Kazakhstan Time-Line 1989- 2000
1949 The Soviet Union conducts a successful atomic test in Kazakhstan, and the nuclear arms race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. begins.
1949. The Ulba Metallurgy Plant is established, and is referred to ask Mailbox 10.
According to NIT (http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Kazakhstan/4278_4302.html),
Ulba would produce low-enriched uranium fuel pellets used in half of the fuel fabricated for Soviet-designed reactors, and later convert uranium hexafluoride to powder for use at Western fuel fabrication facilities, produce beryllium and tantalum products, superconducting niobium-titanium alloys, zirconium materials and reportedly was able to process any type of uranium-containing materials, including fuel assembly by-products. Prior to indepence, Ulba produced HEU fuel for the secret Alfa submarine program and participated in the development of fuel for nuclear-powered satellites.
1979. Soviet geologists discover the Tengize oil field, named after the Kazakh word for "sea." The field is enormous, but difficult to develop, and soviet engineers eventually conclude that foreign technology was needed.
1989. Nursultan Nazarbayev is elevated to a top leadership position in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.
1989 November 9. The Berlin wall falls.
1990 June. Chevron signs deal with USSR for development of Tengiz oil field.
Chevron vice president, Richard H. Matzke negotiates a 50 percent interest in the Tengiz oil field with the USSR. The agreement is signed at a summit meeting between President George Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
1990. Nursultan Nazarbayev, whom Gorbachev consults with late on the Chevron deal for Tengiz develops his own relationships with Chevron.
1990 October 25. Kazakhstan issues a declaration of sovereignty.
1991. A professor at Stanford, Condoleezza Rice joins the Chevron Board of Directors. Earlier, from 1989 to March 1991, Rice was Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to President George H.W. Bush for National Security Affairs. President Bush introduced her to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
1991 August 19. Communist hardliners attempt to oust Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in an attempted coup.
1991 August 24. In Moscow, Robert S. Strauss presents his credientials as the new Ambassador to the USSR. He serves until November 19, 1992. During his tenure, he befriends Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev would later hire his law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer Feld LLP, to represent Kazakhstan in Washington, DC.
1991 August 31. Kazakhstan claims control of Tengiz oil field.
The government of Kazakhstan lays claim to all the country's mineral resources, including the Tengiz oil field.
1991 December 1. Nursultan Nazarbayev, unopposed, is elected President of Kazakhstan.
Thugs ransancked a potential contender's office, taking records of the required signatures to run for the office of president, and Nursultan Nazarbayev was able to run unopposed, receiving 95-99 percent of the vote[1] on December 1. 15 days later Nazarbayev declared Kazakhstan independent.
[1] http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0415255856&id=TkTJTl_mKmYC&pg=RA1-PA60&lpg=RA1-PA60&ots=CZ9MUeEYEf&dq=Kolbin&sig=o9-bB4RZLFX_ZeR2COMfBLDorr0#PRA1-PA61,M1
Sally N. Cummings, "Kazakhstan: An uneasy relationship — power and authority in the Nazarbaev regime," in Sally Commmings, Power and Change in Central Asia, page 59-63.
1991 December 16. Kazakhstan declares independence from the USSR. PBS later reports
The country instantly became the fourth largest global nuclear superpower, inheriting from the dissolving Soviet Union more than 1,400 nuclear warheads, dozens of long-range bombers and cruise missiles and one of the largest nuclear test sites in the world.
1991 December 17. Secretary of State James A. Baker meets with President Nazarbayev in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan. Reportedly discusses oil and gas and nuclear issues.
1991 December 20. Reports that Kazakhstan links recognition to non-nuclear status.
Joseph Fitchett, "Soviet Slashes Offer West New Incentive : Baker Hints At Further Nuclear Cuts," International Herald Tribune, December 20, 1991. Mr. Baker carried the message this week to leaders in the former Soviet republics that as the price of international recognition, they must comply with treaties signed by Moscow and offer their own guarantees of nuclear safety. . . . During those talks, Mr. Baker said he was told that only Russia planned to remain a nuclear power and that Kazakhstan, which earlier had indicated interest in keeping nuclear weapons, was ready to ban the arms. Asked about the apparent contradiction in the views of the new Kazakh government, Mr. Baker said the president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, had told him that Kazakhstan was ready to sign the treaty on nuclear proliferation as "a nonnuclear power" once its independence was recognized internationally.
1991 December 25. US is the first to recognize the newly independent Kazakhstan government.
1992 March 15. According to the AP, the German Magazine Stern reports:
Iran has obtained two midrange nuclear warheads and their delivery systems from the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, The magazine said Iran has not obtained the codes needed to detonate the warheads, nor does it possess a suitable launching mechanism, the A.P. said.
1992 March 16. New York Times reports on this issue added several details, including discussion of a U.S. News and World Report mention that "a high-ranking Russian officer in Moscow had confirmed an American intelligence report that three tactical nuclear weapons had vanished from a former Red Army arsenal in Kazakhstan."
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10616FB345D0C758DDDAA0894DA494D81
Tally of Ex-Soviets' A-Arms Stirs Worry
By PHILIP J. HILTS,
Published: March 16, 1992Concern has been raised about unconfirmed reports that two or three tactical nuclear weapons are unaccounted for in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, American officials said today. But whether they are missing or are figments created by a bookkeeping error cannot be determined.
The reports are being investigated, and if the weapons are actually missing, a senior Administration official said, it is feared that they could turn up in neighboring Iran, where they might be used to make a crude bomb.
It is unclear, Administration officials said, whether either the Iranians or the Kazakhs have the know-how or the equipment to detonate the weapons. The weapons are likely to be nuclear artillery shells or small missiles, and their loss poses the danger that the nuclear material inside them could be extracted and used to make a crude nuclear bomb that could be transported by truck.
The senior Administration official said that in the last several months two intelligence reports indicated that weapons thought to be in Kazakhstan or shipped to Russia for destruction were unaccounted for. U.S. Sees No Convincing Data
A senior American intelligence officer said that as of late Friday there was still no convincing confirmation that the weapons were actually missing or that any of them had turned up in Iran.
Three weeks ago, Representative Bill McCollum of Florida, vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, issued a report mentioning the possibility of several missing tactical weapons from the former Soviet Union that might have reached Teheran.
A brief report in the current issue of U.S. News and World Report has stirred concern again. It said "a high-ranking Russian officer in Moscow had confirmed an American intelligence report that three tactical nuclear weapons had vanished from a former Red Army arsenal in Kazakhstan."
It is unclear whether that confirmation was new or whether it was being reported again, the American intelligence officer said.
[ The German magazine Stern said Sunday that Iran has obtained two midrange nuclear warheads and their delivery systems from the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, The Associated Press reported from Hamaburg on Monday. The magazine said Iran has not obtained the codes needed to detonate the warheads, nor does it possess a suitable launching mechanism, the A.P. said. ] Most Tactical Arms in Russia . . .
Last month Reginald Bartholomew, Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs, told a Congressional hearing that all tactical nuclear weapons of the former Soviet Union had been concentrated in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and that "there are none remaining elsewhere in the former Soviet Union or abroad." But the accounting of the weapons in Kazakhstan apparently came up a few short.
1992 April 29. Announcement on START signing, with four former Soviet republics..
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10615F63B5E0C7A8EDDAD0894DA494D81
4 Former Soviet Republics Agree on Nuclear Arms
April 29, 1992, New York TimesThe four former Soviet republics that have strategic nuclear weapons have reached an agreement that will expedite the ratification of the strategic arms reduction treaty with the United States, Ukraine's President said today.
Under the agreement, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan are to act as equal partners in the signing of a new protocol with the United States reconfirming the treaty, known as Start.
1992 May 18-22. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev travels to Washington. The meeting was apparently arranged by James H. Giffen.
1992 May 19. Kazakhstan and Cheveron sign deal in Washington, DC.
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F1061EFB345C0C7A8DDDAC0894DA494D81
Chevron to Spent $10 Billion to Seek Oil in KazakhstanSteven Greenhouse
In one of the largest joint ventures between a Western company and a former Soviet republic, the Chevron Corporation signed an agreement with Kazakhstan today that envisions producing 700,000 barrels of oil a day and revenues of more than $5 billion a year.
The agreement, signed in Washington by President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, calls on Chevron to invest $10 billion over 40 years to develop the Tengiz oil field, one of the largest in the world.
The agreement with Kazakhstan could pave the way for more Western investment in the former Soviet republics by showing that a large corporation can, despite the region's instability, conclude a major deal. Chevron executives voiced confidence that Kazakhstan would guarantee the agreement even though this new country is just now enacting a constitution.
The agreement ends a tense two years of on-again, off-again negotiations that were often delayed by the collapse of the Soviet Union, United States fears of investing in the former Communist world and Kazakh fears that Western companies were trying to take advantage of them. Kazakhstan even had officials from Oman's Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals negotiate on its behalf to make sure it was treated fairly.
(Separately, there are reports that Chevron would pay 7.5 cents per barrel to James H. Giffen.)
1992 May 20. Kazakhstan and Bush (I) sign nuclear arms pack in Washington, DC.
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10616FE3E5B0C738EDDAC0894DA494D81
Michael Wines, "Kazakhstan Accepts Atom-Arms Pact," New York Times, May 20, 1992. President Bush and President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan agreed today on plans to make the former Soviet republic a non-nuclear state within the decade, effectively clearing the way to put into effect a year-old nuclear arms reduction treaty between Washington and the remains of the old Soviet Union.
In a two-day visit to Washington that ended today, Mr. Nazarbayev pledged to eliminate the 104 long-range Soviet SS-18 nuclear missiles, each tipped with 10 warheads, that are now deployed in Kazakhstan.
He also said Kazakhstan would sign the 1978 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, committing his nation not to develop or traffick in nuclear arms or their components, as soon as his nation's Parliament approves.
But perhaps the principal effect of the agreement, United States officials later said, is to consolidate the old Soviet empire's nuclear arsenal entirely within Russia's borders, increasing prospects that still deeper cuts in nuclear weapons can now be negotiated directly with Moscow. . .
During talks on Monday and today with Mr. Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d, Mr. Nazarbayev agreed to sign a revised version of a strategic nuclear arms reduction treaty that President Bush and the former Soviet President, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, initialed at their last summit meeting, in July 1991.
The accord is formally called the Treaty between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Weapons, but is universally referred to as the Start treaty, after the acronym for Strategic Arms Reduction Talks. . .
With today's announcement, the Administration has publicly brought two of those nations, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, to the point of signing the revised document. The two remaining nuclear states, Russia and Belarus, are expected to sign once largely procedural issues are resolved, said the State Department's chief European expert, Assistant Secretary Thomas Niles.. .
Mr. Nazarbayev left the White House with a $10 billion investment in Kazakh oilfields from the American company Chevron, a trade agreement lowering tariffs and other business barriers, a commitment by Mr. Bush to provide Federal loan guarantees for American businesses locating in Kazakhstan, and a bilateral agreement encouraging business investment.
1992 June 18. NYT reports on unrest in Kazakhstan
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10617FF3D5F0C7B8DDDAF0894DA494D81
Thousands Rally in Kazakhstan To Urge Communists to Quit Posts, New York Times. June 18,1992.
Political unrest spread to the second-largest former Soviet republic today as thousands of protesters rallied in Kazakhstan's capital to demand the resignation of Communist leaders. Kazakhstan had been calm until now under the leadership of President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, a former Communist. But the Government and Parliament, which have a large number of Communists elected before the collapse of the Soviet Union, are vulnerable to anti-Communist feelings like those that helped oust the leaders of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan.
1992 October 16. New York Times on Chevron/Kazakhstan joint venture:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6DF1F3EF935A25753C1A964958260
CHEVRON AND KAZAKHSTAN SAID TO AGREE TO OIL VENTURE
October 16, 1992, New York TimesThe Chevron Corporation and the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan have agreed to a 50-50 joint venture to develop the huge Tengiz oilfield, Russian news agencies said yesterday. Tengiz is regarded as one of the world's top 10 fields, with likely reserves of as much as 35 billion barrels. Current output is just 60,000 barrels a day. The Itar -Tass news agency said Chevron's chairman, Kenneth Derr, met with Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, recently and the two agreed to begin a joint venture Jan. 1. Russia's Interfax agency said a Chevron representative had been named managing director and the board would include directors from Kazakhstan and Chevron.
1993 July 29. Enron Oil & Gas Kazakhstan Ltd. incorporated in Delware. A firm by the same name incorporated in the Cayman islands August 18, 1994.
1993 December 13. Announcement about a visit to Kazakhstan for Al and Tipper Gore, and a US/Kazakhstan agreement on nuclear dismantlement.
http://www.fas.org/news/kazakh/931213-317011.htm
"US, Kazakhstan Sign Nuclear Dismantlement Pact."Jim Shevis, USIA
Vice President Al Gore and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed an agreement that provides for US assistance with the ultimate destruction of Kazakhstan's nuclear weapons arsenal
1994 February 14. Clinton and Nazarbayev hold press conference in Washington, DC
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=49652
The President's News Conference With President Nursultan Nazarbayev
February 14th, 1994President Clinton: In the 2 years since Kazakhstan attained its independence, it has shown the leadership to meet its international arms control obligations and to address the most dangerous legacy of the cold war. Kazakhstan signed a protocol in Lisbon making it a party to the START Treaty. In July of 1992, Kazakhstan ratified that accord. And last December, Vice President Gore had the privilege of being in Almaty when Kazakhstan's Parliament voted to accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a nonnuclear state. ….
Q. My question actually is for both of you, sort of a follow-up on the oil issue question. President Nazarbayev, your country is going to be receiving substantially more aid from the United States. I'll ask you bluntly if U.S. oil companies will be receiving more preferential treatment in developing your oil fields. Mr. Clinton, I'll ask you if that was a key negotiating point?
President Nazarbayev. I've already mentioned that the first company to start work in Kazakhstan was Chevroil, that's conducted negotiations with the former Soviet Union for about 4 years. And after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we have been able to complete those negotiations in the course of only 6 months. International expertise has been made with respect to this project, and it's considered to be an internationally acceptable one.
The second consortium was put together in western Kazakhstan and such American companies as Mobil Oil, British Petroleum, Agip, total altogether about six major oil companies that are going to explore the depository fields. That exceeds Tengiz by 6 times. An answer—[inaudible] —come up with a feasibility study, the priority will in the first place be given to those companies, and the major company among them is Mobil Oil.
This is why I believe that these are very serious contracts that we have signed, altogether about 70 American companies working in Kazakhstan—[inaudible] —oil and gas. They also involve gold and silver mining, manufacturing of nonferrous metals, and processing of agricultural—[inaudible.] For the first time Philip Morris bought the entire stock of a tobacco manufacturing plant, and I believe that's a good start.
1994 February. The Clinton administration establishes the US-Kazakhstan Joint Commission, headed by Nazarbayev and Vice President Al Gore.
1994. Bracewell & Giuliani establishes presence in Kazakhstan
http://www.bracewellgiuliani.com/index.cfm/fa/locations.detail/office/3c2c6776-d8ac-4dc7-a8f9-f68b73d3405a/Kazakhstan.cfm Bracewell & Giuliani established a presence in the Republic of Kazakhstan. At the time, we played an early, leading role in helping that country create and expand its banking infrastructure, securities markets and commercial legal and court systems. In 1997, we formalized our commitment to clients doing business in the Caspian Region by opening our office in Almaty, followed by the opening of our Astana office in 2000. We continue to advise the Government of Kazakhstan on the evolution of its business and legal infrastructure. We also help major international companies and banks in Kazakhstan with their financing, transactional, operational, tax and dispute-resolution needs.
1995 March 21. Iran interest in setting up a consulate in Aktau, home of Kazakhstan's fast breeder reactor
http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Iran/1825_6245.html
According to a US government source, Iran is interested in setting up a consulate in Aktau (formerly Shevchenko), Kazakhstan. The United States is concerned about Iran's intentions, since Aktau houses Kazakhstan's fast breeder reactor, which can produce at least 110kg of plutonium a year. [Note: The Aktau reactor is used to generate electricity and to desalinate water. Russia was discussing the supply of a water desalinization reactor to Iran.]
—Information provided by William C. Potter from personal interview with a US government official (name withheld) 21 March 1995. For information on the Aktau reactor, see William C. Potter et al., Nuclear Profiles of the Soviet Successor States, Monograph No. 1, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, May 1993, pp. 17-18.
1995 July 9 Report that Iran had sought low-enriched uranium and beryllium from Kazakhstan
http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Iran/1825_6245.html
Kazakhstani and US officials report that in 1992-1993 Iran was seeking an agreement with Kazakhstan on purchases of low-enriched uranium (LEU) and beryllium metal from the Ust-Kamenogorsk fuel fabrication facility. According to Ergali Bayadilov, Director General of the Kazakh Atomic Energy Agency, Iran wanted to purchase safeguarded LEU to fuel the soon-to-be supplied Russian VVER-1000 [1000MW] reactor. The Ust-Kamenogorsk facility produces UO2 pellets for Soviet-design VVER-1000 reactors. Kazakstan's "chief official for nuclear materials accounting and control" and US officials says that there was no substance to media reports that Iran had sought to smuggle or steal over 500kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Ust-Kamenogorsk, material that was later transferred to the United States in "Project Sapphire" [also referred to as Operation Sapphire]. According to a US official, the HEU, which had been intended for use as fuel in Soviet submarines, remained in storage at the Ust-Kamenogorsk site because the facility does not have the capacity to process HEU into LEU. US officials also say that Iran was interested in purchasing beryllium from a metal processing plant located near the Ust-Kamenogorsk fuel fabricating facility. Iran might have used the beryllium in research reactors to be supplied later by Russia. However, the Ust-Kamenogorsk beryllium is pure enough to be utilized in nuclear and missile programs as well. [Note: See 1992 entry.] Mark Hibbs, "Kazakhs Say Iran Sought LEU For VVER, Not 'Sapphire' HEU," Nuclear Fuel, 17 July 1995, pp. 11-12.
1995 November 29. Halliburton given contract for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Silo dismantlement for Kazakstan
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Nov1995/c112995_ct626-95.html
November 29, 1995. ARMY. Brown & Root, Civil Division of Halliburton International, Inc., Houston, Texas, is being awarded a $31,531,912 cost plus fixed fee contract for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Silo dismantlement for Kazakstan. Work will be performed in Kazakstan, and is expected to be completed by December 31, 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 270 bids solicited on May 3, 1995, and 9 bids received. The contracting activity is the Defense Nuclear Agency, Washington, D. C. (DNA001-95-C-0216)
1996 January 9. Murder of journalist Christopher Gehring
http://www.euronet.nl/users/turkfed/kazak01.txt
"Letter to his Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhsta, Almaty, Kazakhstan," January 9,1996. The Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) was greatly saddened to learn from Internews Russia that Christopher Gehring, 28, director of the Internews office in Almaty, was found murdered in his apartment today. According to colleagues, he was reportedly found tied up with his throat slit. Internews is a non-profit organization funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Open Society Foundation which has been working to promote independent media in th former Soviet Union. Formerly employed at CNN in Atlanta and ABC News in Moscow, Gehring, a correspondent and producer, had directed Internews operations in Almaty since 1995.According to Reuters, Chief Detective Alibek Shapenov of the Almaty police said that Gehring's murder appeared to be the result of a burglary. Persephone Miel, Internews Director of Training in the Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow, told UPI that there is no evidence that the killing was related to Gehring's work. As you know from previous correspondence on December 12, CPJ has been greatly disturbed at the Kazakhstan government's recent efforts to suppress independent radio and television broadcasters. The December 1996 announcement of a public tender of broadcasting frequencies threatens to put all the independent television stations out of business. Internews was involvedin supporting an independent television network in Kazakhstan.
Also: http://www.bu.edu/iscip/digest/vol2/ed3.html
US journalist found murdered in his apartment Christopher Gehring, a US journalist and head of Internews, a USAID-funded project to support independent media stations, was found murdered in his apartment in Almaty on 9 January 1997. Police believe that Gehring was killed during the burglary of his apartment, due to the fact that his laptop computer and answering machine were missing. On 14 January police arrested three men in whose possession the missing items were found, and all three suspects subsequently confessed to Gehring's murder. However, there has also been speculation that his murder may have been in connection with his work. Apparently, Gehring had recently received a large bank loan to sponsor independent TV and radio stations at the media auction which took place on 24 January, and members of the journalist community have suggested that his murder could have been a contract hit.
1996 April. Baker reportedly asked by Nazarbayev to promote pipeline to ports in Iran.
http://www.kub.kz/print.php?sid=4047
From a Jun 27, 2003 FT Story Joshua Chaffin.
Mr Baker, secretary of state for the first President Bush and a rainmaker on a par with Mr Strauss, called on the Kazakhs in April 1996 at one of Mr Nazarbayev's mansions in Almaty. Over lunch, the Kazakh leader proposed to Mr Baker a pipeline to ports in Iran, according to a person present at the meeting. The pipeline would have solved the isolated country's problem of how to bring its vast crude reserves to outside markets. Yet Washington favoured a longer route away from Iran, through friendly countries such as Georgia and Turkey. Mr Nazarbayev promised that he and Mr Baker could each earn $1bn if the deal went through, according to someone who was present. Mr Baker was taken aback – and refused.
1996 May 3. Mobile negotiates a 25 percent share in the Tengiz oil field, for just over a billion dollars. (Tengiz-chevroil, or T.C.O.) Mobile will later become involved in scandals involving bribery and illegal oil swaps with Iran, involving James Giffen and Friedhelm Eronat.
1997 January 22. Plans to build several nuclear power plants
Moscow Interfax reported on 22 January 1997 that Vladimir Shkolnik, the Kazakh Minister for Science and New Technology, is formulating plans to build several more nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 4-6 million kilowatts over the next four to six years.
1997 July. The Financial Times quoted unnamed Kazakhstan government officials as saying: "it has proved impossible to pinpoint" the final destination of five hundred million dollars of Mobil’s Tengiz payment. The money, which amounted to three per cent of Kazakhstan's gross domestic product, "did not make it into the Kazakh budget."
1997 October 27. Platt Oilgram story about First International Oil Corportion acquistion of exploration concessions, and ties to key republicans. FIOC would subsequently receive a World Bank (IFC) loan to explore and develop oil fields, sell interests in some fields to Yukos, and be acquired in 2005 by the Chinese company Sinopec.
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/53/077.html
James Norma, "Russia of the Republics: Kazakstan oil," Platt's Oilgram News (McGraw-Hill), Vol.75 no.208, 27 October 1997
New York – Just about every major oil company in the world is elbowing its way into line for exploration concessions in reserve-rich Kazakstan. But perhaps the biggest winner in this scramble for Central Asia's oil wealth is none of the above. It is a little-known private US company based in Houston called, inconspicuously enough, First International Oil Corp. Since its founding just two years ago, tiny First International has been granted control of an astounding 56,000 sq km (14-mil acres) of exploration territory in eight key Kazakstan tracts estimated to hold multiple billions of barrels of oil. It also won up to 75% of the undeveloped Chinarovshoye gas and condenstate discovery on the Russian border near Karachaganak. Chinarovskoye is believed to hold up to 3 Tcf of gas reserves and 250-mil bbl of liquids. FIOC also got 60% of the Sazankurak license on the northern shore of the Caspian, with proved and probable reserves of more than 20-mil bbl ready for immediate development. And it is now in negotiations to acquire another 100-mil bbl of reserves from government or private interests. Perhaps more importantly, FIOC has forged a close relationship with Geotex, the dominant Kazakh geophysical company. . . . Idzal admits deep pockets and big names in the background no doubt helped. . . Chief among them is Louis Marx, the multi-hundred-millionaire toy company scion, and his veteran oil industry partner Stanley Rawn. . . But there are also much bigger names buried in the various venture capital funds Marx shepherds, including Victory Ventures, co-chaired by Garnet chairman Montague Hackett. Sources say that many prominent political figures, mainly Republicans from the Reagan-Bush era, have invested alongside Marx and Rawn in these funds. Believed among the benficiaries of the profits: ex-President George Bush. There is also some serious money behind the initial ante into FIOC. Marx and Rawn have close ties to the Rockefeller interests, with several Rockefeller advisors having moved to key positions with Noel and other Marx affiliates. Other ties are to the Oppenheimer family and Minorco interests.
1997 November 11, Hillary Clinton in Kazakhstan
http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1997/11/971112I.html1997
U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton arrived in the Kazakh capital on 11 November on the first leg of her tour of five CIS countries.
1997 November 18. Gore, Nazarbayev exapnd US-Kazakh nuclear and defense cooperation.
http://www.fas.org/news/kazakh/97111811_wpo.html
Washington — The United States and Kazakhstan boosted their nuclear and defense cooperation significantly November 18, as Vice President Al Gore and Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed an Action Program on Economic Partnership and the Final Report of the fourth session of the U.S. Kazakhstan Joint Commission.
1997 November 18. Nazarbayev, Gore in Ceremony for agreement with Texaco, Agip, BG and Lukoil
http://www.chevron.com/news/archive/texaco_press/1997/pr11_18.asp
PRODUCTION AGREEMENT CONCLUDED FOR GIANT KARACHAGANAK OIL AND GAS FIELD. Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev Participates in Ceremony With Texaco, Agip, BG and Lukoil During Visit to United States
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1997.
WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 18 – Texaco, Agip S.p.A., BG Exploration and Production Limited and Lukoil today signed the production sharing agreement for Kazakhstan's giant Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field at a U.S. State Department ceremony attended by the President of Kazakhstan, His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Vice President Al Gore.
The signing took place in Washington during President Nazarbayev's visit to the United States and concludes five years of negotiation. One of the largest gas condensate fields in the world, Karachaganak currently sells an average 50,000 barrels of condensate and 250 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. Texaco's potential share of total recoverable reserves over the 40-year contract period is estimated at 700 million barrels of oil equivalent. Project participants are:
* Agip – 32.5 percent, BG – 32.5 percent, Texaco – 20 percent, Lukoil – 15 percent
1998 March 2. Businessweek story on Cheney, with a most ironic title. Here are some money quotes:
http://www.businessweek.com/1998/09/b3567127.htm
Gary McWilliams, "Dick Cheney Ain't Studyin' war no More: As an Iraq attack seems nearer, he's in a far quieter oil patch as CEO at Halliburton," Businessweek, March 2, 1998.
Richard B. Cheney, conservative pol and 25-year Washington veteran, has been learning a new career as ceo of the $9 billion Dallas-based Halliburton. . .
Meanwhile, he has concentrated on raising Halliburton's international profile through a network of contacts developed during his Washington days. Indeed, Cheney's business and social worlds blur together in a whirlwind of travel, meetings, and parties.
BIG POND. The company won't reveal to what extent Cheney's contacts have brought in new business. And given the lead time required to develop projects, it's too soon to tell whether Cheney's rainmaking will succeed. But there's no question he has helped catapult the company into the big leagues. In the Caspian Sea area, he has brought the relatively small Halliburton into an exclusive circle of major oil companies. Together with the heads of Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc., Cheney is one of just a dozen members of Kazakhstan's Oil Advisory Board, created by the country's president as a sounding board. ''His name and stature give Halliburton much greater opportunities,'' says Victor G. Beghini, ceo of oil company Marathon Group. . . If Cheney is coy about a bid for Western Atlas, he is perfectly clear about one point: He won't be making any bids for elected office anytime soon.
1998 Summer. First meeting of the P-Group, in in Almaty.
This is how the group was later described in Ken Silverstein in the LA Times: Some of Washington's top political consultants travelled to this city in the summer of 1998 to huddle with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Their daunting mission: Convince the world that his oil-rich, authoritarian regime was actually a budding democracy. This political SWAT team launched the opening salvo in a high-powered, high-priced lobbying campaign that seized on America's need for oil to win US support for a government with a penchant for shuttering newspapers and manipulating elections. It was a remarkable effort both for whom it involved and what it accomplished. Backed heavily by the US oil industry, the six-year, multimillion-dollar push recruited a small army of onetime officials whose experience and contacts translated into considerable influence. Participants included a former secretary of State, a onetime US attorney general and an ex-presidential aide. Also involved were a former executive director of the Democratic National Committee and a leading fundraiser for future President George W. Bush — as well as a New York consultant now facing federal charges that he made payoffs to Nazarbayev in separate business dealings. The team that met in Almaty, dubbed the "P-Group," circulated fliers on Capitol Hill hailing Nazarbayev for promoting "an active independent press" and creating "a free and democratic electoral system" — even as the Kazakh leader was cracking down on domestic opponents. Another team of consultants arranged free trips to Kazakhstan for journalists who wrote upbeat articles, while others lobbied Congress and the White House to promote the country's potential as a major US oil supplier. The lobbying strategy is detailed in public records and copies of dozens of internal memoranda. The campaign got results: It rallied supporters in Congress and helped win key concessions from the current Bush administration that allowed the release of US aid despite continuing corruption and human rights problems.
1998 August 16. Times of London report of Bin Ladin attempts to buy "suitcase" bomb in Kazakhstan.
Marie Colvin, "Holy War with US in his Sights," Times (London), 16 August 1998. A leaked intelligence report states that Bin Ladin allegedly paid over two million British Pounds to a middle-man in Kazakhstan for a "suitcase" bomb.
1998 August 27. KAZAKHSTANI PRIME MINISTER SEEKS MORE URANIUM EXPORTS TO US
http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Kazakhstan/Nuclear/4279_4319.html. Kazakhstani Prime Minister Nurlan Balgimbayev, on 27 August 1998, asked visiting US Senator Richard Lugar to help gain permission for the free export of uranium from Kazakhstan to the United States. Although Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev secured an understanding on uranium exports during his visit to the United States in November 1997, the issue is now being considered by the US Department of Commerce.
["Kazakhstan prosit SShA uskorit resheniye voprosa o zakupkakh kazakhstanskogo urana," Interfax-Kazakhstan, 4 August 1998.]{Entered 9/14/98 by FW}
1998 November 9. NYT Times Editorial: Kazakhstan's Empty Election
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F5071FFE3B5A0C7A8CDDA80994D0494D81
One of the candidates in Kazakhstan's presidential elections in January claims to be clairvoyant, but anyone can predict that the winner will be the incumbent, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Mr. Nazarbayev is a thinly disguised dictator who stages elections he has no chance of losing. Few Western leaders complain because he is seen as the guarantor of stability in an oil-rich nation. Mr. Nazarbayev was initially one of the more democratic of the Central Asian rulers, but since 1995 he has steadily expanded his powers. A compliant parliament recently passed constitutional amendments extending the presidential term from five years to seven and lifting term limits. Mr. Nazarbayev has been jailing political opponents on libel charges and last week kicked his leading opponent, former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin, off the ballot on a technicality. Mr. Nazarbayev has also been shutting down the country's few independent newspapers. Television is controlled by his daughter. American officials raise such issues with Mr. Nazarbayev when they visit, and call democratic development an important American goal in the region. But oil takes precedence, as Kazakhstan's proven oil reserves alone come to 10 billion barrels. Mr. Nazarbayev controls these contracts and provides stability in a region where fundamentalist Islam is growing. He has been received warmly by President Clinton. Kazakhstan's democratization is not a priority for Washington, and Mr. Nazarbayev knows it. . .
1999 January 14. Kazatomprom's goal is to make Kazakhstan a world leader in the mining and production of uranium by the year 2005.
http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Kazakhstan/Nuclear/4279_4319.html
In Moscow on 14 January 1999, Mukhtar Dzhakishev, President of Kazatomprom, signed a contract with the Russian nuclear fuel company TVEL. The contract is intended to ensure orders for the Ulba Metallurgical Plant. The talks also ensure further cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan. Dzhakishev said in an interview that Kazatomprom's goal is to make Kazakhstan a world leader in the mining and production of uranium by the year 2005. Kazatomprom predicts that the sale of world stockpiles of uranium will continue until 2010, with a peak in sales occurring in 2001. This will be followed by a decline, and prices will accordingly begin to rise. While the rest of the world reduces its production of uranium, Kazakhstan will increase the scope of its mining by four to five times. Other plans include the sale of more highly enriched uranium products, the manufacture of new types of fuel for nuclear reactors, and the joint manufacture of fuel assemblies with Russian ventures. Kazatomprom is also moving toward privatization, but has not yet been privatized due to its current financial difficulties. To make Kazatomprom an attractive investment, talks are being conducted to get credit from western banks, and there are now several proposals for credit in amounts from $25 to $70 million. Once received, the credit is to be used in the creation of new jobs, new mines, and new production at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant. Kazatomprom expects to turn a profit this year after a long period of operating at a loss.
[Oleg Khe, "Mukhtar Dzhakishev, NAK Kazatomprom: V 2005 godu Kazakhstan dolzhen stat odnim iz liderov v mire po dobyche i proizvodstvu urana," Panorama, No.2, 15 January 1999.] {Entered 5/10/99 RC}.
1999 April 13. UK Parliament's select Committee on Foreign Affairs discusses need for political interventinons to secure oil and gas contracts in Kazakhstan.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmselect/cmfaff/349/9041307.htm
Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Minutes of Evidence, Examination of Witnesses (Questions 106 – 119), TUESDAY 13 APRIL 1999
Sir John Stanley
14. Could I ask each of the three companies to give us their views looking at other comparable countries' overseas representation in these seven countries; as to whether . . . they see other countries doing things more effectively than we in HMG are doing in terms of promoting their own country's interests?
(Mr Chapman) Being in the country from a very early stage does give BG (British Gas) privileged relationships. BG's view is that one should not underestimate the great importance of having strong relationships. These are forged through direct contact and through the presence of a strong mission. In that respect I would suggest that comparing HMG's efforts with, for example, Italy and the US, one can see immediately we have a weaker presence, and I think that has an immediate effect in terms of the appearance of HMG's commitment to Kazakhstan and supporting UK businesses there.
115. You are saying that just in relationship to Kazakhstan?
(Mr Chapman) I am talking about Kazakhstan. We have three ventures in Kazakhstan and each of these ventures has already committed, or has potential to be committed, in the order of billions of dollars of investment. We are talking about extremely significant investment potential. I would say supporting UK investment of this scale is well beyond the capability of the mission as presently set up. Relationships, as I think Monument have submitted in their written submission, are extremely important in this region.
Chairman
116. Personal relations?
(Mr Chapman) Yes, relationships with key players. The role government has in strengthening these relationships, through for example senior ministerial visits, must not be underestimated. I think they have a great role to play in signalling commitment to an area. They can often trigger a series of events. For example, in the process of a negotiation, when a senior ministerial visit occurs, this can often be a catalyst or a trigger to accelerating through the final details and maybe the final sticking points before an agreement is consummated. I can give examples of that being the case when President Nazarbaev visited President Clinton in November 1997, which triggered all the activity leading up to the signing of the Karachaganak production sharing agreement.
Sir John Stanley
117. What view are you conveying (apart from its importance) to the Committee?
(Mr Chapman) We need more support.
118. Are you saying we are doing not as well as other comparable countries?
(Mr Chapman) Yes.
119. Or are you saying we are doing as much as we reasonably could?
(Mr Chapman) I am saying two things: I am saying I do not think the pace at which this is building, in terms of ministerial involvement, is in step with the pace and magnitude of investments which one is considering; and I think other countries are doing better. I think Italy and the US are two cases in point. We have both Italian and US partners in Karachaganak and Kazakhstan and they are getting greater support from their governments.
1999 July 20. UK Select Committee on Foreign Affairs published sixth report: South Caucasus and Central Asia.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmselect/cmfaff/349/34902.htm
Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Sixth Report, SOUTH CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA, 20 July 1999.
101. Business people operating in the area generally welcomed the British Government's attitude towards Iran. Mr Chapman, Executive Director of BG plc, told us that "we are fortunate in Britain in that we are not required to toe a political line on an issue such as Iran or Baku Ceyhan, and I would like to compliment the government on this. It is extremely helpful."[229] He went on to say:
"I think it would be more helpful….if HMG were able to be there supporting clearly the argument which is essentially that commercial factors should determine these routes."[230]
Mr Adams, of Monument Oil and Gas, reinforced this point:
"The Baku Ceyhan discussion, which in some ways is quite commercially bizarre, is very representative of the importance they [the US Government] are placing on the region geo-politically as part of their broader strategy including Iran containment but also preparing for a major US presence on the south flank of Russia. So a European presence to counteract some of the more strident policies of the US in the Caucasus is probably essential."[231]
Monument told us that the advantage they experienced from using the Iranian pipeline system—which US competitors could not do—was $1.50 per barrel.[233] The FCO informed us that during the United Kingdom's Presidency of the EU, an undertaking was secured "to consider formal waivers from the provisions of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) for EU companies doing business in the Iranian oil sector. It has not yet been tested whether such treatment will apply to pipeline projects specifically. But the EU has clearly stated that it is axiomatic that investment in pipelines in Iran should be carried out without impediment."[234] We support the Government's policy of multiple pipelines. We recommend that the Government should continue to use its best efforts to discourage the US Government from promoting particular pipeline routes, for purely political reasons, to the detriment of other more economic routes.
KAZAKHSTAN. (para 110). In Kazakhstan, President Nazarbaev has progressively gathered more and more executive power into his own hands, and has gradually curtailed the freedoms which the post-independence constitution seemed to guarantee. The country's human rights record is assessed by the FCO as "patchy with a gradual deterioration": restrictions have been steadily imposed on the freedom of the press, and opposition figures find it difficult to operate, although NGOs are said to be "relatively active."[256] Human Rights Watch raised its many concerns over the conduct of the presidential elections in January 1999 with the Chairman-in-office of the OSCE: these included new laws stifling the exercise of electoral rights and violations of "freedom of association, speech and political participation."[257] Nevertheless, it recognised that the government of Kazakhstan "tolerated opposition political activity and a vibrant media." Amnesty reported that an opposition leader had been imprisoned for one year for "insulting the honour and dignity of the President."[258] . . .
1999 August 13. Criminal investigation into sale of MIG figher jets to North Korea.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990813/ai_n14242367
Phil Reeves, Kazakhstan investigates sale of MiGs to N Korea, Independent, The (London), Aug 13, 1999.A CRIMINAL investigation has been launched in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan into senior defence and government security officials who are suspected of illegally selling MiG fighter jets overseas, amid growing allegations that the aircraft were destined for North Korea.
1999 August 27. NYT: Why Do Kazakhs Keep Trying to Ship MIG's to North Korea?
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/nkorea/99-08-27.htm
Steve Levin, "Why Do Kazakhs Keep Trying to Ship MIG's to North Korea," New York Times, August 27, 1999
Almaty, Kazakhstan – The sale of about 40 MIG fighter jets to North Korea has set off a diplomatic furor here, including a possible U.S. threat to cut off aid. What Kazakhstan officials describe as a rogue group that included senior government officials had already delivered an undisclosed number of the jets to North Korea before the deal was discovered last month and the shipments halted. The affair has brought down Nurtai Abukayev, head of the State Security Committee, who had been considered one of the most powerful men in the country after President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In an interview, Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev said neither Nazarbayev nor Prime Minister Nurlan Balgimbayev knew of the sale in advance.Yet the sale, the second such incident this year, has angered some of Kazakhstan's most important foreign allies and caused the government to appear inept, naive or reckless. The episode comes at a tense moment in which the United States, Japan and South Korea have protested North Korea's ostensible plan to test-fire a long-range missile. Details are sketchy, but diplomats say a Kazakh company agreed to provide North Korea with 30 to 40 MIG-21s, a 1960s-era fighter that is still effective in an arena like the Korean Peninsula.
1999 September 15. Leon Fuerth meets with human rights groups concerned about Kazakhstan
http://www.iicas.org/english/enlibrary/libr_6_10_00.htm
Amos Perlmutter, "More words than deeds on Kazakhstan? The Clinton-Gore administration relationship is once again making news," The Washington Post, 4 October 2000.. . . Leon Fuerth, Vice President Al Gore's national security adviser, and his assistant, Richard Brody, met on Sept. 15, 1999, at the Old Executive Office Building to discuss the upcoming visit of President Nazarbayev to the United States. Attending were several people from the State Department, regional and human rights bureaus, as well as the Human Rights Foundation, and the Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation.
Mr. Fuerth was on the defensive throughout the meeting, as the various representatives pressed hard the argument that the meeting was a mistake at that time, since Mr. Nazarbayev would interpret it as an endorsement of his behavior. According to one of the participants, Mr. Fuerth was unpersuasive and ineffective in defending the purpose for the visit of Mr. Nazarbayev to the United States.
The issue at stake was Kazakhstan's MiG sales to North Korea and the failure of democracy. When Mr. Nazarbayev promised Mr. Gore the next election "would be better," the OSCE report on the 1999 elections in Kazakhstan were still pending. Mr. Fuerth said at the meeting, "We will adopt its [OSCE's] finding as leverage on Nazarbayev." Mr. Fuerth continued, "Our government has been saying repeatedly, and the vice president personally, pay attention to what the monitors are saying about your, i.e. Nazarbayev's, elections." Mr. Fuerth said Mr. Nazarbayev is "not your poster boy" for democracy and freedom. Mr. Fuerth said, "Gore sees his personal relationship as essential to prodding Nazarbayev toward democracy."
America's goals include, says Mr. Fuerth, "carrying Kazakhstan to a modern self-sustaining state at every level of societal concern. . . . We are into their affairs at an fantastic level of detail, and that is only possible with the political support of Nazarbayev and this [Gore-Nazarbayev] commission and the commitment of the United States to a face-to-face meeting with the vice president."
Mr. Fuerth continued to say the United States must persuade them to "more and more perfect democracy," and he is "perfectly aware of the imperfections." According to Mr. Fuerth, Mr. Gore's message is "Democracy is on the agenda. Democracy is not our idiosyncrasy." He describes Mr. Gore's agenda as follows: "Democracy and elections are essential parts of the relationship Nazarbayev wants with the U.S. Gore will explain why a valid election is indispensable if he [Mr. Nazarbayev] wants the relationship he seeks."
1999 November 18. Kazakhstan completes investigation into MIG sales to North Korea.
http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/AK19Ag01.html
"The high price of Kazakhstan's MiG affair, "Asia Times. STRATFOR.COM Global Intelligence, Weekly Analysis November 18, 1999
1999. Vice President Gore is reportedlly asked by Kazakshtan to intervene in the investigation of James Giffen.
2000 March 14. Unpaid dues cause Kazakhstan to lose voting privileges at IAEA, and lose financial support for key nuclear projects.
http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Kazakhstan/4279_4280.html Kazakhstan's arrears to IAEA cause it to lose vote, BN-350 AID: On 14 March 2000 the Cabinet of Ministers held a meeting regarding Kazakhstan's debt to international organizations. Kazakhstan's total debt to international organizations, including the IAEA, the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization, has reached $21 million. Unpaid annual fees caused Kazakhstan to lose voting privileges at these three organizations. Kazakhstani Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerlan Idrisov said that Kazakhstan's debt has also resulted in the suspension of IAEA financial support for the BN-350 nuclear reactor decommissioning project and the project to build the South Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plant. However, the Kazakhstani government plans to partially pay off these arrears or restructure the debt.Sources: "Kazakhstan iz-za neuplaty chlenskikh vznosov peresmatrivayet svoye uchastiye v mezhdunarodnykh organizatsiyakh," Panorama, 17 March 2000, p. 2.
2000 April 15. US Secretary of State Albright meets with Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/714242.stm
American officials have played down the fact that Mrs Albright's visit comes just a few weeks after trips to the region by both the head of the CIA, George Tenet, and of the FBI. . . Already struggling with Chechnya, Moscow sees central Asia as a vital buffer against further instability spreading from the Islamic belt of Afghanistan to the south. And regional leaders too are desperate to avoid a repeat of last year when bombs in the Uzbek capital were blamed on Islamic militants and armed insurgents poured into another central Asian state, Kyrgyzstan. The Kazakh President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has voiced their common fear that the militants will strike again soon and he will be looking for promises of support from Washington.
2002 May 16. Vast Caspian Oil Field Found offshore the coast of Kazakhstan.
David B. Ottaway, "Vast Caspian Oil Field Found," Washington Post, Tuesday 16 May 2000; A01. A consortium of Western oil companies has found a vast petroleum reserve in the northern Caspian Sea off the coast of Kazakhstan that may well be the largest oil discovery anywhere in the world in the past 20 years, according to U.S. officials and industry sources. While efforts to map out the confines of the vast field have just begun after nine months of drilling, initial estimates of its size range from 8 billion to more than 50 billion barrels of oil, the sources said. . .
2000 June 4. Bin Ladin are reported to have bought anthrax and plague from arms dealers in Kazakhstan
Paul Daley, "Report Says UBL-linked Terrorist Groups Possess 'Deadly' Anthrax, Plague Viruses," Melbourne Age, 4 June 2000. Associates of Bin Ladin are reported to have bought anthrax and plague from arms dealers in Kazakhstan.
2000 June 7. The World Bank affliated IFC approves financing for the First International Oil Corp. investment in the development of the Sazankurak oilfield.
The project involves the expansion of the Sazankurak oilfield in western Kazakhstan. Existing facilities for the field include a base camp, 2 collecting stations, 2 storage tanks and a rail-loading terminal. FC financing would play an important role in providing a needed source of long-term finance for projects in Kazakhstan. Due to concerns about the country's political risks, and access to export markets, the international financial institutions have been reluctant to meet this need. IFC financing of this project would represent a needed alternative that would not otherwise be available. In addition, IFC’s participation in this first project would support the country’s effort to develop its oil sector and would signal that there is opportunity for smaller, independent companies to participate in its growth.
2000 August 28-9. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson meets with Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan.
http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/closed/kazakst/doe1998/ivory.htm
United States Department of Energy News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 29, 2000U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson concluded a two-day visit to Kazakhstan today, that included meetings in Astana, Kazakhstan, with President Nazarbayev, Prime Minister Tokayev, Foreign Minister Idrisov and Minister of Energy, Industry and Trade Shkolnik. . .
Secretary Richardson also announced that more than two-and-a half tons of weapons-grade plutonium from the BN-350 breeder reactor in Aktau, Kazakhstan, have been secured "Together with Kazakhstan, we have now finished 85 percent of the job, safely packaging nearly 2,800 fuel assemblies, to help reduce the vulnerability of high-quality plutonium in the western region of the country," said Secretary Richardson. "Had this unneeded reactor fuel not been secured it could have posed a serious risk to U.S. and global security." Since 1998, Energy Department specialists have been working at the reactor in Aktau to secure spent fuel assemblies, which both stabilizes the material and reduces the attractiveness of the material to theft. The United States and Kazakhstan expect to complete the project by February 2001. They will then proceed with a project to address the longer-term storage and disposition of the fuel. The material at Aktau is a major proliferation risk — it represents three tons of "ivory grade" plutonium contained in approximately 300 metric tons of spent fuel.
The BN-350 is a fast breeder reactor located in a strategically important position on the Caspian Sea's eastern shore. Kazakhstan has requested U.S. assistance to secure spent fuel at the reactor and to ensure that it is shutdown in a safe manner. In December 1999, Secretary Richardson and Minister Shkolnik signed an agreement to facilitate U.S. support in efforts to decommission the BN-350 reactor. The U.S. will support efforts to plan for the safe shutdown of the reactor, and to decontaminate, drain and deactivate the reactor's sodium coolant. Thus far, $3.8 million is planned for this purpose. The decommissioning activity will eliminate a source of weapons-grade plutonium production, while avoiding a possible environmental incident on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
The Secretary also announced that the Energy Department's Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention project will award up to $4 million to nine Kazakhstani institutes to support research projects and create employment opportunities for scientists with expertise in weapons of mass destruction and to reduce the risk of their migration to countries of proliferation concern. In addition, the U.S. and Kazakhstan agreed to extend an agreement to continue science and technology cooperation in the areas of basic, life, engineering, space and environmental sciences, and public health research. The original agreement was signed by Vice President Gore in 1994. President Nazarbayev and Secretary Richardson also witnessed the signing of an agreement between Chevron and the Kazakhstan national oil company, Kazakoil, to purchase an additional five percent of the Tengizchevroil oil consortium that operates the Tengiz oil field
2000 September 7. Nazarbayev meets Albright in NYC, over Giffen investigation.
Mr. Nazarbayev, in the United States, appealed directly to Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright in a meeting in New York. Nazarbayev asked Albright' help to unfreeze the funds that are subject to an investigation of bribry involving among others, James Giffen and Mr. Nazarbayev, and to end the investigation. Dr. Albright "listened but made no offer to intercede, American officials said."
2000 September 25. Washington Post profile of James H. Giffen.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A62358-2000Sep22
American at Center of Kazakh Oil Probe: Insider Linked to Payments to Foreign Officials, By Michael Dobbs, David Ottaway and Sharon LaFraniere, Monday, September 25, 2000; Page A01On a rainy August day last year, an American entrepreneur named James H. Giffen sat in the clubby surroundings of his favorite London hotel, the Dorchester, immersed in an effort to defuse a high-stakes scandal: allegations that millions of dollars from U.S. oil companies had been used to bribe high officials in the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan.
Seated across from Giffen in the Dorchester lobby was Akezhan Kazhegeldin, a former Kazakh prime minister who had become a subject of a Swiss investigation into disappearing oil payments. A few days earlier, the Swiss probe had taken a startling turn, and was now threatening also to engulf Giffen's boss, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
According to the former prime minister's camp, Giffen offered Kazhegeldin a deal. Kazhegeldin would end his outspoken opposition to President Nazarbayev, papering over a serious rift in the Kazakh leadership and putting a lid on the corruption allegations. In return, Kazhegeldin would be protected from prosecution and receive a high-level position back in Kazakhstan, a country four times the size of Texas with some of the most valuable oil reserves in the former Soviet Union. . .
2000 December 17, David Johnston, "Kazakh Mastermind, or New Ugly American? ," New York Times. Story about James Giffen.
2000 December 24. Reports of sale of nuclear warheads.
Arab Security Sources Speak of a New Scenario for Afghanistan: Secret Roaming Networks that Exchange Nuclear Weapons for Drugs," Al-Sharq al-Awsat, 24 December 2000. The intelligence agency of an unnamed European country reportedly intercepts a shipment of approximately twenty nuclear warheads–originating from Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and the Ukraine–intended for Bin Ladin and the Taliban regime of Afghanistan.