VZCZCXRO0157
RR RUEHDBU
DE RUEHTA #0078/01 2861155
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131155Z OCT 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7209
RUEAORC/US CUSTOMS SERVICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RULSJGA/COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHEBAAA/USDOE WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC
RUCQAAA/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0381
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 7730
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 7696
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU 0727
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1892
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 7041

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000078 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR ISN/ECC PVANSON, ACHURCH, JHARTSHORN 
DEPT FOR ISN/ECC-AMT LSPRINGER 
DEPT FOR EUR/ACE RBUCK 
DEPT FOR SCA/RA JSCHLOSSER 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN MO'MARA 
CBP/INA FOR CDONOFRIO AND RWATT 
USDOE/NNSA CWALKER, TPERRY AND EDESCHLER 
DOC FOR DCREED AND GPETERSEN-BEARD 
USCG FOR BGOLDEN 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN FOR CUSTOMS ATTACHE 
AMEMBASSY TASHKENT, BISHKEK, BAKU, DUSHANBE AND ASHGABAT FOR EXBS 
ADVISORS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC MNUC PARM PREL KSTC KNNP KZ
SUBJECT:  EXBS: KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR'S MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE 
(SEPTEMBER 2006) 
 
 
ASTANA 00000078  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: 
 
       ¶1. Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program 
Advisor Larry Adkins concluded his temporary duty assignment with 
EXBS Astana on October 2.  Larry's numerous and invaluable 
contributions to the EXBS office during his two-month-plus sojourn 
in Kazakhstan are highly appreciated. 
 
       ¶2. September marks the EXBS program office's final month in 
the interim Embassy Branch Office facility.  Beginning next month 
the program will operate from its office in the new embassy. 
 
       ¶3. The EXBS program office took receipt of three new 
workstations in September. 
 
 ¶4. EXBS Advisor Jim Kelly arrived in Astana on September 26 on a 
one-month TDY assignment. 
 
 ¶5. EXBS program staff composed a letter from Ambassador Ordway to 
Kazakhstani Customs Committee Chairman Askar Shakirov to gauge his 
interest in the State Department's Voluntary Visitor Program.  The 
letter was sent to Mr. Shakirov in late September; a response has 
not yet been received. 
 
 ¶6. The US Customs and Border Protection survey of the 
Kazakhstani-Russian frontier scheduled for November 6-17 has been 
postponed until late spring or summer 2007. 
 
II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED 
 
 ¶1. September 6-8 - EXBS Advisors Larry Adkins and Andrew 
Offenbacher drove the office's Nissan Pathfinder several hundred 
miles east to Sherbakty and Kosak, two border posts in neighboring 
Pavlodar region, to assess customs and border control procedures, 
and evaluate inspection techniques and equipment.  A report with a 
detailed summary of the findings is available upon request. 
 
 ¶2. September 12-19 - Two contractors working on the National 
Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Second Line of Defense 
(SLD) program conducted surveys at seven ports of entry on 
Kazakhstan's border with Krygyzstan and Uzbekistan.  The information 
from the survey will be used to develop a scope of work that will be 
used to guide the future installation of portal monitors at rail, 
vehicular and pedestrian crossings.  On September 12, the EXBS 
Advisor met with the two SLD contractors, representatives from 
Kazakhstani Customs, and other interested parties to discuss the 
project. 
 
The SLD implementing arrangement was signed on May 5, 2006, after 
approximately four years of negotiations.  The EXBS program office 
has been designated the embassy point of contact for the 
implementation stage of the SLD program and acts as a liaison 
between NNSA/SLD and Kazakhstan's Customs Control Committee. 
 
 ¶3. September 12 - EXBS Advisors Larry Adkins and Andrew Offenbacher 
met with General Alexei Artemchuk of Kazakhstan's Border Service to 
discuss the details of modular shelter and Ural truck procurements. 
 
 
       ¶4. September 22 - EXBS Advisor joined Political / Economic 
Section Chief Deborah Mennuti for a meeting with Talap Sakhtapov and 
Alexandra Vozhakova of Kazakhstani Customs to discuss the SLD 
 
ASTANA 00000078  002 OF 003 
 
 
project. 
 
 ¶5. September 26 - Commonwealth Trading Partner's (CTP) Molly Pyle 
visited the EXBS program office to discuss the next days' meetings 
on the Administrative Enforcement (AE) project.  The AE project was 
first proposed to Kazakhstan at a preparatory conference in July 
2005, and aims to improve the knowledge and skills of government 
officials in investigating and taking administrative action on 
non-criminal export control violations.  For several reasons--not 
the least of which was a change in CTP's local contractor--the 
project has not yet entered the implementation phase. 
 
 ¶6. September 27-28 - AE project meetings were held in Astana, 
during which a preliminary agreement was reached on target dates for 
the project's four stages, including the development of the course 
materials and instructor training.  Participants included CTP's 
Molly Pyle, several representatives from Kazakhstan's Customs 
Committee, a representative from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 
CTP's Kazakhstani subcontractor, and Vladimir Sidorenko of the 
Moscow-based Center on Export Controls.  Mr. Sidorenko's 
participation in the meetings was particularly beneficial - his NGO 
was responsible for the customization of the materials for the AE 
and Product Identification Tool projects in Russia and this allowed 
him to provide many valuable insights. 
 
¶B.  TRAINING DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
 ¶1. None. 
 
¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
       ¶1. On September 12 the EXBS office granted surplus computer 
equipment and furniture valued at $14,610 to the Border Control 
Management Faculty of the Military Institute in Almaty. 
 
       ¶2. Fast Response "Safe" Boat: replacement parts for a faulty 
air conditioning control card and a defective voltmeter were 
received by EXBS Astana in late September.  The parts will be 
delivered to the Border Guard's Maritime Division in Aktau during 
the meeting there scheduled for October 10. 
 
¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE 
 
 ¶1. October 3-5 - The Department of Energy/National Nuclear 
Administration's (DOE/NNSA) International Nonproliferation Export 
Control Program (INECP) will hold a workshop on export controls for 
biological research institutes.  The workshop aims to help the 
institutes better understand and comply with Kazakhstan's export 
control regulations.  Representatives of Kazakhstani nuclear 
enterprises will also attend the workshop; large companies such as 
Kazatomprom and the Ulba Metallurgical Plant will share their 
experience in implementing internal compliance programs with the 
less export-control savvy bio institutes. 
 
 ¶2. October 10 - EXBS Regional Maritime Advisor Mike Taffe will join 
EXBS Program Coordinator Gulnara Abildaeva and EXBS TDY Advisor Jim 
Kelly for a meeting with Kazakhstan's Maritime Border Guard Division 
to discuss a range of maritime issues related to pending deliveries 
and procurements, as well as the maintenance of EXBS-provided 
assets, including the three 42-foot fast response "safe" boats 
provided to Kazakhstan by the EXBS program earlier this year.  The 
team will also travel approximately 100 miles north of Aktau to the 
port of Bautino to visit the location of the three Safe Boats. 
 
 
ASTANA 00000078  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 ¶3. October 9-10 - The Monterey Institute's Center for 
Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) will host a two-day workshop in 
Almaty to discuss the implementation of UN Security Council 
Resolution 1540 in Central Asia and the Caucasus. 
 
 ¶4. October 31-November 2 - The DOE/NNSA's INECP will conduct a 
regional Internal Compliance Program workshop in Almaty. 
 
 ¶5. October 31-November 1 - EXBS Program Coordinator Gulnara 
Abildaeva will attend the second annual EXBS Program Workshop for 
Locally Employed Staff in Bratislava, Slovkia. 
 
 ¶6. November 6-10 - The Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Weapons of 
Mass Destruction Proliferation Prevention Initiative (DTRA WMD-PPI) 
will conduct a "Combating WMD Proliferation at Maritime Ports" 
training. 
 
 ¶7. Two $400,000 task orders for the procurement of four modular 
shelters and 11 high-clearance Ural trucks are in the process of 
being finalized.  The items will be provided to Kazakhstan's Border 
Service. 
 
¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR 
RELATED BORDER SECURITY 
 
       ¶1. The world's fifth nuclear-weapon-free zone was established 
in Central Asia on September 8, 2006 with the signing of a treaty by 
the foreign ministers of the five Central Asian states. 
 
¶F. CASPIAN SECURITY INFORMATION 
 
       ¶1. Please see paragraph C, item 2 and paragraph D, item 2 
above. 
 
III. RED FLAG ISSUES. 
 
       ¶1. None. 
 
The point of contact for this report is Andrew S. Offenbacher, EXBS 
Advisor, OffenbacherAS@state.gov, tel: +7(3172)70-21-00, ext. 2420; 
cell: +7(333)225-1156. 
 
MILAS