Kazakhsatn in world news: June–July 2006

Prepared by Joseph Urbanas, Director of company Kazakhstan Newsline

General News
MosNews (July 7, 2006)
Kazakhstan Warns Western Nations Against Meddling in Country’s Home Affairs
During a visit to Washington on June 6, Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokaev rejected attempts by outsiders to impose governance system on his country. Tokaev noted that noninterference is a key tenet of the SCO, a six-country alliance including China, Russia, and four Central Asia states (Turkmenistan is not a member), RFE/RL reports… Analysts suggest that his comments seem directed at the U.S., which pursued closer ties to Central Asia following Sept. 2001 attacks, but has now seen relations cool….A recent SCO summit reaffirmed the noninterference principle, and also fed concerns outside the region of Moscow and Beijings’ growing influence…. At the summit, SCO leaders flatly stated that nations should not export social development models….The security-minded SCO has repeatedly said it is not a military bloc, it is frequently viewed as a growing counterweight to U.S. and Western influence.

EKU News Center (July 13, 2006)
EKU hosts Police Officials from Kazakhstan
High ranking police officials from Kazakhstan will visit Eastern Kentucky University on July 15-28 for education with the EKU renowned policing programs. Fifteen members of the Kazakhstan Police will receive training from EKU’s International Justice & Safety Institute, Regional Community Policing Institute and Department of Criminal Justice Training. Assistance will also be provided by the Lexington Division of Police and several other Kentucky law enforcement agencies…. The program will educate the officials on U.S. policing operations, management and community policing through classroom sessions, hands-on training and visits to Kentucky law enforcement and criminal justice agencies….EKU’s relationship with Kazakhstan began four years ago, when professors Dr. Pam Collins and Dr. Kay Scarborough visited university and police officials there. Two high ranking officials visited EKU one year later, and discussed developing and funding joint programs….“Any opportunity for police and police educators from different countries to spend two weeks learning each others’ systems and practices is a rich experience,” said Gary Cordner, Foundation Professor of Loss Prevention and Safety at Eastern. “EKU will gain additional international exposure as a first-rate source of information and learning aimed at improving the practice of policing.”…Separately, but arising from earlier visits, one Kazakhstani student recently completed a master’s degree at EKU in Loss Prevention and Safety, and a second graduate student is expected to enroll this fall…“We hope this delegation of police from Kazakhstan will decide that there is no better place in the world than EKU to send future groups of officers for advanced education and training” Cordner said.

Oil and Gaz
Xinhua (July 12, 2006)
Kazakhstan-China oil Pipeline opens to Commercial Operation
Crude oil poured into a tank at Alatau pass in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region at 18:45 yesterday, through a cross-border pipeline, marking the beginning of the commercial operation for China’s first direct oil import pipeline….Experts say the move will help enhance its oil supply and provide an outlet for Kazakhstani oil ….Currently, it is only around 120 cubic metes per hour due to a valve failure ….It will take 15 days to fill the 50,000-cubic-meter oil tank before it is piped to Dushanzi….The 960-km pipeline was jointly developed by the CNPC and KMG, and it is designed to ship 20 million tons per year -15 percent of China’s crude imports for 2005….The first phase will send 10 million tons, which will double at project completion in 2011. Its total length will then be 3,000 kilometers….Industry insiders say its construction is a win-win strategy, as it will ease China’s energy dearth and provide a market for Kazakhstan’s oil …. The new route will link Chinese consumers with the fields of the Caspian, and alleviate China’s excessive reliance on the Strait of Malacca….Last year, China’s crude imports were 127 million tons, about 40 percent of its total consumption. About a half of China’s imports came from the Middle East and only 1.3 million tons was from Kazakhstan in 2005. Insiders predict that the figure will climb to 4.75 million tons this year and to 8 million tons in 2007.

Business Week (July 17, 2006)
Kazakhstan and Russia ink Gas Deal
Presidents Putin and Nazarbaev agreed at the G8 summit to create a JV for processing natural gas from the Karachaganak field….Under the deal, both countries would have an equal share, which will expand the Orenburg refinery…. Vladimir Putin called the project, which envisages an annual output of at least 15 billion cubic meters -- a “humble but important” contribution to energy security, the central theme of Russia’s presidency.

United Press International (July 5, 2006)
Kazakhstan eyes Greek Oil Pipeline
Kazakhstan wants to participate in Greece’s Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, the Greek deputy foreign minister said Wednesday in Astana. “Kazakhstan ... expressed a desire to participate in the project, either through a joint venture or by supplying the pipeline with oil from Kazakhstan,” the Athens News Agency quoted Evripidis Stylianidis as saying….Stylianidis met with Kazakhstani Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, Baktykozha Izmukhambetov and the chairman of KMG, Uzakbay Karabalin…Kazakhstan’s participation would prove the pipeline is “both viable and competitive,” Stylianidis said. The partnership would be part of a “strategy of opening toward this rapidly developing country,” he added….Greeks hope it will pave the way for a reciprocal agreement, where Greek contracting firms can enter Kazakhstan as it hurries to build its new capital.

Mining and Metallurgy
Springdale Morning News (July 3, 2006)
Kazakhstan Coal Mine Director Has Rogers Roots
Dennis Price is the general director of the Bogatyr Coal Mine in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan, listed in the Guinness Book as the world’s largest open-pit coal mine ….Price did not speak Russian when he first arrived, but now understands about 70 percent….Price’s mother, Vera, lives in Rogers (Arkansas). She said her son wants her move to Ekibastuz, “but there’s no way,” she said, laughing, because her son would be traveling so much on business and she doesn’t speak Russian….Vera Price said she misses her son, but, at the same time, she is proud of him and what he does ….It was while in the Army, Price said, he discovered his “wanderlust.” He left the Army after more than five years as a captain….Price returned to Northwest Arkansas and the University of Arkansas and completed his civil engineering degree in 1977, and took his professional license in mining engineering….He worked for Morrison-Knutson in Boise, Idaho, for over 18 years as a mining engineer. Then, someone at Access Industries spoke with management at Morrison-Knutson, who recommended Price ….Access was looking for someone willing to travel internationally. His “wanderlust” suddenly reawakened and the rest, is history….Price’s first stop with Access took him to Mongolia, where he met his wife, Lhagva...After leaving Mongolia, he worked in Indonesia and Germany before Ekibastuz, a place he said, “I’m not in any hurry to leave.”…However, Price admitted Ekibastuz life was not always blissful. At first, there were continuous blackouts, and certain goods were not available…But now, he says, “Everything that’s available in St. Louis is available in Kazakhstan”. He added that he never felt threatened, nor has anyone ever said a harsh word to him simply because is an American….”I grew up during the Cold War. The Soviets were my enemy, but they’re not very different from me,” Price said. “What amazes me is how similar we are and how we can all get along.”… “This is the best job I’ve ever had and I love the Asian culture.”…Price said when he retires, they will probably go between Mongolia and the United States, where they will likely live in Rogers.

Real Estate
Scotsman (June 24, 2006)
Booming Kazakhstan puts on the style
It will be the tallest building in the region, but few people in the booming city of Almaty are excited by its height. …Rather, Almaty is excited by its style - something which would not make sense to Borat, the TV reporter from Kazakhstan, played by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen….The tallest tower, at 38 stories, will house the luxury Almaty JW Marriott Hotel, it is admired for its modern lines, light steel and glass encasement, clever geometric corners and a near total lack of kitsch…The project is due for completion next year, but already many declare it a symbol of the city’s potential - an iconic structure that reflects Almaty’s economic might. “This project and the others that will follow it will prove the coming of age of ...Kazakhstan as a global economic force,” said Nick James, of the Almaty office of Aedas - an architecture firm with offices in London and Hong Kong. ..The residential, office, retail and fitness complex, designed by the New York Skidmore Owings & Merrill, and set on a prominent plateau near where Almaty ends and forbidding snowcapped mountains begin. Just a few years ago, the city was drab and run-down, and its skyline looked unpromising. ….Now Almaty is on its way to becoming a city with ambitions that deserve to be taken seriously. Almaty’s unlikely odyssey is powered by the high oil prices, a government push to keep commerce centered there, and foreign interest….For some, the design-driven Marriott project reflects something grander: a new sophistication. “It’s hard to describe what it was like in Almaty just a couple of years ago,” Natalia Sludskaya, editor in chief of the Kazakhstan edition of Cosmopolitan magazine said. “There’s a new style here. Men are more ambitious; women are getting married later, they have their own apartments. Attitudes about sex are changing very fast; people know how to dress.” Change is reflected in Almaty’s festive rooftop bars, busy restaurants and congested streets.

Communications News
Money Control India, citing Reuters (July 6, 2006)
Kazakhstan will increase control over the Internet, the information minister said.
Kazakhstan introduced new laws placing print and television journalists under tighter control, despite international criticism ….In an interview published in the Vremya newspaper, Information Minister Yermukhamet Yertysbayev said he now wanted to stamp out “dirt” and “lies” from web-sites. “Those who think it’s impossible to control the Internet can continue living in the world of illusions,” he said….Yertysbayev said Internet and other loosely regulated media could harm national security, but did not say how. “We are going to work out the main priorities of our state, policy in the national segment of the Internet by the end of the year, which is in the government’s and people’s interest.….Pro-opposition outlets such as zonakz.net are either web-based or run small-circulation newspapers. Mostly young Kazakhstanis use the Internet, and are more likely to sympathise with opposition viewpoints.