Upper Chamber Of Kyrgyz Parliament Approved New Structure Of The Government
Kabar Agency
Bishkek, February 6: The People`s Representative Assembly of the Jogorku Kenesh of Kyrgyzstan has approved new structure of the government that offered by President Askar Akaev of Kyrgyzstan at the extraordinary session. `It is proposed in concordance with a new edition of the Constitution, adopted at the referendum in February 2003 to improve state management system, strengthen democratic principals, fight with corruption and bureaucracy, eliminate dubbed functions, strengthen local authorities`, - said A. Akaev. The proposed new structure of the government remains unchangeable - 14 ministries. However, the duties of a number of departments will be changed. So, the Ministry of External Trade and Industry is reorganized into the Ministry of Economic Development, Industry and Commerce and also received a number of powers of the Finance Ministry and the State Committee on Managing State Properties and Attracting Investments.
European Union Unhappy With Kyrgyz Election Code Revisions
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, February 5: The representative of the European Union to the OSCE told the weekly meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council on 29 January that the EU remains unhappy with the Kyrgyz Election Code, even after the recent adoption of changes by the parliament, Kyrgyzinfo reported on 5 February. In the view of the EU, the revised version does not meet international standards for free and fair elections, nor does it fulfill the country`s OSCE commitments. The EU criticism noted that there are still some points in the legislation that could be used to limit the rights of citizens, candidates, and political parties to participate fully in the political process.
Kyrgyz Justice Minister Removed
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, February 5: Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev issued a decree on 5 February removing Kurmanbek Osmonov from the post of justice minister, which he has held since January 2003, akipress.org and kabar.kg reported. Osmonov retains the post of first deputy prime minister.
Georgian Parliament Debates Constitutional Amendments
Radio Free Europe
Tbilisi, February 5: Meeting in emergency session on 5 February, parliament approved in the first reading by a vote of 160 to nine constitutional amendments proposed by President Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian and Russian media reported. The amendments reinstate the post of prime minister and empower the parliament to vote no confidence in the government, which must resign if two such votes are passed within a three-month period. The president in turn acquires the right to dissolve parliament if it fails to approve the draft budget, or in the event of a government crisis. Addressing deputies on 5 February, Saakashvili said the new model is based on those of Western Europe, especially France, according to Interfax. Saakashvili argued that `strong authority` is needed to extract Georgia from its present crisis, but denied that such authority is tantamount to dictatorship. Deputies from the Socialist, New Rightist, and Traditionalist factions condemned the proposed amendments, arguing that they pave the way for a dictatorship.Koba Davitashvili, who resigned earlier this week from a leading position in President Saakashvili`s National Movement, told journalists on 5 February that the proposed amendments are intended exclusively to strengthen the position of current Minister of State Zurab Zhvania, whom Saakashvili has said he will propose as prime minister, Georgian media reported. Davitashvili too predicted that the constitutional amendments will lead to authoritarianism and restrictions on freedom of speech, Interfax reported.
Kazakh Senate Sends Amended Media Bill Back To Lower House
Radio Free Europe
Astana, February 4: Having made seven changes to the text of the controversial draft law on the media, the Kazakh Senate sent the bill back to the Mazhilis (lower house) on 5 February for approval of the changes, gazeta.kz reported. Information Minister Sauytbek Abdrakhmanov -- whose ministry drafted the bill, which has been sharply criticized by journalists and human rights activists on the grounds that it hands control of the media to the government -- told senators that the bill will not worsen the situation of the mass media in Kazakhstan, but merely regulate their activities.
Kazakh Information Minister Says Media More Law Abiding In 2003
Radio Free Europe
Astana, February 4: Kazakh Information Minister Sauytbek Abrakhmanov told a meeting of the ministry`s top officials on 4 February that violations of various media laws were down by 24 percent in 2003 compared to 2002, Kazinform reported. Abdrakhmonov said that as of the beginning of this year, all television and radio broadcasters have observed the rule that no more than 20 percent of their broadcast time be used for rebroadcasting foreign programs, and 95 percent of broadcasters are broadcasting 50 percent of their programming in the Kazakh language. He noted, however, that much of the programming in Kazakh, which is the official state language, is broadcast late at night. A new draft law on the media that is currently making its way through parliament requires that information be made available equally in both Russian and Kazakh, but Abdrakhmonov insisted that this would not mean that all prime-time programming would be in Kazakh.
International Human Rights Activist Meets With Imprisoned Kyrgyz Opposition Leader
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, February 4: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Vice President Ulrich Fischer was allowed by Kyrgyz authorities to meet with the country`s most prominent political prisoner, Feliks Kulov, on 4 February, Interfax reported. Kulov -- who formerly served as former National Security chief, vice president of Kyrgyzstan, and mayor of Bishkek -- is serving a 10-year sentence for abuse of office. The Kyrgyz opposition says the charges against him were politically motivated to remove President Askar Akaev`s most-credible rival from the political arena. Kulov has indicated that he intends to run for president in the 2005 election.
Georgia Hints Shevardnadze Not Safe From Prosecution
Reuters
Tbilisi, February 4: Georgia`s top prosecutor suggested Wednesday ousted president Eduard Shevardnadze was not immune from prosecution for corruption despite assurances given by the leaders who toppled him. Mikhail Saakashvili, who ousted the Soviet-era veteran in a bloodless coup in November, promised Shevardnadze personal immunity from prosecution as a condition for his resignation. In televised remarks, Prosecutor General Irakly Okruashvili refused to rule out moving against Shevardnadze in an anti-corruption campaign in the Caucasus state that elected Saakashvili president by a landslide last month. A day after acting Transport Minister Merab Adeishvili`s arrest on charges of financial wrongdoing and abuse of power, Okruashvili told Mze television the investigation could widen to include his immediate bosses. `Adeishvili reported directly to Shevardnadze,` he said. Asked whether Shevardnadze could be detained if suspected of wrongdoing, Okruashvili said: `Nothing is ruled out.` Shevardnadze could not immediately be reached for comment.
Saakashvili Declares War On Corruption
Interfax
Tbilisi, February 4: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has declared war on corruption. `A real war against the mafia is underway in Georgia, and it will be completed,` the president told journalists in Tbilisi following the detention of former Transport and Communications Minister Merab Adeishvili. `Georgia belongs to the Georgian people, rather than to bandits and bribers, he said. `Tens of millions of lari were stolen from the railways every year,` the president said. `Everybody who looted money will be arrested,` he said. Moreover, Saakashvili tasked the interior minister with conducting raids to detain and disarm criminal elements. `If bandits resist, they will be eliminated on the spot,` he said. Saakashvili ordered the reinforcement of personal protection for Prosecutor General Irakly Okruashvili and Interior Minister Giorgy Baramidze.
Opposition Weekly Banned In Kazakh Parliament
Radio Free Europe
Astana, February 3: Kazakh Mazhilis (lower house) member Serikbai Alibaev has called on Mazhilis Chairman Zharmakan Tuyakbai to look into a ban on the circulation of the opposition weekly `Respublika Assandi Times` in parliament and has demanded that measures be taken against whoever imposed the ban, the paper reported on 30 January. Alibaev told the Mazhilis that `Respublika Assandi Times` has frequently been harassed by the authorities because of its critical reporting, and its distributors have been persecuted by the police. Mazhilis officials have told parliamentarians that they may not bring copies of the paper into the parliament building. Alibaev said this violates his constitutional right to receive information. T
Georgia`s Ex-transport Minister Detained
Interfax
Tbilisi, February 3: Georgia`s former minister of transport and communications, Merab Adeishvili, was detained in Tbilisi on Tuesday evening. Adeishvili, accompanied by policemen wearing masks, told journalists that he was not informed of the reasons for his arrest. Prosecutor General Irakli Okruashvili told the press that Adeishvili had misappropriated $500,000 from the state budget. `But this figure may rise to $13 million as the investigation continues,` he said. Adeishvili`s brother Giya was also detained.
Merger Of Georgian Parties Postponed Indefinitely
Radio Free Europe
Tbilisi, February 3: The merger, planned for 4 February, of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili`s National Movement and the Burdjanadze-Democrats bloc jointly headed by parliament speaker Nino Burdjanadze and Minister of State Zurab Zhvania has been postponed indefinitely, Caucasus Press reported on 3 February. Earlier that day, parliament deputy Koba Davitashvili, a leading National Movement member, threatened to quit the party if the merger went ahead. He also accused Zhvania of acting counter to national interests and exerting a pernicious influence on the president. Zhvania responded by accusing Davitashvili of acting out of personal ambition. He said that now `is not the time for [indulging in personal] resentments and creating problems for one another,` the independent television station Rustavi-2 reported on 3 February.
A President At Crossroads
Radio Free Europe
Astana, February 3: Media activists, human-rights groups, and political figures are voicing serious concerns about the Kazakh government`s recent active involvement in shaping new media laws, ventures, and regulations. As disturbing revelations about the harassment of journalists in Kazakhstan continue to surface, direct pressure -- both at home and abroad -- is increasing on Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev to moderate his government`s purported direct involvement in the country`s media affairs. As a new draft media law moves to the upper chamber of the Kazakh parliament, domestic and international critics charge that Nazarbaev is exerting too much control over Kazakhstan`s media sector. `The president of Kazakhstan has yet to give a clear indication that he`s committed to improving the country`s appalling press-freedom record,` said Alex Lupis, program coordinator for the Europe and Central Asia division of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The New York-based CPJ is drafting a formal letter of complaint to Nazarbaev about the draft media law, just as several other groups -- including Internews, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Article 19 -- have already done. Moreover, there are indications that Nazarbaev`s inflexibility might be softening somewhat in the wake of a highly critical letter from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that was written on 17 November 2003 but only made public on 7 January. The letter said Kazakhstan will have to improve its poor human-rights record if it wants the United States to support its goal of becoming the first former Soviet republic to hold the rotating chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009. Powell`s letter praised Kazakhstan for its support in the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan and applauded Nazarbaev`s `public commitment to accelerate the building of democracy.` However, Powell expressed concern that several government actions are belying the president`s statements. Powell particularly questioned the draft media law, saying: `It is my understanding that the draft under consideration is being discussed widely and that strong reservations have been expressed about the draft both within the OSCE and in the mass media.` Powell asked Nazarbaev to reconsider `whether a new law on the mass media is warranted at this time.` Powell also called on Nazarbaev to release journalist Sergei Duvanov, who was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison after being convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl. His detention and sentencing followed the publication of several reports by Duvanov alleging that officials in Nazarbaev`s government -- possibly including the president himself -- accepted bribes from U.S. oil companies for energy concessions in Kazakhstan. Powell also reminded Nazarbaev that he made promises to U.S. President George W. Bush in December 2001 `to promote freedom and pluralism in Kazakhstan`s media environment, including the right of the media to criticize the country`s elected leaders.` On 15 January, a Kazakh court revised Duvanov`s sentence from imprisonment to house arrest, and on 22 January, RFE/RL reported that Duvanov had been released from prison and granted `semi-free` status by the government. On 19 January, the Russian newspaper `Kommersant-Daily` reported the release was the result of Western pressure, citing in particular Powell`s pointed letter to Nazarbaev. However, many human-rights activists say the sudden release of Duvanov doesn`t mean the Kazakh government has really reversed its alleged policy of controlling the country`s media. `The Kazakh government has been encroaching on the media for several years. Kazakhstan claims to be a democratic society, but has a terrible record on freedom of expression and media freedom,` Rachel Denbar, acting director of Human Rights Watch`s Europe and Central Asia division, told `RFE/RL Media Matters.` Denbar said Kazakhstan has `a long record of harassment of journalists.` `The government of Kazakhstan should not be hindering media freedom and should back off of civil-defamation suits against journalists,` Denbar said. `There is a need for a balance in the Kazakh media, and the government is preventing the emergence of a balanced media environment.` It is not just international observers who are crying foul. Many parliamentarians, journalists, and even President Nazarbaev`s daughter are speaking out against the government`s treatment of the media, the draft media law, and a recent decision by KazMunayGaz, the state natural-gas company, to enter the media business. The draft media law was adopted by the lower house of parliament (Mazhlis) in December and could potentially be passed by the upper house some time in February. The law would give the government the power to dismiss reporters or shut down media outlets for insulting `the honor and dignity of a citizen or a state organ or other body.` RFE/RL reported on 16 January that the draft law also contains rules for new and more complicated registration procedures for journalists, according to Journalists Association of Kazakhstan Chairman Saidkazy Mataev. On 20 January, Darigha Nazarbaeva, who is director of the Khabar television channel and chairwoman of the Executive Committee of the Congress of Kazakhstan`s Journalists (CKJ), said she believes the country`s journalists should have their own lobby in the lower house of the parliament. Nazarbaeva is also the leader of the recently created Asar party. In an address to the 10th external session of the CKJ in Karaganda earlier this month, she said the provision in the draft media law that gives the government the right to order media companies to shut down for three months for coverage it considers objectionable could lead to the bankruptcy of many small media enterprises. On 20 January, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported that Nazarbaeva said the draft law would prohibit television channels from showing sexual or erotic programs, but it fails to provide a definition of what would be considered sexually explicit programming. On 22 January, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) party issued a statement on the draft media law, saying it is antidemocratic and would severely limit freedom of speech in Kazakhstan. The party points to provisions that would strengthen the government`s control over media outlets through stricter registration and licensing requirements. The party wrote that the new law could lead to `self-censorship.` AP reported on 26 January that several Kazakh political leaders have expressed concern about the government`s antidemocratic policies during a conference organized by the International Institute for Modern Politics, an Almaty-based think tank. Gulzhan Yergalieva, a DVK leader, was quoted as saying the government`s recent moves threaten `competitive elections, independent media, and political pluralism.` National Research Institute Director Burikhan Nurmukhamedov has reportedly called on the government to create a transparent election system and to foster free media. But just as pressure is building on Nazarbaev to reform his government`s policies toward the media, his state natural-gas company has decided to aggressively enter the television business. KazMunayGaz, which holds lucrative rights to the vast energy reserves located on Kazakhstan`s Caspian Sea shelf, recently said it has ambitions to be one of the biggest oil and gas producers in the world. Uzakbai Karabalin, the president of KazMunayGaz, has spoken broadly about the company`s plans to create a newspaper, television, and radio group following the model of Russia`s NTV. NTV and several other media outlets were seized by Gazprom, Russia`s state-controlled natural-gas monopoly, in 2001 after a controversial and, many say, politically motivated business dispute with former oligarch Vladimir Gusinskii`s Media-MOST. The KazMunayGaz project will be called NTV-Kazakhstan. NTV-Kazakhstan representative Yevgenia Dotsuk told a press conference in Almaty on 19 December that KazMunayGaz`s initiative is a joint project of Russia`s NTV, which holds a 20 percent stake in the new company, and the Kazakh Rauan Media Group, which controls the rest. Dotsuk admitted that NTV-Kazakhstan is being created with state money and should be considered another state channel. Rauan Media Group has received the exclusive right to terrestrial, cable, and satellite rebroadcasting of NTV programs in Kazakhstan, and Russia`s NTV will be inaccessible to Kazakh viewers. But KazMunayGaz`s media plans aren`t going over well with Alikhan Baimenov and Bulat Abilov, two prominent DVK members. They object to the use of state funds to finance the new media firm. On 20 November, RosBalt Consulting reported that Yerasyl Abylkasymov, a deputy in the lower house of the parliament, wrote a letter arguing that Kazakhstan`s `small television channels will be doomed` with the creation of NTV-Kazakhstan. Such concerns about the project are shared by Asar`s Nazarbaeva. The new channel will presumably put competitive pressure on Nazarbaeva`s Khabar network and potentially cut into their advertising revenues. While the president`s daughter has become more outspoken in recent months about developments in the Kazakh media, Denbar questioned the problem of nepotism in Nazarbaev`s Kazakhstan. According to the BBC, Nazarbaeva`s Khabar group is `privately held but publicly funded` and controls an influential news agency; the Khabar, Khabar 2, and ORT-Kazakhstan television channels; the Europa Plus, Russkoye radio, Hit FM, and Radio Karavan radio stations; and the newspapers `Karavan` and `Novoye pokolenie.` Moreover, Timur Kulibaev, the husband of another Nazarbaev daughter, Dinara, is a deputy president of KazMunayGaz and has been named to the management team of NTV-Kazakhstan. KazMunayGaz`s new media group has also asked the government to grant NTV-Kazakhstan broadcast frequencies without compelling it to go through the legally required tender process. `The odds are that NTV-Kazakhstan will be a pro-government station that will shy away from controversial coverage,` Denbar said. The Kazakh government`s flurry of moves in the country`s media market comes just months ahead of parliamentary elections -- which are scheduled for October -- and raises concerns about the government`s motives in trying to shape public opinion. Several international press-freedom and human rights observers have filed formal objections with the Kazakh government. The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) recently wrote to Nazarbaev to say the draft law would `jeopardize constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression.` On 11 December, Toby Mendel, the Law and Asia Programs director for Article 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression, wrote a public letter regarding the bill. Article 19 is a London-based group fighting censorship worldwide. `Our analysis indicates that the proposed law falls far short of international norms for the protection of free expression,` Mendel wrote. `Passage of this law would, therefore, place the government of Kazakhstan in breach of its constitutional obligations as well as its obligations as a member of the UN and OSCE. `A more important concern, however, is that significant powers -- including registration, licensing, and accreditation systems for the media and journalists -- are exercised by bodies that lack independence from government. This is in clear breach of international standards in this area and presents the possibility of excessive state control over the media,` Mendel wrote, adding that the law could `exert a chilling effect on freedom of the media.` He asks Nazarbaev to withdraw the law from consideration. The Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) has also joined the chorus of critics. HRWF Director Willy Fautre wrote a sharply worded letter to Nazarbaev on 18 December saying his group is `extremely concerned with the new draft media law.` `The draft law provides for unacceptable limitation of press freedom through governmental control and regulation. The system of registration, licensing, and accreditation alongside the provisions on secrecy laws, journalists` confidentiality, censorship, and privacy shield to politicians does not comply with international standards and will jeopardize the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of expression,` Fautre wrote. RSF, in its 2003 annual report on Kazakhstan, wrote: `The worsening press freedom situation aroused international concern, especially on the part of the European Union and the United States. Violence against opposition journalists increased.` The report also said `the government used harassment, censorship, legal intimidation, and control of printing and publishing to crack down on the independent and opposition media.` Freedom House in its `Freedom of the Press 2003` report described Kazakhstan`s media as `not free." Clearly, the country is at something of a crossroads. The latest developments seem to indicate that Nazarbaev, like many of his counterparts in the region, intends to take Kazakhstan down an antidemocratic path. There is still time to change direction, but that time is rapidly running out.
Saakashvili Sends Constitutional Amendments To Parliament
Interfax
Tbilisi, February 2: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Monday will submit a package of bills amending the constitution to parliament for approval. After consulting with State Minister Zurab Zhvaniya and parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze, the president told reporters that the final version on amendments on the separation of powers has been coordinated. `The amendments make parliament very powerful. It will have the right to sack the cabinet without any motivation, anytime, by a three- fifths majority,` Saakashvili said. The mechanism for parliament`s dissolution by the president has been coordinated, `but this can happen in exceptional cases in conditions of acute political crisis,` he said. `The Cabinet shall be a body of collective responsibility, and the president shall dissociate himself from its operations to a certain extent, even though he`ll remain the person bearing the main responsibility for processes taking place in the country,` Saakashvili said.
Kazakh President Will Seek Re-election In 2006, Says Aide
Radio Free Europe
Astana, February 2: An adviser to President Nursultan Nazarbaev, Yermukhamet Yertysbaev, told journalists in Almaty on 31 January that Nazarbaev will definitely run for re-election in 2006, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported on 2 February. Yertysbaev said that the president revealed his re-election plans on 16 January, and the president also predicted that he would win. The next presidential election must be held in December 2006. Kazakhstan`s 1995 constitution specifies that a person may serve only two consecutive seven-year terms as president. Since Nazarbaev has been elected only once under this constitution, he may run again, although he has served as president since 1990. Yertysbaev has said repeatedly that the issue of the next president of Kazakhstan will not arise until 2013.
Amendments Broadening President`s Powers Considered In Georgia
Interfax
Tbilisi, February 1: The Georgian leadership is considering draft amendments to the constitution on Sunday that deal with the division of power between the branches of authority and the institution of a cabinet of ministers. The draft amendments strengthen the president`s powers and give the president the right to disband the parliament if it artificially provokes a political crisis by turning down the state budget or vital decisions and bills proposed by the president, the Georgian media reported. The draft amendments also deprive the parliament of the right to initiate an impeachment procedure. The prime minister will have broad powers and will be the country`s second highest ranking official. The government is to be reorganized, the number of ministries reduced and only 3 of the current 17 departments are to be saved. As a result, the number of civil servants is expected to go down by 40%.
Georgian President Says Zhvania Best Candidate For PM
Interfax
Tbilisi, February 1: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili considers Zurab Zhvania the best candidate for prime minister. `The absence of a government is tantamount to sabotage. Georgia is currently without a government,` Saakashvili told journalists on Sunday. The Georgian president is currently holding consultations on draft amendments to the constitution that would help shape a new government. He said the amendments will not weaken the parliament. `The Georgian parliament will be similar to or even stronger than the parliaments in Western Europe,` Saakashvili said.
EU Believes There Is No Real Opposition In Georgia
Pravda
Moscow, January 31: Evolution is a better way of attaining ones` goals than revolution but the EU is nonetheless positive about the situation in Georgia. As a Rosbalt correspondent reports, this was announced by EU Special Envoy to the South Caucasus Heikki Talvitie at a press conference in Yerevan yesterday. `The new Georgian government is actively overcoming the problems that have built up. They have had a good start and they have the EU`s support,` Mr Talvitie said. He added that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is expected to give a report on Georgia, after which it will become clear what kind of assistance the country really needs.
New Kazakh Party Holds First Congress
Radio Free Europe
Astana, January 31: The Asar party -- which was registered in December (see `RFE/RL Newsline,` 22 December 2003) and is led by President Nursultan Nazarbaev`s eldest daughter, Darigha -- held its first congress on 31 January, gazeta.kz reported. According to party Political Council member Yerlan Karin, among the suggestions for party activities that were put forward at the congress was encouraging a dialogue among the government, the opposition, and society to draw up a joint reform program. Karin also introduced to congress participants an initiative intended to ensure clean elections, and promised that the party`s newly established parliamentary faction will take an active role in assessing draft legislation on the media and on elections that is making its way through the parliament.
Uzbekistan`s Muslims Celebrate Eid Al-Adha Holiday
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 31: On 1 February, Muslims across Uzbekistan celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday alongside with number of other countries of the world, and join in spirit with the millions gathered in Mecca to uphold the traditions of one of the most sacred feasts. Eid al-Adha, or `Feast Of the Sacrifice,` a time when Muslims make pilgrimages to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the holiest times of the year in the Muslim calendar, along with the holy month of Ramadan.
Kazakhstan Politics Could Turn Dynastic
Associated Press
Almaty, January 31: She`s a media mogul, has a doctorate in political science and learned to sing opera in secret because her father - Kazakhstan`s president - disapproved. Now, Dariga Nazarbayeva`s ambitions have led her to form a new political party, setting off speculation she is grooming herself for what could be the second dynastic succession in the countries that emerged from the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It has already happened in Azerbaijan, and what unfolds in Kazakhstan, a resource-rich giant four times bigger than Texas, could influence succession in its four smaller Central Asian neighbors. Nazarbayeva`s party - Asar, or All Together - held its first party congress Saturday in Almaty, where nearly 700 delegates from across the country gathered at the National Opera House decorated with the party`s red and white banners. In a buoyant and confident address to the congress, Nazarbayeva repeated her earlier claim that her party would win half of Parliament in fall elections. `It`s a bold and ambitious statement,` she said. `But why create a party, if you don`t have ambitious aims?` On Tuesday, before getting a single member into parliament, Asar announced it had formed its own parliamentary faction with 10 sympathetic independents. The party has said its ranks more than doubled since its formal registration in December, from 77,000 to 170,000. Nazarbayeva has said she won`t seek a parliamentary seat herself and denies her party is a launchpad for her to succeed her father, Nursultan Nazarbayev. On Saturday, Nazarbayeva said she was confident her father would win another seven-year term in the next elections in 2006. But she added: `In 10 years, he will himself chose his own successor.` Nazarbayeva said Asar`s current priorities were to press Parliament to remove articles from bills under debate that would restrict media freedom and threaten transparency of the election process. The president didn`t attend the congress, but in a greeting read by the head of the administration he wished Asar `a long and successful political life.`
Russia Rejects Georgian Criticism Of Peacekeeping Force
Radio Free Europe
Tbilisi, February 5: At the weekly meeting of Georgian and Abkhaz government representatives and officers of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia and the Russian peacekeepers deployed in the Abkhaz conflict zone, Russian peacekeeping commander Lieutenant General Aleksandr Yevteev formally protested the landing by helicopter in the conflict zone late on 3 February of Georgian Interior Ministry troops, ITAR-TASS reported. He pointed out that under an earlier agreement signed in Moscow, heavy weaponry is not permitted in the conflict zone. Yevteev said Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze`s accusation that the Russian peacekeepers engage in smuggling is no more than attempt to discredit the peacekeeping force. Interfax on 5 February quoted U.S. Ambassador to Tbilisi Richard Miles as praising the `positive role` played by the Russian peacekeepers in the Abkhaz conflict zone.
Georgian National Guard Commander Resigns
Radio Free Europe
Tbilisi, February 4: President Saakashvili accepted on 4 February a letter of resignation submitted two days earlier by National Guard commander Major General Koba Kobaladze, Caucasus Press reported. No official explanation has been given for Kobaladze`s decision, but Caucasus Press noted `unofficial reports` that he might be investigated in connection with reports of corruption within the National Guard.
Georgia Army Bases
The Moscow Times
Moscow, February 4: Russia signaled Wednesday that it could accelerate the withdrawal of its troops from Georgia, with a senior military official saying the pullout could take four to five years -- rather than the seven years or a decade officials have previously indicated. Russian officials have rejected Georgia`s demands that the closure of the two remaining Soviet-era bases be carried out within three years, saying such a timeline is unrealistically short. Earlier this week, Colonel-General Yury Baluyevsky, the first deputy chief of the General Staff, said the pullout could take seven to nine years. Military representatives had previously spoken of 11 years. However, a high-ranking military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters Wednesday that once a treaty on the withdrawal was signed and ratified, the pullout would take a minimum of four to five years. That period would be necessary to build housing in Russia for the approximately 8,000 officers and warrant officers he said would be affected.
Tajikistan: More Than US $13 Million Required For Demining Over 5 Years
IRIN News
Ankara, February 4: Dushanbe needs at least US $13.5 million in aid over the next five years to remove landmines from its territory, Jonmahmad Rajabov, head of the Tajik Mine Action Centre (TMAC), told IRIN on Wednesday. `This amount could well increase as there is no accurate estimate of how many mines are out there,` he said, from the Tajik capital. Tajikistan had mines left over from the civil war that raged after the former Soviet republic became independent in 1991, and along its borders with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Tashkent mined its Tajik border in an attempt to prevent Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) extremists from entering the country. Tajikistan`s central, eastern and Pamir districts, had been extensively mined by both sides in the 1992-97 civil conflict. `During the past three years, 62 Tajik civilians have died on the border with Uzbekistan and another 60 have been wounded,` Rajabov told reporters a day earlier at a press briefing at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offices in Dushanbe. `But not one extremist or terrorist, for whom the Uzbek side laid the mines,` he added. Donor countries are providing financial support through the UNDP and Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Some US $365,000 have has so far been allocated, but donor support is urgently needed to raise the balance of at least US $13 million. Russian troops, who patrol Tajikistan`s border with Afghanistan, no longer lay mines to try and prevent drug smugglers and Taliban sympathisers from crossing the border, the TMAC noted, adding that this border would require intensive demining work as well.
Tajik President Names Dismissed Presidential Guard Chief To Head Anti Narcotics Agency
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, February 2: Imomali Rakhmonov has appointed Colonel General Gaffor Mirzoev to head the country`s Narcotics Control Agency, Interfax reported on 2 February. The agency`s former director, Major General Rustam Nazarov, was downgraded to first deputy director. Mirzoev was head of the Presidential Guard until Rakhmonov removed him and turned the Presidential Guard into a National Guard, a move that Mirzoev, a distinguished commander on the government side during the 1992-97 Tajik civil war, protested publicly. In addition to his new post, Mirzoev apparently has received a promotion from the rank of lieutenant general.
Azeri Leader Says Deployment Of NATO, U.S. Bases Not On Agenda
Interfax
Moscow, February 1: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said the deployment of U.S. or NATO military bases in Azerbaijan is not on the agenda. `I would not like to comment on questions that are not on the agenda, including questions about some bases. This subject is raised from time to time, although no such negotiations have been held,` Aliyev said on Russian television on Sunday when asked whether Azerbaijan plans to host American military bases on its territory. `The interests of great powers do exist, but Azerbaijan views its own interests as the priority. When these interests coincide with the interests of our neighbors or great powers, we cooperate, but when they do not coincide, we do not cooperate. What counts most is that confrontation of interests must not put Azerbaijan in a situation in which it would not like to find itself. What counts most is not competition but cooperation,` Aliyev said.
Azerbaijani President On Moscow Metro Tragedy
The Moscow Times
Moscow, February 6: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev urged to unite efforts for fighting international terrorism. `Evil in the face of international terrorism must be eliminated by joint efforts, and this topic was very clearly voiced at our meeting with Vladimir Putin,` Aliyev stated at a meeting with Russian State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov. The Azerbaijani president condoled with the families of those killed and injured in the blast and pointed out that the tragedy in the Moscow Metro `is a heavy burden both for Russians and all friends of Russia`. Gryzlov in turn informed Aliyev that he had already `assigned deputies to check current legislation regarding making a punishment for terrorism more severe`.
Some 700 Religious Extremists Freed Under Uzbek Amnesty
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, February 2: Zuhriddin Husniddinov, an adviser to President Karimov, told ITAR-TASS on 2 February that about 700 people convicted of religious extremism have been freed under the December amnesty commemorating the 11th anniversary of the Uzbek Constitution. He added that the state-supported Muslim Spiritual Board of Uzbekistan and the State Committee for Religious Affairs have been tasked with helping the former extremists to find jobs and with ensuring that they do not return to extremist groups.
Kazakhstan To Auction GSM Licenses March 10
Dow Jones Newswires
Almaty, February 6: Kazakhstan will auction new GSM mobile phone network licenses on March 10, a government official said Friday. The licenses will be for DCS-1800-standard frequencies, said the official from the government`s Communications and Information Technology Committee. `The introduction of the new standards will unify Kazakhstan`s mobile phone network with international telecommunications systems faster and more efficiently, the official said. The licenses will be awarded to the highest bidders, he added. TOO GSM Kazakhstan, a company controlled by Sweden`s TeliaSonera , and local provider Kar-Tel are the only two GSM-standard operators currently operating in Kazakhstan. GSM Kazakhstan controls about 75% of the country`s GSM market, or more than 1 million subscribers, while Kar-Tel says it has 500,000 clients.
Kazakh Prime Minister Upbeat On Economic Growth
Associated Press
Astana, February 6: Powered by a boosting energy sector, Kazakhstan`s economy grew by 9.1 percent in 2003, continuing the steady growth of recent years, Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov said Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT In an upbeat assessment of the Central Asian nation`s economic prospects, Akhmetov said all sectors of the economy expanded last year, with industrial output rising 8.8 percent. `The main planned steps have been taken and economic targets have been met,` he told a Cabinet meeting in Astana. But he said inflation exceeded the expected level, reaching 6.8 percent. Akhmetov told reporters after the meeting that Kazakhstan would aim to double the size of its gross domestic product by 2010. He said this could happen even earlier, given that the country`s economy grew by a total of 49 percent over the past four years. Kazakhstan`s GDP last year amounted to 3.3 trillion tenge, or US$24 billion. He said the government`s priorities for the next few years were to reduce the economy`s dependence on the oil sector, speed up agricultural growth and spend more on social projects.
Huge Kazakh, Norway Projects In Reserves Downgrade-Shell
Reuters
London, February 5: Royal Dutch/Shell said on Thursday that its dramatic downgrade to proved reserves included lower estimates for Kazakhstan`s giant Kashagan oil field and for a huge Norwegian offshore natural gas project. Kashagan, an offshore field in the Caspian Sea estimated to hold between nine and 13 billion barrels of recoverable reserves is being developed by a consortium of energy firms led by Italy`s ENI . Shell said that Kashagan accounted for a part of a 1.2 billion barrels slice of reserves from new developments in frontier areas that it has downgraded from `proved` to `unproven` or having `scope for recovery.` It was part of the company`s total 3.9 billion reserve downgrade which shrank the group`s available oil and gas reserves to less than 11 years worth from more than 13 and sent its shares into a tailspin. Other members in the Kashagan development -- one of the biggest oil discoveries in recent decades -- include Total , ExxonMobil , ConocoPhillips and Japan`s Inpex. First oil from Kashagan has been delayed to 2006-7 rather than 2005 as originally planned because of the depth of Kashagan`s oil which is far below the bottom of the Caspian Sea. The Kashagan consortium has already invested $2.2 billion in the oilfield. The Shell downgrade also included Norway`s huge offshore Ormen Lange natural gas project which is developing the country`s second-biggest gas field for a production start in 2007.
Kazakhstan Wants To Sell 25% Of Kurmangazy To Total
Interfax
Astana, February 5: Kazakhstan wants to sell 25% of its 50% share in the Kurmangazy oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea to France`s Total, Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov told a briefing in Astana on Thursday. `We want the French Total company to be a strategic partner of Kazakhstan in Kurmangazy. We think the share of Total will reach 25%. The price will be commercial,` he said. `We will not just sell an interest. We will place many conditions and they will not be easy even for such a huge company as Total,` he said. Kazakhstan and Russia agreed on the joint development of the Kurmangazy field in spring 2002. A protocol to the agreement on the Caspian`s division of May 13, 2002, sets the share of Kazakhstan`s KazMunaiGaz in the Kurmangazy project at 50% and gives 25% to Russia`s Rosneft. The protocol assigns a 25% option to Russia`s Zarubezhneft. A working group of the Kazakh government is holding negotiations with KazMunaiGaz and Rosneft on production sharing terms in the Kurmangazy project.
Kazakh Budget Deficit 1.2% Of GDP In 2003
Interfax
Astana, February 5: Kazakhstan`s national budget was implemented with a deficit of 53.4 billion tenge ($383.13 million), or 1.2% of GDP, in 2003, Finance Minister Yerbolat Dosayev said while speaking at an expanded government session in Astana on Thursday. The 2003 national budget was planned with revenues of 710.2 billion tenge and expenditures 793 billion tenge, with a deficit of 82.8 billion tenge, or 1.9% of projected GDP.
Tajikistan Foreign Debt Grows 1.5% In 2003
Interfax
Dushanbe, February 5: Tajikistan`s foreign debt rose 1.5% in 2003 to $1 billion, Robert Christiansen, head of an IMF mission that visited Tajikistan from January 27 to February 5, said Thursday. Although foreign debt increased its share decreased to 65% of GDP from 82% of GDP, he said. GDP went up 10.2% in 2003 in constant prices to 4.76 billion somoni. GDP grew 0.1% in 2002 to 3.33 billion somoni from 2.51 billion somoni in 2001. Inflation was 14.5% in 2002 and 12.5% in 2001.
Production Sharing Agreement On Kurmangazy Expected Soon
Interfax
Astana, February 5: A production sharing agreement for the Kurmangazy oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea may be drafted in the first half of this year, Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov told a Thursday briefing in Astana. Kurmangazy is a joint project between Kazakhstan and Russia. `We are holding serious negotiations with Rosneft. I hope we will define the main aspects of the production sharing agreement in the first half of this year, because the process has been on since last year,` he said. Kazakhstan wants a larger share of the Kurmangazy net profits, he said. `We defend our positions and seek a reasonable compromise. The task is to increase the Kazakhstan`s share in net profits from 25% to 60%, and to maintain it at the world average level,` Akhmetov said.
Kazakhstan, Agip KCO To End Kashagan Negotiations By March
Interfax
Astana, February 5: Negotiations with the Agip KCO international consortium on the delayed industrial development of the Kashagan field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea and the size of compensation for the delay will be completed in late February or early March, said Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov. `I hope that all problems will be resolved in late February to early March. We have a complete mutual understanding of all questions,` he said at a Thursday briefing in Astana. Akhmetov is rather optimistic about the talks. Kazakhstan `will receive a certain compensation,` he noted, refusing to specify the amount. `The consortium chiefs realize that some compensation is necessary,` he added.
Kazakhstan May Extend Tax Benefits For Foreign Investors
Interfax
Astana, February 5: Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov thinks it is necessary to extend the term of tax benefits for foreign investors in high-tech industries. It is necessary to extend the grace period from 5 to at least 25 years and make related amendments to the tax laws, Akhmetov told a Thursday meeting of the government in Astana. `We grant benefits and preferences in, say, corporate taxes for five years, while any production, including oil and gas refining, repays within 15-17 years on average. Thus, we should give investors time as another incentive for working in Kazakhstan,` Akhmetov said.
Blocks And Contortions In Armenia`s Economy
The Moscow Times
Yerevan, February 4: Try this: Block one of your nostrils, cover one eye, put one arm in a sling and stand on one leg. Then pay someone a significant portion of your income for the privilege of using those facilities that remain unencumbered. Now try to breathe, smell, see and move like everyone else. That, in a nutshell, is how the Armenian economy functions. Back in 1989, Azerbaijan closed its border with Armenia as a consequence of the war between the two countries over the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh. A few years later, in a show of support for its Turkic brethren, Turkey similarly shut off road and rail links with Armenia. Ten years after cease-fire, the two sets of borders remain closed. So goods and people flow from the rest of the world into and out of Armenia by air, or via its other two neighbors -- Iran and Georgia -- at a significant premium to cover transportation and corruption costs. Consequently, the Armenian economy is seriously distorted, consumers pay inflated prices for imported goods, and exporters need to fight even harder to be competitive in the global marketplace. (Only when pressed do vendors in Yerevan admit that the fire-engine red tomatoes adorning their stands in the dead of winter are from Turkey; and they demand a premium for locally grown produce, in the name of dinner-table patriotism.) Joining the WTO in 2003 didn`t help Armenia. WTO rules allow existing members, such as Turkey, to withhold recognition of new members of the club. As quid pro quo for Turkey not blackballing Armenia, Armenia agreed not to stand in the way of Azerbaijan`s WTO application, which will likely be submitted within the next few years. Turkey will have a difficult time with the EU if its application for membership ever advances beyond the have-another-coffee stage. The EU is an economic and monetary union with a common external trade policy, and it isn`t about to join Turkey and Azerbaijan in their blockade of Armenia -- so Turkey would need to abandon its blockade. Arguably, with 13.9 percent GDP growth last year (thanks largely to plentiful donor funds), Armenia is doing quite well. But the World Bank estimates that a lifting of the blockades could lead to a 30 percent increase in Armenia`s GDP. But in the same way that a small number of well-connected individuals may have an incentive to ensure that Russia`s senseless war in Chechnya continues, there are those in Armenia who may benefit from their country`s regional trade pariah status. And for the Armenian diaspora, Turkey`s blockade is a handy hammer for bashing its historical enemy on the world stage.
Rise In Value Of Tajik Currency Attributed To Remittances From Abroad
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, February 3: International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission head Robert Christiansen said after a meeting with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov on 3 February in Dushanbe that the amount of remittances from Tajik citizens working outside the country was so large in 2003 that it caused the Tajik national currency, the somoni, to strengthen against the U.S. dollar, ITAR-TASS reported. Remittances from labor migrants were estimated at $240 million -- comparable to the revenues portion of the state budget. The IMF official said that fluctuations in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar in Tajikistan are not only normal, but could be a sign of healthy market functioning.
Accords On Loans For Oil Pipeline Project Signed In Azerbaijan
Itar-Tass
Baku, February 3: A package of accords on 2.6 billion dollar loans for the project of building the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was signed in Azerbaijan`s capital Baku on Tuesday. The loans will go into the construction of a 1,760-kilometre pipeline that is to link Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The pipeline will pump 50 million tonnes of oil a year. Creditor of the project, whose costs are 3.6 billion dollars including interest payments, are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, which will issue 250 million dollars each, a syndicate of 15 influential commercial banks that will provide 1.2 billion dollars in loans, as well as shareholders in the project including British Petroleum, Statoil, ConocoPhillips and Total that loan a total of 800 million dollars. Ten international credit organizations will act as guarantors for commercial banks in purchases of materials, machinery and equipment for the construction of the oil pipeline. A spokesman for BP Azerbaijan Company, which is an operator of the project, said the first tranche of the loan would be issued in March.
PetroKazakhstan To Invest $176 Mln In Production In 2004
Interfax
Almaty, February 2: The Canadian company PetroKazakhstan`s capital investment program for this year comes to $176 million. A company press release reports that PetroKazakhstan plans to put funds into the full development of the Kyzylkiya and Aryskum fields, wrapping up the development of Kumkol North and into the initial development of the North Nurali, Nurali and Aksai fields. All these deposits are in the southern Kazakh Kyzylordin region. Company plans also include exploration and appraisal (include the drilling of seven wells), the installation of additional production facilities for the Akshabulak field and building a gas plant there. The program also involves financing research and work on the installation of measuring equipment to increase equipment management safety, the acquisition of a thousand cisterns for transporting oil and oil products, and overhauling infrastructure at storage and transport terminals.
Kazakh Development Bank To Enter Central Asian Market
Radio Free Europe
Astana, February 2: Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) President Kambar Shalgimbaev told a news conference in Astana on 2 February that the bank will enter other Central Asian markets -- particularly Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan -- in the near future, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. Shalgimbaev said the bank has the political support of President Nazarbaev for its plans, which include opening a representative office in Uzbekistan and cooperating with the Islamic Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The DBK will also finance jointly with the Islamic Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) major investment projects linked to Kazakhstan.
Azerbaijani President Satisfied With Pace Of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Project
Interfax
Baku, February 2: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has praised the pace of construction work for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. `Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan is an important project both in economic and political terms, that will help strengthen regional security,` the president said at a meeting with Turkish Energy and Natural Resource Minister Hilmi Guler on Monday. Finance documents for the project will be signed in Baku on Tuesday. `There was a time when this project was considered a legend, now it is reality,` the president said. In turn the Turkish minister said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project will be implemented on schedule `there is absolutely no doubt about this.` Guler also noted the importance of another joint project - the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum project to transport gas from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan to Europe.
Russian, Azerbaijani Presidents Sign Moscow Declaration
Interfax
Moscow, February 6: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev signed the Moscow Declaration on Friday. This document outlines the main tracks in bilateral cooperation and documents the countries` mutual commitment to strengthening strategic partnership and broadening cooperation in trade, the economy and the energy sector. The Moscow Declaration also confirms their determination to cooperate in ensuring security in the Caucasus and in settling regional conflicts.
Moscow May Consider Simplifying Visas With Tbilisi
The Moscow Times
Moscow, February 6: Moscow is prepared to consider simplifying visa regulations with Georgia `in the context of the problem of ensuring our country`s security,` Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Fedotov told journalists. Regarding the United States` introduction of biometric data in its passport and visa practice, Fedotov said Moscow `is seriously alarmed by the desire of the American side to use its technologic advantage unilaterally, without regarding the opinions of its partners within the antiterrorist coalition.` He said this is even more relevant as a special working group on the use of biometry exists within the G8. `In the context of [the group`s] work, the prospect for collecting biometric data on foreign citizens traveling to Russia seems not that distant.` Russia has already developed some experimental systems using domestic technology, he said.
Moscow, Baku Prepare Long-term Gas Transit Agreement
Interfax
Moscow, February 6: Moscow and Baku are holding talks to prepare a 15-year agreement to transit Azerbaijani oil through Russian territory, Russian Energy Minister Igor Yusufov told journalists in the Kremlin, where the Russian and Azerbaijani presidents are meeting. He said `Russia is ready to compromise, particularly regarding a reduction in the oil transit tariff.` He also said that the level of Azerbaijani oil transit through Russia in 2003 reached a record high of 2.7 million tonnes. Yusufov said that `although under the existing agreement Russia was ready to pump up to 5 million tonnes of Azerbaijani oil, the capacity of the pipeline system means that it is possible to pump up to 15 million tonnes of oil.` Yusufov said that Russia is interested in increasing transit volumes. He said that Moscow is also interested in increasing gas supplies to Azerbaijan because `the Russian production capacity and the level of gas production in the country make this possible.` Yusufov said that Gazprom and Itera should supply up to 5 billion cubic meters of gas to Azerbaijan in 2004. `But if additional requirements arise, we are ready to increase supplies,` the minister said. He also said that Russia wants to participate in the privatization of Azerbaijani electricity grids and generating capacities. He also said that Moscow and Baku `are considering a project to transit electricity from northern Iran to Russia and from Russia to Iran, through Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan`s New President Holds Talks In Moscow
Voice of America
Moscow, February 5: Azerbaijan`s newly elected president, Ilkam Aliyev, is visiting Moscow for three days of talks ranging from problems in the Nagorno-Karabakh region to trade. Azeri officials said high on Mr. Aliyev`s agenda will be a request for Russia`s help in resolving a conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ethnic Armenians from the mountainous enclave control 20 percent of Azerbaijan`s territory seized during a war that ended with a cease-fire agreement a decade ago. Russia, along with the United States and France, co-chairs the so called Minsk Group of countries charged with the task of helping mediate an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed territory. The United States regards Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. The Azeri president is also expected to leave Moscow with a sheaf of agreements aimed at expanding trade and increasing cooperation in combating smuggling and international terrorism. The two leaders are also expected to discuss the continuing violence in Chechnya and the effect this is having on the entire Caucasus Mountain region.
Kazakhstan Hopes To Join WTO By Mid-2006 - PM
Interfax
Astana, February 5: Kazakhstan is planning to join the World Trade Organization at the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006, Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov told a Thursday news conference in Astana. This year Kazakhstan will draft and submit to the WTO working group a document on the basis of which the accession decision will be made, he said. Kazakhstan `has a number of problems related to WTO admission stemming from the need to harmonize its regulatory acts with WTO regulations,` Akhmetov said. Another issue is the protection of the Kazakh presence in a number of extracting sectors stipulated by the laws on oil and natural resources, he said.
OSCE High Commissioner Meets Uzbek Officials In Tashkent
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 5: The High Commissioner for National Minorities of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Rolf Ekeus, a Swedish diplomat, arrived in Uzbekistan with a three-day visit on 5 February. Rolf Ekeus met Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadyk Safaev on Thursday. The sides discussed issues of equality of representatives of various nationalities living in Uzbekistan, preservation of their customs and traditions and strengthening religious tolerance. The High Commissioner hailed Uzbekistan´s actions in this regard. The diplomat also met the Minister of People´s Education Risboy Juraev. They discussed issues of education of minorities, including their provision with educational literature.
Straw Praises Kazakhstan Leadership
Kazakhstan News
Astana, February 5: Foreign secretary Jack Straw said today that Britain saw Kazakhstan as its strategic partner in Central Asia, and praised the investment climate in the former Soviet republic. Straw met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev in the capital, Astana, and discussed co-operation in energy, environmental protection and defence. `The purpose of my visit is to show the importance the United Kingdom attaches to the relationship that we have with Kazakhstan, to emphasise Kazakhstan`s importance in the region,` Straw said after the talks. Straw also said British business people had great interest in Kazakhstan. He said he had spoken with several British businessmen who were working in Kazakhstan and `were full of praise for the business environment here`. Straw, whose one-day visit was his first to the country, offered Britain`s assistance to Kazakhstan`s small and medium-sized business.
Tajikistan Minister`s Visit
The Straits Times
Dushanbe, February 5: TAJIKISTAN`S Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov called on Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the Istana yesterday and discussed potential areas for bilateral economic cooperation. Mr Goh`s press secretary said in a statement that Mr Nazarov also briefed the Prime Minister on economic developments in his country. Advertisement Mr Nazarov arrived here on Tuesday for a four-day visit at the invitation of his Singapore counterpart, Professor S. Jayakumar. In a separate statement yesterday, the Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the new Philippine Foreign Secretary Delia Domingo-Albert will be here on a two-day official visit from today. She will call on Mr Goh and Prof Jayakumar, who is also hosting a dinner for his visiting counterpart.
OSCE Commissioner For National Minorities To Visit Tashkent
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 5: The High Commissioner for National Minorities of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Rolf Ekeus, a Swedish diplomat, will pay a two-day visit to Tashkent during 5-7 February. He will meet Risboy Juraev, Minister of National Education, Sadyk Safaev, Foreign Affairs Minister, and R.Alimov, director of the Institute of Strategic and Interregional Studies. Rolf Ekeus will also hold meetings with Chairman of Oliy Majlis (Uzbek Parliament) Erkin Khalilov, director of the International Cultural Centre T.Alimov and director of the National Human Rights Centre Akmal Saidov. The post of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities was established in Helsinki in July 1992 with the purpose of prevention of incipient conflicts on the earliest stage.
Draft Document On Supporting Kyrgyzstan In 2005-2010 By UNDP Discussed In Bishkek
Kabar Agency
Bishkek, February 5: An expanded meeting of the National Committee on estimating draft of the Country Document Programme of UNDP in Kygryzstan for 2005-2010 took place at the UN House. Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Nikolai Tanaev, UNDP Head in Kyrgyzstan Jerzy Scuratowicz, representatives of the government, presidential administration of the republic, international organizations, NGO and mass media attended the meeting. Here, N. Tanaev noted UNDP in Kyrgyzstan became one of the first international organizations that opened in the republic after gained independence. `The previous years showed that UNDP and other agencies of the United Nations became our good and reliable friends`, - said the Prime Minister. In his words, UNDP in close cooperation with the government works to reduce poverty, introduce mechanisms of social mobilization and improve state management. J. Scuratowicz emphasized that the Country Document Programme will determine key spheres to support Kyrgyzstan in 2005-2010, the key period of the Comprehensive Development Framework and in implementation of the Millenium Development Goals.
Georgia`s Debt To Uzbekistan Could Be Restructured
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 5: The debts of Georgia to Uzbekistan that currently makes up US$902,000 can be restructured. In May 2004 Georgia is planning to hold negotiations with Paris Club on restructuring its external debts, RIA Novosti reported citing Georgian Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli. Georgia has 13 creditor countries, which fall within Paris Club`s decision on restructuring external debts. 12 of them, including Uzbekistan, are included in the official state debt register of the Finance Ministry.
Armenia, Iran To Sign Gas Pipeline Agreement In Feb-March
Interfax
Yerevan, February 5: Armenia and Iran will sign an agreement on the construction of a gas pipeline between the two countries in February-March 2004, said Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian. The agreement will be signed in Yerevan during a visit by the Iranian oil and gas minister, he said. The project has been under consideration since 1992. Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, EU member-countries and China are also interested in it. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has said it is ready to fund the project.
Saakashvili Expects No Breakthroughs In Moscow
Interfax
Tbilisi, February 5: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili believes that his upcoming visit to Moscow will not resolve all outstanding issues between Georgia and Russia. `I have no special expectations, and I do not believe that miracles will happen overnight, and all issues will be resolved. But we should create a positive tendency,` Saakashvili told a news conference in Tbilisi on Thursday. `Negative tendencies have prevailed in Georgian-Russian relations over the past few years,` Saakashvili said. Georgian Foreign Ministry officials have already come to Moscow, he said. They have prepared a list of issues in bilateral relations that will be discussed during the talks, he said.
Delegation Of US Assistance To Europe And Eurasia To Visit Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 4: A US delegation headed by coordinator for assistance to Europe and Eurasia countries, Carlos Pascual, will pay an official visit to Uzbekistan on 5-7 February. During the visit the American delegation will discuss with the Uzbek side the state and perspectives of Uzbek-US relations, the course of democratic reforms in Uzbekistan, the situation in the region and Afghanistan, as well as cooperation of Uzbekistan with regional organisations. This is the first visit of Carlos Pascual to the region on the post of assistance coordinator, during which he is planning to get acquainted with the course of reforms in Central Asian countries, UzReport.com was told in the press services of Uzbek Foreign Affairs Ministry. Carlos Pascual will meet Foreign Minister Sadyk Safaev and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economics Rustam Azimov. He will also hold negotiations in the Agency for Foreign Economic Relations of Uzbekistan and meet Namangan region´s mayor Tulqun Djabborov. The assistance coordinator will visit Tayanch foundation and meet imams and representatives of nongovernmental organisations who had participated in the Religious Pluralism Exchange Programme (Sadokat youth centre, Namangan city). Besides, he will have a talk with students of MUSKIE, ACCELS and FLEX exchange programmes, visit the Centre for Health Protection (Yazyavan district) financed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and familiarise with Water Consumption Association - USAID project.
Russian Ambassador Accuses Tajik Publications Of Distortions
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe,February 4: Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Maksim Peshkov told a press conference in Dushanbe on 4 February that some recent articles in the independent Tajik publications `Asia Plus` and `Ruz-i nav` about Russian-Tajik relations have distorted facts and demonstrated ignorance of the real situation, RIA-Novosti reported. Peshkov said he is bothered by reports on Tajik labor migrants in Russia and on the strategic relationship between the two countries, but he was particularly annoyed by an assertion that Tajikistan`s debt to Russia is $300 million, rather than the $400 million that Peshkov says is the correct figure. The Tajik media has sometimes been critical of the treatment of Tajik job seekers in the Russian Federation. Such articles tend to appear whenever a group of Tajiks is deported for allegedly violating Russian residence rules. `Ruz-i nav` has reported extensively on the number of Tajiks who have died in Russia and has even implied that they were victims of genocide.
US Calls On Kazakhstan To Meet Its OSCE Commitments
Radio Free Europe
Astana, February 4: Responding to the semi-annual report by Anton Rupnik, head of the OSCE Center in Almaty, Deputy Chief of the U.S. delegation to the OSCE Douglas Davidson said the United States approves of Kazakhstan`s desire to serve as the OSCE`s annual chairman in 2009, but the country must meet all its OSCE commitments, gazeta.kz reported on 4 February. Among the areas needing attention, Davidson said, are reported violations of election legislation, government persecution of political opponents during election campaigns, and government harassment of the independent media. A decision on Kazakhstan`s candidacy for the OSCE chairmanship will be made at the organization`s annual foreign ministers` meeting in 2006. No other Central Asian state has sought the chairmanship.
Canadian Support For Reforms In Tajikistan Transforms Lives And Livelihoods
Canada Newswire
Ottawa, February 4: The premiere showing of Mountains of Hope: Peace and Promise in Tajikistan will be held at the Canadian Museum of Civilization`s Imax Theatre, on Thursday February 5 at 5:45pm. The Honourable Aileen Carroll, Minister for International Cooperation, will be the guest of honour at this event, which is held in conjunction with International Development Week. Filmed by Richard Phinney and narrated by Ann Medina, this half-hour documentary charts Tajikistan`s progress from the early 1990s to today, highlighting Canada`s significant contributions to the development of the country and region. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the new Central Asian republics - especially Tajikistan - with few natural resources, a crippling lack of infrastructure, plummeting levels of income and social development and a residual Soviet culture inhibiting the transition to a market economy. At risk were not only the future of remote communities, but the stability of a region whose socio-economic and political development has come to be recognized as critical to regional - even global - peace and security. According to Nazeer Ladhani, Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation Canada, `reforms supported by the Canadian International Development Agency and Aga Khan Development Network are allowing people to take charge of their own lives and livelihoods.` Canadian-supported programs in agriculture, educational reform and microcredit, with the involvement of the local grassroots community - especially women - are becoming a model for future development in Tajikistan and the broader Central Asian region. These groundbreaking initiatives are shaping the region`s economy and social services and providing the hope that this isolated and mountainous country can once more become a stable, prosperous - and peaceful - link between East and West. Mountains of Hope is a compelling and groundbreaking work.
Russia And Kazakhstan To Intensify Oil And Gas Collaboration
Kabar Agency
Astana, February 4: In March 2004, the Russian oil company Rosneft and the Kazakhstani gas company Kazmunaigaz will hold their final round of talks on the joint development of the Kurmangazy gas field. This issue was agreed upon at a recent meeting of Kazakhstani Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov and Rosneft President Sergey Bogdanchikov. According to the press service of the prime minister, they exchanged opinions on the current state of affairs and outlooks for a number of joint Kazakhstani-Russian oil and gas projects. Akhmetov pointed out that the Kazakhstani government was interested in the participation of Russian companies in developing Kazakhstani oil and gas fields.
Azerbaijani President Upbeat About Relations With Russia
Interfax
Moscow, February 4: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has reaffirmed that Russia and Azerbaijan have laid a good political foundation for developing economic relations. `There is an excellent base for mutual political understanding between Russia and Azerbaijan, on which economic ties can be successfully expanded,` Aliyev told Izvestia newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday. `The level of relations is very high. This basis was set up by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Heidar Aliyev. I will do all I can to develop it,` he said. Prior to 2000, Azerbaijan and Russia `had numerous problems that seemed impossible to resolve, including in the energy sector, pipeline policies, and the Caspian Sea,` he said. This situation has changed radically. `We have resolved everything. At present, there are no problems between Russia and Azerbaijan, absolutely none. There are no disputes triggering different approaches. Russia is our strategic partner. This was Heidar Aliyev`s position and it is also mine,` he said.
New US Envoy Holds First Press Conference In Uzbekistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 3: Newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA to Uzbekistan John Robert Purnell held a press conference on 2 February. Purnell noted that he would focus on familiarisation with Uzbekistan. `I will try to get acquainted with as many organisations and people working in the country as possible,` he said. On Monday the US Ambassador left for Ferghana Valley, which will be his first visit to the region. Speaking about his meeting with President Islam Karimov, Purnell noted that they had discussed issues of fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, political and economic development. He added that a lot of work had to be done both in the political and economic spheres. Purnell said there were many interesting directions to work in Uzbekistan. John Robert Purnell said despite recommendations of the US State Department to reduce financial assistance to Uzbekistan due to human rights violations and wide debates in Washington, the size of financing will not be cut. Legal norms regulating issuing aid to foreign countries can be widely interpreted. The decision to issue aid is adopted and the size of assistance is approved according to the progress achieved by the country.
PetroKazakhstan Names Ex-PM Chrétien As `adviser`
Toronto Star
Calgary, February 3: PetroKazakhstan Inc., a Canadian company which has had a series of political and legal adventures in Central Asia, has named former prime minister Jean Chrétien a `special adviser` on international relations. The Calgary-based company declined Tuesday to disclose Chrétien`s duties and remuneration. `We haven`t really set any specifics yet,` PetroKazakhstan`s manager of investor relations, Jeffrey Auld, said from London. `As and when there are issues that he is able to help us with - he`s a very experienced individual and is very experienced with foreign governments - if he can help us with any issues that do come up, he`ll lend his strengths.` Chrétien, 70, who after leaving the Prime Minister`s Office in December joined the Ottawa office of law firm Heenan Blaikie as counsel, has not been appointed to the PetroKazakhstan (TSX: PKZ) board. The company, formerly known as Hurricane Hydrocarbons, is currently entangled in price-gouging litigation in Kazakhstan, the former Soviet Central Asian republic where it does all of its business and where competition authorities are demanding more than $30 million US.
ICRC Opens Office In Kyrgyzstan
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, February 3: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is opening an office in Bishkek, Sergei Katkov, who heads the Justice Ministry`s department for reform and development of the penal system, told kabar.kg on 3 February. The ICRC has worked actively with Central Asian governments through its regional representation in Tashkent for many years. The Bishkek office will open following an agreement between the Kyrgyz Justice Ministry and the ICRC on assistance to the medical facilities of the penal system.
Uzbekistan Assists Kyrgyzstan To Search For Avalanche Victim
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 3: Representatives of Uzbek Internal Affairs Ministry have arrived with their sniffer dogs in Osh region of Kyrgyzstan to assist in searches of a young man lost under avalanche. According to RIA Novosti, the avalanche took place on 31 January at Ak Too convoy of Uzgen district of Osh region. Avalanche with 500 cubic meters came down to nearby village Salam Alik and covered a man. 15 rescuers and several representatives of local population are conducting the search.
Minister Carroll To Attend Premiere Of Mountains Of Hope: Peace And Promise In Tajikistan
Canada Newswire
Ottawa, February 3: The Honourable Aileen Carroll, Minister for International Cooperation, will attend the premiere showing of Aga Khan Foundation Canada`s film Mountains of Hope: Peace and Promise in Tajikistan, on February 5, 2004. Minister Carroll will deliver a speech about the contributions of Canadians and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to the development of Tajikistan. Produced by Aga Khan Foundation Canada in cooperation with filmmaker Richard Phinney, the film charts Tajikistan`s development from the 1990s to today and highlights the important role of Canadians and CIDA in the country`s progress. The Aga Khan Foundation Canada is a non-profit international development agency established in Canada in 1980.
Khalifa Leaves For Turkmenistan
Khaleej Times
Abu Dhabi, February 3: Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, left on a private visit for Turkmenistan. He was seen off at the airport by a number of Shaikhs, ministers and senior UAE officials.
Uzbek Foreign Minister Meets Visiting EBRD Delegation
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 3: Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadyk Safaev met visiting delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors on 3 February. The sides discussed further perspectives of bilateral relations. They hailed the current state of bilateral cooperation and noted the importance of relations for development of the economy of Uzbekistan. The board of directors represents the Bank`s 62 public shareholders and approves all bank projects and country strategies. The delegation is headed by Torsten Gersfelt (Denmark), who is Chairman of the Board Steering Group. Other delegation members are Susumu Fujimoto (Japan), Simon Ray (United Kingdom), Mark Sullivan (United States) and Laurent Guye (Switzerland), who also represents Uzbekistan on the Board.
IMF Mission To Visit Georgia On February 4
Interfax
Tbilisi, February 3: An International Monetary Fund mission will visit Georgia on Wednesday to discuss the country`s economy and a new cooperation program, the IMF office in Georgia told Interfax. IMF experts will talk to the Georgian government about macroeconomic stability, look at the potential for financial and technical aid, and discuss the main parameters of the 2004 budget. The visit is expected to result in a memorandum on understanding, which will serve as the basis for renewing IMF financial aid to Georgia.
Uzbek Textile Company Holds Talks With Indian Partners
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 3: Private company Hamkor Textile held negotiations with Indian IP International Exports, specialising in textile production. Hamkor Textile has been operating since 1994. The enterprise produces towels, bed sheet and bathrobes. According to Hamkor Textile commercial director Nurzoda Shakirov, 30 people are working at the enterprise.Private company Hamkor Textile held negotiations with Indian IP International Exports, specialising in textile production. Hamkor Textile has been operating since 1994. The enterprise produces towels, bed sheet and bathrobes. According to Hamkor Textile commercial director Nurzoda Shakirov, 30 people are working at the enterprise.
Tajik President, IMF Mission Head Discuss Economic Reforms
Interfax
Dushanbe, February 3: Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and head of the IMF mission to Tajikistan Robert Christiansen discussed progress in the country`s economic reforms, presidential press secretary Abdufatokh Sharipov told Interfax. `Rakhmonov acknowledged the successful cooperation between the country`s government and the IMF, and the mission head`s personal contribution in the country,` Sharipov said. In particular, successful cooperation between Tajikistan and the IMF has lead to macroeconomic stability, the press secretary said. Tajikistan`s GDP grew 10.2% in 2003 from 2002. Growth in the industrial sector was at 10.2%, in the agricultural sector 9.6%, foreign trade 15.2% and service industry 14.7%, he said.
EBRD Mission Visits Uzbekistan
Interfax
Tashkent, February 2: A delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development board arrived in Tashkent on Monday for a five-day monitoring mission, the EBRD office in Uzbekistan said in a press release. The visit is taking place after a year of research and dialog with the Uzbek government, the office said. The EBRD published a strategy for Uzbekistan in March 2003 that envisaged how the Bank would remain a key investor in the country`s public and private sectors. The EBRD undertook to monitor economic and political reforms over the year. The EBRD delegation will over the next five days meet with government officials, representatives from business and diplomatic circles and non-government organizations. It will look at the current situation with national currency convertibility, foreign trade, ownership rights and privatization, reform in the banking sector, and utility tariffs. A report on the results of the visit will be submitted to the full board, which will determine the future strategy for EBRD cooperation with Uzbekistan.
Georgia Names New Ambassador To Russia
Radio Free Europe
Tbilisi, February 2: Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced on 1 February that he plans to appoint Kote Kemularia as Georgia`s new ambassador to Russia, Georgian media reported on 2 February. Kemularia, who was born in 1954, is a trained lawyer who served as justice minister in 1992-93 and then worked for several years for a private law firm in Moscow. He was elected to parliament in 1999 as an independent candidate, and later joined Saakashvili`s opposition National Movement. Kemularia would replace Zurab Abashidze, who has served as ambassador since 2000.
International Conference Considers Security Issues In Central Asia
Kabar Agency
Tashkent, February 2: International conference on regional security issues in Central Asia opened at Tashkent`s Intercontinental Hotel on 2 February. It was organised by the Institute of Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan in cooperation with George C. Marshall Centre for Security Studies. Representatives of Central Asia, USA, China, Russia, Turkey, France, Afghanistan, Mongolia, as well as international organisations like the UN, OSCE, European Union, NATO, World Bank and the EBRD attended the event. The participants exchanged opinions on stable political and economic development, as well as security in the region.
Washington Did Not Reduce Assistance To Tashkent - Ambassador
Interfax
Tashkent, February 2: U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan John Purnell denied reports that the State Department has reduced its assistance to the country. Assistance to Uzbekistan has not been reduced and programs in this area remain unchanged, although some discussions are being held on the issue, Purnell said at a press conference in Tashkent. Talking about Uzbek-U.S. relations, Purnell said the U.S. is having a broad and active dialogue with the republic`s government, based on a framework agreement that was signed two years ago. He also said that there is a terrorist threat in Central Asia and that appropriate measures should be taken to counter it. U.S. financial support to Uzbekistan in 2003 amounted to just over $420 million.
Turkmenistan Allows Almost 100 Armenians To Leave Without Proper Documentation
Radio Free Europe
Ashgabat, February 2: The Turkmen authorities deported 92 Armenian citizens from Ashgabat to Yerevan on 31 January, centrasia.ru reported on 2 February, citing Interfax. The deportees were reported to have been living illegally in Turkmenistan for several years. Their return was organized by the Armenian Embassy in Ashgabat and the Turkmenistan office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and was financed by the Dutch and British governments. The organizers described the deportation as voluntary, suggesting that it was lack of funds and lack of proper exit documents that prevented the Armenians from leaving earlier.
Tajikistan To Join Interpol
IRIB News
Dushanbe, February 2: Tajikistan, a major transit country for drugs from Afghanistan, the world`s largest producer of opium, is to join Interpol, the interior ministry said Monday. `We have reached an agreement on Tajikistan`s entry into this international organization during discussions between the Tajik Interior Minister, General Khumdin Sharipov, and Interpol management in Lyon` in France, Khudoinazar Asoyev told reporters. `Tajikistan`s membership in Interpol is important politically,` Asoyev said, stressing that authorities intended to step up their cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, drug trafficking or organized crime. He said he hoped the membership in the international crime-fighting group will become official in September of this year, during Interpol`s general assembly in Mexico.
Energy And Natural Resources Minister Guler Leaves For Baku
Turkish Press
Ankara, February 2: Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler left for Azerbaijani capital Baku on Monday to sign final agreement about the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline project after provision of necessary finance. Releasing a written statement on Monday, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources said that Guler and accompanying delegation would pay a visit to Baku as the guest of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and attend a signing ceremony to be held on Tuesday. According to project finance plan, 70 percent of estimated cost will be provided by international finance organizations and the remaining 30 percent will be met by companies. Nearly 20 international creditor organizations including World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), U.S. Eximbank and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), will approve loans to finance Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline project.
Aliyev`s Visit Will Open New Economic Opportunities - Alekperov
Interfax
Moscow, February 2: Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev`s visit to Moscow, which is scheduled for this week, will give a new impetus to the development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov said. The visit `will make it possible to open a new page for new initiatives not only in the oil and gas sector, but also in the petrochemical and machine building sector,` Alekperov told reporters on Monday. The funds Russian companies have could help Azerbaijan rebuild these industries and go to external markets, including Russia, Alekperov said. The Lukoil administration plans to take part in Aliyev`s meetings in Moscow, Alekperov said. `We have prepared a number of issues we will need to discuss,` he said. Alekperov said Lukoil intends to continue its involvement in Azerbaijani oil and gas projects. `We will not take part in projects not connected to the extraction of oil and gas and their processing and sale. If there are interesting projects on the territory of Azerbaijan, we are ready to consider them and invest in them,` he said.
Armenia Transfers Plants To Russia To Reduce Debt
Interfax
Moscow, February 2: Moscow and Yerevan have drawn up documents formalizing Armenia`s transfer of a number of sites to Russia to reducing its debts, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Alyoshin said on Monday. `The documents for the last of these sites had to be drawn up by January 30, and this was done,` Alyoshin said during a Cabinet meeting with President Vladimir Putin. This site was the Razdan thermoelectric power plant and the Razdan Cascade, he said. Inter RAO company has started to manage the facility, and `electricity from it could be supplied to Georgia in the near future,` he said. Moreover, the Razdan plant is capable of compensating for the shortage in electricity experienced not only in Georgia, but also in Iran, Turkey, and Armenia itself, Alyoshin said.
Tajik Foreign Minister Meets President Musharraf
Pakistan News
Islamabad, February 1: Foreign Minister of Tajikistan, Mr. Talbak Nazarov who is on three-day official visit to Pakistan here on Saturday met President General Pervez Musharraf. The President welcomed the assurance given by the visiting dignitary that Tajikistan has not and will not allow Indian Military bases on its soil. During the meeting, the President stressed the need for enhancing bilateral relations, particularly in the economic sphere to the mutual advantage of two countries in the year ahead. The President also emphasised the need for enhancing affectiveness of the Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) to facilitate economic integration of the region as envisaged in its charter.
Georgia To Change Ambassador To Russia
The Moscow Times
Tbilisi, February 1: Georgia will send a new ambassador to Russia. Sources in the Georgian State Office told RBC, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is expected to introduce the new ambassador before his official visit to Russia scheduled for February 11, 2004. It is expected that incumbent Georgian ambassador to Russia Zurab Abashidze who was appointed by former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze will be replaced by Kote Kemulariya, a leader of the pro-Saakashvili political bloc National Movement.
Tajikistan Calls For Iran`s Contribution In Its Development
Tehran Times
Tehran, January 31: Tajik Minister of Industry Zayd Saidov here Friday called for Iran`s contribution to his country`s development. In a meeting with Iran`s Minister of Mines and Industries Es`haq Jahangiri, Saidov said Tajikistan is interested in Iran`s role in the country`s development and would provide security for Iranian business people in this regard. Saidov said the country calls for Iran`s help regarding its rich resources of gold and silver, aluminum factories, chemical materials, low level of liquidity, adopting dynamic policies in agricultural fields, and utilization of Iranian products in the country`s transportation.
US Congressmen Start Visit To Uzbekistan, Afghanistan
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 31: The delegation of US congress led by head of Democrats at Representatives Chamber Nancy Palocy started visit to Uzbekistan on 31 January. On the same day, the congressmen will visit Afghanistan. It is expected that on the second day of the visit the delegation will meet Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadyk Safaev. The sides will discuss the current state of Uzbek-American relations, issues of development and strengthening interparliamentary ties, regional security and the situation in Afghanistan.
USAID Organises Medical Seminar In Uzbek Capital
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, January 31: A seminar devoted to analysis of requirements in professional training on improvement of the quality of medical aid was held in Tashkent. Uzbek Health Ministry together with USAID-financed ZdravPlus project organised the seminar. Teachers of medical institutes, as well as representatives of regional health departments participated in the seminar, UzA reported. In particular, it was noted at the meeting that improvement of the quality of medical services has become the prior task of many countries` healthcare system, as the state of population`s health depends on effectiveness and safety of aid provided to patients.
Uzbek `tortured Son` Trial Opens
BBC
Tashkent, February 5: The trial has begun in Uzbekistan of an elderly woman at the centre of a key human rights case. The woman, Fatima Mukhadirova, is the mother of a man who, human rights groups say, was tortured to death in prison, allegedly by immersion in boiling water. The case became famous, in part because there are graphic photographs of the body and an unusually high level of international attention. Mrs Mukhadirova`s son died in prison The Uzbek Government says that the prisoner died after a fight with cell mates. Mrs Mukhadirova, in a warm scarf and cardigan, sat in a cage, leaning on the bars to hear the evidence against her. She is accused of attempting to undermine the constitution of Uzbekistan and distributing extremist literature, that is, pamphlets propagating an Islamic state. Police arrested her at her vegetable stall in the market last year. Human rights groups point out that this happened shortly after Mrs Mukhadirova sent a written appeal to various government and foreign agencies drawing attention to the death of her son, Muzafar, in 2002. Muzafar, accused of belonging to a radical Islamic group, had died in jail.
Kazakh Interior Minister Orders Investigation Of Journalist`s Beating
Radio Free Europe
Astana, February 4: Kazakhstan`s Interior Ministry issued a statement on 4 February saying that Interior Minister Zautbek Turisbekov has ordered an official investigation of the recent beating of a journalist from the opposition weekly `Respublika Assandi Times,` Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. Journalist Svetlana Rychkova said she and two friends were accosted in an Almaty street on the night of 2-3 February and beaten by three men in police uniform who later detained the women at a police station for several hours. The ministry press service declined to comment on the case, but said a high-ranking ministry official has been sent to Almaty to take over the investigation.
Media Centre Attacked In South Kyrgyzstan
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, February 4: The internationally funded Osh Media Resource Center in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh was attacked by two unidentified masked men in the early morning hours of 4 February, akipress.org and Interfax reported. After assaulting a security guard and making verbal threats against journalists, the attackers stole computers, disk drives and hard disks, a digital camera, and a multimedia projector, but failed to get into a secure room where the center`s documentation is stored. Center Director Ernis Mamyrkanov told Interfax that the men were apparently looking for specific data.
Will Azeri Regime Be Hauled Over The Coals?
The Moscow Times
Baku, February 4: Rape, electric shocks, serious beatings, forced confessions -- it`s all there in a damning report released by Human Rights Watch last week. Azerbaijan is experiencing its gravest human rights crisis of the past decade, the report says, and urgent action needs to be taken. The weighty document makes harrowing reading. Hundreds of opposition supporters have been fired from their jobs since last year`s disputed presidential election. Even NGO workers, journalists and election officials who dared to criticize the way the election was run have been subjected to discrimination. Most international observers agreed that the November poll was a farce. The result was a landslide victory for Ilham Aliyev, whose only qualification for the job, many Azeris said, was that his dad was president before him. Nevertheless, Ilham sailed through the polls, picking up almost 80 percent of the votes and when opposition supporters took to the streets in protest, they were promptly rounded up and slung into jail. The HRW report includes statements from activists who said they were stripped naked and beaten in their prison cells, threatened with anal rape by police interrogators and had massive electric currents passed through their bodies. To this day, more than a hundred opposition leaders and supporters are still in prison, with no access to lawyers. They face up to 12 years in jail, although dates for their trials have still not been set. But hold on a minute. This isn`t Turkmenistan we`re talking about, or some Central African dictatorship. This is Azerbaijan, which belongs to the Council of Europe and is hoping to become a member of NATO. How are the authorities being allowed to get away with it? Could oil have something to do with it? Foreign companies, backed by their governments, have poured billions of dollars into Azerbaijan`s lucrative offshore oil and gas fields. Construction has already begun on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which will transport a million barrels of oil a day from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean by early 2005. HRW has called for urgent action to put an end to the catalogue of abuses committed by the Azeri authorities.
Kazakh Opposition Journalist Reported Beaten
Voice of America
Washington DC, February 3: A Kazakh opposition newspaper says police have detained and beaten one of its employees after she turned down a request to inform authorities about the newspaper`s activities. Assandi-Times newspaper issued a statement, saying the interrogation of Svetlana Rychkova was part of a carefully orchestrated action aimed to intimidate journalists and silence the daily. The newspaper says the incident happened Friday in the town of Talgar, some 40 kilometers north of commercial capital, Almaty.
Investigating The Killings Of Journalists
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, February 3: An announcement earlier this month from Tajik officials that they will investigate numerous killings of journalists in the country in the 1990s did little to hearten reporters in the war-ravaged Central Asian republic. They saw the move, at best, as a superficial gesture to accommodate Western concerns and, at worse, as a distraction from a real intent to curb the media even in peacetime -- an intent many journalists say was signaled by the recent closure of two independent newspapers. One organization that has kept up the pressure on the Tajik authorities for over a decade is the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based press-freedom watchdog that has made several fact-finding missions to Dushanbe over the years. In July, CPJ representatives met in Dushanbe with Deputy Prosecutor-General Azizmat Imomov to get information about CPJ`s list of 29 cases of journalists who are believed to have been murdered in the country in connection with their professional work, most of them killed during the country`s 1992-97 civil war. In fact, for a time Tajikistan had the second-largest record of journalists killed in a civil war, topped only by Algeria. The government`s refusal to investigate the killings was a major factor in earning President Imomali Rakhmonov a place on CPJ`s annual `Enemies of the Press` list in 1996. The Tajik authorities are more conciliatory now. In 2000, they began allowing relatives and colleagues to collect funds for the families of those killed and to speak out about their cases. As the CPJ visit shows, they are now even willing to receive foreigner delegations to discuss the issue.
Azerbaijan Under Increasing Pressure Over Diminishing Media Freedom
Radio Free Europe
Baku, February 3: Reprisals against opposition figures, independent media outlets, and individual journalists have figured prominently among the charges of flagrant human-rights abuses leveled at the Azerbaijani authorities in the wake of the disputed 15 October Azerbaijani presidential election that cemented the advent to power of Ilham Aliyev, the president`s son. In mid-December, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued a report and recommendations, based on a fact-finding trip to Baku two weeks earlier, that concluded that press freedom in Azerbaijan has been eroded since Aliyev took over from his father, Heidar Aliyev, as head of state. One month later, Human Rights Watch issued a 55-page report on the aftermath of the presidential ballot that contained a section on reprisals against journalists. Further, Azerbaijan`s failure to comply with media-related commitments made when it joined the Council of Europe three years ago was highlighted in a progress reported submitted to the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which opened in Strasbourg on 26 January. To date, the Azerbaijani leadership has consistently rejected any such criticism as misplaced and unfounded.
Uzbek Officials Dispute Amnesty Figure
Radio Free Europe
Tashkent, February 2: The office of Uzbekistan`s permanent representative to the UN and other international agencies in Geneva said a recent amnesty in honor of the 11th anniversary of the Uzbek Constitution did not result in the release of 21 women sentenced for Islamist extremist activities as had been reported, centrasia.ru reported on 1 February. According to the statement, only five such women were released. The higher figure had been provided to centrasia.ru by long-time Uzbek human rights activist Mikhail Ardzinov, and the agency published it on 19 January. Another Uzbek human rights activist, Hazratkul Hudoiberdi, told centrasia.ru that he is trying to determine who is correct, but he is inclined to believe the Uzbek authorities.
Threat From Kyrgyz Waste Dumps
BBC
Bishkek, February 2: A potential environmental threat hanging over Central Asia has been highlighted by an international campaign focusing on uranium waste dumps inherited from the region`s Soviet past. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has circulated brochures around Mayli-Say in Kyrgyzstan warning about the risk from dumps left since the days when the town was home to a mine extracting uranium for the Soviet nuclear weapons programme. The danger stems from the possibility of erosion of nearly two million cubic metres of radioactive substances buried in 23 sites around the town, Kyrgyz media reports. The OSCE is worried that the uranium waste dumped there might fall into the nearby Syr Darya, one of Central Asia`s major rivers, polluting an area along its course through neighbouring Uzbekistan and into the Aral Sea, some 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) away. The danger is not just from natural causes, the brochure warns. `Residents very often trigger the erosion of waste dumps by bringing their cattle to graze and taking mud and sand to build and repair their houses,` it points out. Tourism fears Mayli-Say, near the Uzbek border, is far from being Kyrgyzstan`s only danger spot. While the OSCE was circulating its brochures, the country`s president was calling for action to tackle another uranium waste dump at the opposite end of the country. Visiting the area around the northern Lake Issyk-Kul - one of Central Asia`s major tourist attractions - Askar Akayev highlighted the need to speed up the reclamation of the Kadzhi-Say dump on the lake`s southern shore.
USAID Holds Seminars On Drug Use In Tashkent
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 5: The USAID-financed Drug Demand Reduction Programme (DDRP) in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan has started the first in a series of seminars in Tashkent on 4 February. According to programme´s deputy regional director, Rahima Nazarova, the majority of participants of the seminar are medical employees, as well as representatives of nongovernmental organisations with experience of working with drug users. `The seminars will hep the participants to become proficient in advanced preventive technologies and realise them in practice,` Nazarova noted in her opening speech.
Kyrgyz Interior Ministry Official Laments Growth Of Drug Trafficking
Radio Free Europe
Bishkek, February 4: Maken Turdugulov, head of the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry`s investigations department, told journalists in Bishkek on 4 February that there has been enormous growth in the amount of drugs trafficked through Kyrgyzstan in the last five years, Kyrgyz-Press reported. More than 3.5 tons of narcotics were seized by law enforcement agencies in 2003 -- a seven-fold increase over 1999. Turdugulov said this is only 1 percent-2 percent of the actual drug flow via Kyrgyzstan. Turdugulov`s remarks were part of his assessment of a 1999 law on fighting corruption and organized crime. He said the law is a failure not only because the drug trade is flourishing, but also because only one case has ever been filed under the law -- and that case was soon dropped.
New Anti Drug Chief To Fight Corruption Within His Agency
Radio Free Europe
Dushanbe, February 2: The newly appointed director of Tajikistan`s presidential Narcotics Control Board, Colonel General Gaffor Mirzoev, told Interfax on 2 February that he will combat corruption among board employees. He said that in his view any official who is supposed to combat drug trafficking but who instead becomes involved in the drug trade is doubly guilty.
Foreign Ministry Holds Briefing On Drug Trafficking
Uzbek Report
Tashkent, February 1: Uzbek Foreign Ministry held a briefing on illegal drug turnover, which is an important issue for Central Asian states bordering world?s No.1 drug producer, Afghanistan. First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov said that according to data of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 600 tonnes of opium were produced in Afghanistan in 2003, which is 6% more compared to 2002. Besides, Afghanistan possesses some drugs from previous harvests, the official said. Kamol Dustmetov, head of National centre for drug control under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan, said that it was high time to fight against drug expansion and transit via the territory of the Central Asian region, as well as Uzbekistan. Dustmetov said: `Drug dealers are trying to use our territory for illegal transportation of drugs to Europe and we need to prevent this.`
Kyrgyzstan Bans Poultry Imports From Southeast Asian States
Kazakhstan News
Bishkek, February 6: The Kyrgyz government decided to introduce a temporary ban on poultry imports from Southeast Asian countries where bird flu cases among people were registered, the sanitary and epidemiological inspectorate said on Thursday. The republic`s authorities are taking all possible measures not to allow the penetration of the infection in the country. The import of all kinds of poultry including fodder was also banned. Special quarantine posts were placed at border-crossing points. Epidemiologists take preventive measures all over the country. The sanitary control for the production of local poultry farms was tightened, and the personnel of all medical institutions of the country was put on alert in case of an infection outbreak.
Kazakhstan Finance Ministry Proposes Transfer To IAS In 2005
Interfax
Astana, February 5: Kazakhstan`s Finance Ministry has proposed that international accounting standards be introduced starting January 1 2005 for companies and starting January 1 2006 for other organizations. A draft bill on transferring to IAS has been submitted to the pertinent ministries and departments, Finance Minister Yerbolat Dosaev said at a government session in Astana on Thursday.
Georgia To Adopt European Model Of Public Administration
Interfax
Tbilisi, February 5: Georgia will adopt the European model of public administration, President Mikhail Saakashvili told a news conference on Thursday. In accordance with this model, parliament will have more powers and the president will give up some of his, Saakashvili said. `Our model is close to the Western European one. It is very close to the French [model] and is very far from the models currently existing in the countries of the former Soviet Union,` he said.
Special Focus
Georgia: PACE Gives Saakshvili Warm Reception But Warns Over Democratic Process
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was in Berlin recently for talks with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, President Johannes Rau, and other German officials. Saakashvili is expected to seek Germany`s financial help and political support for his efforts to break with the legacy of former President Eduard Shevardnadze, who had to resign last November amid election controversy.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav013004a.shtmlTajikistan: President Dismisses Government Loyalists, Opposition Figures
Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov in recent days sacked presidential guard commander Ghaffor Mirzoyev. Several senior members of the former opposition who owed their positions to the peace deal that ended the Tajik civil war also were dismissed from government posts recently.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp013104.shtml Opposition In Kyrgyzstan Seeks To Review Its Political Fortunes
Critics of Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev are renewing calls for the release of jailed political leader Feliks Kulov, hoping to utilize the issue to rejuvenate the opposition`s political fortunes. Amendments to Kyrgyzstan`s election code, approved earlier in January, establish that formal campaigning for the parliamentary vote can start only 25 days before the actual election date.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav013004.shtmlAmnestied Uzbek Prisoners Report Torture
Hundreds more prisoners jailed on charges of attempting to undermine Uzbekistan`s constitutional order have been released from Uzbek jails under an amnesty issued by President Islam Karimov on 1 December to mark the 11th anniversary of the Uzbek constitution.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/pp020104.shtmlSaakshvili Administration Presses Anti Corruption Campaign In Georgia
Georgia`s war on corruption is providing an early test of President Mikhail Saakashvili`s leadership ability. The reform-minded president is under pressure to make good on campaign promises that helped secure his recent landslide election victory.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020204a.shtmlUzbekistan: Foreign NGOs Face Re-registration Demands
Like any other foreign NGO working in Uzbekistan, the U.S.-based Open Society Institute (OSI) has until the end of February to provide the Uzbek Justice Ministry with the documents required for its re-registration. Alisher Ilkhamov, executive director of OSI Uzbekistan, says it may prove impossible to meet the ministry`s deadline.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020304a.shtmlKazakhstani Leaders Move To Establish Reformist Credentials Ahead Of Parliamentary Vote
Kazakhstan`s leadership is seeking to establish a reformist image ahead of parliamentary elections later in 2004. Parliament is poised to approve an electoral code that seeks to improve the transparency of the voting process. Meanwhile, a new political party headed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev`s daughter, Dariga, is casting itself as Kazakhstan`s leading movement for social change.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020304.shtmlReexamining Old Concepts About The Caucasus And Central Asia
The growing economic rivalry between the United States and Russia for influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia is prompting policy-makers to turn to century-old notions for guidance as they develop responses to geopolitical developments. One such idea, advanced by a prominent player in the so-called Great Game of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, holds that the Eurasia region is the `geographic pivot of history.`
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020404a.shtml Washington Must Reconceptualise Security Vision For Eurasia
A new report prepared by a Washington, DC,-based think tank is calling on the Bush administration to re-conceptualize its strategic approach towards Eurasia, shifting attention away from the Caspian Basin`s energy reserves, and focusing more on combating security threats in Central Asia.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020504a.shtmlRussian Oil Beats Bush To Market
For a decade, Washington has backed the Turkish and Azerbaijani governments to steer the export of Caspian-region crude oil away from Russia. Moscow`s latest riposte has been to ally with the Iranian oil industry and open up the shortest, cheapest and most lucrative oil route of all, southward out of the Caspian to Iran.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FB06Ag01.htmlFuror Over Pipeline Loans
Agreements on bank loans worth US$2.6 billion were signed in Azerbaijan`s port capital Baku on Tuesday for the financing of a controversial oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. The loans will help construct the 1,760 kilometer pipeline that will run from Baku in Azerbaijan through Tbilsi in Georgia to Ceyhan in Turkey.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FB06Ag03.htmlPlayers Hope Georgia`s Anti Corruption Drive Will Help Clean Up National Sport
In Georgia, soccer is a source of great national pride, as the small Caucasus nation has produced several top European stars in recent years. The game in Georgia, however, is beset by corruption and criminality. Many Georgians are hopeful that President Mikheil Saakashvili`s anti-corruption campaign will help clean up the national pastime.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020604a.shtmlArmenian Opposition Mounts Fresh Attacks Against President
After months of bickering, Armenia`s two main opposition groups are cooperating on a fresh political offensive against President Robert Kocharian. The two parties have launched a boycott of parliament, aiming to force the government to hold a `referendum of confidence` in the president.
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http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020604.shtml
Report Dated 6 February 2004