Kazakhstan, Russia Assess Damage Caused by Rocket Crash

UNCLAS ALMATY 003025 SIPDIS TASHKENT FOR EPUTNAM SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON SENV ENRG EPET KZ SUBJECT: Kazakhstan, Russia Assess Damage Caused by Rocket Crash ¶1. Summary: Russia is prepared to pay Kazakhstan 385 million tenge (approximately $3 million) as compensation for immediate damages resulting from the failed launch of a Dnepr rocket at Baikonur. A joint Kazakhstan-Russian committee is still investigating possible environmental damage and will release its conclusions in September. Although local Kazakhstani officials from the effected area initially claimed that damages might exceed 40 billion tenge ($310 million),such estimates now seem greatly inflated. End summary ¶2. On July 27, a Dnepr rocket carrying 18 satellites crashed soon after its launch, 24 kilometers (15 miles) south of the Baikonur cosmodrome. Kazakhstani emergency officials stated that in the immediate hours after the crash, the concentration of various toxic and other harmful substances in the crash area was 1,000 times above permissible norms. Approximately 26 tons of heptyl fuel and more than 50 tons of the highly toxic oxidant amyl were spilled on Kazakhstani soil during the Dnepr crash. ¶3. After the accident, residents of the villages of Komekbayev and Kuandarya located not far from the crash site complained of fevers and strong headaches. The Governor of the Kyzylorda Oblast, home to Baikonur, announced that damage to Kazakhstan's ecology and economy might exceed 40 billion tenge. ¶4. On August 18, Autmahambet Zholshorinov, head of the directorate of the state committee for environment control, announced at a news conference that residents living near the crash area were not poisoned by heptyl. According to Zholshorinov, 1,070 residents of Komekbayev and Kuandarya villages were examined and no evidence of illness caused by heptyl contamination was discovered. ¶5. Russia has announced its readiness to pay Kazakhstan 385 million tenge for the immediate damages caused by the crash, in accordance with a 1999 agreement on Russian rocket launches from Baikonur. A joint Russian - Kazakhstan commission is currently investigating the after-effects of the crash in order to assess economic and environmental damages. Results of the investigation will be released in September, with Russia likely to face additional liability. ORDWAY