OSCE Meeting
Georgia`s interim president, Nino Burjanadze, sought international support for Georgia`s so-called Rose Revolution at a meeting of OSCE foreign ministers. Statements by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, along with those made by Western European officials, indicate that Burjanadze`s foreign trip, her first in the capacity of Georgian head of state, was successful.
To read more, click on the link:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav120203a.shtmlGeorgia`s Revolutionaries Face Growing Internal Opposition
The triumvirate at the helm of Georgia`s Revolution of Roses is promising to overhaul state structures to `provide government by the people, and government for the people.` However, a large segment of Georgian society, not just adherents of the old regime, harbors doubts about the new leadership`s methods and goals.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav120203.shtmlThe American Client
Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan`s president, hails from Samarkand, the mythical 2,500-year-old Silk Road trading crossroads. Alexander the Great loved it, Genghis Khan razed it to the ground, Tamerlane made it his fabled capital. Nowadays, the reality is not nearly the stuff of legend. As a Tashkent businessman puts it: `It`s the Samarkand mafia who put Karimov where he is. All the clans, acting together. But now they are restless and very unhappy: he forgot how he came to power and only thinks about himself.`
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL03Ag03.htmlGeorgia In The Melting Pot
Crowds harangued and incited by opposition leaders led by Mikhail Saakashvili charged through the portals of the Georgian parliamentary building in Tbilisi on November 22 and then swarmed into the chamber itself.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL03Ag02.htmlLabour Party Leader: Georgia Faces Real Threat Of Civil War
A EurasiaNet Q&A with Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the Labor Party of Georgia Conducted by Giga Chikhladze Mikheil Saakashvili -- who led the popular protests that brought down Eduard Shevardnadze`s administration and who is now the front-runner to become Georgia`s next president -- is striving to cast himself as a healer of Georgian society.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/qanda/articles/eav120303.shtmlIndia Set To Expand Presence In Central Asia
Energy-hungry India is set to put its economic muscle to work, as it strives to make inroads into Central Asia. A recent India-Central Asia Conference in Tashkent, along with visits throughout the region by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Defense Minister George Fernandes and Foreign Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, indicate that India`s foreign policy focus is shifting increasingly beyond its traditional China-Pakistan focus.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/eav120303.shtmlAjaria Issues Creates New Conundrum For Georgia`s New Leaders
As it seeks to consolidate its authority, Georgia`s provisional leadership is confronting a host of political, economic and diplomatic challenges. How to handle the autonomous region of Ajaria is arguably shaping up as the biggest near-term conundrum for the interim government in Tbilisi. Animosity on both sides appears to be rising, but some political observers believe room exists for compromise.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav120403.shtmlWashington Pushes Economic And Strategic Cooperation With Tajikistan
The United States is making a push to improve ties with Tajikistan. Since the Soviet collapse, Dushanbe has proven to be Russia`s staunchest ally in Central Asia. But Tajik leaders lately have been receptive to Washington`s overtures.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav120403a.shtmlThe Sufi Way
Three pilgrimages to Bukhoro-i-Sharif (`Noble Bukhara`), the `pillar of Islam`, equal one pilgrimage to Mecca. Marco Polo, travelling the Silk Road in the 13th century, said it was `the best city in Asia`. Lord Curzon, a 19th century Great Game stalwart, proclaimed it `the most interesting city in the world`.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL05Ag01.htmlAnalyst Urges Postponed Parliamentary Vote In Georgia
A Q&A with David Zurabishvili Conducted by Giga Chikhladze and Irakly Chikhladze US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with Georgian presidential candidate Mikhail Saakashvili and other members of the interim government December 5. Rumsfeld underscored American vigilance against Russian opportunism in Georgia. A day earlier, state Security Minister Valeri Khaburdzania reported detaining a suspect in connection with the discovery of `about 200 kilograms of TNT` at a military base near the capital.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/qanda/articles/eav120503.shtmlSatellite Dishes And Holy Springs: Images From An Azerbaijan Village
Hinalug occupies a crest deep in the Azerbaijani section of the Caucasus mountains. It stands more than a mile above sea level, with houses so close together that one family`s roof often serves as the yard for a household further up the slope. The village recalls nothing so much as the ancient Inca settlement of Machu Picchu. Hinalugis are not kin to the natives of South America, of course, but they are not ethnic Azeris either.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/culture/articles/eav120503.shtmlGeorgia: A Study In Democracy Exportation
If one attends enough conferences on the subject of democratization in Central Asia and the Caucasus, an almost incessant refrain is that America does not do enough to foster democracy in these areas or to support those organizations, governmental and non-governmental alike, that are doing so.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL06Ag01.html
Turkmenistan: A Study In Democracy Denial
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov, also known as `Turkmenbashi` (Father of all Turkmen), has challenged the opposition and introduced stricter controls in an apparent attempt to forestall regime change in Turkmenistan. Yet it remains to be seen whether self-exiled Turkmen opposition members will be able to replicate a `velvet revolution` in their homeland, which happens to contain the world`s fourth largest natural gas reserves.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL06Ag02.htmlKazakhstan: Movement Elects To Transform Itself Into A True Opposition Party
Ahead of Kazakhstan`s parliamentary elections next autumn, supporters of the opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement (DBK) have officially announced plans to create a political party.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp120603.shtml
Report Dated 5 December 2003