KYRGYZSTAN APPROVES CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS AT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000880 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (GORKOWSKI) E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PHUM KG SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN APPROVES CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS AT TRANSIT CENTER AND FOREIGN MINISTER LOOKS TO VISIT THE U.S. REF: BISHKEK 765 BISHKEK 00000880 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller, for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Ambassador met August 5 with Foreign Minister Sarbayev to discuss several topics, including the approval for construction projects at the Manas Transit Center, his trip to the U.S. and the Annual Bilateral Consultations (ABC). A relaxed Sarbayev gave the Ambassador the long-awaited Diplomatic Note giving permission for the construction projects at the Transit Center to proceed. The Ambassador gave Sarbayev informal copies of the letter from Secretary Gates to President Bakiyev and the letters from Undersecretary Burns, and Assistant Secretary Blake to Sarbayev himself, which he was extremely happy to receive. He told the Ambassador that he is ready to visit the U.S. in September or October and requested from the Ambassador an official invitation with proposed dates for the ABC. He promised to provide us with his thoughts on the ABC non-paper shortly. Sarbayev added that during his visit to the U.S. he would discuss a possible trip to the U.S. by President Bakiyev. Sarbayev also told the Ambassador that President Bakiyev plans to visit the Manas Transit Center in September and that a proposed visit by Members of Parliament in August would have to be postponed. The Ambassador also raised how the government wanted to handle compensation for the widow of Ivanov. Sarbayev said that he would review the situation and provide the Ambassador with some ideas in the coming days. END SUMMARY. MANAS TRANSIT CENTER DIP NOTE -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador met this morning with Foreign Minister Sarbayev to receive the Diplomatic Note from the Government of Kyrgyzstan approving the construction projects at the Manas Transit Center (text to follow septel). The FM had told the Ambassador on August 4 that President Bakiyev had personally approved the note to move forward on the projects. The Embassy informed the Transit Center of the receipt of the note and they will proceed with the next steps. Had the Government of Kyrgyzstan not provided the approval prior to August 6, there was a risk that the Transit Center would have lost the USD 36.6 million allocated for the projects. 
 ¶3. (C) The Ambassador also gave to Sarbayev informal copies of the thank you note from Undersecretary Burns, a letter from Deputy of Secretary Gates to President Bakiyev, and a letter from Assistant Secretary Blake, including the non-paper on the ABC. The Ambassador requested the Government of Kyrgyzstan's input into the content of the consultations. Sarbayev said that the government had several issues it would like to include in the discussions and he would forward a detailed response from the Ministry to the Embassy in the coming days. FM INVITATION TO THE U.S. -------------- ¶4. (C) Sarbayev was extremely pleased to receive the letters but told the Ambassador that he needed to receive an official invitation from the U.S. with specific dates for his visit to the U.S. He suggested the end of September or early October for the time of his visit. He added that he plans to attend the UN General Assembly in New York and said the he could also visit Washington at that time. Sarbayev reiterated that he might be able to travel to the U.S. now for meetings with U/S Burns and other officials and then return to the U.S. for the ABC at a later date. He expressed some concern, however, that Washington may not be able to receive him twice and believed that it may be better only to come to Washington for the ABC. BISHKEK 00000880 002.2 OF 002 PRESIDENT BAKIYEV INVITATION TO THE U.S. -------------- ¶5. (C) Sarbayev told the Ambassador that during his visit to the U.S. in September or October he looked forward to discussing an invitation for President Bakiyev to visit the U.S. Sarbayev emphasized that Kyrgyzstan was interested in continuing its close and high level relationship with the U.S., and the logical next step would be a visit by President Bakiyev to Washington. PRESIDENT BAKIYEV VISIT TO TRANSIT CENTER -------------- ¶6. (C) Sarbayev told the Ambassador that he had found this morning, during a talk with President Bakiyev, that Bakiyev planned to visit the Manas Transit Center in early September. Sarbayev said that the President wanted to see the operations at the Transit Center, visit and meet with Kyrgyz and American employees at the center, and see its day-to-day activities, including work on the approved construction projects. The President also wanted to see the Kyrgyz companies working and providing services at the Center. Sarbayev indicated that the President hoped the Center would come off as low-key as possible (in contrast to the "high-powered and militarized" Manas AF Base),emphasizing that this was especially important since Kyrgyz media would be present during visit. ¶7. (C) Sarbayev also told the Ambassador that a visit to the Center by a delegation from Parliament that had been proposed in early August would most likely not happen until after the President's visit. Adding that the visit by the Members of Parliament was not at the "right time," he said that he would contact Parliament to find out which Members wanted to visit and inform them that the visit had been delayed. Sarbayev was keen on "vetting" any Members of Parliament to the Transit Center to ensure that any visit was positive and beneficial for the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan. PAYMENT TO THE IVANOV WIDOW -------------- ¶8. (C) The Ambassador discussed the mechanism by which the U.S. would provide compensation to the widow of Ivanov, noting that Sarbayev could coordinate how the Government of Kyrgyzstan would give the money to the widow in order to get some positive benefit from the situation. Sarbayev said that the widow was currently living in Bishkek and had not been told about the Hatfield decision or USD 250,000 compensation. Sarbayev said that he would review the situation and give the Ambassador an answer in the next few days on how he would prefer to move forward. GFOELLER