US embassy cable - 05ALMATY1860

UNCLAS  ALMATY 001860 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR NP/ECC PVANSON, ACHURCH, JGABRYSZEWSKI 
CBP/INA FOR PWARKER AND CDONOFRIO 
USDOE/NNSA FOR TPERRY 
DEPT FOR EUR/ACE DMARTIN 
DOC FOR PETERSON-BEARD 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN FOR CUSTOMS ATTACHE 
AMEMBASSY TASHKENT, BISHKEK, BAKU, DUSHANBE FOR EXBS 
ADVISORS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC, MNUC, PARM, PREL, KSTC, KNNP, KZ, EXBS 
SUBJECT:  EXBS: KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE 
(APRIL 2005) 
 
I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: 
 
1.   None. 
 
II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED 
 
1. Although no formal site assessments were conducted this 
month, a trip to the Kordai post on the Kyrgyz-Kazakh 
border was undertaken on April 22 in support of the 
University of Georgia, Center for International Trade and 
Security team's visit.  Two members of the assessment team 
and the EXBS advisor were given a tour of the Kordai's 
inspection area and visited the customs office in which 
documents and payments are processed. 
 
2. On April 4, the EXBS advisor attended a meeting with 
Yash Holbrook of EURCOM's Caspian Guard Initiative (CGI). 
Also present at the meeting were representatives from the 
embassy's International Narcotics and Law Enforcement 
Office and the Security Assistance Office.  CGI is a joint 
EUCOM/CENTCOM effort to create an informal coordinating 
mechanism for US government security cooperation efforts in 
the Caspian Basin and at present focuses on Kazakhstan and 
Azerbaijan.  CGI has begun publishing monthly updates and 
liaises with NP/ECC to obtain official input and comments. 
 
3. Fred Fetty, EXBS Advisor to Uzbekistan and former EXBS 
Advisor to Kazakhstan, met with EXBS Advisor Offenbacher on 
April 5-7 to help the latter better understand the history, 
current state of and future options for the EXBS program in 
Kazakhstan. 
 
4. On April 5, Offenbacher, Fetty and Gulnara Abildaeva, 
EXBS Program Manager flew to Astana to meet with 
representatives from the Customs Control Committee, the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Border Guard. 
 
On April 6, Offenbacher, Fetty and Abildaeva met with 
Customs Control Committee officials Mr. Alikhan Mambetalin, 
First Deputy Chairman, Daniyar Kerimbekov, Head of 
International Relations Department, and Ms. Zhannat 
Shalabayeva, Senior Specialist of the International 
Relations Division to discuss custom's training and 
equipment requirements.  Mr. Kerimbekov provided EXBS with 
a list of desired equipment and said he would follow up 
with a prioritized official list. 
 
Offenbacher, Fetty and Abildaeva attended a roundtable 
meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 7.  The 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs was represented by Mr. Dastan 
Eleukenov, Deputy Director of the Multilateral Cooperation 
Division, Mr. Sergei Savelev, Head of the International 
Security Division, and Serik Zhumabaev, also with the 
Multilateral Cooperation Division.  Mr. Abylay Nurakhmetov, 
Deputy Head of the Border Cooperation Department, 
represented the Border Guard Service.  Customs Control 
Committee representatives Mr. Yergali Shiganbayev, Deputy 
Head of the Customs Control Organizing Department    and 
Mr. Kerimbekov also attended the meeting.  The purpose of 
the meeting was to introduce new EXBS Advisor Offenbacher 
to his counterparts in the Government of Kazakhstan and 
learn more about Kazakhstan's training program and 
equipment needs. 
 
5. On April 14, EXBS Advisor Offenbacher and EXBS Program 
Manager Abildaeva met with Mr. Mukhtar Makulbayev, Head of 
the Organizational Division of the Almaty Customs Control 
Office.  Also present at the meeting were Mr. Serik 
Sarsenov and Ms. Amina Askarova, Deputy Heads of the said 
office, as well as Mr. Ermek Smagulov of the Customs 
Control Committee headquarters in Astana.  The goal of the 
 
 
meeting was to shed light on the reasons for past equipment 
delivery delays and learn how to avoid them in the future. 
The customs representatives were helpful and patiently 
explained customs clearance procedures for US technical 
assistance shipments, including advice on how to facilitate 
the planned August 2005 delivery of three SafeBoats to the 
Marine Division of the Border Guard.  The EXBS advisor and 
program manager were encouraged to contact the office when 
questions arise. 
 
6. During the week of April 18, Michael Beck, Dmitry 
Nikonov and Michael Jasinski of the University of Georgia's 
Center for International Trade and Security (CITS) 
conducted an assessment of Kazakhstan's export control 
system.  The three CITS export control experts met with 
government officials, NGO representatives, and industry 
contacts in Astana and Almaty.  The EXBS advisor 
accompanied the group to their meetings in Almaty on April 
18 and 19.  The CITS group expressed the opinion that their 
meetings were productive and the information they received 
would be useful for their assessment. 
 
7. On April 27, the EXBS advisor attended a meeting the 
Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) held with 
representatives of the Atomic Energy Committee of 
Kazakhstan and the non-governmental Nuclear Technology 
Safety Center.  The DTRA team was headed by International 
Conterproliferation Program (ICP) Policy Analyst Kathryn 
Ducceschi.  The purpose of the meeting was to determine the 
types of radiation detection equipment needed by Kazakhstan 
to establish an effective radiological investigative 
response capability. 
 
During the meeting, EXBS Advisor Offenbacher spoke with Ms. 
Ducceschi and was told about DTRA ICP's planned activities 
in Kazakhstan, including the upcoming Radiation Detection 
and Response course to be held in September.  Offenbacher 
also inquired about what to do with 96 evidence kits given 
to the EXBS by DTRA in early 2003.  It was decided that the 
kits will be distributed to Kazakhstani agencies, primarily 
the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Customs. 
 
B.  TRAINING DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
1. April 7-8 - Three export control specialists from the 
U.S. Department of Commerce / Bureau of Industry and 
Trade's Office of International Programs conducted a 
development conference for a Product Identification Tool 
(PIT) in Astana.  The two-day event initiated the PIT 
software development project and was attended by 
representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and 
the Customs Control Committee of Kazakhstan. 
 
The level of interest in the PIT program was high and many 
questions were posed during the conference.  An official 
response from the Customs Control Committee was received in 
early May in which the Committee states that it considers 
the PIT program to be useful and necessary for its work. 
 
2. April 11-14 - Commonwealth Training Partners conducted a 
Targeting and Risk Management workshop at the Dostyk Hotel 
in Almaty.  The workshop was attended by twenty-three 
officials and aimed to improve the ability of customs 
officers to identify high-risk shipments. 
 
The workshop was well received and provided a large amount 
of information to Kazakhstani customs employees on how to 
deal with the threat of WMD and dual-use material 
proliferation.  The EXBS advisor spoke with several 
participants to solicit their opinions of the training and 
received unequivocally positive responses.  A desire was 
expressed to incorporate more practical exercises in future 
trainings, perhaps even conducting the training at 
 
 
international customs ports in the regions. 
 
C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD. 
 
1. April 18-22 - EXBS Program Manager Gulnara Abildaeva 
traveled to Aktau to hand over $300,000 in parts and 
equipment for the SeaArk boat to the Marine Division of the 
Kazakhstani Border Guard.  Border Guard Marine Division 
Commander Kenjemergen Abikeyev was somewhat disappointed 
after reviewing the spare parts and discovering that there 
was no diesel generator included in the shipment.  He 
emphasized that it is very important to receive a new 
generator for the nine-year-old SeaArk boat.  Commander 
Abikeyev also expressed a desire for the parts to be 
installed by qualified technicians. 
 
Ms. Abildaev traveled to Bautino from Aktau to conduct an 
inventory of EXBS equipment and determine mooring points 
for the three EXBS-funded SafeBoats scheduled to be 
delivered in September.  Commander Abikeyev pointed out 
that in order to properly maintain the three SafeBoats it 
will be necessary to install lifts and a construct a boat 
repair facility in Bautino. 
 
D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE. 
 
1. May 17-18 - The Department of Energy/National Nuclear 
Security Administration's (DOE/NNSA) International 
Nonproliferation Export Control Program (INECP) will 
conduct a seminar on export controls and internal 
compliance at the Stepnogorsk Mining-Chemical Combine. 
 
2. May 23-27 - DOE/NNSA/INECP will hold an instructors 
training workshop in Almaty for technical experts involved 
in the development of Commodity Identification Training. 
 
3. In May, EXBS Kazakhstan will receive two shipments for 
DOE/NNSA's Office of International Radiological Threat 
Reduction.  One is for the Cooperative Radiological 
Instrument Transfer (CRITr) project and the other is for 
the Search and Secure program. 
 
E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, 
NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY. 
 
1. None. 
 
III. RED FLAG ISSUES. 
 
1. None. 
 
ORDWAY 
 
 
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