EXBS: KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALMATY 002419 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/ECC PVANSON, ACHURCH, ACUMMINGS DEPT FOR EUR/ACE RBUCK DEPT FOR SCA/CEN JMUDGE CBP/INA FOR BWATT AND CDONOFRIO USDOE/NNSA TPERRY, CWALKER, EDESCHLER DOC FOR DCREED AND PETERSON-BEARD USCG FOR CWILSON AMEMBASSY BERLIN FOR CUSTOMS ATTACHE AMEMBASSY TASHKENT, BISHKEK, BAKU, DUSHANBE FOR EXBS ADVISORS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC MNUC PARM PREL KSTC KNNP KZ SUBJECT: EXBS: KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE (JUNE 2006) ¶I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: ¶1. EXBS TDY Advisor Kevin Cummings' arrival on June 26 coincided with the EXBS Program office's first day at the Embassy Branch Office in Astana. Mr. Cummings will provide support to the office until mid-July, at which time a second TDY advisor is expected to arrive to assist the office through the summer holiday period and during the move to the New Embassy Compound in early September 2006. ¶2. EXBS Program Coordinator Gulnara Abildaeva will continue to be based in Almaty during the first half of July to facilitate her to work with the Coast Guard training team in Aktau. Ms. Abildaeva is also working with several embassy offices during this period to complete the logistical arrangements for the outgoing Kazakhstani group of border guards and customs officers who will attend an International Border Interdiction Training in the second half of July. All EXBS staff will be based in the Embassy Branch Office in Astana as of the beginning of August. II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED ¶1. A team of National Nuclear Security Administration members and several U.S. contractors held meetings in Astana on July 7-8 to discuss a range of issues related to the work to be completed under the recently-signed Second Line of Defense (SLD) Implementing Agreement. EXBS Advisor Offenbacher attended the two Astana meetings: the first with officials from Kazakhstan's Customs Control Committee, and a second the following day with the "New Projects" Company, with which Kazakhstani Customs has built a relationship in their indigenous efforts to equip border posts with radiation detection equipment. During the meeting with Customs, an initial understanding was reached on which ports of entry require portal monitors. Some of the locations identified have already been fitted out with monitors and the SLD Program will provide additional systems to strengthen control when both entering and leaving the country. ¶2. On June 21, EXBS Advisor Offenbacher participated in a lunchtime meeting with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies NIS Representative Office (CNS NISRO) Director Dauren Aben, and CNS intern Cassie Fleming to share information about EXBS program activities and learn more about CNS' work. Sean Reid, DOE Nonproliferation Graduate Program Intern, was also present. ¶B. TRAINING DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. A two-week U.S. Coast Guard Small Boat Operations course began on June 26 at Maritime Border Guard Division's facility in Bautino (near Aktau on the Caspian). The training program will in part address the safe and effective operation of the three U.S.-made, 42-foot fast response boats that were recently provided to Kazakhstan's Border Service by the EXBS Program. EXBS Program Coordinator Gulnara Abildaeva has been instrumental in obtaining buy-in from the Government of Kazakhstan and also ensuring the training's moving parts run smoothly. By the conclusion of the training, Ms. Abildaeva will have spent most of the two weeks in Bautino. ALMATY 00002419 002 OF 002 ¶2. In Astana on June 14-15, representatives of the National Nuclear Security Administration's International Nonproliferation and Export Control Program (NNSA/INECP) delivered a training course on the use of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) metal analyzers for five Kazakhstani customs inspectors from ports of entry on Kazakhstan's border with China. XRF units can be used to analyze metals and alloys and determine whether they have a strategic use. Three XRF units worth $80,000 were granted to the trainees for use at the border upon conclusion of the training. ¶3. The NNSA's INECP also held an End-use/End-user Analysis workshop on June 15-16 in Astana for export licensors from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and representatives of other agencies who review export licenses. ¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. Three XRF units valued at $80,000 were transferred Kazakhstani Customs by the National Nuclear Security Administration. ¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE ¶1. INTERNATIONAL BORDER INTERDICTION TRAINING (IBIT 1) - Thanks to EXBS Program Coordinator Gulnara Abildaeva's hard work and dogged persistence, all logistical arrangements (tickets, visas, vetting, per diem, etc.) for the 16 Kazakhstani IBIT participants are almost complete. The group will depart Kazakhstan for McAllen, Texas on July 15 and will return to the U.S. on July 27, upon conclusion of the week-long IBIT course and a one-day visit to the U.S. Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico. ¶2. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency's International Counterproliferation Program will hold two "Weapons of Mass Destruction Crime Scene Management" courses in Almaty and Astana from July 17-28. ¶3. The Second Line of Defense Program has proposed to send a team to Kazakhstan in the second half of August to conduct site surveys on Kazakhstan's southern border. ¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY ¶1. None. ¶F. CASPIAN SECURITY INFORMATION ¶1. Please see section B, paragraph 1 above. III. RED FLAG ISSUES. None. The point of contact for this report is Andrew S. Offenbacher, EXBS Advisor, OffenbacherAS@state.gov, tel: +7(3272)504945, cell: +7(333)225-1156. ORDWAY