In this issue:
Kazakhstan to Respect Kyrgyz People’s Choice of Leader
Georgia’s President Visits Astana Promoting Cooperation
Kazakhstan Buys 50 Percent of BG’s Stake in Kashagan
Astana City Court Bans Hizb-ut-Tahrir
Polyakov Takes 200 Breaststroke U.S. Championship
Shall we meet for dinner? --- Keshke as ishsek kalai karaisyz?
At my hotel? --- Men turgan konak uyide?
What time shall we meet? --- Kashan keldesemiz?
Kazakhstan to Respect Kyrgyz People’s Choice of Leader
President Nursultan Nazarbayev said March 31 “Kazakhstan will work with any leader elected by the Kyrgyz people.”
Speaking at a news briefing in Astana following the meeting with visiting Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, President Nazarbayev said the roots of recent events in Kyrgyzstan lie in “a very low quality of life…. It is impossible to call whatever happened a revolution.”
The Kazakh President proceeded to express hope the situation in the neighboring country will soon stabilize.
Earlier, acting Kyrgyz leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev sent a letter to President Nazarbayev and then called to discuss the current situation. In the letter, the Kyrgyz leader expressed confidence “good neighborly relations between our brotherly nations will develop and strengthen. The coalition Government of the Kyrgyz Republic intends to pursue a policy of peace and mutual respect towards brotherly nations of Central Asia.” During their conversation, the Kazakh President assured the Kyrgyz leader of Kazakhstan’s readiness to help the neighboring country regain stability.
On March 31, in a move that should help the Kyrgyz state with its economic problems, Kazakhstan reopened its side of the border restoring the flow of trade. The border had been closed on March 24 in response to disturbances.
Georgia’s President Visits Astana Promoting Cooperation
President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia visited Astana
March 30 and 31 for talks with Kazakh leaders to
promote economic and political cooperation.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Majilis Speaker Ural
Mukhamedzhanov and other Kazakh officials met the
visiting Georgian leader, who was accompanied by a
large government and business delegation.
Following talks in Astana, President Nazarbayev said
“Georgia is interested in Kazakhstan’s energy
resources, and we are interested in using the
Caucasus’ transit potential, including Georgia’s.”
He added both sides were interested in “Kazakh
capital investment in Georgia, cultural exchanges and
exchanges of specialists.”
The Kazakh President said his discussion with the
Georgian leader also focused on issues of international
politics and there have been many points of agreement.
“Georgia is Kazakhstan’s partner in international affairs. Both countries stand against terrorism and extremism and have similar policies,” he noted.
President Saakashvili said: “We came to Kazakhstan as a country which is the most dynamically developing economic entity in the post-Soviet domain. We can learn a lot from Kazakhstan.”
He added Kazakhstan, “a country which ranked 13 or 14 in terms of quality of life among the former Soviet republics, is now a leader in terms of development.”
The Georgian President also said he had read President Nazarbayev’s recent state of the nation address and noted: “We are very much interested in development plans in politics, economy, banking and the financial sector, education, social security and healthcare.” President Saakashvili said Georgia’s problems were “a result of disorganization in the recent past, the lack of development logic and widespread corruption.” Currently, Georgia “has a very low level of corruption because we have ensured order,” he said.
During the visit, Kazakh and Georgian officials signed several bilateral agreements, including an agreement on the fight against terrorism, illegal drug trafficking and organized crime, and an additional protocol to a mutual legal assistance treaty. The mayors of the two nations’ capitals, Astana and Tbilisi, also signed a memorandum establishing a sister city relationship. Authorities of the Kazakh seaport of Aktau and the Georgian seaport of Poti also signed a memorandum creating stronger ties.
Kazakhstan Buys 50 Percent of BG’s Stake in Kashagan
KazMunaiGaz, the National Oil and Gas Company of Kazakhstan and Agip KCO inked an agreement for KazMunaiGaz to purchase 50% of BG's share in the North Caspian Project which includes Kashagan, the world’s largest oil find in the past 30 years.
Uzakbai Karabalin, the President of KazMunaiGaz signed the agreement on behalf of his company. The Kazakh Ministry of Energy explained in a written statement on March 29 “the funds for this deal will most likely be covered by loans.”
The entire BG stake of 16.67% was purchased by the Agip KCO consortium for US$1.8 billion. The consortium had agreed to the sale of half of this stake to Kazakhstan through the state-owned KazMunaiGaz.
BG had announced that it is willing to sell its share in the Agip KCO consortium which operates a number of oil fields in Kazakhstan’s sector of the North Caspian shelf in 2003.
Together with Kazakhstan’s government, other members of the consortium have now acquired all of BG’s shares. Other members of the consortium are ENI (operator of the project), ExxonMobil, Shell, Total (each with a 16.67% share), Inpex and ConocoPhillips (with 8.33% each). Following the completion of the sale, ENI, ExxonMobil, Total, and Shell will have 18.52% each, ConocoPhillips will have 9.26%, and Inpex and Kazmunaigaz will have 8.33 % each.
Agip KCO was created after a 40-year Production Sharing Agreement was signed in 1997 in Washington, DC. The consortium is planning to start production in 2007 or 2008. According to Agip KCO’s statements, recoverable oil reserves of the Kashagan fields stand at 7 to 9 billion barrels. Overall geological reserves contained in the reservoir are estimated at 38 billion barrels.
Astana City Court Bans Hizb-ut-Tahrir
The city court of Astana granted the Kazakh Prosecutor General’s request to recognize “Hizb-ut-Tahrir” as an extremist organization and has banned its activity in Kazakhstan as of March 28.
Zhanat Zhumabayeva, the judge of the city court, said “Article 5 of the Constitution prohibits political parties based on religions.” In addition to that, she said, “Hizb-ut-Tahrir activities were found to be of an extremist nature, distributing leaflets and calling for anti-constitutional actions”.
The Prosecutor General’s request had said Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s activities in Kazakhstan were aimed at changing the constitutional order, violating the country’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity, as well as undermining national security and promoting social and religious enmity. The Prosecutor General had noted these actions must be recognized as extremist under the new law and the party must be banned in Kazakhstan.
The request of the Prosecutor General noted Hizb-ut-Tahrir is in regular contact with some of the previously banned groups, including Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which claims to pursue its goals by peaceful means and whose full name is Hizb-ut-Tahrir-al-Islami or the Party of Islamic Revival, has been in existence since 1953. It was first noticed in Kazakhstan in 1998, and has since spread its activities from the southern regions to western, central and northern parts of the country. In 2004, Hizb-ut-Tahrir members were seen distributing leaflets and other printed materials with anti-constitutional calls in more than 180 instances. These facts prompted Kazakh law enforcement authorities to launch 111 criminal cases.
Kazakhstan has joined Canada, Germany, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, and Uzbekistan in banning this group.
Polyakov Takes 200 Breaststroke U.S. Championship
Kazakhstan’s Vladislav Polyakov, the University of Alabama sophomore, won the 200 breaststroke to claim the U.S. championship title on March 26 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After four years of dominance by Brendan Hansen of Texas, Polyakov seized the moment, taking the NCAA title in a pool record time of 1:53.93.
Polyakov held a substantial lead through 150 yards, but held off a hard-charging Mike Alexandrov of Northwestern, who recorded a 29.30 final split, by .11. Alexandrov came up for second in a time of 1:54.04.
Third place went to Gary Marshall of Stanford after clocking 1:54.54. Marshall maintained thoughts of going two for two in the breaststroke events after capturing the 100 crown last night. But the Cardinal senior faded on the final 25 split, losing more than a half second to Polyakov and over a full second to Alexandrov.
Scott Usher of Wyoming took fourth (1:55.33) and Vanja Rogulj of Virginia (1:56.17) placed fifth. Dave Rollins (Arizona), Henrique Barbosa (Cal) and Eric Shanteau (Auburn) complete the championship field in sixth through eighth, respectively.
Things to Watch:
- Schizo, a Kazakh movie which has won a number of international awards will be shown in Washington, DC, at the Landmark E Street Cinema on April 1. For more information about the movie please click here. The movie is not rated, it is 1 hour 26 minutes long. Showtimes: 2:30, 4:45, 7:45.
- President Nursultan Nazarbayev will visit Finland April 5-6, 2005 to promote cooperation.
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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and agency reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: 202 232 5488, ext. 104, Fax: 202 232 5845
