KAZAKHSTAN: EXBS ADVISOR'S REPORTING CABLE (NOVEMBER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 002403 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN DEPT FOR ISN/ECC: YWONG, ACHURCH, JHARTSHORN, SROBINSON DEPT FOR ISN/ECC-AMT: LSPRINGER DEPT FOR EUR/ACE: DFISCHER DEPT FOR SCA/RA: JSPILSBURY CBP/INA: SBAKER AND BPICKETT USDOE/NNSA: CWALKER, TPERRY, EDESCHLER DOC FOR DCREED USCG FOR SHABETIMICHAEL AMEMBASSY BERLIN FOR CUSTOMS ATTACHE AMEMBASSY TASHKENT, BISHKEK, BAKU, DUSHANBE AND ASHGABAT FOR EXBS ADVISORS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC MNUC KNNP KSTC KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: EXBS ADVISOR'S REPORTING CABLE (NOVEMBER 2008) REF: ASTANA 02298 ¶I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: ¶1. (SBU) From November 10-14, the ninth session of the Kazakhstan-Russian demarcation commission took place in Almaty. Discussed at this session was the determination of locations for the installation of border markers. The 6,846 kilometer border between Kazakhstan and Russia is the longest contiguous land-border between two countries in the world. The demarcation commission has been discussing this issue as well as the locations for placement of border check points since the common boundary delimitation was agreed to in 2005. The next meeting of this commission will be held in Russia during January 2009. ¶2. (SBU) On November 5, a ceremony was held in Aktau to celebrate a new milestone in a multiyear joint project between the United States and the Republic of Kazakhstan to irreversibly decommission the Soviet-era BN-350 fast breeder reactor located at the Kazakhstani port of Aktau on the Caspian Sea. The participating governments completed a sodium processing facility that will be used to dispose of coolant from the reactor core. This action demonstrates and reinforces the strength of the U.S.-Kazakhstani strategic relationship, and our joint commitment to preventing the proliferation of nuclear material (reftel). II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED ¶3. (SBU) On October 31, the EXBS advisor met with Major General Abdyrzak Iliyasov, Deputy Director of the Border Guard Service, Lt. Col Aidar Kapizov, Deputy Chief of the Border Cooperation Division, and Captain Sabyr Khassanov, Senior Navigator of the Sea Division. During this meeting, interlocutors told the EXBS advisor that a new Regional Coast Guard will be established in Aktau, and that Rear Admiral Kenzhemergen Abikeyev had been appointed to the position of Chief of the Maritime Border Guard Division and will be transferred to Astana. ¶4. (SBU) On November 19, the EXBS advisor met in Almaty with Tatyana Colgan, Project Manager for Nuclear Materials and Engineering Analysis at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Discussions focused on planned International Nonproliferation Export Control Program assistance to Kazakhstan to improve Licensing, Enterprise, Enforcement and Commitment aspects of Kazakhstan's export control system. These discussions included plans to hold an internal compliance program conference during 2009, install needed software upgrades of the automated licensing system called System To Review Kazakhstan Exports (STORKE),and develop Commodity Identification Training demonstration kits with associated training materials for use in indigenized training programs. ¶5. (SBU) On November 20-21, the EXBS team held a number of meetings concerning the specific training needs of the Customs officers in the field in the area of export control. One-on-one meetings were held with senior representatives from various Kazakhstani Customs' offices including Karlygash Nusupekova (Instructor of the Customs Training and Methodological Center in Almaty),Major Aisulu Aldaniyazova (Senior Specialist of the Customs Control Organizing Department in the Aktyubinsk Region),Captain Rusian Zhumagulov (Senior Specialist in the Division for Customs Control Management of the Customs Control Committee) and Lt. Col Robert Yusupov (Chief of ASTANA 00002403 002 OF 003 the Division for Customs Control Department in the Kostanai Region). These discussions were very helpful and illustrated the need for a comprehensive indigenized training program. ¶6. (SBU) On November 20, the EXBS advisor and program manager met with the Ryspek Smakov, Chief of the Regional Customs Canine Training Center, and Otan Shekeev, Senior Specialist of the Radiological Control Section of the Customs Control Committee, in Almaty. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Department of Energy's Second Line of Defense program and the U.S.-sponsored training program for Customs officers on the use of Radiation Portal Monitors and related equipment that was being conducted at the Regional Customs Canine Training Center in Almaty from November 17-21. Subject matter experts from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and ASPECT Company conducted this training course. The EXBS advisor was given a tour of the facility and was able to conduct an inspection the modular shelters provided by EXBS in 2004. ¶7. (SBU) On November 21, the EXBS advisor and program managerQ sensors, radiation pagers, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) inspection toolkits and other contraband inspection toolkits used for a previous training course. ¶B. TRAINING COURSES CONDUCTED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶8. (SBU) On November 3-7, EXBS, in cooperation with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of International Affairs, sponsored five Kazakhstan Border Guards and six Kazakhstan Customs Officers to an "International Air Cargo Interdiction Training" (IACIT) workshop at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Jamaica, New York. The IACIT course was designed to provide a hands-on training opportunity for Kazakhstani border guards and customs agencies in the detection, identification, and interdiction of contraband, with an emphasis on countering the cross-border proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and related materials. Topics of the course included analysis of air cargo manifests, detection of data inconsistencies, and techniques for the evaluation of high-risk cargo and passenger processing. ¶9. (SBU) On November 10-14, the EXBS Advisor, Robert Colbert, and the EXBS Program Assistant, Elina Akhtiyarova, attended an Export Control Policy and Regimes seminar at University of Georgia's Center for International Trade & Security (CITS) at the Export Control Academy in Athens, Georgia. This seminar provided a comprehensive overview of export control concepts, issues, and standards from an ASTANA 00002403 003 OF 003 international perspective. Topics included: the impact of globalization on strategic trade, new security threats to states and businesses, international nonproliferation treaties, and multilateral export control regimes. The seminar also discussed concepts, such as catch-all, intangible technology-transfers, and deemed exports, as well as case-studies of dual-use controls in various countries. ¶10. (SBU) On November 18-21, EXBS, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration's (DOE/NNSA) International Nonproliferation Export Control Program (INECP),sponsored 26 Kazakhstan officials from various governmental agencies including the Border Guard Service, the National Security Committee's Military Institute, the Financial Police Academy, the Customs Control Committee, as well as representatives from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, to a "Weapons of Mass Destruction - Commodity Identification Training" (WMD/CIT) workshop at the Alatau resort in Almaty. ¶11. (SBU) On November 17-21, the Department of Energy's Second Line of Defense program sponsored a training course for Customs officers on the use of Radiation Portal Monitors and related equipment at the Customs Canine Training Center in Almaty. Subject matter experts from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and ASPECT Company conducted this training course. ¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶12. (SBU) None. ¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE ¶13. (SBU) None. ¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY ¶14. (SBU) None. ¶F. CASPIAN SECURITY INFORMATION ¶15. (SBU) On November 20, an assessment of the U.S.-donated vessel "Sea Ark" was conducted by technicians from the firm MTU Turkey. A list of required maintenance and parts that required replacement was delivered to Captain A. Ashimbayev, Head of the Electromechanical Service of the 2201 Military Division. III. RED FLAG ISSUES. ¶16. (SBU) None. MILAS