Field Reports

The leadership of British Petroleum (BP) in the international consortium developing the largest oil field in the Caspian Sea faces strong criticism from Azerbaijan’s government for a fall in crude oil output which has created a US$ 8 billion hole in state revenues. Azerbaijan’s economy is strongly dependent on energy exports and falls in production have a significant impact on the country’s growth as well as the mood of voters ahead of the 2013 presidential elections.

The exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Rapid reaction Forces (RRF) in Armenia may be a milestone for the organization’s international recognition. The war games demonstrated that the CSTO has grown into a Russia-led military bloc, which is capable of anti-terror operations on the territories of its member countries as well as abroad.

A video circulating in social networks allegedly shows a member of parliament from Azerbaijan’s ruling New Azerbaijan (YAP) party attempting to sell a seat in parliament. The video posted on You Tube on September 25 displays MP Gular Ahmadova discussing with the former rector of Azerbaijan International University, Elshad Abdullayev, the size of a bribe required for securing him a seat in parliament.

On October 8, the city court of Aktau announced its final conclusions in a months-long trial initiated by Kazakhstan’s prosecution against Vladimir Kozlov, leader of the unregistered political party Alga and two other civil rights activists. The official verdict states that Vladimir Kozlov shall be sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, while his personal property becomes subject to legal seizure. These assets include three personal vehicles, several land plots, as well as all of Alga’s regional offices located in 14 different cities across the country and officially registered in Kozlov’s name.

The Prime Minister designate and leader of Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) Bidzina Ivanishvili completed the nomination of a new cabinet on October 16, after revealing most candidates a week earlier. Personalities with different professional background and experiences as well as young, western-educated and previously untested politicians will take ministerial posts after the new parliament approves their candidacies later this month.  

During a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tajikistan on October 5, 2012, Dushanbe and Moscow signed a treaty extending the presence of the Russian military bases in Tajikistan until 2042. Despite the long negotiation process, which was commenced in September 2011, and a number of statements made by senior officials in Tajikistan’s government, Dushanbe failed to extract payments for the use of facilities and its territory for the Russian military bases, owing to its reliance on Moscow for remittances sent by Tajik migrants in Russia and fuel imports.

The six-party coalition Georgian Dream achieved a convincing victory over the ruling party United National Movement in Georgia’s October 1 parliamentary elections.

On September 24, President Nazarbayev accepted the resignation of his Prime Minister Karim Massimov’s government formed in the wake of the early presidential elections in April 2011. By another presidential decree, Massimov was appointed as a new chief of the presidential administration thus replacing Aslan Mussin who has headed this key political institution since October 2008. A reserved and even secretive politician, Karim Massimov was the longest-serving head of the Kazakh government (since January 2007) whose consecutive terms coincided with the most difficult periods of economic crisis and turmoil on financial and energy markets. When speaking of his Prime Minister’s work before the two chambers of Parliament, Nazarbayev praised his professionalism and even recalled that Massimov had already submitted several letters of resignation, citing fatigue and personal circumstances.

The visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Bishkek has resulted in the signature of vitally important agreements for Kyrgyzstan. While many consider this visit a historical turning point in Kyrgyzstan-Russia relations and a success of Kyrgyz foreign policy, others still voice concerns about the actual implementation of these agreements.