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 001372 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TASHKENT FOR EPUTNAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECONOMIC
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN ENVIRONMENT UPDATE MARCH 31, 2006 
 
¶1.   Summary:  This information is drawn primarily from the 
Kazakhstani press and has not yet been verified.  The opinions 
expressed in this report, therefore, should not be interpreted 
as official positions and/or policy of the U.S. Government. 
 
-- Kazakhstan Bans Waterfowl Hunting For Fear Of Bird Flu 
-- New Scientific Research Complex To Be Built In Astana 
-- New Ecological Code To Be Adopted in QIV, 2006 
-- China Prepares New Project on Use of Ile River Water 
-- "Kazzink" JSC to Build Copper Plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk 
-- Number of Saiga Antelope in Kazakhstan Has Grown 
-- Floods Begin in Kazakhstan 
-- "Live Balkhash 2006" Ile-Balkhash Regatta to Start Apr 29 
-- Dead Swan Infected with Bird Flu Found in the West 
-- Plague Hits Poultry in South-East 
-- Southern Coast of Lake Balkhash May Become an Ecological 
   Catastrophe Zone 
-- Transboundary Shu River Changes Course 
-- President Nazarbayev Dismisses Minister of Environmental 
   Protection 
-- Environmental Prosecutor's Office Takes Action Against 
   Tengizchevroil 
-- Cosmic Flight Observation Center Opens in Kazakhstan 
 
Kazakhstan Bans Waterfowl Hunting For Fear Of Bird Flu 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶1. According to the Chairman of the Health Ministry's Committee for 
Forestry and Hunting, Nauryzbay Khadayrkeyev, waterfowl hunting 
has been banned in Kazakhstan from March 1st to May 15th in 
order to prevent the bird flu from spreading. A separate TV 
report also said that a working group had been set up to 
coordinate preventive measures. (BBC Monitoring Central Asia, 
Khabar Agency, February 28, 2006) 
 
New Scientific Research Complex to Be Built In Astana 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2. The government recently discussed developing biotechnologies in 
Astana, where the construction of a scientific research complex 
will begin in the near future. Medical, agricultural and 
environmental facilities are planned for construction and 
according to experts, 10 high priority research topics have 
already been determined. Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov stated 
that it is necessary to have negotiations with foreign 
specialists. A recent decision provides the allocation of 
additional funding for new laboratory equipment and improved 
conditions for scientists (Khabar Agency, March 1, 2006) 
 
New Ecological Code To Be Adopted in Q4, 2006 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3. The Vice-Minister of the Environment, Zhambyl Bekzhanov, stated 
during the March 13, 2006 public hearings that a new Ecological 
Code may be adopted in QIV, 2006. The main goal of the 
Ecological Code is to reform Kazakhstan's ecological 
legislation in compliance with EU standards and is intended to 
regulate the legal mechanisms that implement state 
environmental policy. 
¶4. According to the Environmental Minister, Kamaltin Mukhamedzhanov, 
effective economic levers, prevention of ecological violations 
and introduction of advanced technologies will replace direct 
command and control regulatory system and punitive penalties. 
Standards of natural management will take into account not only 
human security, but also the security of animals, plants and 
the ecosystem as a whole. The law also envisages requiring the 
obligatory utilization of wastes from hazardous industries 
(Egemen Kazakhstan, Express K, Izvestiya, Khabar Agency, March 
14, 2006; Kazakhstan Today, March 13, 2006). 
China Prepares New Project on Use of Ile River Water 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
¶5. According to Talgat Baimukhambetov, a Kazinform correspondent in 
China, a project has been prepared in the Xinjiang Uygur 
Autonomous Region of China to develop desert lands using water 
from the Ile River that flows from China to Kazakhstan. 
Specialists have completed the project feasibility study and 
have determined 14 experimental zones of developing land and 
natural resources. The cost of the project is estimated at 
12,296 billion yuans and envisages expanding the area of arable 
lands by 353,000 hectares. The total area of the lands to be 
developed amounts to 731,000 hectares and covers the territory 
of seven districts and part of the lands of the Labor Army of 
China (Kazinform, March 10, 2006). 
"Kazzink" JSC to Build Copper Plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
¶6. "Kazzink" JSC authorities have proposed the construction of copper 
and electrolysis plants on their territory, which will allow a 
reduction of sulfur dioxide, dust, lead and other harmful 
emissions by 13,000 tons a year by using a hermetically sealed 
technological processes. The new project will permit balancing 
ore-dressing possibilities with metallurgical capacities. The 
plant will produce additional metals, provide a way to utilize 
industrial wastes and exclude contamination of surface water 
(Express K, March 1, 2006). 
Number of Saiga Antelope in Kazakhstan Has Grown 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
¶7. The Committee on Forestry and Game Husbandry noted during the 
expanded meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture that, due to 
the efforts from state agencies, the number of saiga antelope 
had grown from 18,400 to 39,600 (Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, March 
2, 2006). 
Floods Begin in Kazakhstan 
-------------------------- 
¶8. Kazakhstan Today reported that on March 11, 2006 there was a 
windstorm in the Eastern Kazakhstan Oblast and, as a 
consequence, 15 districts lost electricity. The material damage 
is being calculated and no information about victims has been 
reported (gazeta, kz, March 16, 2006) 
"Live Balkhash 2006" Ile-Balkhash Regatta to Start Apr 29 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
¶9.  The sixth international Ile-Balkhash regatta "Live Balkhash 2006" 
will start on the Ile River on April 29. The goal of the event 
is to attract the attention of the GOK as well as public and 
neighboring states to the problem of water usage from trans- 
boundary rivers and reservoirs, while preserving biodiversity 
of the Ile-Balkhash ecosystem and developing tourism and 
sports. The length of the regatta is 900 km. 
¶10. According to the Chairman of the "Tabigat" PA, M. Eleusizov, only 
70 people participated in the regatta 6 years ago; this year 
they expect 50 teams with more that a thousand participants. 
The total area of the Ile-Balkhash basin ecosystem in 
Kazakhstan is 353000 sq. km and the Ile river measures 815 km 
in length. The sustainability of the Ile-Balkhash basin and its 
ecosystem depends on the volume of water flowing in the Ile 
river from the Chinese territory (Interfax-Kazakhstan, March 
15, 2006) 
Dead Swan Infected with Bird Flu Found in the West 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶11. The Ministry of Agriculture released an official statement that 
the dead swan found near Aktau was infected from virus H5N1. 
The Chief Veterinarian of the RK, Asylbek Kozhamuratov, 
reported that all poultry in the Mangystau Oblast has been 
vaccinated. The Kurgaldzhino Lakes in the Akmola Oblast, where 
many migrating birds stay, are currently under observation 
(Khabar, March 23, 2006). 
Plague Hits Poultry in South-East West 
-------------------------------------- 
¶12. The deputy head of the region's sanitary and epidemiology service 
Galiya Abdrakhmanova, said that dead poultry was found 
yesterday in the yards of two houses in the Maylybay village in 
the Yenbekshikazakh District (Almaty Oblast). Experts took 
samples of the poultry and sent them to the regional veterinary 
laboratory in Almaty, where preliminary reports indicate that 
the cause of death was Newcastle disease. The poultry farms 
have since been disinfected and the dead birds destroyed. 
(Interfax-Kazakhstan, March 23, 2006). 
Southern Coast of Lake Balkhash May Become an Ecological Catastrophe 
Zone 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------------- 
¶13. A massive fish kill was registered in the Ile river this spring. 
For several years, experts have been noticing a lowering of the 
water level in the river and this spring the water failed to 
reach even the minimum level that was needed to cover the river 
delta that serves as a spawning area. Now, the maximum depth of 
the river hardly reaches 2 meters. Experts believe that to 
prevent salinization and  desertification of the Ile-Balkhash 
region, it is necessary to urgently regulate the discharge of 
water from the Kapshagai HES and adopt an intergovernmental 
conservation agreement for the Ile river. Otherwise, the 
largest artery of Semirechye threatens to become a zone of 
ecological catastrophy (Khabar Agency, March 23, 2006). 
Transboundary Shu River Changes Course 
-------------------------------------- 
¶14. Hundreds of hectares of land have appears on the territory of 
Kyrgyzstan as a result of new stream deflectors on the Kyrgyz 
side of the Shu river, which have sharply changed its 
watercourse. Consequently, the property of some Kazakhstani 
citizens turned out to be located in Kyrgyzstan, as the border 
between the two republics passes along the river. Local 
authorities in Kazakhstan tried to take preventive measures and 
build equilvalent stream deflectors on the Kazakhstani side, 
but the funds allowed for only 2 km of dams. The heads of the 
Shu-Talas Water Basin Administration reminded the Water Economy 
Department of Kyrgyzstan about the intergovernmental agreement, 
which clearly states that bank protection projects for 
transboundary rivers must be completed in agreement with 
Kazakhstan (Khabar Agency, March 23, 2006). 
President Nazarbayev Dismisses Minister of Environmental Protection 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
¶15. The Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbaev signed a decree 
removing Environment Protection Minister Kamaltin 
Mukhamedzhanov from office. The press release reads that he was 
dismissed "in pursuance of his resignation" (Interfax- 
Kazakhstan, March 28, 2006) 
Environment Prosecutor's Office Has Taken Action Against 
Tengizchevroil 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
¶16. The Environment Prosecutor's Office has filed a suit against 
Tengizchevroil after it was revealed that Tengizchevroil had 
exceeded its atmospheric emissions quota. Current Kazakhstani 
law stipulates fines of ten times the official emission rate. 
According to the Environment Prosecutor's Assistance, Nargiz 
Abdulla, Tengizchevroil refused to pay a fine of 750 million 
tenge despite the fact that Kazakhstan has the lowest rate for 
hazardous emissions (Vremya, March 30, 2006). 
Cosmic Flight Observation Center Opens in Kazakhstan 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
¶17. Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov opened a new Cosmic Flight 
Observation Center in Astana on March 29, 2006. The Center was 
established by Federal State Unitary Enterprise of the Russian 
Scientific-Research Institute for Instrumentation Technology by 
order of the "Kazkosmos" company. The Center will allow the 
flight of the launch vehicle to be controlled on-line by 
receiving satellite information on the state of lands and 
ecology, and forecasting sustainability information. 
(Interfax.kz, March 30, 2006)