Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASTANA2403
2008-12-05 09:45:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Astana
Cable title:
KAZAKHSTAN: EXBS ADVISOR'S REPORTING CABLE (NOVEMBER
how-toVZCZCXRO9323 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHTA #2403/01 3400945 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 050945Z DEC 08 FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4036 INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 0894 RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUCNCLS/SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE RUEAORC/US CUSTOMS SERVICE WASHDC RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC RULSJGA/COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 0376 RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 0461 RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC 0060 RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1001
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:
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
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