VZCZCXRO0226
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTA #2007/01 1580422
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070422Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ALMATY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5650
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1590
RUEHAST/USOFFICE ASTANA
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2113

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALMATY 002007 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CACEN (JMUDGE), SCA/PPD (JBASEDOW), EUR/ACE 
(ESMITH/JMCKANE), DRL/PHD (CKUCHTA-HELBLING) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO KDEM KZ
SUBJ:  KAZAKHSTAN:  NEW OWNER OF POPULAR WEEKLY CEDES 
CONTROL TO EDITOR 
 
Ref:  Almaty 379 
 
ALMATY 00002007  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In mid-May, the publisher of the 
country's most popular newspaper, Vremya, announced "a new 
concept" for the paper, prompting the resignation of editor 
Igor Meltser and his entire staff of reporters.  Bigeldin 
Gabdullin, the new editor, published two issues conforming 
to the "more patriotic" tone desired by the publisher, 
while subscriptions dropped 14 percent.  On May 31, a new 
buyer purchased the paper and convinced Meltser and his 
team to return by promising not to interfere in the 
editorial policy.  Meltser registered a new publication 
back in January (reftel) and is ready to walk again if the 
current owner has a change of heart.  End summary. 
 
Meltser Crew Quits on Principle, Refuses Higher Salaries 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) For the past two weeks, Kazakhstan's media and 
media watchers have been riveted by a tug-of-war for 
editorial control of Vremya, the country's most popular 
newspaper. Vremya editor-in-chief Igor Meltser resigned in 
mid-May rather than implement the publisher's "new concept" 
for the weekly. Bigeldin Gabdullin, chief editor of another 
weekly, the Central Asia Monitor, was appointed in his 
place to tone down the paper's critical, satiric edge and 
make it "more patriotic." Gabdullin's comments in a May 22 
interview with pro-government Megapolis that the paper had 
"depleted itself" to the point that it was "practically 
about nothing" prompted the paper's Almaty correspondents 
to quit in disgust. In the same interview, Gabdullin said 
that "a newspaper's brand is its staff" and that the owner 
had tried to persuade Meltser and his team of journalists 
to stay by offering higher salaries.  (Meltser himself told 
emboff June 1 that the publisher offered to double or even 
triple salaries.)  With Gabdullin at the helm, the paper 
lost several advertisers and about 25,000 of its 180,000 
subscribers. 
 
Vremya Sold to New Owner, Editor Offered Free Reign 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3. (U) Then on May 31, Meltser and his staff returned to 
Vremya after the paper had been abruptly sold to a new 
owner who promised Meltser complete editorial independence. 
Altyn House, a front company for the previous owner, 
provided a statement to the Interfax news agency that the 
previous owner decided on May 30 to sell 77.5 percent of 
its shares to another, unnamed company. According to 
Interfax's reporting on the statement, the buyer agreed 
only on condition that Meltser and his team return. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In the June 1 conversation with emboff, Meltser 
said "unexpected" did not come close to describing his 
surprise at the abrupt change in owners and the offer of 
full editorial control.  When Vremya's former owners, 
Kazkommertsbank director Nulzhan Subhanberdin and Bulat 
Abilov, sold their controlling share in December (reftel), 
Altyn House first asked Meltser to stay and he agreed, on 
condition that he would have full editorial autonomy to run 
the paper as he saw fit. He said that around May 19, a 
representative of Altyn House paid him a visit and said 
they wanted to install an "owner's representative" and that 
it wanted to change the paper "a little." Meltser 
immediately resigned, and said he was ready to forget about 
Vremya and start the new paper he had already registered 
with the Information Ministry. Meltser said that on May 30, 
"people from another organization" told  him they would buy 
Vremya from Altyn House, but only if he and the old Vremya 
team returned to their jobs. He agreed, he said, because he 
saw a tough time ahead in trying to quickly establish his 
new project.  When asked what guarantees the buyer offered 
him, Meltser said only that at the first sign of 
interference he would walk away again. 
 
What is Presidential Adviser Tazhin's Role? 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The new buyer's identity is not publicly known, 
and if Meltser knows who it is, he is not saying. As for 
the December buyer, deputy editor Marat Asipov told emboff 
in a May 23 conversation it was Kazakhmys, the copper 
conglomerate that purportedly has close ties to the 
president. Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan leader Galymzhan 
 
ALMATY 00002007  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Zhakiyanov told emboff May 31 that the December buyer was 
more precisely Kazakhmys vice president Vladimir Ni, an 
ethnic Korean who served many years in the Presidential 
Administration. (Comment: Kazakhmys, the tenth largest 
copper company in the world, had a very successful IPO in 
London in December 2005, and its share price has more than 
doubled since then. Kazakhmys was probably motivated to 
unload a relatively minor investment embroiled in a 
controversy that could reflect on the company. End 
comment.) Asipov also said Meltser and Boris Kopelman, the 
general director of Vremya Print, told him that Security 
Council Secretary Marat Tazhin had coerced the sale because 
Tazhin wanted the paper to be in the hands of an 
administration-friendly owner before the next round of 
elections. Tazhin himself told Ambassador Ordway in January 
that he had nothing to do with the sale and said with 
evident regret that the paper was unlikely to survive in 
its present form. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Tazhin's name came up in connection with 
Gabdullin's appointment as the interim editor and as the 
new buyer. In another conversation June 1 Zhakiyanov told 
emboff that it was Tazhin who persuaded Gabdullin in mid- 
May to take over as Vremya editor - a job that no other 
newsman would dare take on - and that Gabdullin had to 
agree because he had few other options. (Note: Gabdullin 
was once close to former prime minister and Nazarbayev 
rival Akezhan Kazhegeldin and fled to the United States 
several years ago after being accused of bribery. He 
returned to Kazakhstan in the fall of 2004 and was rumored 
to have "cut a deal" with Tazhin in return for immunity 
from prosecution. End note.) Yermurat Bapi, editor of the 
banned Zhuma Times opposition weekly, suggested to emboff 
that Tazhin bought Vremya because Gabdullin was destroying 
Vremya by alienating its journalists, while generating 
publicity that would almost guarantee the success of 
Meltser's new project. 
 
A Victory for Free Speech or a Strategic Compromise? 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7. Comment. (SBU) At face value, the buyer's concession to 
give Meltser editorial independence seems to support free 
speech, especially given Vremya's reputation for 
investigative journalism. Meltser has in the past stood 
firm in publishing articles on corruption among government 
officials. However, some analysts suggest the paper has had 
to make concessions of its own. Zhakiyanov told emboff that 
Vremya almost ignored the 2005 presidential elections 
because Meltser had been warned off by the paper's owner at 
the time. As Meltser himself told emboff June 1, "no 
newspaper can be successful without making some 
compromises," a reference perhaps to the need for self 
censorship when covering the activities of a powerful 
administration still coming to terms with the concept of 
media independence. Given Vremya's high profile and the 
very public denouement of staff resignations and reversals, 
media analysts in Kazakhstan will be scrutinizing the paper 
for any telltale signs of editorial shift. End comment. 
 
Ordway