VZCZCXRO9323
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW
RUEHLA RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHROV
RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTA #2403/01 3400945
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050945Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4036
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 0894
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEAORC/US CUSTOMS SERVICE WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RULSJGA/COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 0376
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 0461
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC 0060
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1001

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 002403 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
DEPT FOR ISN/ECC: YWONG, ACHURCH, JHARTSHORN, SROBINSON 
DEPT FOR ISN/ECC-AMT: LSPRINGER 
DEPT FOR EUR/ACE: DFISCHER 
DEPT FOR SCA/RA: JSPILSBURY 
CBP/INA: SBAKER AND BPICKETT 
USDOE/NNSA: CWALKER, TPERRY, EDESCHLER 
DOC FOR DCREED 
USCG FOR SHABETIMICHAEL 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN FOR CUSTOMS ATTACHE 
AMEMBASSY TASHKENT, BISHKEK, BAKU, DUSHANBE AND ASHGABAT FOR EXBS 
ADVISORS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC MNUC KNNP KSTC KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  EXBS ADVISOR'S REPORTING CABLE (NOVEMBER 
2008) 
 
REF:  ASTANA 02298 
 
¶I.  BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: 
 
¶1.  (SBU) From November 10-14, the ninth session of the 
Kazakhstan-Russian demarcation commission took place 
in Almaty.  Discussed at this session was the determination of 
locations for the installation of border markers.  The 6,846 
kilometer border between Kazakhstan and Russia is the longest 
contiguous land-border between two countries in the world.  The 
demarcation commission has been discussing this issue as well as the 
locations for placement of border check points since the common 
boundary delimitation was agreed to in 2005.  The next meeting of 
this commission will be held in Russia during January 2009. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On November 5, a ceremony was held in Aktau to celebrate a 
new milestone in a multiyear joint project between the United States 
and the Republic of Kazakhstan 
to irreversibly decommission the Soviet-era BN-350 fast breeder 
reactor located at the Kazakhstani port of Aktau on the Caspian Sea. 
 The participating governments completed a sodium processing 
facility that will be used to dispose of coolant from the reactor 
core. This action demonstrates and reinforces the strength of the 
U.S.-Kazakhstani strategic relationship, and our joint commitment to 
preventing the proliferation of nuclear material (reftel). 
 
II.  COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
¶A.  SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On October 31, the EXBS advisor met with Major General 
Abdyrzak Iliyasov, Deputy Director of the Border Guard Service, Lt. 
Col Aidar Kapizov, Deputy Chief of the Border Cooperation Division, 
and Captain Sabyr Khassanov, Senior Navigator of the Sea Division. 
During this meeting, interlocutors told the EXBS advisor that a new 
Regional Coast Guard will be established in Aktau, and that Rear 
Admiral Kenzhemergen Abikeyev had been appointed to the position of 
Chief of the Maritime Border Guard Division and will be transferred 
to Astana. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On November 19, the EXBS advisor met in Almaty with 
Tatyana Colgan, Project Manager for Nuclear Materials and 
Engineering Analysis at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 
Discussions focused on planned International Nonproliferation Export 
Control Program assistance to Kazakhstan to improve Licensing, 
Enterprise, Enforcement and Commitment aspects of Kazakhstan's 
export control system.  These discussions included plans to hold an 
internal compliance program conference during 2009, install needed 
software upgrades of the automated licensing system called System To 
Review Kazakhstan Exports (STORKE), and develop Commodity 
Identification Training demonstration kits with associated training 
materials for use in indigenized training programs. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) On November 20-21, the EXBS team held a number of meetings 
concerning the specific training needs of the Customs officers in 
the field in the area of export control.  One-on-one meetings were 
held with senior representatives from various Kazakhstani Customs' 
offices including Karlygash Nusupekova (Instructor of the Customs 
Training and Methodological Center in Almaty), Major Aisulu 
Aldaniyazova (Senior Specialist of the Customs Control Organizing 
Department in the Aktyubinsk Region), Captain Rusian Zhumagulov 
(Senior Specialist in the Division for Customs Control Management of 
the Customs Control Committee) and Lt. Col Robert Yusupov (Chief of 
 
ASTANA 00002403  002 OF 003 
 
 
the Division for Customs Control Department in the Kostanai Region). 
 These discussions were very helpful and illustrated the need for a 
comprehensive indigenized training program. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) On November 20, the EXBS advisor and program manager met 
with the Ryspek Smakov, Chief of the Regional Customs Canine 
Training Center, and Otan Shekeev, Senior Specialist of the 
Radiological Control Section of the Customs Control Committee, in 
Almaty.  The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Department of 
Energy's Second Line of Defense program and the U.S.-sponsored 
training program for Customs officers on the use of Radiation Portal 
Monitors and related equipment that was being conducted at the 
Regional Customs Canine Training Center in Almaty from November 
17-21.  Subject matter experts from Pacific Northwest National 
Laboratory and ASPECT Company conducted this training course.  The 
EXBS advisor was given a tour of the facility and was able to 
conduct an inspection the modular shelters provided by EXBS in 2004. 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On November 21, the EXBS advisor and program managerQ sensors, radiation pagers, 
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) inspection toolkits and other 
contraband inspection toolkits used for a previous training course. 
 
¶B. TRAINING COURSES CONDUCTED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
¶8.  (SBU) On November 3-7, EXBS, in cooperation with the U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection's Office of International Affairs, 
sponsored five Kazakhstan Border Guards and six Kazakhstan Customs 
Officers to an "International Air Cargo Interdiction Training" 
(IACIT) workshop at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in 
Jamaica, New York. The IACIT course was designed to provide a 
hands-on training opportunity for Kazakhstani border guards and 
customs agencies in the detection, identification, and interdiction 
of contraband, with an emphasis on countering the cross-border 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and 
related materials.  Topics of the course included analysis of air 
cargo manifests, detection of data inconsistencies, and techniques 
for the evaluation of high-risk cargo and passenger processing. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) On November 10-14, the EXBS Advisor, Robert Colbert, and 
the EXBS Program Assistant, Elina Akhtiyarova, attended an Export 
Control Policy and Regimes seminar at University of Georgia's Center 
for International Trade & Security (CITS) at the Export Control 
Academy in Athens, Georgia. This seminar provided a comprehensive 
overview of export control concepts, issues, and standards from an 
 
ASTANA 00002403  003 OF 003 
 
 
international perspective. Topics included: the impact of 
globalization on strategic trade, new security threats to states and 
businesses, international nonproliferation treaties, and 
multilateral export control regimes.  The seminar also discussed 
concepts, such as catch-all, intangible technology-transfers, and 
deemed exports, as well as case-studies of dual-use controls in 
various countries. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) On November 18-21, EXBS, in cooperation with the U.S. 
Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration's 
(DOE/NNSA) International Nonproliferation Export Control Program 
(INECP), sponsored 26 Kazakhstan officials from various governmental 
agencies including the Border Guard Service, the National Security 
Committee's Military Institute, the Financial Police Academy, the 
Customs Control Committee, as well as representatives from 
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, to a "Weapons of Mass 
Destruction - Commodity Identification Training" (WMD/CIT) workshop 
at the Alatau resort in Almaty. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) On November 17-21, the Department of Energy's Second Line 
of Defense program sponsored a training course for Customs officers 
on the use of Radiation Portal Monitors and related equipment at the 
Customs Canine Training Center in Almaty.  Subject matter experts 
from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and ASPECT Company 
conducted this training course. 
 
¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD 
 
¶12.  (SBU) None. 
 
¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE 
 
¶13.  (SBU) None. 
 
¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR 
RELATED BORDER SECURITY 
 
¶14.  (SBU) None. 
 
¶F. CASPIAN SECURITY INFORMATION 
 
¶15.  (SBU) On November 20, an assessment of the U.S.-donated vessel 
"Sea Ark" was conducted by technicians from the firm MTU Turkey.  A 
list of required maintenance and parts that required replacement was 
delivered to Captain A. Ashimbayev, Head of the Electromechanical 
Service of the 2201 Military Division. 
 
III. RED FLAG ISSUES. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) None. 
 
MILAS