In this issue:
Kazakhstan Introduces Death Penalty Moratorium, Seeks to Replace It with Life in Prison
Kazakhstan Upgrades Locomotives with Pennsylvania Made Kits
New Political Party Throws Hat in the Ring
SAY IT IN KAZAKH:
Railway --- Temir Zholy
Together --- Asar
Welcome --- Kosh Keldinizder
Happy New Year --- Zana Zhylynyzben
Kazakhstan Introduces Death Penalty Moratorium, Seeks to Replace It with Life in Prison
President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree on December 18 introducing a moratorium on the death penalty until the issue of its complete abolishment is settled. The decree gave the Government 10 days to draft a bill on the moratorium and on the introduction of new regulation on life sentencing in January 2004.
Officials of the presidential administration called this move historic and again voiced their to end the death penalty.
At a media briefing in Astana on December 18, Igor Rogov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the President and a long-time lawyer, said: "Although the death penalty still remains on the books, the moratorium will have no time limits and will last as long as it is needed to abolish the death penalty."
Kazakhstan has been gradually modernizing punishments for many types of crimes since it inherited a draconian Soviet criminal system at independence in 1991. The death penalty was abolished for theft, robbery, rape and other offenses, while it was retained as an option for penalizing those who killed people.
The moratorium legally came into force on December 19, 2003. According to Khabar news agency, currently there are only 6 people on death row. The decree instructed the Prosecutor General to check their sentences for legality. In the future, special correction facilities will be built for those serving life imprisonment, but for the moment separate sections will be allocated for them in regular prisons.
Kazakhstan Upgrades Locomotives with Pennsylvania Made Kits
Kazakhstan's national railway will modernize its locomotives with kits from the U.S. General Electric will supply the kits from its Erie, Penn., plant to upgrade the locomotives which were originally built in the then Soviet Union.
The deal, for US $33 million, was signed at the U.S. Export-Import Bank in Washington on December 19. The Ex-Im bank supported the deal with a loan guarantee, while ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Chicago, IL, serves as the guaranteed lender on the transaction.
The contract calls for the delivery of
54 locomotive modernization kits to
Kazakhstan's state-owned national
(KTZ). Sub-contractors in at least
nine U.S. states will be called on
to support the GE/KTZ project.
KTZ will refurbish 27 of its locomotives,
extending their useful life by 15-20
years. KTZ is modernizing its
locomotives to meet the increased
demand of freight and passenger traffic
created by the rapid economic
development of the country and its
prime position in the heart of Eurasia.
The financing documents were
signed at a ceremony at Ex-Im Bank
headquarters following Ex-Im Bank
board approval of the transaction
earlier last week. The signers were Ex-Im Bank First Vice President and Vice Chair April Foley; KTZ President Yerlan Atamkulov; and Douglas Kennedy, chairman of the board of ABN AMRO Bank Kazakhstan. His Excellency, Kanat Saudabayev, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States, was also in attendance at the ceremony.
"This is Ex-Im Bank's first transaction with KTZ, and the first time that the Ex-Im Bank has provided financing for a non-bank, government-owned company in Kazakhstan without a sovereign guarantee," explained Ms. Foley. "Ex-Im Bank is pleased to help KTZ modernize its fleet and contribute to Kazakhstan's economic development while supporting U.S. exporters and U.S. jobs." She called the signing "a beginning of a very promising future", and added the Bank's board has also approved providing guarantee for KTZ modernization of 200 additional locomotives worth US $ 154 million.
Michael Gadbaw, GE's vice president and senior counsel, said at the signing the contract will provide jobs for almost 1,000 people at its plant in Erie, Penn., over the life of the project.
Mr. Atamkulov said this cooperation with GE will allow his company to take fuller advantage of Kazakhstan's geographic position. Rail traffic is a growth area in Kazakhstan, in 2003 KTZ hauled 180 million metric tons of cargo, or 70 percent of all cargo shipments in the country. Next year this figure is expected to grow to as much as 200 million metric tons, mostly due to increases in transit traffic passing through Kazakhstan, Mr. Atamkulov noted.
Ambassador Saudabayev welcomed the signing and expressed hope it would lead to greater trade cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States.
Officials at the ceremony also noted two developments in recent years helped Kazakhstan's companies get better rates on loans and greater access to world markets. Those developments were Kazakhstan's being upgraded to investment grade rating in 2002, and OECD's elevation of Kazakhstan to a higher category of borrowing nations in November 2003.
Kazakhstan officials at the ceremony also pointed with pride to the recent closure of the IMF's office in the country after Kazakhstan paid off its IMF loan eight years early.
New Political Party Throws Hat in the Ring
A new political party, Asar (Together), was officially registered by the Ministry of Justice on December 19, several months after completing its first congress in Almaty.
According to the party's press release, Asar defines its ideology as politically centrist and it will work through dialogue, tolerance, political moderation, realism and pragmatism. It will seek further modernization of Kazakhstan, continuation of democratic reforms and improvement of the people's well-being.
The party has submitted all necessary documents for registration, including a list of 77,000 members, well over the legally required threshold of 50,000. The party's leader is Ms. Dariga Nazarbayeva, daughter of the country's President.
The arrival of Asar comes at a time when political activity is heating up prior to the parliamentary election in the fall of 2004. With Asar, there are now nine registered political parties in Kazakhstan, four of them are represented in the bicameral Parliament.
Things to Watch:
- Kazakhstan's Parliament debates draft election legislation on December 26. Country faces next election in 2004.
- Almaty airport, Kazakhstan' largest airport, reopens December 28 after extensive refurbishment
- Kazakhstan's military engineers prepare to celebrate New Year's far from home in Iraq
___________________________________________________________________
News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, Fax: (202) 232- 5845
