090601

Vol. 3, No. 34, September 6, 2001

Politics

President Nazarbayev delivers the annual address to the nation

Tighter control for nuclear transfers

Pope's visit draws attention to religious diversity in Kazakhstan

Ambassador to Vatican appointed

Kazakhstan Ambassador to the US visited Kansas

Economy

President Nazarbayev opens state-of-the-art power plant at Karachaganak

Tengiz-Novorossiisk pipeline begins operating ahead of official opening

POLITICS

President says to focus on economy while calling for boost in military spending

Speaking at the opening of the new session of Parliament on September 3, President Nursultan Nazarbayev urged lawmakers to continue pressing ahead with reforms to liberalize the Kazakhstan's economy while also calling for increased defense spending to ensure the national security in a world of increasing threats. "In forming and carrying out the 2002 budget, the main slogan should be investment, support for those with low incomes, and security for the country," President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at the opening of the fall session of Parliament. He stressed the "key issues in the coming years remain tied to the development of the economy."

The head of state called on lawmakers to take measures to increase investment by national companies, create competitive markets and double Kazakhstan's GDP by 2010. Spending on industry and infrastructure is projected to rise about 30% in the government's 2002 budget, Nazarbayev said.

At the same time, Nazarbayev listed a number of destabilizing factors in the Central Asian region, including the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, drug trafficking and the spread of the AIDS virus, and asked legislators to approve a KZT 8 billion (KZT/USD 147.25) increase in defense spending. Kazakhstan doubled its defense budget in 2001 to total KZT 25 billion. The President also called for a 25% increase in the minimum salary and pension to be included in the next year's budget.

Tighter control for nuclear transfers

On September 3-5, a 3-day international seminar on export control over nuclear transfers in Central Asia was held in Almaty under the aegis of the Committee of Nuclear Energy of Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan in cooperation with the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the United States discussed both issues related directly to the nuclear transfer controls and ways to develop contacts between agencies from participating countries in this sphere.

The U.S. has praised Kazakhstan for its efforts in strengthening nuclear non-proliferation regime. On July 26, 2001, Sen. Richard Lugar (R IN) announced in the Senate that "earlier this month, the United States and the country of Kazakhstan successfully completed one of the most ambitious nonproliferation projects undertaken in history -- the securing of one of the world's largest stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium at the BN-350 fast breeder reactor in Aktau under the auspices of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program" and urged all of his colleagues to "inform themselves about a real success story in U.S.-Kazakhstan relations".

Pope's visit draws attention to religious diversity in Kazakhstan

The Catholic Church press center in Astana on September 4 announced the planned itinerary for Pope John Paul II visit to Kazakhstan at the end of the month. His September 22-25 visit will include, among other events, placing a wreath at the monument to the victims of political repression, meeting with President Nazarbayev, speaking to students at Eurasian University, meeting with spiritual and cultural leaders and celebrating mass at a Catholic church and Motherland Square. Kazakhstan will become the 127th country visited by the Holy Father during his pontificate and his 95th foreign trip.

The Pope's visit is drawing the world's attention to the interethnic and inter-faith relations in Kazakhstan. As The Economist wrote in its August 25 article 'Faith in Politics', "as the much-travelled pope puts Central Asia, even briefly, on world television, the region's leaders can only look on in envy".

Since its independence in 1991 Kazakhstan proclaimed itself a secular state promoting religious freedom and tolerance which led to the appearance of over 2,000 religious groups of various denominations in the country.

The visit will highlight the importance of the Roman Catholic community in Kazakhstan. Around 300,000 Roman Catholics, descendants of those who were deported to Central Asia during the Stalinist years, form an integral part of Kazakhstan's ethnically and religiously diverse population of 15 million. There are 66 Roman Catholic congregations, as well as 2 Greek Catholics congregations, with the priests being native Poles, Italians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Koreans and others. The prayers are said in Russian, Ukrainian, German, English and Polish languages.

There are around 40 Catholic churches and 200 chapels and prayer houses in Kazakhstan, where more than 60 priests and 70 nuns are preaching.

Ambassador to Vatican appointed

Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Switzerland Nurlan Danenov has been appointed to concurrently serve as the republic's representative to the Vatican.

Diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the Vatican were established on October 17, 1992. On April 9, 1994, Archbishop Marian Oles was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Kazakhstan.

As a result of a number of meetings between Pope John Paul II and President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Agreement on mutual cooperation between the Government of Kazakhstan and the Holy See was signed on September 24, 1998 and ratified on July 30, 1999. In this agreement, the only such document signed by the Vatican and a country in the former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan confirmed its recognition of one of the oldest Christian confessions in the country and its willingness to respect its freedom for executing its rights.

The appointment of Danenov comes as Kazakhstan gears up for a visit from Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II in late September

Kazakhstan Ambassador to the US visited Kansas

Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United States Kanat Saudabaev visited state of Kansas on August 29-31 to get acquainted with the state's agriculture sector and to "see what lessons might be learned for his country's transition to a market economy", the Associated Press reported. "The experience of Kansas is very important to us," Saudabaev stated.

"As we transfer to a market economy, it's important to learn about the management of farms and the ways of marketing and production." "The eventual goal is to establish a relationship between Kazakhstan and Kansas," he added. Saudabaev said Kazakhstan could be interested in US-made equipment for meat and dairy processing as well as agricultural equipment.

Saudabaev was in Kansas at the invitation of Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Brownback himself visited Kazakhstan during a tour of Central Asia in May 2001. The senator called Kazakhstan "a very key country" in Central Asia that is "at a key point its development." Saudabaev met with state Governor Bill Graves and Lt. Gov. Gary Scherrer, the state's top economic development official. According to Brownback, "[Kazakhstan] is now shopping to develop agreements on agrobusiness."

ECONOMY

President Nazarbaev opens state-of-the-art power plant at Karachaganak

On September 5, 2001 President Nursultan Nazarbaev presided over the official opening of a world-class 120 MW gas-fired power station at Karachaganak Petroleum Operating in West Kazakhstan region. In opening the station, the president brought on line a 20 MW power stream that will be fed into the national good. The remaining power generated at the plant will be used to support the main operating complexes at the massive Karachaganak oil and gas field. In his remarks at the opening of the power plant, Nazarbaev told the audience "the independence of Kazakhstan has enabled us to find friends and investors to take a contractual responsibility for the Karachaganak field. KPO are meeting these responsibilities. This power station will be providing people in the region with low cost power, thus giving more energy sufficiency. This is a great contribution to the 10th Anniversary of Kazakhstan independence."

The power station comprises three General Electric Frame Six Gas Turbine generators each rated at 40 MW. The turbines are equipped with state-of-the-art fuel systems, making them the cleanest burning turbines in the world. Only three other machines are equipped with this type of fuel system.

Tengiz-Novorossiisk pipeline begins operating ahead of official opening

On September 3, 2001 the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's Tengiz-Novorossiisk pipeline was launched into operation ahead of official opening. The official ceremony to mark the opening of the pipeline, which is to be attended by Kazakhstan and Russian presidents, will still be held as re-scheduled on September 20. According to CPC officials, while the date of the formal ceremony could not be changed, the CPC is primarily a commercial project and the consortium's commercial interests necessitated a launch before that date. With the capacity to transport up to 28 million tons of oil per year, the launch of the 1,510-kilometer CPC pipeline has been highly anticipated as the first major export route devoted almost entirely to the transport of Kazakhstan crude.

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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)

Contact persons: Roman Vassilenko, Aibek Nurbalin

Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, 115

Fax: (202) 232- 5845