101701

Vol. 4, No. 44, October 17, 2001

Politics

Nazarbayev, Putin discuss Afghanistan, CPC

Astana says 'no link' between anthrax reports in U.S. and Kazakhstan

Government pleased with export control system, plans further improvement

Registration concludes for local elections

OSCE will assist in improvement of Kazakhstan electoral legislation

Roman Catholics grateful to Kazakhstan's people

Security measures stepped up at Baikonur Cosmodrome

Kazakhstan "completes" program to put computers in schools

Economy

Economy continues strong double-digit growth

Kazakhstan moves to the ranks of world's top oil exporters

US Department of Energy forecasts that Caspian region oil output will hit 3.9 million bpd by 2010

Oil and gas, oil products output up

POLITICS

Nazarbayev, Putin discuss Afghanistan, CPC

On October 16, 2001, in a telephone conversation President Nursultan Nazarbayev and President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Afghanistan and exchanged opinions on how best to achieve national reconciliation there and transform the country into a transparent state. Both presidents wished peace and stability to the suffering Afghan people. Messrs. Nazarbayev and Putin stressed the need to fight terrorism, to eliminate terrorist camps and narcotics-producing areas in that country. They agreed that post-military economic assistance and reconstruction of the country are the most important condition of a future for Afghanistan, and the international community should provide such assistance.

President Putin informed President Nazarbayev that these issues are likely to be discussed at the upcoming APEC summit in Shanghai. The two presidents also expressed their satisfaction with the commencement of the operation of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline from the giant Tengiz field in Kazakhstan to the Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiisk.

Astana says 'no link' between anthrax reports in U.S. and Kazakhstan

On October 13, Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan released a statement in Astana saying that recent reports in the U.S. mass media about the reportedly existing linkage between the infections of the American citizens with anthrax and the possibility of anthrax spores from Kazakhstan finding their way into the hands of extremists are groundless.

"Kazakhstan is fully committed to keeping the obligations undertaken under international treaties in the area of nuclear disarmament, elimination of chemical and biological weapons, as well as to observing the principles of Convention on banning the production and storage of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons and their elimination," the statement said.

The Ministry stressed that "Kazakhstan-United States cooperation in the area of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction has been developing successfully. Within the framework of Kazakhstan-U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program a set of measures are being implemented on eliminating and decontaminating the infrastructure and facilities of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons that were left on the territory of Kazakhstan after its independence in 1991".

It added that since mid-1990s Kazakhstan and the United States of America have been working together to safely dismantle the remaining infrastructure at the facility in the city of Stepnogorsk, where the joint inspections were being carried out together with representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies on a routine basis in accordance with the previously concluded agreements.

"A reliable system of export control has been established in Kazakhstan, its functioning has been brought up to the full compliance with standards meeting all the necessary requirements of security, including the issues of physical protection of sensitive facilities", the Ministry said.

Government pleased with export control system, plans further improvement

On October 16 Prime Minister Kassymzhomart Tokayev chaired the session of the Sate Export Control Commission, where he stressed the added importance of this issue in light of the recent events in Afghanistan that require a continued flawless and coordinated work of the entire export control system.

The commission discussed ways to further improve the existing regulative base as well as prospects of cooperation with interested nations and specialized international control regimes. It was said that the existing export control system corresponds to international requirements, and Western experts believe that Kazakhstan leads the way in that sphere in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Registration concludes for local elections

The registration of candidates running for local akims (mayors) in elections to be held on October 20 was over, the Central Election Commission reported.

In 28 rural constituencies a total of 75 candidates were registered, of which 65 were men and 10 were women. In terms of professional background, there were 21 engineers, 15 tutors, 10 agricultural technicians, 11 agricultural scientists, 7 economists, 3 vets and 1 lawyer. The majority of the candidates, fifty-seven, are middle-aged persons ranging from 37 to 56 years old, while three of the candidates are under 30.

OSCE will assist in improvement of Kazakhstan electoral legislation

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) intends to continue helping Kazakhstan to improve the quality of its electoral laws, Heinrich Haupt, recently-appointed head of the Almaty office, declared after meeting with Senate Speaker Oralbai Abdykarimov. According to Haupt, a working group including representatives from the OSCE human rights bureau is currently looking at the recommendations made by the OSCE after the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan in 1999. Haupt also noted that he met with Kazakhstan Central Election Commission Chairwoman Zagipa Balieva and they pledged to hold a round table discussion of electoral reform by the end of November.

Roman Catholics grateful to Kazakhstan's people

Roman Catholic Apostolic Administration in Astana sent a letter to President Nazarbayev to express the believers' appreciation for a warm and hospitable reception of Pope John Paul II on his visit to Kazakhstan last month. In their letter, Bishops Tomas Peta, Henrich Hovanec, Jan Paul Lenga and Apostolic Administrator Janus Kaleta expressed sincere gratitude to the President for what he did in order to arrange and hold a historic visit of the Pope to the republic.

"You have set a noble example to all the people of Kazakhstan and have helped to comprehend the importance of that visit", they said. The bishops believe that during the Pope's stay in Kazakhstan the outstanding qualities of the people of Kazakhstan have come out prominently, such as hospitality, respect for the seniors, love of peace and resolute desire to live in friendship and harmony.

Kazakhstan "completes" program to put computers in schools

Kazakhstan this year became the first country in the CIS to complete a school computerization program, Deputy Minister of Education Bakhytzhan Zhumagulov announced at the opening of the international forum "Computerization of Education in Kazakhstan: a Step Towards the 21st Century." According to Zhumagulov, thanks to government efforts over the last few years, every one of Kazakhstan's 8,196 educational institutions now has computers.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev had instructed the Ministry of Education to complete the computerization program by the start of the 2001-02 academic year. Over the course of the next year, the aim of the program is to upgrade and expand the information technology capacity at Kazakhstan schools.

Security measures stepped up at Baikonur Cosmodrome

In light of recent events in the United States and around the world, officials at Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome have announce new, tighter security measures at the space center, first of all during the upcoming launch of a Soyuz-TM manned rocket on October 21, 2001. According to a source at Baikonur, access for journalists and guests to a farewell ceremony for cosmonauts and at the launch site will be more limited than usual.

ECONOMY

Kazakhstan's economy continues strong double-digit growth

First Deputy Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov announced that Kazakhstan's GDP grew by 12.3%, while industrial production increased by 14%, during the first nine months of 2001 as compared to the previous year. Foreign trade turnover increased by 17.7%, Akhmetov said. He also said that the National Fund, which reinvests extra earnings from Kazakhstan subsurface use projects, would insulate the republic from any sharp drops in world oil prices.

The republic's top bankers emphasized that the US-led anti-terrorist military strikes in Afghanistan would not adversely impact the Kazakhstan economy.

Kazakhstan moves to the ranks of world's top oil exporters

On October 15, 2001, the first test tanker filled with the Kazakhstan's oil from the pipeline of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, left the Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, thus marking the launch of a first ever specifically designated export system for Kazakhstan's oil and significantly bolstering its bid to join to the ranks of the world's top oil exporters.

The 2.6 billion 935-mile CPC pipeline, built over a period of two years, is a unique example of successful cooperation between the Governments of Kazakhstan, Russia, Oman and private interests from the U.S., Britain, Russia and Italy.

"It's an important milestone in US-Kazakhstan and US-Russian cooperation," US Commerce Secretary Donald Evans said during a press conference in Moscow to officially open the route, adding "the CPC sends an important message to the world that the United States, Russia and Central Asian states are cooperating to build prosperity and stability in this part of the world."

"The people of CPC, its partners, shareholders and the Governments of Russia and Kazakhstan have every reason to be justly proud of their joint success", said ChevronTexaco Vice-Chairman Richard Matzke.

ChevronTexaco Corp. is the largest private shareholder in the CPC pipeline that runs from the giant Tengiz oil field in western Kazakhstan, developed by the Tengizchevroil joint venture half-owned by the California-based corporation, to Novorossiisk.

The pipeline will have an initial capacity of 28 million tons of oil a year (600,000 b/d), set to expand to 67 million tons a year (1.5 million b/d) at a later stage.

In light of the on-going U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, the business leaders at the ceremony in Moscow stressed the multi-billion-dollar oil-and-gas development of the Caspian resources, located 1,200 miles from Afghanistan, is safe and secure. Mr. Matzke said the corporation "doesn't anticipate" any security threats from unrest in that country. "We have to run a pretty secure operation in any event", he said. "No investment plans are changing" because of the campaign, added Ian MacDonald, president of ChevronTexaco operations in Russia.

"The short-term and long-term outlook is that the oil industry business in Kazakhstan will continue as before", Martin Ferstl, President of Shell Companies of Kazakhstan, said in early October.

US Department of Energy forecasts that Caspian region oil output will hit 3.9 mln bpd by 2010

According to data from the US Department of Energy, proven oil and gas reserves in the Caspian Sea basin are estimated at 112.8 billion barrels of oil and 2.559 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Current daily output in the Caspian region totals 1.11 million barrels, including 660,000 bpd in Kazakhstan, 290,000 in Azerbaijan, 150,000 in Turkmenistan and 11,000 in Russia. Iran does not at present extract Caspian oil. According to the DoE long-term forecast, by 2010 Caspian region daily output should more than treble from current volumes and should total 3.9 million barrels. As DoE put it in its July report, "By 2020, production could increase by another 2 million bbl/d. Although not "another Middle East," as some analysts have claimed, the Caspian Sea region certainly is comparable to the North Sea in its hydrocarbon potential".

Oil and gas, oil products output up

Oil production in Kazakhstan rose by 19.1% in the first nine months of this year as compared to 2000 to total 26.275 million tons on the year, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Gas condensate exports during the January to August period (i.e. eight months) were also up, climbing 14% over 2000 export volumes, the National Statistics Agency reported.

Natural gas output in the Republic rose 5.3% during the reported period to total 8.674 billion cubic meters. Some of the biggest increases were recorded in oil product output, however, with gasoline production up 37.6%, fuel oil up 24.1% and gasoil output up 13.9% on the year.

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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