KAZAKHSTAN: OCTOBER ENVIRONMENT UPDATE

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SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: OCTOBER ENVIRONMENT UPDATE


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (U) SUMMARY: This information is drawn primarily from the
Kazakhstani press and has not been verified. The opinions expressed
in this report, therefore, should not be interpreted as official
positions and/or policy of the U.S. Government.

-- Parliament Ratifies Agreements with the World Bank
-- WHO General Director and UNICEF Executive Director Visit
-- Ministry of Health Official Calls for Lifting Audit Ban
-- High Rate of Heart Disease Raises Concerns
-- Woman Dies of Rabies in Southern Kazakhstan
-- Auto Emissions Inspections in Almaty
-- Kazakhstan Approves Space Development Strategy
-- UNDP Climate Change Report
-- KazSat Satellite Restored
-- Potable Water Program Violations
END SUMMARY.

WORLD BANK AGREEMENTS RATIFIED


3. (U) On October 22, the parliament ratified an agreement between
the Republic of Kazakhstan and the World Bank on the provision of a
loan to implement the Kazakhstan Health Sector Technology Transfer
and Institutional Reform project. The parliament also ratified two
additional agreements with the World Bank to provide loans to
implement the Ust-Kamenogorsk Environmental Remediation Project and
the Kazakhstan Technology Commercialization Project. The loan
amount for the three projects is approximately $206 million.

VISIT OF WHO GENERAL DIRECTOR AND UNICEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR


4. (U) World Health Organization General Director Margaret Chan and
UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman paid their first official
visits to Kazakhstan on October 14-16. They met President
Nazarbayev and other top officials and attended an international
conference dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Almaty
Declaration on Primary Health Care. Chan emphasized that Kazakhstan
needs to address such health issues as tuberculosis, diabetes and
heart disease. After meetings with President Nazarbayev and Foreign
Minister Marat Tazhin, it was announced that a special fund for
health care projects will be established in Kazakhstan and national
health care funding will be increased to as much as 4% of gross
domestic product.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH OFFICIAL CALLS FOR LIFTING AUDIT BAN


5. (U) On October 29, Syzdyk Baimukhanov, Chairman of the
Pharmaceutical Control Committee under the Ministry of Health,
called for lifting the ban on inspections of health institutions.
His motion was submitted for review to the Prime Minister's office.
According to the officials of the Ministry of Health, an increasing
amount of counterfeit medicines have been found in Kazakhstan and
they believe that the current ban on inspections of small and medium
businesses, including pharmacies, is to blame.

HIGH RATE OF HEART DISEASE RAISES CONCERNS


6. (U) At a press conference in Almaty on heart disease, health
experts expressed concern with the high rate of heart disease in
Kazakhstan. According to their research, approximately 15% of the
Kazakhstani population is diagnosed with heart disease every year.

WOMAN DIES OF RABIES IN SOUTHERN KAZAKHSTAN


7. (U) On October 31, a woman diagnosed with rabies died in
Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan. The source of the infection was not
identified.

AUTOMOBILE EMISSIONS INSPECTIONS IN ALMATY


8. (U) In accordance with new technical regulations on automobile

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emissions, Almaty mayor Akhmetzhan Yessimov issued a decree to carry
out inspections of automobile emissions and gas stations from
September 15 - October 15. The mayor referred to the recent
decision of the Kazakhstani government to move to the UN ECE Euro-2
fuel standard, which includes stricter toxicity monitoring.
Inspections have been followed by administrative fines and warnings
to car owners, gas stations and other businesses.

KAZAKHSTAN APPROVES SPACE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY


9. (U) On October 7, Kazakhstan's Space Development Strategy 2020
was approved by the Space Council of the Government of Kazakhstan.
The budget of the national space program will make no less than $6
billion. According to Meirbek Moldabekov, deputy chairman of the
Kazakhstan National Space Agency, Kazakhstan intends to participate
in a project to establish an ultraviolet world space observatory and
plans to build its own spacecraft assembly and test facility.

UNDP PRESENTS CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT


10. (U) On October 29, the United Nations Development Program in
Kazakhstan presented its National Development Report "Climate Change
and its Influence on the Development of Kazakhstan". The report
includes projections of how global warming may affect national grain
production, cattle breeding, forestry, land use, and water
management. The project also forecasts the increasing vulnerability
of the population in case of natural disaster.

SATELLITE REPAIRED AND OPERATIONAL


11. (U) On October 31, control over Kazakhstan's first satellite
(KazSat) was restored. On June 8, the $65 million satellite stopped
working due to a computer malfunction, two years after its launch.
The Russian Khrunichev State Research and Production Centre managed
to reboot the onboard computer and continued system tests before
resuming operation of KazSat.

POTABLE WATER PROGRAM VIOLATIONS


12. (U) In October, the Prosecutor-General's Office carried out a
series of regional inspections to assess implementation of the
national potable water program 2002-2010. The $959 million program
is aimed at providing local citizens living in remote rural areas
with access to potable water. However, prosecutors' inspections
disclosed numerous cases of embezzlement and abuse across the
country. In many regions water supply and sewage systems are still
in very poor condition. To date, sixteen corruption charges have
been brought against local officials.

HOAGLAND