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