Buziness Vestnik Vostoka Receives `Best Publication` Award Uzbek Report
Tashkent, December 26: The Centre for Coordination and Control of the Securities Market has named the joint editorial board of Biznes Vestnik Vostoka [Oriental Business Herald] and BVV Business Report weeklies and UzReport.com internet portal as `Best publication featuring stock exchange activity in 2003`. This is the second award of the editorial board in the past two years. In 2002, Biznes Vestnik Vostoka was also named the best publication featuring stock exchange activity. Official ceremony of presenting awards to outstanding participants of Uzbek stock market took place at Hotel Dedeman Silk Road Tashkent on 25 December. The event was organised jointly by the Centre for Coordination and Control of the Securities Market under the State Property Committee and the National Association of Investment Institutions. The awards were presented in 11 nominations, such as the best underwriter, best second-level depository, best department of the centre, best investment mediator, best investment consultant and others. The National Bank of Uzbekistan for Foreign Economic Activity was recognised as best underwriter in 2003, while Trepang Ltd was named the best second-level depository.
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Comes Under Fire For Taking Loan From State Company Associated Press Bishkek, December 25: Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev came under fire Thursday from humanitarian groups for taking a loan from a state company while chairing its board of directors. In a statement, several humanitarian groups urged Tanayev to publicly apologize for taking a loan from the national energy company. We express our indignation and civic protest over Prime Minister Tanayev`s receiving a more than US$100,000 loan from a state energy company,` the statement said. Tanayev on Thursday denied any wrongdoing. He told reporters that the loan was legal and he had used it to buy an apartment. The humanitarian groups said that Tanayev had violated the principles of state and corporate governance by taking a loan from a company while chairing its board of directors. `We will insist that this case be fully investigated,` said Edil Baisalov, head of the coalition of civic groups For Democracy and Civil Society.
Uzbek Envoy To India Awarded For Human Rights Protection Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 25: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to India Ibrahim Mavlonov has received the `Award for protection of universal human rights` in 2002/03 at the Fifth Human Rights Congress in New Dehli, India. According to Jahon, speaking at the awarding ceremony, rector of the Indian Institute for Human Rights Professor Trivedi noted that the Uzbek envoy had been awarded for promotion of universal human rights among diplomats, scientists, students and public of India through open dialogue and circulation of publications on human rights protection system in Uzbekistan. The activity of the embassy in wide dissemination of information on the political, democratic and economic reforms in Uzbekistan, as well as openness of Uzbek diplomats to Indian mass media was also highly evaluated.
President Decrees On Reorganisation Of State Enterprises Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 23: President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed decree `On Improvement of management system of economic entities` on 22 December 2003. The document stipulates liberalisation of management, deepening administration reforms, introduction of corporate management principles, unification and increasing of effectiveness of organisation of economic entities´ activity. According to the decree, associations UzMashProm (Uzbek Machiney Industry), Uzbekkogozsanoat (Uzbek Paper Industry), state concern Kyzylkumredmetzoloto, Spetsplav republican organisation, Shoyi joint-stock company and Pilla holding company will be liquidated. Functions of Shoyi joint-stock company and Pilla will be transferred to Uzbek Ipagi (Uzbek Silk) association.
Georgian Presidential Election To Proceed As Scheduled: Official People`s Daily Tbilisi, December 23: Despite concerns over a possible boycott by certain organizations and regions, Georgia`s presidential elections will go ahead as scheduled in early January,top election official said Wednesday. Citizens have the right to boycott elections, but such conduct would have no major impact on the election process due to an expected high voter turnout, Zurab Chiaberashvili, the Central Election Commission chief told Xinhua. Recent polls show that over four-fifths of Georgians surveyed said they would cast their ballots on Jan. 4 to elect a new president for the former Soviet republic. Chiaberashvili said Georgia has received 6 million euros (4.84 million US dollars) from the international community to fund the upcoming presidential election and parliamentary election scheduled for next spring. International observers from Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will oversee the elections to ensure their fairness, he added.
Uzbekistan Encyclopedia Published In English Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 22: An encyclopedia `The Republic of Uzbekistan` has been published in English by the Jahon news agency and the National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan publishing house. The book is divided in eight sections devoted to the environment, flora and fauna, history and economy of the country. It also describes traditions of the Uzbek nation, its culture, as well as changes that have taken place in the country`s social and political life during independence. This is the first publication of its kind, which describes Uzbekistan in English, and is a good source of information on the country, its economical potential and opportunities for development. The same book was published in 2001 and 2002, in Uzbek and Russian languages. Among the foreign specialists that assisted in preparing the book were an English lecturer of the Seattle University (USA) Natalie Consen and Director General of the Hamkorlik centre in Tashkent David Berers.
New Law Regulating Advertising In Kazakhstan Pravda Moscow, December 22: On Monday Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev`s press service reported Mr. Nazarbaev signed law which prohibits advertising alcoholic products in the republic beginning January 1, 2004. Mr. Nazarbaev also signed the law `About the Introduction of Changes and Additions into the Law about the Media`. Both documents regulate the production and arrangement of advertisements. According to new law, radio and television advertisements in Kazakhstan cannot occupy more than 15 per cent of a broadcast. By the electronic MEDIA it is forbidden for advertising to interrupt official statements and appearances of presidential candidates and deputies of representative organs. Furthermore, advertising cannot interrupt educational, religious and children`s transfers with exception of when advertised goods and services are for children. According to new law, the advertisement of tobacco in Kazakhstan will be permitted only in the printed publications, but not on the first or last page.
Party Of President`s Daughter Registered In Kazakhstan Radio Free Europe Astana, December 20: Asar, the political party headed by Darigha Nazarbaeva, eldest daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, was registered by the Kazakh Justice Ministry on 19 December, khabar.kz and `Kazakhstanskaya pravda` reported the following day. The party was formally established on 25 October (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 27 October 2003). Along with other documentation required for registration, the party leadership provided the ministry with a list of 77,000 members. The law on political parties adopted in 2002 requires that a party seeking registration prove it has at least 50,000 members. In a press statement, the party described its ideology as political centrism based on tolerance, moderation, realism, and pragmatism, and its goal as furthering the modernization of Kazakhstan through democratic transformation and improving the welfare of the country`s citizens. Asar is the ninth party to be registered under the 2002 law.
Cornerstone In Political Life Kazakhstanskaya Pravda Astana, December 20: Presentation of `Critical Decade` book written by N.Nazarbayev was held in Germany. Major global challenges are distinctly reflected in the book, Hans- Dietrich Henscher, German ex-Foreign Minister, said. Mr N.Nazarbayev laid an accent on social inequality, joint anti terrorist efforts, religious extremism, drug trafficking… To me the centerpiece of the book is analytical and constructive approach promoting a dialogue between Kazakhstan and Germany on regional security on state level, Hans- Dietrich Henscher went on to say. Kairat Abuseitov, KZ Deputy Foreign Minister, held the book presentation in Berlin. Alexander Rar, German political analyst and long-time expert on former USSR, Kairat Sarybai, KZ Ambassador to Germany, speaking fluent German, were among the participants readily reacting to questions. Alongside with main agenda foreign counterparts asked Kairat Abuseitov if we have oligarchs who are in conflict with state authorities. The book `Critical Decade` was translated into German. It may become a cornerstone in political literature.
Burdzhanadze Says Georgian Border Protected From Guerillas Interfax Moscow, December 25: The Georgian border is properly sealed to bar guerillas from infiltrating into Russia, Georgian acting president Nino Burdzhanadze has said. Commenting on Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky`s statement that Georgia has turned into a staging post for terrorists, Burdzhanadze said on NTV television Wednesday night, `I am surprised by the statement with which Mr. Yastrzhembsky met us. I believe such statements should not have been made before such an important visit as a meeting with Vladimir Putin, especially taking into account that they are groundless.` `Georgia is not a passageway (for terrorists - Interfax). First of all, it is not a very proper expression in relation to a neighboring state. As for the border, I have visited the Chechen and Dagestani sectors of the Georgian-Russian border, seen the conditions in which our border guards are protecting the border and can assuredly say that the border is being guarded,` Burdzhanadze said. `We will do our best so that rebels do not enter Russia from Georgia,` she said. `Georgia is anticipating the meeting with President Putin with hope,` Burjanadze said. Speaking at a press conference at the Interfax main office earlier on Wednesday, Yastrzhembsky said that Georgia has turned into a staging post for terrorists acting in Chechnya.
Tajikistan Confirms Agreement To Host Russian Army Base Kabar Agency Dushanbe, December 24: Tajikistan`s foreign minister Talbak Nazarov confirmed on Wednesday the agreement of the republic`s government to the establishment of a Russian military base in Tajik territory. `A Russian military base must exist in Tajik territory, and no one is going back on this,` the minister said in response to a question from ITAR-TASS. At present, the two countries are drafting three more documents that will supplement the Agreement on the status, terms and conditions of the stationing a Russian military base in Tajikistan, which was signed in Moscow in April 1999. `The documents deal with the technical questions that require coordination,` the minister said. `These questions need to be resolved, and the working groups are doing just that. But in principle, the Russian military base must be and will be in Tajikistan,` Minister Nazarov said.
Control At Checkpoints At Russian Border With Azerbaijan And Georgia Are Intensified Pravda Moscow, December 20: By his decision Lieutenant-General Nikolai Lisinsky, chief of the North Caucasian regional border department of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, introduced high alert service regime. According to the information provided to RIA Novosti by Colonel Sergei Livantsov, chief of the press service of the Regional department, at the Chechen sector of the Russian-Georgian border as well as at other mountainous frontier posts redistribution of forces and means is going on, operations of mobile intelligence units are becoming more active through transferring of additional reserve units there. Livantsov explained that it was done to deprive terrorists who had infiltrated Dagestan of a possibility to go abroad using secret passageways or into the territory of the adjacent Chechen republic. He recalled that Saturday marked the 4th anniversary of the day when border guards landed in the Argun gorge and blocked movement of militants from Chechnya into Georgia and in the opposite direction. The border guard detachment stationed in Argun and Sharoargun is the largest in the Frontier forces of the country and it securely protects the Chechen mountainous sector of the Russian-Georgian border of about 82 km long. The colonel stressed that frontier forces were equipped with artillery units, all operations were carried out under protection of frontier aviation.
Kyrgyzstan To Approve Privatization Program For 2004-2006 Interfax Bishkek, December 26: The Kyrgyz government has developed a program for privatizing state property between 2004-2006, deputy chairman of the Committee for State Property and Direct Investments Anatoly Makarov told a government conference on Friday. He said the program includes a list of eight strategic facilities in which the government stakes can be privatized only if the parliament approves individual privatization programs. These include four electricity distributing companies, Kyrgyzgaz, the Kyrgyz national airlines, Manas international airport and the Bishkek heating network. The government plans to privatize 141 facilities between 2004-2006 and collect 400 million soms in receipts.
Kyrgyzstan`s Intl. Reserves Grow 15.5 per cent Interfax Bishkek, December 26: The National bank of Kyrgyzstan`s international reserves grew 15.5 per cent during the first nine months of 2003 from $316 million to $365 million. The reserves equaled imports over a period of six months, Ulan Sarbanov, the bank`s chairman, said. The reserves grew because the bank bought up a surplus dollars created by the Kumtor Gold Company, a joint venture with Canada. The bank printed money to buy the dollars, but this did not affect inflation to any worrying extent.
China Provides Turkmenistan With Credit, Grant Totaling $5.4 Mln Interfax Ashgabat, December 26: China has provided Turkmenistan with a grant of 15 million yuan, or about $1.8 million, and an interest-free credit for 20 years of 30 million yuan, or about $3.6 million. Turkmenistani Deputy Prime Minister Yolly Gurbanmuradov and Chinese Ambassador Lu Guicheng signed the corresponding agreement on Friday, an Interfax correspondent reports. It is planned that the credit and the grant will be used by Turkmengaz to buy equipment and spare parts for its repair plant. The Chinese ambassador said `Turkmenistan and China have enormous cooperation potential, one of the most important areas of which is partnership in the oil and gas sector, where China has accumulated a lot of experience.`
Kazakh Company Eager To Export 50 per cent Of Entire Oil Production Via BTC Baku Today Baku, Decemebr 24: Transit fees via the Baku Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is expected to vary between $28 and 32 a ton. Karazhanbasmunay Open Joint Stock Company (JSC) is planning to export 50 per cent of oil produced from the Karazhanbas via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) main export oil pipeline,` Patrikh O`Mara, company`s Marketing Vice President, stated in Almaty. `According to BTC shareholders, the construction of the pipeline is due to completion by December, 2004 and we would be probably able to sign an agreement on oil transportation prior to commissioning the pipeline,` O`Mara noted. At present BTC is the most profitable for the companies as transit tariffs are expected to be reasonable.
State Budget Receives 265bn Soums From Smuggled Products Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 24: Income to state budget from realisation of contraband goods in 2003 reached 265 billion soums or 93 billion soums more than compared to the same period of 2002. In the 11 months of 2003, customs bodies stopped more than 1,000 attempts of illegal import of alcohol drinks from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Alcohol drinks worth 200 million soums were confiscated, 73 criminal cases were opened, Uzbek TV´s Akhborot programme reported. Almost half of illegal import of alcohol production fell to the share of Tashkent region.
US, German Charities Deliver Aid To Uzbekistan Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 24: International charities AmeriCares (USA) and Fridensdorf (Germany) have delivered humanitarian aid to Soghlom Avlod Uchun (For Healthy Generation) foundation and medical establishments of Tashkent. The humanitarian aid of AmeriCares includes medicines, medical outfits, hygienic and sanitary products worth a total of US$500,000. The German organisation has delivered multivitamins Izotopic 20 worth US$4,000. The cargo was presented on 24 December at Soghlom Avlod Uchun.
Turkmen Oil Giant To Make Contract With Iranian Counterpart Kabar Agency Ashgabat, December 24: The Turkmen state-run concern Turkmenneft will make a contract with the National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company (NIOE&C) for designing, building, installing, testing and putting into operation auxiliary equipment at a measurement station on a Turkmen backbone gas pipeline. The total cost of the contract is $3m. Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov signed a corresponding decree, according to the presidential press service.
BP To Spend $4.6Bln In Azerbaijan The Moscow Times Baku, December 23: BP and its partners plan to invest $4.6 billion in 2004 in the company`s three Azeri projects, up from just under $4 billion spent this year, BP Azerbaijan`s President David Woodward said Monday. He said that the investments in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli offshore contract area in the Caspian Sea, which costs a total of $8.6 billion, are expected to increase 10 percent on the year to $2.4 billion in 2004. It is expected that this year`s associated gas output at the Chirag deposit, the only field in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli area that has so far been developed, will amount to about 1 billion cubic meters. By the end of 2004, when the development of the Azeri field starts, the area`s total associated gas output is likely to rise to 2 billion cubic meters, which should partially offset Azerbaijan`s gas deficit. The operating costs at the Chirag deposit are estimated at $90 million in 2004, flat on the year. This year, oil output at the deposit is expected at 6.6 million tons, up from 6.4 million tons in 2002. Woodward said a total of nearly $1.4 billion will be spent on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project in 2004, compared with $1.1 billion this year.
Direct Investment In Kyrgyzstan Grows 25 per cent Over Nine Months Interfax Bishkek, December 23: Direct foreign investments in Kyrgyzstan`s economy increased by 25 per cent from January to September, 2003, year-on-year, reaching $77.5 million. `The current pace of growth suggests that this tendency will continue until the end of the year,` Kyrgyzstan`s deputy prime minister Dzhoomart Otorbayev said at a press conference on Tuesday. Otorbayev also said that Turkish investments increased 2.3 times to $15.75 million, Canadian investment 2.7 times to $13.75 million, Chinese investment by 65 per cent to $6.48 million and Italian investment 1.9 times to $586,700.
Asian Development Bank Grants Credit To Tajikistan Kabar Agency Dushanbe, December 23: The Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank has approved the allocation to Tajikistan of a 30-million-dollar credit and grants to the sum of one million dollars. 15.6 million dollars from that sum will be spent on the reform of the education and public health systems, a representative of the Dushanbe office of the Asian Development Bank told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. The Asian Development Bank allocated the remaining 15.4 million dollars for the rebuilding of a highway connecting Dushanbe with the Rashtan regions. The highway goes directly to the Altai Valley in Kyrgyzstan and from there to the People`s Republic of China. The distance between Dushanbe and Kashgar by the highway is 750-800 kilometres, which is 250-300 kilometres less than the route to the Chinese border across the Pamir Mountains.
Central Asian Gas Pipeline Flow Interrupted Kazakhstan News Almaty, December 23: The Kazakh stretch of the Central Asia-Center gas pipeline, which transports natural gas from Turkmenistan to Russia and Ukraine via Kazakhstan, has suspended operations because of serious damage sustained late Tuesday, the Agency of Emergency Situations said Wednesday. A rupture and fire on the pipeline occurred 12 kilometers from the city of Zhangala in the north-west of Kazakhstan near the Russian border, the agency said. It didn`t disclose the cause of the incident and said there were no casualties. The fire has been extinguished and repair works have started, the agency said. The Central Asia-Center pipeline transports around 40 billion-45 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Ukraine and Russia a year.
Kazakh National Bank Forecasts 6.3 per cent Growth In Reserves In 2004 Interfax Almaty, December 23: Growth in gross gold and currency reserves at the National Bank of Kazakhstan in 2004 is forecast at 6.3 per cent - to $5.156 billion, Gulbanu Aimanbetov, the bank`s deputy chairman, told Interfax. He said that it is planned that the National Bank`s gold and currency reserves will increase 54.5 per cent in 2003. According to bank forecasts, the monetary base in Kazakhstan will increase 31.6 per cent in 2004 to amount to 411 billion tenge and the money supply will increase 29.1 per cent to 1.325 trillion tenge. Growth in the monetary base this year is planned at 50 per cent, and in the money supply - 34.2 per cent.
Kazakh GDP Growth To Exceed Forecast In 2003 Interfax Astana, December 23: The Kazakh government expects the country`s GDP to grow by 9.1 per cent-9.2 per cent in 2003 as compared to 2002, First Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Pavlov said at a news briefing in Astana on Tuesday. GDP was earlier expected to grow by 7 per cent-7.5 per cent this year, he said. Industrial production in Kazakhstan is expected to rise by 8.4 per cent- 8.6 per cent, cargo transportation by 9.5 per cent, retail trade turnover by 9.6 per cent, and investments to fixed assets by over 10 per cent in 2003, Pavlov said. In 2002, Kazakh GDP grew by 9.5 per cent as compared to the previous year. The Kazakh government also expects the country`s budget deficit to reach about 60 to 65 billion tenge in 2003, or 1.6 per cent-1.7 per cent of the forecasted GDP.
AIOC To Have 2004 Budget Of $2.454 Bln Interfax Baku, December 23: Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), the operator of the offshore Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli hydrocarbons project, will have a budget of $2.454 billion in 2004 after spending $2.194 billion in 2003, David Woodward, the president of AIOC, told reporters. Woodward said capital costs were a forecast $2.364 billion, compared with $2.104 billion in 2003, and operating costs $90 million, the same as in 2003. The Chirag oil platform produced an average daily 131,000 barrels of oil in 2003, compared with 129,000 barrels in 2002. In 2004, production is likely to fall to 125,000 barrels a day, because the rig will not lift any oil for a period of 15 days in the third quarter while it is being modernized and linked up with the submarine pipeline that is being built for the full-scale development of ACG, Woodward said. In addition, AIOC plans in 2004 to convert two more production wells at Chirag to water-injection wells, which will also affect figures, But all of these actions will result in higher oil production in 2005, Woodward said.
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan To Continue Talks On Kazakhstan`s Entry Into Oil Pipeline Project In 2004 Interfax Baku, December 23: Talks between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will continue in 2004 on including Kazakhstan in the Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan major oil export pipeline project, BP-Azerbaijan President David Woodward told journalists. Woodward said that the latest round of talks took place in London last week and the next meeting will be held in 2004. He said that the upcoming meetings are expected to finalize work on a draft framework intergovernmental agreement on transporting Kazakh oil through this oil pipeline. He said that Kazakhstan will need oil transportation capacities only starting from 2007, when the Kashagan deposit will start to be developed, and advised against rushing preparations for the agreement`s signing. Woodward said that the parties have plenty of time to prepare all necessary documents on the transportation of Kazakh oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. It was initially planned to finish the talks by the end of 2003 in order to submit the draft agreement to the two countries` governments.
Uzbekistan To Sell State Shares In Commercial Banks Interfax Tashkent, December 23: Uzbekistan plans to sell state shares in number of commercial banks in 2004. This move is covered by a government resolution on the main macroeconomic parameters for 2004 and steps to strengthen control over their implementation, the text of which has been made available to Interfax. The document deals with steps to increase structural reforms in the area of privatization, restrict the regulatory role of the state in the economy, lift administrative restrictions and increase private investment. It is planned to sell the state share in over 10 banks. Not included in this sale are three banks that are wholly state owned - Narodny Bank, the state agent for the implementation of social programs, the National Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs and Asaka bank - packets of shares in these banks are earmarked for sale to a strategic foreign investor under separate sale agreements. To attract private investment it is planned to increase the current maximum limit for the share of one shareholder in the capital of a bank from 7 per cent to 25 per cent.
Washington To Give $21 Million In Aid To Tbilisi In Transitional Period Interfax Tbilisi, December 22: The U.S. government will give $21 million in aid to Georgia during the transitional period, including for the payment of salaries and pensions, Interfax was told at the American Embassy in Tbilisi on Monday. The United States is ready to cooperate with the provisional and future authorities in Georgia in order to promote reforms in the country, the embassy said.
Caspian BTC Wins $1 Bln From Bank Syndicate-source Central Asia Daily London, December 22: A major trans-Caspian oil pipeline project to link Azeri oilfields with Turkey has secured over $1 billion in financing from a banking syndicate well ahead of schedule, a source close to the deal said on Monday.`The commercial syndicate for over $1 billion has been finalised and 15 banks will lend money to the project,` the source told Reuters. `By mid- to late January, it will all be stamped, signed and sealed.` The $1.02 billion loan ensures complete financing is in place for the one-million-barrels-per-day Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project that will run from Azerbaijan`s Caspian oilfields via Georgia to Turkey`s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The pipeline project is already more than 40 percent complete and the first crude will flow through it in 2005. Leader of the $2.9 billion U.S.-backed project BP (London:BP.L - News) started the syndication process in October and had expected to complete it in the first quarter of 2004.
Kazakhstan Delays Payment On Govt. Securities Interfax Astana, December 22: Kazakhstan`s finance ministry has put back the early payment of nearly $100 million in 10-year special treasury of MEAKAM bills issued early January 1998 by two days. `The redemption date of December 23 has been out back to December 25. We have already notified the National Bank,` finance ministry officials told Interfax without giving any explanation for the deferment. The ministry intended to redeem 14.255 million tenge worth of securities at face-value of 1,000 tenge each ahead of time. It would have paid a total of $98.5 million on the papers.
Turkmenistan`s Trade Surplus Widens 22 per cent Interfax Ashgabat, December 22: Turkmenistan`s trade surplus widened 21.6 per cent year-on-year to $787.7 million in January-October. Foreign trade turnover was $4.877 billion, the National Institute of State Statistics and Information told Interfax. Exports grew 19.4 per cent to $2.832 billion and imports 18.7 per cent to $2.044 billion. Natural gas is Turkmenistan`s biggest export commodity to CIS countries. Non-CIS countries are the main markets for the country`s crude oil, oil products, cotton-fiber and textiles.
Tajikistan Signs Agreement With Iran On Completion Of Hydropower Plant Radio Free Europe Dushanbe, December 22: An Iranian delegation led by Economy and Finance Minister Tahmasb Mazaheri arrived in Dushanbe on 19 December for the signing of a memorandum of understanding on completing construction of the Sangtuda hydroelectric plant, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 22 December. The Sangtuda plant, part of an ambitious Soviet-era hydroelectric scheme, was left half-finished when the USSR collapsed. Preliminary documents on Iranian participation in completing the plant were signed this summer. Under the memorandum of understanding, Iran will take charge of coordinating the activities of a consortium that is in process of being formed to complete the project.
Uzbekistan Forecasts Budget Deficit Of 0.8 per cent Interfax Tashkent, December 22: Uzbekistan`s finance ministry forecast a budget deficit of 0.8 per cent of GDP in 2003. The approved budget deficit target is 183.5 billion sum or 2 per cent of GDP, the ministry told Interfax. Uzbekistan had a deficit of 0.8 per cent in 2002 also. The approved deficit for 2004 is 1 per cent of GDP. The official rate was 978.85 sum/$1 on December 19.
Kyrgyz Energy Firm Signs Long Term Contract For Deliveries To Russia Radio Free Europe Bishkek, December 22: The Kyrgyz electricity firm Electric Stations has signed a long-term contract with Russia`s Inter EES Rossii for delivery of Kyrgyz electric power to the Russian market, RIA-Novosti reported on 22 December. The contract requires the delivery of 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours per year until 2009. Previously, Kyrgyzstan`s main foreign customers for electricity were Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. Exports to Russia began in September. The Kyrgyz government is discussing export levels with Tajikistan, and both Kazakhstan and China have expressed interest in buying Kyrgyz power.
U.S. Export Of Locomotive Modernization Kits To Kazakhstan Supported By Ex-Im Bank Export-Import Bank of the United States Washington DC, December 21: Kazakhstan`s national railway soon will be running with more modern locomotives thanks to a $33.1 million loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). Financing agreements for the transaction were signed today at a ceremony at Ex-Im Bank headquarters. The Ex-Im Bank guarantee supports the export by General Electric Co. Inc., Erie, Penn., of 54 locomotive modernization kits to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), Kazakhstan`s state-owned national railway. Sub- suppliers in at least nine U.S. states also are participating in the export sale. KTZ will use the kits to refurbish 27 of its model TE-10 locomotives, extending their life by 15-20 years. KTZ is modernizing its railways to meet the increased demand for freight and passenger traffic created by economic development. `This is Ex-Im Bank`s first transaction with KTZ, and the first time that Ex-Im Bank has provided financing for a non-bank, government-owned company in Kazakhstan without a sovereign guarantee,` said Ex-Im Bank First Vice President and Vice Chair April Foley. `Ex-Im Bank is pleased to help KTZ modernize its fleet and contribute to Kazakhstan`s economic development while supporting U.S. exporters and U.S. jobs.` The financing documents were signed at a ceremony at Ex-Im Bank headquarters following Ex-Im Bank board approval of the transaction earlier this week. The signers were Foley; KTZ President Dr. Yerlan Atamkulov; and Douglas Kennedy, chairman of the board of ABN AMRO Bank Kazakhstan. His Excellency, Kanat Saudabayev, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States, also was in attendance at the ceremony.
BTC Cannot Be Profitable Without Kazakh Oil Baku Today Baku, December 20: The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) main export oil pipeline is considered to one of the interesting projects in Kazakhstan, Trend reports quoting Erjan Usimbayev, deputy chief-of-staff of the Kazakh President`s Administration. Usimbayev said oil ðumðing through this pipeline could be possible no sooner than 2013-2015. He went on to say that Kazakhstan would achieve oil production at 150m tons a year no sooner than 2015 and would be able to allocate hydrocarbons for transportation via BTC to make it profitable. Birlik Orasbayev, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, said `according to the western experts` estimation, BTC could not be profitable without Kazakh oil. `Kazakhstan is ready to supply 15 million tons of oil a year to fulfill the pipeline. By that time the Kazakh side could fulfill the pipeline with 5-7 million tons of oil in the Aktau port in the Caspian if the project member-countries benefit the opportunities of Kazakhstan,` he underscored.
Tajik President Condoles Over Killer Quake IRNA Dushanbe, December 26: Tajik President Imamali Rahmanov cabled a message here Friday to President Mohammad Khatami condoling with him and the Iranian government and nation over the killer quake in Kerman province. In the message a copy of which was faxed to IRNA office in Tajikistan, Rahmanov wished patience for the bereaved families of the quake. The strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 on the open-ended Richter scale rocked the city of Bam in Kerman province at 5:28 hour local time (0158 GMT) on Friday.
Kremlin Hopes Georgia Will Make Steps To Restore Trust In Russian- Georgian Relations Interfax Moscow, December 26: Moscow hopes that once Georgia`s new administration is formed, the country will make practical steps to restore the trust between Russia and Georgia that was undermined by the actions of the previous Georgian administration, a source in the Kremlin told Interfax. `Russia is ready to walk its part of the way and responsibly approach the development of a partnership with Georgia, with which it has centuries-long ties of friendship,` the source said on Thursday, commenting on the results of a meeting between acting Georgian president Nino Burjanadze and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting between Putin and Burjanadze, which lasted for more than two hours, `addressed how to do away with negative elements in the two countries` relations and make Russian-Georgian cooperation more dynamic and fully meet the interests of the people of both countries,` the source told Interfax. During the meeting, Putin said that `Russia wants Georgia to be a strong and independent country.`
Uzbek, Tajik Presidents Discuss Economic Ties Over Phone Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 25: Uzbek President Islam Karimov had a telephone conversation with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmonov. According to RIA Novosti, the sides exchanged opinions on a wide range of issues of trade and economic relations. The leaders agreed that the high-ranked Tajik delegation will visit Uzbekistan in the near future to discuss issues of bilateral economic cooperation. The presidents congratulated each other and the Uzbek and Tajik nations with the coming new year.
Azeri President Invited To Kazakhstan Baku Today Dushanbe, December 25: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev invites his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev to pay an official visit to Astana,` Andar Shukðutov, Kazakh Ambassador to Azerbaijan, said in a meeting with Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend the diplomat expressed his assurance the visit would be held in a higher level. Shukðutov informed Guliyev on the activities of `Session on Cooperation and Trust in Asia` and discussed some issues on prospects of cooperation in this format. During the meeting the sides had exchange of opinions on strengthening and expanding friendly and bilateral ties. Both sides stated their support to continuing fruitful cooperation in different spheres.
Kazakh, Kyrgyz Presidents Sign Bilateral Documents Interfax Astana, December 25: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed a number of bilateral documents following talks between Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Askar Akayev and meetings between expanded delegations in Astana on Thursday. In particular, the two presidents signed a treaty on allied relations between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The two countries also concluded intergovernmental agreements on international automobile travel and on border checkpoints. Nazarbayev and Akayev discussed trade and economic cooperation between their countries and pointed to a 47 per cent growth in their trade turnover over January-October of this year compared to the same period last year. Turnover between the two countries was $159 million in January-October 2003, with Kazakh exports at $121 million and imports $38 million, the Kazakh presidential press service said. The two chiefs of state also discussed the use of water and energy resources.
What Changed Uzbek`s View About `strategic Relations` With US? Turkish Daily News Ankara, December 24: Since Sept. 11, Central Asian governments have shown their readiness to invite American forces to defend them against terrorism and other threats. The U.S. has established military bases in Khanabad, Uzbekistan, Manas, Kyrgyzstan and Kulyab, Tajikistan. The U.S. has also increased financial aid to Central Asian States especially to Uzbekistan. The establishment of a strategic partnership between the U.S. and Uzbekistan in the heartland of Eurasia, transformed this post-Soviet country into the key country in the global U.S. strategy. But recent declarations of Uzbek President Islam Karimov showed discomfort from the Uzbek side. Karimov declared on Dec. 12, that Uzbekistan will allow the United States to host troops at a southern base only as long as they are needed for the war on terror in Afghanistan, and would not allow permanent deployment. Karimov said Washington hadn`t yet approached Tashkent about making the base a permanent outpost in Central Asia, and that Uzbekistan would only offer use of Khanabad as long as anti-terrorist operations continue in Afghanistan. Karimov also said Uzbekistan believes the Khanabad base `has already played its role` in the anti-terrorist campaign. However, he said he would offer use of Uzbek facilities to NATO, which now commands peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan. Karimov`s statement caused questions about the future of U.S.-Uzbek relations formed during the Afganistan operation and then grew rapidly. It is clear that, a permanent U.S. base unsettles Tashkent, but it also has a positive thought on the use of Uzbek military facilities by NATO forces. Actually the factors that lie beneath this statement brings up the deadlock situation of Central Asian States. On Oct. 5, 2001, under an agreement reached during a visit by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Uzbekistan is allowing U.S. forces to use Soviet-era military bases to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The U.S. Secretery of Defence and Uzbek President agreed on three areas of coorperation. First, Uzbekistan opened its airspace to U.S. military aircraft. Second, the two parties agreed to exchange intelligence. Third, Uzbekistan agreed to lend the United States one of its airfields for the use of cargo planes, helicopters, and personnel involved in search and rescue and humanitarian operations. Uzbekistan gave permission for U.S. troops and aircraft to base operations in the country, with a U.S. troop presence expected to eventually grow to several thousand, including special operations forces. So U.S. aircraft arrived in Uzbekistan, a day after President Islam Karimov granted permission for U.S. warplanes and troops to use an Uzbek air base for military operations against Afghanistan. The main ground of U.S.-Uzbek strategic alliance is the military relations formed during the Afghanistan operation. But the U.S. military steps in the name of `war against terrorism` also set regional powers such as the Russian Federation and China into action. In this respect, the first anxiety of Tashkent is to become distant from the `balancing policy` which other Central Asian States put into pactice successfully. Kyrgyzistan is the best example of this. The Americans obtained the right to use Manas Airbase in Kyrgyzstan, without any apparent necessity or usefulness, as the country does not share a border with Afghanistan. Also the Russian Federation began deploying military forces at the Kant Airbase in Kyrgyzistan, roughly forty miles from the U.S. Manas Airbase outside Bishkek. So Tashkent, like other Central Asian countries does not want to damage its relations with China and the Russian Federation, and also want to consider cooperation opportunities with these regional powers. The second anxiety of Tashkent is the militarization process in Central Asia. The international war against terrorism has resulted in the countries of Central Asia focusing more on military preparedness and increasing their military cooperation with the U.S., Russia, and China, among others. While this is viewed by many as a necessary response to immediate threats, this militarization could contribute to the destabilization of the region in the long term. Likewise Karimov declared his opinion on this issue clearly saying that he was opposed to the further `militarization` of Central Asia. Karimov said that `Uzbekistan needs more money, not more foreign troops.` At the same time, it is clear that U.S. policymakers distrust Russian, Iranian, and Chinese motives and that the U.S. presence, though justified after Sept. 11, is a response to those states` threatening actions in Central Asia. As each country seeks to augment its military presence, their competition could easily aggravate the region`s problems. As a result, the military base competition in Central Asia and the sensitive structure that necessitate to set up multipolaral relations, forced Tashkent to revise relations with Washington. But bilateral relations in terms of the U.S. and Uzbekistan could be called as `unavoidable.` Chinese and Russian threats, the war on terrorism, and the benefits of having air bases close to Iraq mean that U.S. forces will be stationed in the region for a long time. These countries are investing tens of millions of dollars in the region not only as part of the war against terrorism but also to realize their own economic and geopolitical interests. Uzbekistan is the cornerstone of the U.S.`s Central Asia policies. But experiences show us that the military alliances could not put the threat perceptions of Central Asian States out of sight but postponed for a while. For this reason Central Asian states must undoubtedly build up their defense structures and capabilities. They face many enormous internal and external threats.
US Ambassador Comes To Batumi Again To Mediate Talks Between Georgia And Adjaria Pravda Moscow, December 24: US Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles arrived in Batumi yesterday to meet with Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze for the third time in less than a month. Miles` goal is to persuade Abashidze to permit the conduct of Georgian presidential elections on the territory of autonomous Adjaria on January 4. Miles told journalists after a five-hour meeting with Abashidze that the `US administration was interested in stabilizing relations between the Georgian federal government and autonomous Adjaria and conducting presidential elections on the territory of Adjaria.` He added that he would give all of Abashidze`s proposals to interim Georgian President Nino Burdjanadze and Government Minister Zurab Zhvaniya. Abashidze has still not agreed to hold presidential elections in Adjaria. Last week Abashidze and Zhvaniya also discussed the presidential elections theme. And earlier Burdjanadze also discussed the issue with Abashidze. US envoy Lynn Pasco also met recently with Abashidze to discuss the question. It is reported that Abashidze has shown his guests its voter lists and polling station equipment in a bid to demonstrate how well prepared Adjaria is for elections.
Tajik Speaker Due In Iran IRNA Tehran, December 24: Speaker of the Tajik Parliament`s Lower House Saydullo Khayrulloyev is to pay an official four-day visit to Tehran as of Saturday, heading a high-ranking parliamentary delegation. Khayrulloyev, who is to be in Iran on an official invitation by his Iranian counterpart Mehdi Karroubi, will hold talks with Karroubi, President Mohammad Khatami and Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, said the Public Relations Department of Majlis. Khayrulloyev and his entourage are to visit the historical cities of Isfahan and Shiraz (Fars Province).
Tbilisi Suspends Talks With Abkhazia, South Ossetia - Burjanadze Interfax Tbilisi, December 24: Acting Georgian president Nino Burjanadze announced that Tbilisi has suspended talks with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. `At present, talks with Abkhazia and South Ossetia have, in effect, been suspended,` she said in an interview with Rossiya television on Wednesday. Burjanadze is arriving in Moscow on Wednesday. Burjanadze said she `suggested that the Abkhaz leaders come to Sukhumi to prepare a new stage in our relations. The Abkhaz side, like South Ossetia, would not take this step,` The Georgian leadership wants `the situation in these regions to stabilize, not deteriorate,` she said. `If Russia plays an active and positive role, we will be able to promptly resolve these conflicts through normal and civilized methods,` she said.
Nazarbayev Against Interference In Kazakh Internal Affairs Interfax Almaty, December 23: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has urged international organizations to treat his country`s domestic policy with understanding. `We are asking them [international organizations] to understand us correctly and not to interfere in our internal affairs. We also do not want them to tell us which laws to adopt and which to reject,` Nazarbayev told the tenth session of the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan in Astana on Tuesday. The president said that his country is engaged in building democratic society with a market economy taking into account the social issues, traditions, culture and relations between the republic`s various peoples. He said that the country`s key task is to sustain social stability, interethnic accord, and to seek more extensive economic growth and gradual democratization of society. `We are not saying that we have reached European standards [of democracy]. It took Europe several hundred years to achieve its present level,` he said.
Putin, Nazarbayev Have Phone Conversation Interfax Moscow, December 22: Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Monday, the presidential press service has told Interfax. Putin and Nazarbayev discussed the decisions and documents adopted at the High-Level Group meeting recently held in Moscow, issues relating to the preparations for President Putin`s visit to Astana, which is scheduled for January 2004, and preparations for the upcoming year of Russia in Kazakhstan, the press service said.
Kyrgyz President Concludes Visit To Iran Tehran Times Tehran, December 22: Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev concluded the official part of his visit to Iran Monday. On the results of the visit the sides signed documents on cooperation between Iran and Kyrgyzstan in the field of trade, housing construction, city planning and culture. The Kyrgyz president, who visited Tehran at the invitation of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, had a meeting with the Iranian Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian leader came out in favor of developing and strengthening relations between Iran and Kyrgyzstan in different fields. He stressed the necessity of strengthening relations between the countries of the region whose problems can be solved, according to him, only through the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Askar Akayev held talks with President Mohammad Khatami, and also had meetings with Chairman of the Iranian Parliament Mehdi Karroubi and Chairman of the Council on defining the expediency of adopted decisions Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. The Kyrgyz delegation left Iran Monday.
Majlis Speaker Meet Kyrgyz President IRIB News Tehran, December 22: Iran and Kyrgyzstan here Sunday explored possible avenues for bolstering bilateral ties and cooperation in all fields. Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, in a meeting with Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev, voiced Iran`s full readiness to expand bilateral cooperation in various arenas. Karroubi praised Kyrgyzstan`s transparent stance on regional and international developments and said, `all countries should cooperate to establish stability and tranquility in Afghanistan and Iraq.` `No country would accept the domination and interference of foreigners,` he said, adding determination of Iraq`s fate by the Iraqi nation is the only way to establish tranquility and security in that country.
Uzbekistan Is Sweden´s Important Partner Is Central Asia - Envoy Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 22: Uzbekistan is Sweden´s important partner is integration in Central Asia, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sweden to Russian Federation and Uzbekistan, Swen Hirdman, said in an interview to Jahon news agency. Swen Hirdman was born on 28 September 1939. He graduated from Uppsal University with a Master´s Degree in Political Science. For the last two years Swen Hirdman has been the doyen of the diplomatic corps in Moscow. What can you say about the level of Uzbek-Swedish relations? - First of all, I would like to note that Uzbekistan is our important partner in integration in the region. Several visits of high-ranking Swedish officials to Uzbekistan have taken place in different years. For example, acting Minister of International Affairs of Sweden, Jan Carlson, visited Uzbekistan last year. Presently a number of large Swedish companies are successfully working in the country. They include Ericsson, Volvo, Tetrapack, Atlas Kopko, ABB and others. The Honorary Consulate of Sweden opened in Tashkent in May 2001, with Mr Gunter Begeman, who is general manager of Ericsson as the Honorary Consul. The economic situation has significantly improved over the last period in Uzbekistan. No doubt that Uzbekistan´s signing of the Article VIII with the International Monetary Fund is a great step on the way to further economic development, and the country´s integration into the world economy. I am sure that globalisation is inevitable, and this step of the Uzbek government will significantly stimulate attracting foreign investments. In conclusion it would be necessary to note that Sweden and Uzbekistan have signed an Intergovernmental Agreement on encouragement and mutual protection of investments. However, agreements on avoiding double taxation, transport, opening new airlines and others still need to be signed.
Koizumi, Uzbek Minister Discuss Afghanistan, Bilateral Issues Kyodo News Tokyo, December 22: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday exchanged views with Uzbek Foreign Minister Sodyq Safaev on the situation in Afghanistan and steps to strengthen bilateral relations, Japanese officials said. Safaev expressed support for Japan`s efforts to assist in Afghanistan`s reconstruction, and expressed appreciation for Japan`s aid to Uzbekistan, the officials said. Safaev also handed Koizumi a letter from Uzbek President Islam Karimov, inviting him to visit Uzbekistan, they said.
President Receives Delegation Kazakhstanskaya Pravda Astana, December 22: On 22 December President N.Nazarbayev received delegation of Mongolian Great State Hural headed by its leader Sanzhbegziyn Tumur-Ochir, presidential press service informs. The two sides positively assessed bilateral political relations. Mongolian leader highly estimated Kazakhstan economic reforms and voiced hope of strengthening trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
Iran, Kyrgyzstan Sign Seven MOUs IRIB News Tehran, December 22: Iran and Kyrgyzstan signed here Sunday seven documents on cooperation for expansion of bilateral relations. The documents were
signed between the two countries` officials and in presence of President Mohammad Khatami and his Kyrgyz counterpart Askar Akayev at Sa`dabad cultural complex. Iran`s Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari and Kyrgyz Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry Sadridin Djiyenbekov signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on trade, preferential tariffs and setting up trade centers. Shariatmadari and Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Askar Aitmatov signed an MOU to lift visa for service passports between the two governments. Iran`s Minister of Justice Ismail Shoushtari and Aitmatov inked an agreement on legal contribution in civil and penal affairs. Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jamei and Kyrgyz Minister of Education, Science and Culture Ishenkul Boldzhurova inked an MOU on cultural and artistic cooperation. Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ali Abdolalizadeh and the Head of the Kyrgyz State Commission also signed another Memorandum of Understanding.
Iran`s Film Week Begins In Dushanbe Tehran Times Dushanbe, December 22: Iran`s Film Week opened in a ceremony here Monday. Five Iranian films will be screened in Vatan cinema of Dushanba, capital of Tajikistan, during the one-week event. Iran`s Cultural Attache in Tajikistan Mahmoud Marandi, who attended the inaugural ceremony, said that the program is aimed at introducing the Iranian film industry to Tajik artists, cinematographers and people from different walks of life. `In view of numerous cultural and historical commonalties between the Iranian and Tajik people, Iranian films have a particular appeal to the people of Tajikistan and have great fans.
President Putin Invites Nino Burdzhanadze To Visit Moscow Kabar Agency Moscow, December 22: Acting Georgian President Nino Burdzhandze will pay a working visit to Moscow at the invitation of President Putin, his press service reported on Monday. President Putin is to meet Nino Burdzhanadze on December 25. During the meeting the two sides are planning to discuss important aspects of Russo-Georgian relations.
Iran Eager For Investment In Tajikistan: Mazaheri Tehran Times Dushanbe, December 21: Iran`s visiting Minister of Economy and Finance Tahmasb Mazaheri said here on Friday that Iran is strongly willing to invest in Tajikistan considering existence of necessary legal grounds for the purpose. Mazaheri said that Dushanbe`s strong resolve for attraction and support for foreign investment is evident from statements of its senior officials. He said capital owners usually look for a safe haven for investment and new laws and regulations adopted in Tajikistan set the ground for the purpose. `Recently, good and effective laws have been compiled in Tajikistan for privatization; and implementation of the laws would help economic progress and development in the country,` said Mazaheri. Mazaheri paid a one-day visit to Tajikistan on Friday, holding negotiations with senior officials of the republic on expansion of the two-way economic relations.
Thaw In Turkey-Armenia Relations Aljazeera.net Istanbul, December 21: Despite continuing tensions between Turkey and Armenia over allegations of a 20th century genocide, the two countries seem to be moving closer together. Ankara angrily condemned on 18 December a recent Swiss parliament vote that recognised Armenian claims about the `genocide`. Yerevan accuses the Turks of being responsible for the deaths of more than one and a half million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. After summoning the Swiss ambassador to the Turkish foreign ministry, the deputy undersecretary Nabi Sensoy told him the Swiss decision was `unjust, wrong and not in conformity with the historical facts`. However, Armenian Ambassador to Switzerland Zograb Mnatsakanyan told Armenian Public TV: `The Swiss parliament has once again confirmed its adherence to human values and justice.` Yet, despite the obvious distance between the two countries` governments over genocide allegations, recent months have seen something of a rapprochement between Ankara and Yerevan.
US Citizen Arrested In Connection With Turkmen Coup Attempt Denies Authorship Of Book Radio Free Europe Ashgabat, December 21: Leonid Komarovsky, the U.S. citizen arrested in Turkmenistan for having had some alleged role in the November 2002 purported coup attempt against President Saparmurat Niyazov and later deported to the United States (see `RFE/RL Newsline` 4 December 2002 and 25 April 2003), has denied that he had anything to do with a book on the coup that was recently published in Ashgabat, turkmenistan.ru reported on 21 December. In May, Komarovsky told `Izvestiya` that he intended to `declare war` on Niyazov and write a book describing conditions in Turkmenistan under Niyazov`s rule, according to the Turkmen opposition website watan.ru on 11 May. But Komarovsky now asserts that what has been published in Ashgabat is not what he wrote, and he demanded that his name be removed from the book on the coup and from another on Turkmenistan that was put out by the same Ashgabat publishing house.
Islam Karimov To Visit Turkey In 2004 Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 21: During his last week´s visit to Uzbekistan Turkey´s Prime Minister Recep Teyyip Erdogan delivered an invitation of Turkish President Ahmed Nedjet Sezer to President Islam Karimov to visit Turkey. In an interview to Uzbek TV´s Akhborot Plus programme, Erdogan said the Uzbek President agreed to visit Turkey in 2004. In his interview, Erdogan also spoke about the results of the visit to Uzbekistan and negotiations with Uzbek officials, as well as current state and perspectives of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Turkey.
No Obstacles On Further Promoting Ties With Kyrgyzstan: Khatami Tehran Times Tehran, December 21: President Mohammad Khatami here Sunday termed as growing the ties with Kyrgyzstan and said no obstacles existed on further promoting mutual relations. Addressing reporters at the conclusion of a ceremony to officially welcome Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev to Tehran, he voiced Iran`s readiness to export scientific and engineering services to Kyrgyzstan. He described as unsatisfactory the level of relations and the volume of economic and trade exchanges between the two countries and said they were lower than what the potentials of the two countries would permit. The president further blamed the slow bureaucratic procedures between the two countries as a problem they faced in expanding relations and pointing to his last year`s visit to Kyrgyzstan, noted that exchanging visits between the officials indicated their will to expand relations in all areas. Khatami also remarked that the agreements between the two countries on different issues would open up new chapters in the mutual relations. Responding to the question of an IRNA correspondent on the future prospect of Tehran-Bishkek ties and the objective of his visit to Iran, Akayev, too, said his country attached special importance to expanding ties with Iran and has been working in the past decade to pave the way for such promotion. He pointed to the historical ties between the two countries and promised that, as the president of Kyrgyzstan, he would do his best to consolidate the bases of friendship between the two countries.
Uzbekistan, Turkey Want To Increase Mutual Trade To US$1bn Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 21: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan completed his visit to Uzbekistan returned to Turkey on 20 December. Speaking at Esenboga Airport, Erdogan said that he paid his first visit to Uzbekistan as the prime minister. Erdogan said that his meetings with Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Parliament Speaker Erkin Halilov were very beneficial. Noting that they took bilateral relations, regional and international issues particularly security and fight with terrorism in the meetings, Erdogan said that a new period had to start in the bilateral relations and this period had started by his visit. ´´We´ve reached consensus of opinion on the fact that the economic relations didn´t fully reflect the potential. The trade volume of US$300 million is not sufficient. We want to reach US$1 billion in trade in 2004. We´ve determined that both sides had common efforts to further improve our economic cooperation both during my meeting with Uzbek businessmen and also during our meeting with Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirzayayev and Turkish and Uzbek businessmen,´´ he said. Prime Minister Erdogan said that the meeting of Turkish-Uzbek Joint Economic Commission meeting was held at the same time with his visit, and the economic and commercial relations between the two countries were assessed broadly. Erdogan said they also exchanged views about recent developments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the effects of the developments in the region, adding that ´´I stressed the importance Turkey attached to Central Asian region and its relations with Uzbekistan.
Turkish Prime Minister Visits Samarkand Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 20: On 20 December, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the historical places of Samarqand in Uzbekistan. Erdogan told Uzbek reporters that he had the chance to see the civilisation, which he had seen in books until today. He added that he believed that Uzbek people would carry this civilisation to future without any change. Erdogan´s wife and daughter, State Ministers Mehmet Aydin and Besir Atalay, Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, deputies and other officials accompanied Erdogan during his tour.
Uzbek, Turkish Officials Discuss Relations In Tashkent Uzbek Report Tashkent, December 20: Uzbek and Turkish senior officials determined the main directions of cooperation between the two states during negotiations at presidential residence Durmen on 19 December. Before the negotiations, the official welcoming ceremony of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Teyyip Erdogan by the Uzbek President Islam Karimov was held. Islam Karimov and Recep Erdogan walked along the guard of honour and met heads of the diplomatic corps in Uzbekistan, as well as members of the delegations. Current affairs and perspectives of collaboration were the main issues of the face-to-face meeting of Uzbek President and Turkish Prime Minister. The sides confirmed their interest in strengthening bilateral economic contacts. At the same time, cooperation should not be limited to trade alone, but also cover creation of new production capacities, they said. President Karimov and Prime Minister Erdogan also considered international issues and highlighted the necessity to jointly fight terrorism. The same issues were discussed in detail at the expanded meeting of delegations. The sides noted that the trade turnover between the two states was increasing. It made up US$165 million in 2002 and is expected to rise to US$300 million this year. However, the sides said the available opportunities were not used fully. Introduction of convertibility in Uzbekistan will serve to increasing Turkish investments in the country, it was said. After the negotiations, Uzbek and Turkish senior officials signed bilateral agreements. Islam Karimov and Recep Erdogan inked a joint communiqué. Uzbekistan and Turkey also signed agreements on cooperation in fighting international terrorism and on non-visa visits of citizens with diplomatic passports. At the press conference after the signing ceremony, the Uzbek President and Turkish Prime Minister told journalists about the results of the negotiations.s
Kyrgyz President Arrives In Iran IRNA Tehran, December 20: Kyrgyzstan`s President Askar Akayev arrived here Saturday night on a two-day visit to discuss possible avenues for bolstering of political, economic and cultural relations. Akayev, heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, was welcomed at Mehrabad International Airport by Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari. During his stay here, Akayev is scheduled to meet with President Mohammad Khatami and Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karroubi. The sides are to sign cultural and artistic, trade and construction agreements as well as documents to set up Iran`s permanent exhibition in Bishkek. Ministers of transportation and communication, of foreign affairs, of foreign trade and industry, of education and culture and deputy finance minister are accompanying the Kyrgyz president.
Government Proposes Decriminalising Media Libel IRIN News Ankara, December 24: President Askar Akayev has placed a new bill before Kyrgyzstan`s parliament on decriminalising media libel, seen as a positive step by some experts. `The draft law consists of two parts, the first one is abolishing criminal charges for libel and the second is introduction of duty on a suit`s total amount [of damages],` Dosaly Esenaliev, the head of the presidential press service, told IRIN from the capital, Bishkek. According to Esenaliev, the bill proposes dropping some provisions of the Criminal Code defining criminal responsibility for libel as insulting a person`s honour and dignity in a public statement or the mass media. The current law says a person convicted of libel in court can be imprisoned for three years. The bill also proposes some amendments to the law on state duty, envisaging introduction of a certain sum to be paid before suits on protection of honour, dignity and business reputation of persons can be considered by court. Esenaliev said that if the bill passed into law, a plaintiff would have to deposit 5 percent of the total damages claimed pending the court`s decision. `This draft law ultimately aims at supporting the development of mass media,` the government official asserted, adding that the new law could result in reducing the number of suits brought against the media and render the sums of claimed damages more reasonable. However, Kuban Mambetaliev, head of Zhurnalisty, a local NGO working for freedom of the press in the country, disagreed. `If they cancel these articles in the Criminal Code on imprisonment, it won`t resolve the issue, because the suits will be processed based on the Civil Code as they have been before,` he told IRIN from Bishkek, adding that it was mainly government officials of various levels, including the prime minister, who were suing independent media because of their critical publications.
Kyrgyz Parliament Raises Issue Of Abducted Mullah Radio Free Europe Bishkek, December 22: In the process of examining cases of Uzbek law enforcement officials allegedly abducting Kyrgyz citizens (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 19 December 2003), the lower house of the Kyrgyz parliament has raised the issue of Sadykjan Rakhmanov, a mullah in the southern Kyrgyz town of Uzgen, who was abducted in September 2003 (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 25 September, 20 October, and 19 November 2003), Deutsche Welle reported on 22 December. Kyrgyz officials have said evidence indicates that Rakhmanov was abducted by law enforcement officials from Uzbekistan`s Namangan Oblast, but the Kyrgyz have received no cooperation from the Uzbek side in locating the missing mullah. Representatives of the Kyrgyz National Security Committee, Interior Ministry, and the Prosecutor-General`s Office testified to the parliament about the case. A witness from the Committee for the Defense of Muslims` Rights asserted that Rakhmanov is being held in a pretrial-detention facility in Tashkent. According to Kyrgyz human rights activists, more than 100 citizens of Kyrgyzstan have been abducted by Uzbek law enforcement officers and are now in prison in Uzbekistan, mostly on charges of religious extremism.
No Uzbek Pardon The Moscow Times Tashkent, December 22: Uzbek authorities said Monday that a gay journalist jailed in a case that drew international criticism was ineligible for a wide-ranging amnesty declared by President Islam Karimov this month. The chief of staff of the prisons system, Mikhail Gurevich, said Ruslan Sharipov could not be pardoned because his crime was grave. The amnesty covers those convicted of minor crimes, women sentenced for the first time and elderly, minor and foreign convicts.
Rights Body Reports New Torture Death In Uzbek Jail Reuters Almaty, December 22: A human rights watchdog has reported the death in detention in ex-Soviet Uzbekistan of a young man accused of theft, the fourth such incident this year, and said his body had shown signs of severe torture. Uzbek President Islam Karimov has developed warm ties with the United States in return for supporting Washington`s `war on terror` in Afghanistan to the south. But human rights bodies and some diplomats accuse him of cracking down on dissent and tolerating widespread torture in jails. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the body of Kamalodin Jumaniazov, a 25-year-old father of two arrested in November on suspicion of theft, had been recovered by relatives in a mortuary in western Uzbekistan with serious bodily injuries. `Witnesses who viewed the body told Human Rights Watch that it had two bloody injuries on the forehead, bruising on the nape of the neck and a grazed knee,` HRW said in a report posted on its site www.hrw.org at the weekend. HRW said a prosecutor had told the family their son had committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell with a sweater. `The government claims to be taking steps to combat torture, but once again the reality of the situation sadly shows otherwise,` Rachel Denber, HRW acting executive director for Europe and Central Asia, said in comments posted on the site.
Georgia Tensions The Moscow Times Tbilisi, December 21: Shots were fired at the home of a leader of a political party that is at odds with Georgia`s interim leadership, police said Saturday, underlining the tensions that have afflicted the country since early November. The shots broke windows but caused no injuries at the home of David Japaridze, the deputy chairman of the Tbilisi branch of the Revival party, said a Tbilisi police investigator, Vazha Kipani. Revival is headed by Aslan Abashidze, leader of the region of Adzharia, who is a firm opponent of Mikhail Saakashvili, who led the large protests that resulted in the Nov. 22 resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze.
IAEA Studies Possibility For New Unit At Armenian Nuclear Plant Interfax Yerevan, December 20: The International Atomic Energy Agency is studying the possibility of building a new power-producing unit at Armenian Nuclear Power Plant as one option for energy development in the republic until 2020, Deputy Armenian Energy Minister Areg Galstyan told journalists on Friday. He said that IAEA specialists, together with Armenian energy companies, have carried out the corresponding research, which will be published in the near future. The capacity of Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, which has two power- producing units, amounts to 815 megawatts. Gagik Markosyan, the plant`s general director, said that $1.5 would be needed to build a plant with the same capacity in Armenia. Galstyan said that in 2003 Armenian Nuclear Power Plant plans to produce about 2 billion kWh of electricity, which accounts for 35 per cent of total electricity production in the republic. Markosyan said that in the past eight years, since the second power-producing unit was re-launched in 1995, the plant has produced 16 billion kWh of electricity. In this period $47 million was provided to ensure safety at the plant, including $35 million from the U.S. and $12 million from the European Union.
CIS States Developing Network To Fight Intl Drug Cartels Kabar Agency Moscow, December 25: Drug control officials from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) who met at their first meeting in the Russian capital on Thursday, said it was necessary to fight against international drug cartels with a no-less ramified anti-drug network. Much of the agenda is devoted to the summing up of the results of the Channel-2003 operation carried out by the CSTO states this autumn. `For the first time it was possible to track the whole clandestine chain of drug trafficking on the huge territory from the Far East to central Europe,` a source in Russia`s State Committee for Control of Drugs told Itar-Tass. It was the first time CSTO bodies tried in practice to coordinate their actions `above the framework of national jurisdiction and state borders,` the official said. The exchange of information between the participants in the operation involving more than 43,000 personnel was ensured in real-time mode. Opening the Thursday meeting, CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha noted `the tendency towards aggravation of the drug situation in Russia and CIS countries.` To effectively combat drug trafficking, whose revenue is used for financing terrorism and extremism, it is `necessary to build an effective mechanism of interaction between all anti-drug bodies in the CSTO space,` Bordyuzha said. In the course of the operation, law-enforcement bodies exposed 1,403 drug-related crimes, confiscating some 2,000 tonnes of narcotics. In addition, police solved 2,407 other crimes, and seized 238 units of firearms and some 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Criminal charges were brought against 955 people. `As a result of the operation, it was possible to expose and smash drug trafficking channels running via Russia and linking central Europe with a number of Asian countries where narcotics originated,` according to Russian drug control officials.
Special Focus
Central Asia/ North Africa: Both Regions Face Growing Islamism, Strongmen
The Maghreb is the collective name for the Muslim Arab countries strung across the northern coast of Africa -- from Mauritania and Morocco in the west, through Algeria and Tunisia, to Libya in the east. They emerged from French or Italian domination mostly in the second half of the last century.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp122103.shtml Parliamentarians Take New Vantage On Nagarono - Karabakh
Less than a week after former Azerbaijani president Heidar Aliyev died in the United States, representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia met in Scotland to discuss the ongoing conflict that shaped much of Aliyev`s legacy. From December 16 to 20, the delegates showed that some leading thinkers in Armenia and Azerbaijan insist on peacefully resolving claims to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav122203.shtml Like Father, Like Son: Azerbaijan`s Bleak Legacy Critics and admirers of former Azerbaijani president Heidar Aliyev agree that his shadow will cover the nation for years. In reinventing himself from a Communist apparatchik into a Western-friendly dealmaker, he cemented his place at the center of the nation`s growth.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav122303.shtml Kazakhstan`s Next Media Law Could Silence Critical Press - Experts Leading Kazakhstani human rights organizations warned on December 23 that a new mass media law currently under discussion in parliament might require many media outfits to reregister. The law under consideration would curtail reporters` rights, say these organizations, while giving government officials control over a broad range of media functions.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav122303.shtml Pipelineistan Revisited Tzaev Ilman, a friendly Shi`ite Azeri fond of Platin vodka and always caressing his proud possession - a Samsung mobile - may not know how important a player he is in the New Great Game. As a crew member of the `Azerbaijan` ferry, owned by the Caspian Shipping Co, this Caucasian, melancholic version of Samuel Taylor Coleridge`s ancient mariner plies the waters of the Caspian - a 400,000 square kilometer expanse of water and a privileged source of oil and caviar, unrivalled wealth and explosive conflict - between Baku, Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan and Aktau in Kazakhstan.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL24Ag01.html India`s Grand Strategic Vision Gets Grander India has long considered itself a major global player, or at least a major Asian power, and it has been deeply frustrated until now in not being regarded as as a formidable actor on the international and Asian scene. Major policy decisions, such as the one to go overtly nuclear in 1998, can be attributed to this consuming desire to be seen as a great power.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EL25Df09.html Pipelineistan Revisited - II At an Eurasian economic summit in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, chairman of Italy`s ENI, said that the Caspian held 7.8 billion barrels of oil. Estimates from other sources run from 13 billion tons to 22 billion tons to even 50 billion tons. For Kazakhstan, officially they stand at 27.5 billion tons: `If the forecasts are proved, in the nearest future the oil of the Caspian region could make one fifth of the world oil reserves and balance with the reserves of Iraq and Kuwait together,`Gros-Pietro said.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL25Ag02.html Central Asia: Divided They Stand For more than a century, many people have tended to view Central Asia regionally, speaking of the area with terms such as Russian Turkestan or Soviet Central Asia, or more recently as `the stans`. But that image is quickly becoming too simplistic. As the events of 2003 illustrate, the five countries that make up Central Asia - Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan - are traveling along increasingly divergent paths.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL25Ag01.html
Report Dated 26 December 2003