EXBS: KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALMATY 000546 SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/ECC PVANSON, ACHURCH, ACUMMINGS CBP/INA FOR PWARKER AND CDONOFRIO USDOE/NNSA FOR TPERRY DEPT FOR EUR/ACE DEPT FOR SCA/CA DOC FOR PETERSON-BEARD 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 EXBS SUBJECT: EXBS: KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE (DECEMBER 2005 / JANUARY 2006) ¶I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: ¶1. EXBS program Advisor Offenbacher was in the United States for training and annual leave for much of the month of December. He also spent the first half of January in the US on leave and consultations. II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED ¶1. December 7-12 - Two Bechtel Nevada representatives performed regularly scheduled maintenance on Kazakhstan's two x-ray vans at the Kordai and Zhibek Zholy ports of entry. The van at Zhibek Zholy (near Shymkent) was successfully repaired and is once again operational. ¶2. Week of December 12 - EXBS Almaty assisted Ned Hubbard and Fred Fetty by arranging visa support, hotel reservations and ground transportation for their trip to Aktobe, Kazakhstan to work on an Aviation Interdiction Program contract for Kyrgyzstan. ¶3. December 12-14 - Rossitza Petrov and Douglas Evans represented Commonwealth Trading Partners (CTP) on a project review trip to Astana. The two discussed progress to date on the customization of the Product Identification Tool (PIT) and identified a path forward to prevent additional delays in implementing the project. The review meetings were held in lieu of the originally scheduled PIT instructor training due to the local contractor's inability to customize the PIT software in time. ¶4. December 12-16 - Advisor Offenbacher attended a week-long Intermediate Leadership Skills course at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia. ¶5. January 9-13 - Advisor Offenbacher held consultations in Washington DC to discuss programs in the coming year with representatives of a number of governmental agencies (DOE/NNSA, DOC/BIS, USCG, DHS/CBP, DTRA) and several nongovernmental organizations (Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Center for International Trade and Security, Commonwealth Trading Partners). ¶6. January 23-24 - EXBS program advisor accompanied a 
DOD delegation to Atyrau for meetings with Kazakhstan's Navy and Maritime Division of the Border Service. The DOD group was largely comprised of a DTRA Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation Prevention Initiative (WMD-PPI) delegation, but also included representatives from Central Command Counternarcotics, OSD Policy and Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Embassy Almaty was represented by Scott Waldo of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL),Ted Donnelly of the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC) and Laura Smiley of DTRA. The WMD-PPI agreement was signed by the Kazakhstanis last year and a large part of the meetings was focused on the delegation's desire to gain a better understanding of Kazakhstan's capabilities on the Caspian. During the meetings, both Admiral Komratov of the Navy and Captain Soyunov of the Maritime Border Guard provided information about their capabilities and spoke about their plans for the future. Although the roles and responsibilities of the Navy and Border Service are not yet well defined--in no small part due to the uncertain legal status of the Caspian--the Government of Kazakhstan currently gives all operational tasks to the Border Service, as the Navy does not yet possess any boats. The two days of meetings provided an excellent opportunity for the various U.S. agencies with an interest in Caspian security to interact with each other and the Kazakhstanis. On the second day, the group was given a tour of the Maritime Border Service's river patrol base and boat repair facility. The group was originally scheduled to fly onward to Atkau to tour several Border Guard and Naval facilities there, but the trip was cut short due to an airport closure caused by extremely cold weather. ¶7. January 30 - Scott Waldo of Embassy Almaty's INL office and Advisor Offenbacher met with Mike Roesner and Commander Scott Donaldson of Central Command's Counternarcotics program to discuss CentCom's proposal to construct a port facility which would be shared by Kazakhstan's Navy and Border Service. It was agreed that the facility should be built in Bautino, if possible, to take advantage of its relative isolation and strategic location in the middle of Kazakhstan's Caspian coast. The draft statement of work describes the port facility as including, among other things, a pier or quay wall, a boat ramp, barracks, an operations center and a maintenance building with an overhead crane. Several rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) would be provided for interdiction purposes on both the Caspian and its tributaries. Commander Donaldson and Mr. Roesner plan to travel to Aktau/Bautino this spring as they were unable to visit these potential port sites during the January 23-24 trip to Atyrau described above. The port facility would be a boon for both Kazakhstan's Navy and Maritime Border Guard. The imminent delivery of the EXBS-provided SAFE boats to Bautino (see section D below) makes CentCom's proposal very timely, as the new infrastructure could potentially be used to house and maintain the three 42-foot boats. ¶B. TRAINING DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. January 24-26 - Sakhip Zhubanishev of the Industry and Scientific Technical Development Committee of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Industry and Trade participated in an EXBS-funded National Control List workshop in Biskek, Kyrygyzstan. ¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. A replacement Kohler diesel generator for the Kazakhstani Maritime Border Guard's Sea Ark boat was shipped to Aktau from Almaty in December. Upon receiving the generator, the Kazakhstanis expressed some concern that the air-cooled model was not appropriate for the Sea Ark and that a water-cooled generator should have been supplied. The EXBS Regional Maritime office in Baku facilitated the procurement and is looking into a possible retrofit to address the issue. ¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE ¶1. The three long-awaited SAFE boats procured by the U.S. Coast Guard for Kazakhstan's Maritime Border Guard are currently in Poti, Georgia, where they have been for most of January. Although the inclement weather in the Caucasus has precluded their delivery to Baku, EXBS Almaty is hopeful the boats will soon be moving eastward again and will reach their final destination in Bautino, Kazakhstan by the end of February. A turnover ceremony with broad Kazakhstani and U.S. participation has been scheduled for March 16 in Bautino, near Aktau. VSE, the transportation company handling the boats' delivery, and the Baku-based EXBS Maritime Regional Advisor's office are working to ensure that the boats arrive safely in Bautino. EXBS Almaty continues to assist with a range of planning issues related to both the boats' impending delivery and the March turnover ceremony. A diplomatic note was sent in January to request multiple- entry visas for EXBS Baku personnel, and a second was sent to request access to port facilities in both Aktau and Bautino. More diplomatic notes will be sent when the boats' delivery date is clear. ¶2. An International Border Interdiction Training (IBIT 1) course has been scheduled for sixteen of Kazakhstan's customs and border guard officials. The training will be conducted from July 17-21 in Hidalgo, Texas. EXBS Almaty has requested the participation of instructors from the Customs and Border Guard Academies in an effort to encourage the Kazakhstanis to incorporate the techniques and skills they learn into their national training programs. ¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY ¶1. There has been quite a lot of reshuffling at the ministries in Astana of late. One salient change for the EXBS program is the appointment of former Deputy Foreign Minister Askar Shakirov to the post of Customs Control Committee Chairman. Whether he will be successful in reigning in the pervasive corruption within customs remains to be seen. ¶2. In January the local press reported on several incidents of bribe-taking at Kazakhstani ports of entry, including a sting operation by the National Security Committee that implicated a number of Kazakhstani customs officials on the Chinese border at Khorgos. ¶F. CASPIAN SECURITY UPDATE Please see section D, 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)504-945, cell: +7(333)225-1156. ORDWAY