KAZAKHSTAN: ATYRAU AKIM EAGER FOR UNBIASED NEWS, ANXIOUS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 002252 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB/ESC, SCA/PPD, IIP STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EPET EINV SOCI KPAO KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: ATYRAU AKIM EAGER FOR UNBIASED NEWS, ANXIOUS ABOUT FINANCIAL CRISIS ASTANA 00002252 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: On November 11, the Ambassador held his first meeting with Atyrau oblast governor (Akim) Bergey Ryskaliyev, a 41-year old former oil company director appointed in October 2006. Ryskaliyev greeted the Ambassador warmly and welcomed him to the "strategically important" city of Atyrau, the capital of Kazakhstan's oil-rich north Caspian region. He spoke Russian slowly and softly throughout the meeting, choosing his words with deliberate care and demonstrated both curiosity and currency with events in the United States, especially the Presidential election and the financial crisis. Ryskaliyev shared his vision for the future of Kazakhstan with the Ambassador and pleaded for more objective information about the United States than that coming from Russian television. Before leaving Atyrau, the Ambassador visited a vocational school for orphans supported by a local civil society organization, Tengizchevroil (TCO),and Chevron. END SUMMARY. AKIM WELCOMES U.S. INVESTMENT, ACKNOWLEDGES OUTSTANDING ISSUES ¶3. (SBU) Ryskaliyev said the oblast appreciates the investment of U.S. oil companies Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips, but noted that he would like to see U.S. investment in other sectors such as agriculture, construction, and fishing. He praised TCO, in which Chevron (50%) and ExxonMobil (25%) have large stakes, for its investment in social infrastructure and development projects. "Of course," he said, "we have issues with TCO and other companies from time to time, but we work with them directly and resolve our problems at the local level." Rather than reviewing these issues in detail during their first meeting, the Ambassador broadened the discussion and encouraged the Akim to come to him if the local government had an unresolvable issue with a U.S. company. This (for the first and only time during the meeting) seemed to make an impression on Ryskaliyev, who took out his pen to make a note of the offer. THE AKIM'S VISION FOR KAZAKHSTAN ¶4. (SBU) When asked to describe his vision for Kazakhstan over the next ten years, the Akim struggled slightly, searching for statistics and specifics, until he confessed that the current crisis made it difficult to deliver a prognosis. Ryskaliyev said that he would rather wait a year before making predictions, although he suggested that the region's oil and gas wealth would shelter it somewhat from the storm. The Ambassador gently pressed the point, asking the Akim what kind of country would he like Kazakhstan to become and how could the United States help Kazakhstan get there. Ryskaliyev relaxed and opened up, saying he shared President Nazarbayev's goal to make Kazakhstan one of the 50 most competitive countries in the world, as well as his pledge to implement democratic reforms and demonstrate broader leadership when it assumes the Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010. Ryskaliyev also praised the government's Bolashak ("future" in Kazakh) student exchange program, noting that Atyrau oblast has agreed with resident oil companies to sponsor 20-25 exchange students to the U.S. in ¶2009. "This program trains Kazakhstan's future leaders," he said. "THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM WORKS" ¶5. (SBU) Ryskaliyev warmly congratulated the Ambassador on the election of a new U.S. president, commenting that the process was transparent and fair -- and the result, historic. "It shows that anyone, regardless of personal wealth or skin color, can become President in the United States," he observed. "It proves that the democratic system works." Ryskaliyev nevertheless revealed a cynical side when he wondered if, with so many difficult economic and military challenges now facing the country, the President-elect was deliberately set up to fail so that no other African-American would be elected President in the future. Ryskaliyev asked whether ASTANA 00002252 002.2 OF 002 and how U.S. policy toward Europe and Russia was likely to change under the new administration, then closed on an upbeat note, saying that President-elect Obama appeared to have the right outlook and energy for the job. "Personality matters a great deal," he said. A PLEA FOR OBJECTIVE NEWS ABOUT THE UNITED STATES ¶6. (SBU) Ryskaliyev clearly followed the presidential election campaign closely. When asked where he got most of his information about the United States, Ryskaliyev said Russian TV, Euronews (which broadcasts in Russian),and the BBC (which broadcasts in English), although he admitted that he watches BBC rarely because his English is poor, despite the fact that his entire family speaks English and one of his children studies at Cambridge University. Ryskaliyev then surprised us by saying that he wishes there were more objective reporting about the United States than that coming from Russia. "Ninety-five percent of people here believe what they see and hear on the television," he said, virtually pleading for an alternative news source. "The younger generation of political leaders is particularly eager for information about the United States that does not come from Russia," he said. SERIOUS CONCERN ABOUT THE FINANCIAL CRISIS ¶7. (SBU) The financial crisis is of serious concern to Ryskaliyev and his administration. "This crisis really worries us," he said, noting that although the United States is far from Kazakhstan, there are bound to be implications for his country if not his region. The Ambassador reassured the Akim, noting that both TCO and AgipKCO, which manages the Kashagan consortium, had reassured him that they and their partners had sufficient capital on hand to meet all of their commitments, and they did not expect the crisis to impact either project. VOCATIONAL SCHOOL VISIT ¶8. (SBU) While in Atyrau, the Ambassador also toured a vocational school for orphaned and abandoned children established by a local non-governmental organization called Young Achievement. TCO and Chevron have provided financial support since 2007. The program provides after-school vocational training to both boys and girls age 14-18 in skills such as electrical wiring, bricklaying, welding, and crane operating. The students were predominantly Kazakh, although a significant minority were ethnic Russians. Young Achievement Director Nataliya Strunyasheva, herself an ethnic Russian, noted that Kazakhstan suffers from a shortage of skilled labor, which this program will help to address. More importantly, she said, it gives children with no hope Qa sad fate the opportunity to acquire a lifelong skill that giveQhem thQeans and the confidence to build a better life. "TCO's support and initiative have been priceless," she said. According to TCO, the company has provided more than $380 million to various social, health, and infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan during the past 15 years. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: Atyrau Akim Ryskaliyev clearly follows political and economic events in the United States carefully and is a young and influential leader. We should listen carefully to his lament that there are few objective, Russian-language sources of information about the United States and take seriously his claim that other young leaders are eager for such information. CNN or BBC broadcasts in Russian could conceivably have a major impact on the development of Kazakhstan's future leaders. At a bare minimum, we need to expand drastically the Russian-language Washington File. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND