This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALMATY 000546 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR ISN/ECC PVANSON, ACHURCH, ACUMMINGS 
CBP/INA FOR PWARKER AND CDONOFRIO 
USDOE/NNSA FOR TPERRY 
DEPT FOR EUR/ACE 
DEPT FOR SCA/CA 
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 
(DECEMBER 2005 / JANUARY 2006) 
 
¶I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: 
 
     ¶1. EXBS program Advisor Offenbacher was in the United 
States for training and annual leave for much of the month 
of December.  He also spent the first half of January in 
the US on leave and consultations. 
 
II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED 
 
     ¶1. December 7-12 - Two Bechtel Nevada representatives 
performed regularly scheduled maintenance on Kazakhstan's 
two x-ray vans at the Kordai and Zhibek Zholy ports of 
entry.  The van at Zhibek Zholy (near Shymkent) was 
successfully repaired and is once again operational. 
 
     ¶2. Week of December 12 - EXBS Almaty assisted Ned 
Hubbard and Fred Fetty by arranging visa support, hotel 
reservations and ground transportation for their trip to 
Aktobe, Kazakhstan to work on an Aviation Interdiction 
Program contract for Kyrgyzstan. 
 
     ¶3. December 12-14 - Rossitza Petrov and Douglas Evans 
represented Commonwealth Trading Partners (CTP) on a 
project review trip to Astana.  The two discussed progress 
to date on the customization of the Product Identification 
Tool (PIT) and identified a path forward to prevent 
additional delays in implementing the project.  The review 
meetings were held in lieu of the originally scheduled PIT 
instructor training due to the local contractor's inability 
to customize the PIT software in time. 
 
     ¶4. December 12-16 - Advisor Offenbacher attended a 
week-long Intermediate Leadership Skills course at the 
Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia. 
 
     ¶5. January 9-13 - Advisor Offenbacher held 
consultations in Washington DC to discuss programs in the 
coming year with representatives of a number of 
governmental agencies (DOE/NNSA, DOC/BIS, USCG, DHS/CBP, 
DTRA) and several nongovernmental organizations (Center for 
Nonproliferation Studies, Center for International Trade 
and Security, Commonwealth Trading Partners). 
 
     ¶6. January 23-24 - EXBS program advisor accompanied a 
DOD delegation to Atyrau for meetings with Kazakhstan's 
Navy and Maritime Division of the Border Service.  The DOD 
group was largely comprised of a DTRA Weapons of Mass 
Destruction Proliferation Prevention Initiative (WMD-PPI) 
delegation, but also included representatives from Central 
Command Counternarcotics, OSD Policy and Naval Facilities 
Engineering Command.  Embassy Almaty was represented by 
Scott Waldo of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement 
(INL), Ted Donnelly of the Office of Military Cooperation 
(OMC) and Laura Smiley of DTRA.  The WMD-PPI agreement was 
signed by the Kazakhstanis last year and a large part of 
the meetings was focused on the delegation's desire to gain 
a better understanding of Kazakhstan's capabilities on the 
Caspian. 
 
During the meetings, both Admiral Komratov of the Navy and 
Captain Soyunov of the Maritime Border Guard provided 
information about their capabilities and spoke about their 
plans for the future.  Although the roles and 
responsibilities of the Navy and Border Service are not yet 
well defined--in no small part due to the uncertain legal 
status of the Caspian--the Government of Kazakhstan 
currently gives all operational tasks to the Border 
Service, as the Navy does not yet possess any boats. 
 
The two days of meetings provided an excellent opportunity 
for the various U.S. agencies with an interest in Caspian 
security to interact with each other and the Kazakhstanis. 
On the second day, the group was given a tour of the 
Maritime Border Service's river patrol base and boat repair 
facility.  The group was originally scheduled to fly onward 
to Atkau to tour several Border Guard and Naval facilities 
there, but the trip was cut short due to an airport closure 
caused by extremely cold weather. 
 
     ¶7. January 30 - Scott Waldo of Embassy Almaty's INL 
office and Advisor Offenbacher met with Mike Roesner and 
Commander Scott Donaldson of Central Command's 
Counternarcotics program to discuss CentCom's proposal to 
construct a port facility which would be shared by 
Kazakhstan's Navy and Border Service.  It was agreed that 
the facility should be built in Bautino, if possible, to 
take advantage of its relative isolation and strategic 
location in the middle of Kazakhstan's Caspian coast.  The 
draft statement of work describes the port facility as 
including, among other things, a pier or quay wall, a boat 
ramp, barracks, an operations center and a maintenance 
building with an overhead crane.  Several rigid inflatable 
boats (RIBs) would be provided for interdiction purposes on 
both the Caspian and its tributaries. 
 
Commander Donaldson and Mr. Roesner plan to travel to 
Aktau/Bautino this spring as they were unable to visit 
these potential port sites during the January 23-24 trip to 
Atyrau described above. 
 
The port facility would be a boon for both Kazakhstan's 
Navy and Maritime Border Guard.  The imminent delivery of 
the EXBS-provided SAFE boats to Bautino (see section D 
below) makes CentCom's proposal very timely, as the new 
infrastructure could potentially be used to house and 
maintain the three 42-foot boats. 
 
¶B.  TRAINING DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
     ¶1. January 24-26 - Sakhip Zhubanishev of the Industry 
and Scientific Technical Development Committee of 
Kazakhstan's Ministry of Industry and Trade participated in 
an EXBS-funded National Control List workshop in Biskek, 
Kyrygyzstan. 
 
¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
     ¶1. A replacement Kohler diesel generator for the 
Kazakhstani Maritime Border Guard's Sea Ark boat was 
shipped to Aktau from Almaty in December.  Upon receiving 
the generator, the Kazakhstanis expressed some concern that 
the air-cooled model was not appropriate for the Sea Ark 
and that a water-cooled generator should have been 
supplied.  The EXBS Regional Maritime office in Baku 
facilitated the procurement and is looking into a possible 
retrofit to address the issue. 
 
¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE 
 
     ¶1. The three long-awaited SAFE boats procured by the 
U.S. Coast Guard for Kazakhstan's Maritime Border Guard are 
currently in Poti, Georgia, where they have been for most 
of January.  Although the inclement weather in the Caucasus 
has precluded their delivery to Baku, EXBS Almaty is 
hopeful the boats will soon be moving eastward again and 
will reach their final destination in Bautino, Kazakhstan 
by the end of February.  A turnover ceremony with broad 
Kazakhstani and U.S. participation has been scheduled for 
March 16 in Bautino, near Aktau. 
 
VSE, the transportation company handling the boats' 
delivery, and the Baku-based EXBS Maritime Regional 
Advisor's office are working to ensure that the boats 
arrive safely in Bautino.  EXBS Almaty continues to assist 
with a range of planning issues related to both the boats' 
impending delivery and the March turnover ceremony.  A 
diplomatic note was sent in January to request multiple- 
entry visas for EXBS Baku personnel, and a second was sent 
to request access to port facilities in both Aktau and 
Bautino.  More diplomatic notes will be sent when the 
boats' delivery date is clear. 
 
     ¶2. An International Border Interdiction Training 
(IBIT 1) course has been scheduled for sixteen of 
Kazakhstan's customs and border guard officials.  The 
training will be conducted from July 17-21 in Hidalgo, 
Texas.  EXBS Almaty has requested the participation of 
instructors from the Customs and Border Guard Academies in 
an effort to encourage the Kazakhstanis to incorporate the 
techniques and skills they learn into their national 
training programs. 
 
¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, 
NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY 
 
     ¶1. There has been quite a lot of reshuffling at the 
ministries in Astana of late.  One salient change for the 
EXBS program is the appointment of former Deputy Foreign 
Minister Askar Shakirov to the post of Customs Control 
Committee Chairman.  Whether he will be successful in 
reigning in the pervasive corruption within customs remains 
to be seen. 
 
     ¶2. In January the local press reported on several 
incidents of bribe-taking at Kazakhstani ports of entry, 
including a sting operation by the National Security 
Committee that implicated a number of Kazakhstani customs 
officials on the Chinese border at Khorgos. 
 
¶F. CASPIAN SECURITY UPDATE 
 
     Please see section D, paragraph 1 above. 
 
III. RED FLAG ISSUES. 
 
     None. 
 
The point of contact for this report is Andrew S. 
Offenbacher, EXBS Advisor, OffenbacherAS@state.gov, tel: 
+7(3272)504-945, cell: +7(333)225-1156. 
 
ORDWAY