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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALMATY 000379 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE), EUR/PPD (JBASEDOW), EUR/ACE 
(ESMITH/JMCKANE), DRL/PHD (CKUCHTA-HELBLING) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO KDEM KZ
SUBJ:  KAZAKHSTAN:  JANUARY 27 MEDIA ROUNDUP 
 
Ref:  A) Almaty 49; B) Almaty 158; C) 05 Almaty 4175; D) 05 
 
Almaty 3453 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  This is the latest in a series of cables 
reporting on developments among Kazakhstan's media.  On 
January 1 the Dauir printing firm refused to print several 
opposition newspapers, due to what Dauir said was the need 
to swap out its equipment.  Vremya Print, which had printed 
the papers until September 26, 2005, took over as printer. 
Respublika won the legal right to publish its Assandi Times 
version, while fighting another court action to close down 
its current owner.  Television stations ignored opposition 
leader Galymzhan Zhakiyanov's January 15 homecoming and his 
January 17 press conference.  The majority shareholder of 
the highest circulation weekly newspaper Vremya was 
reportedly pressured to sell his shares to an alleged front 
man for Marat Tazhin, the President's deputy head of 
administration.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, the opposition leader who 
spent more than three and a half years in prison on 
politically-motivated charges, arrived at a train station 
in Almaty on January 15 to a hero's welcome from a crowd of 
300-600 people (Ref B).  Western wire services and local 
newspapers provided broad coverage of the event, but no 
Kazakhstani television station covered it.  There was also 
no local coverage of Zhakiyanov's January 17 press 
conference even though more than 10 TV crews were pressed 
into the standing room only event.  Gul'zhan Yergaliyeva, 
editor of opposition weekly Svoboda Slova, questioned why 
the TV crews showed up, adding that she knew they would not 
report on the event. 
 
Assandi Times, aka Respublika, Wins One in Court 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3. (U) Respublika, the opposition paper registered 
simultaneously under several different names, won a court 
victory on January 18, when the Supreme Court ruled against 
the Information Ministry's order to liquidate the paper's 
Assandi Times version.  However, on September 26, the 
Almaty procurator declared that all issues of Respublika, 
including the versions known as Syet.kz; Ekonomika, Finasy, 
Rynki; Pyatoye Izmereniye; and Assandi Times, were illegal 
and subject to confiscation.  Separate appeals were filed 
for all versions and Assandi Times was the last on the 
list.  The others were all liquidated. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In an interview with the opposition website 
kub.kz, independent journalist Sergey Duvanov said he 
believes Assandi Times won its case only because the 
presidential elections were over.  In his view, the paper 
had lost its pre-election significance when it was a 
campaign tool for the opposition.  Emboff asked Respublika 
lawyer Sergey Utkin why the Assandi Times had been allowed 
to publish, while other versions had not.  He said he did 
not know the reason, and was puzzled by the decision. 
 
Latest Move in Respublika's Ownership Shell Game 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5. (U) Meanwhile, the Astana procurator's office has filed 
a lawsuit in Almaty's inter-district economic court to 
close down the owner of Respublika's latest version, 
"Pravo. Ekonomika. Politika. Kultura." (PEPK).  The legal 
owner of PEPK is a public foundation known as "The Public 
Committee for the Fight against Corruption."  The 
procurator alleges the foundation engaged in activities 
inappropriate for an NGO, and that are rightfully the tasks 
of law enforcement agencies.  If the procurator wins the 
lawsuit against the foundation, then by law the 
registration certificate for PEPK would be annulled, and 
PEPK would have to stop publishing. 
 
¶6. (U) To prevent that possibility, PEPK editors persuaded 
the foundation before the new year to transfer ownership to 
PEPK's editorial offices.  As required by law, they duly 
informed the Information Ministry of the ownership transfer 
in an open letter to Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, the newly 
 
ALMATY 00000379  002 OF 003 
 
 
appointed Minister of Culture, Information and Sport, in an 
open letter on the front page of PEPK's January 20 issue. 
 
Vremya Print Gets Opposition Papers back from Dauir Print 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶7. (U) Dauir Print, the printing house reputedly owned by 
Svetlana Nazarbayeva, the President's sister-in-law, 
stopped printing several opposition newspapers on January 
¶1.  The company said the action was necessary to swap out 
its equipment.  Kazakhstani media rights advocates and the 
U.S. media advocacy organization Committee to Protect 
Journalists argued the real reason was to stop publishing 
newspapers that often criticized President Nazarbayev. 
 
¶8. (U) Vremya Print, part of the holding company of the 
weekly newspaper by the same name, took over printing 
Svoboda Slova, Apta KZ and Epokha; Business Info took over 
printing PEPK.  As reported Ref C, Vremya Print had printed 
opposition papers until September 26, when opposition 
editors claim the firm was pressured by authorities into 
refusing the print contracts. 
 
Administration Allegedly Behind Take-Over of Vremya 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) Vremya's deputy editor-in-chief Marat Asipov told 
emboff January 26 that Nulzhan Subhanberdin, the paper's 
majority shareholder and director of Kazkommertsbank (KKB), 
was pressured into selling his share to a "front man" for 
Marat Tazhin, the deputy head of the presidential 
administration.  When pressed, he declined to name the 
buyer, and said only that it was a name not known in the 
media community.  (Comment: While Asipov's allegation that 
Tazhin is the real owner cannot be verified, the desire to 
own such a prize media property as Vremya is 
understandable.  Vremya has the highest circulation 
(180,000) of any newspaper in Kazakhstan.  It is judged by 
media peers to have the most professional reporters and 
highest reportorial ethics and standards.  End comment.) 
 
¶10. (SBU) The players and the plays in the Vremya buyout 
follow the Karavan scenario of the late 1990's.  Before 
founding Vremya in 1999, editor-in-chief Igor Meltzer 
headed the tabloid Karavan (circulation 220,000), which was 
likewise an influential and respected news outlet under his 
stewardship.  In 1997 Rakhat Aliyev, then-head of the tax 
police and husband of Dariga Nazarbayeva, the President's 
eldest daughter, bought Karavan.  He subsequently turned it 
into a pro-government, anti-opposition tabloid. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Asipov said he anticipates the new owner wants 
"to turn Vremya into another Karavan."  Asipov said Meltzer 
has already registered a new publication with the 
Information Ministry, and is ready to start a new paper if 
Vremya's new owner tries to exert too much control.  Though 
not willing to speculate too far in advance, Asipov 
believes the prospective publication would be printed by 
Vremya Print, in which Subhanberdin retains his majority 
stake. 
 
¶12. (SBU) COMMENT:  The Assandi Times court victory is a 
positive development.  However, Kazakhstani authorities 
show no signs of relinquishing their influence over media. 
The television blackouts of opposition leader Zhakiyanov's 
return and first press conference indicate the 
administration's willingness to interfere with broadcast 
media.  Regarding Vremya, the allegation that Presidential 
advisor Tazhin is the paper's new owner remains 
unsubstantiated.  It's also unclear if the buyout of the 
newspaper is an attempt to bring it under government 
control. Should the latter turn out to be the case, Vremya 
editor Meltzer will probably start up a new paper, most 
likely with financial backing from Subhandberdin.  Meltzer 
has shown in the past that he is gifted at -starting up 
profitable, informative, and entertaining newspapers that 
also present a variety of views to their readership.  End 
comment. 
 
 
ALMATY 00000379  003 OF 003 
 
 
Ordway