EXBS KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR'S MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE (DECEMBER 2007)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000054



SIPDIS



SIPDIS



DEPT FOR ISN/ECC YWONG, ACHURCH, JHARTSHORN, SROBINSON

DEPT FOR ISN/ECC-AMT LSPRINGER

DEPT FOR EUR/ACE DFISCHER

DEPT FOR SCA/RA JSPILSBURY

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN MO'MARA

CBP/INA FOR KCHAISSON AND RWATT

USDOE/NNSA CWALKER, TPERRY AND 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: ETTC, MNUC, PARM, PREL, KSTC, KNNP, KZ

SUBJECT: EXBS KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR'S MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE (DECEMBER

2007)



I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS:



1. The government of Norway has agreed to provide $5 million to fund

additional radiation detection equipment for improved Kazakhstan

border security. This will dramatically expand the number of border

posts with detection ability, and is the largest contribution to

date to the Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative (NSOI).

Representatives from the Department of Energy are meeting their

Norwegian counterparts to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding.

This contribution will be integrated into the Department of Energy

Second Line of Defense (DOE/SLD) program plans for Kazakhstan.



II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD



A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED



1. On December 8, 2007, the EXBS Advisor met with Mr. Richard

Talley, Program Manager for the Caucasus Region and Central Asia,

National Nuclear Security Administration, and Mr. Chuck Willingham,

Staff Engineer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, on the

International Nonproliferation Export Control Program's (INECP)

country plan for Kazakhstan. The EXBS Advisor was briefed on INECP

efforts in Kazakhstan to date and was provided valuable insight into

INECP efforts in the licensing area aimed at adding additional

organizations and institutes to the computerized license system,

implementing security upgrades, and making improvements to the

computer network and communications infrastructure. Additional

discussions centered on proposed training for Customs and Border

Guards during 2008 and the need for a comprehensive Kazakhstani

response protocol.



B. TRAINING DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD



1. A Commodity Identification Training (CIT) course for Customs

Control Committee personnel was conducted the week of December 3,

2007, in Borovoe, Kazakhstan. This was the fifth CIT seminar in

Kazakhstan and the second one that did not require U.S. instructors

to present any training materials. This training was monitored by

Mr. Richard Talley, Program Manager for the Caucasus Region and

Central Asia for the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security

Administration's (DOE/NNSA) International Nonproliferation Export

Control Program (INECP),and Mr. Chuck Willingham, Staff Engineer,

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.



2. From December 3 - 7, 2007, EXBS Program Manager Gulnara

Abildaeva and EXBS Program Assistant Oxana Limareva traveled to

Frankfurt, Germany, to participate in the Foreign Service

Institute's training class on Managing Foreign Assistance Awards

Overseas. This course prepares employees to link assistance programs

with post-specific strategic planning goals and objectives and to

develop a post-specific assistance awards program from concept and

design, through implementation and management, to evaluation of the

results.



C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD



1. On December 4, 2007, EXBS Program Manager Gulnara Abildaeva

delivered to Mr. Jerry Guilbert, Special Projects Program Manager

ISN/ECC, the acceptance documents signed by Major General Hussain

Berkaliyev, First Deputy Director, National Security Committee,

Border Guard Service, for $970,326 worth of EXBS donated equipment

consisting of 4 portable shelter complexes and 11 URAL trucks



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delivered under Task Order 79.



D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE



1. The EXBS team has scheduled a meeting on January 15,

2008, with senior representatives from the Border Guard Services of

the National Security Committee and the Customs Control Committee of

the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The goal of

this meeting is to determine if EXBS donated equipment (such as

Radiation Isotope Identification Devices, enforcement tool kits,

modular shelters, vehicles, mobile X-ray vans, and stationary pallet

X-ray machines) is meeting the specific needs of the Customs and

Border Guard Services of Kazakhstan and to address future

implementation, training, and delivery issues. During the meeting in

Astana, the EXBS team will deliver five CT30 Kits, and two Ludlum

Survey Meters.



2. The EXBS team will attend a Border Security Donor Coordination

meeting in Astana on January 23, 2008.



3. The EXBS Advisor will participate in an International

Counterproliferation Program (ICP) course, "WMD International

Investigations", taught in Astana, from January 28 - February 1,

2008. This course is designed for approximately 30-35 criminal

investigators to enhance specialized investigative skills in

transnational investigations of Weapons of Mass Destruction

incidents.



4. The Department of Energy Second Line of Defense

Program is continuing its project to install portal monitors at

border sites. The EXBS team will accompany Ms. Laurel Cotton, the

Project Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Energy's Second Line

of Defense (SLD) Program, to a meeting in Astana with Kazakhstani

Customs officials on February 4, 2008, to discuss a broad range of

matters concerning the SLD program. The SLD equipment for Phase One

installation is scheduled to arrive in Kazakhstan from Russia

between January 9 and 14, 2008. EXBS will send a diplomatic note to

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting access to the requested

sites for U.S. technical specialists so that they can begin the

installation of the portal monitors and related equipment during

February 2008.



5. Task Order 79 Donations. Delivery of the original water tanks

for the four modular shelters donated to the Border Guards was

delayed due to difficulties encountered in the Customs clearance

process created by a change in the Kazakhstani law. The official

letter from the Vice Minister, Ministry of Economy and Budget

Planning, approving the release of the water tanks from the Almaty

airport warehouse without charging the warehouse storage fees was

passed on to the Customs Control Committee on November 19. However,

the warehouse proprietor has thus far refused to release the water

tanks without payment of the storage fees. The Border Guard Service

is looking into gaining the release of these water tanks from the

warehouse.



E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR

RELATED BORDER SECURITY



1. None.



F. CASPIAN SECURITY INFORMATION





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1. The Kazakhstani Marine Border Guards (MBG) have

expressed a desire to attend the Safe Boat Operations Course (CG 33)

during the June/July time frame as offered by Lt. Michael Fisher,

EXBS Caspian Region Maritime Advisor, Baku, in a letter to MBG Major

General Berkaliyev.



III. RED FLAG ISSUES.



1. None



ORDWAY