News Digest

UZBEKISTAN CUTS GAS SUPPLIES TO TAJIKISTAN

24 January

Georgian prosecutors indict Patarkatsishvili for conspiracy, terrorism
10 January
The Georgian Prosecutor General's Office has indicted businessman Arkady (Badri) Patarkatsishvili for a number of serious crimes, including conspiracy to overthrow the government, preparations for an attack on a political figure, and preparations for a terrorist attack, the Prosecutor General's Office told Interfax.  As Patarkatsishvili is outside Georgia at the present time, a summons to the Prosecutor General's Office for questioning will be delivered to his family, it said. (Interfax) 

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN FMs MEET IN MADRID

29 November

KAZAKH MINISTER CLAIMS NEW AGREEMENT REACHED WITH INDEPENDENT MEDIA
19 November
Kazakh Minister of Culture and Information Yermukhamet Yertysbaev said on November 16 that a new agreement was reached at a recent meeting with representatives from the country's non-state media. Yertysbaev explained that he had "a normal conversation" with "opposition" media officials, who he characterized as "sensible people," and agreed "to observe certain rules of the game and adhere to ethical norms." Some of the opposition media officials disputed the minister's claims, however, and the editors of the opposition "Respublika," "Taszhargan," and "Vzglyad" newspapers published an address to their readers describing the meeting as "an attempt to interfere in editorial policy." The opposition editors went on to stress that "no one -- not even the information minister or the government or the parliament -- has the right to dictate to the independent press what it should publish." The head of Kazakhstan's Union of Journalists, Seitkazy Mataev, also dismissed the minister's claim of an agreement, adding that Yertysbaev was attempting to impose "censorship" by pressuring the media not to publish materials based on "audio recordings of telephone conversations of high-ranking Kazakh officials" recently posted on the Internet (Interfax-Kazakhstan)

Moscow says Tbilisi unwilling to settle conflicts peacefully
1 November
The Russian Foreign Ministry has declared that Georgia's actions against peacekeepers in the Georgian- Abkhaz conflict zone on October 30 were a provocation. "The new action of Georgia, with the involvement of top-ranking officials, confirmed that the CIS collective peacekeeping force is being provoked, the unwillingness to resolve problems through peaceful negotiations and the threat to use force, including military force," says a report posted by the ministry's information and press department on Thursday. (Interfax)

Uzbekistan President to visit Turkmenistan

17 October

The President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov will visit Turkmenistan on October 18. The President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov informed at the session of the cabinet of ministers of Turkmenistan, the agency reports referring to the press service of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
During the meeting of the leaders of two states the parties will exchange opinions on prospects of mutual relations, regional cooperation, economic integration and safety. The main attention will be given to the questions in energy sphere. Uzbekistan is the participant of two gas pipelines - Trans-Caspian and Turkmenistan-China. "Uzbekistan supports all these projects and makes all efforts for their realization. However, the position of Ashkhabad in the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline needs to be specified," the representative of the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the agency. The relations between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan develop in the spirit of the Contract of 1996 on friendship, cooperation and mutual aid and Friendship treaties, strengthening mutual trust and development of cooperation signed in 2004. More than 108 bilateral documents have been signed between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan states. "During the meeting we have discussed the questions of further development of political, trade and economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between our countries. We have discussed the issues of cooperation in fuel and energy spheres. We consider that realization of the agreement signed on May 12, 2007 between Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan, as well as the agreements on gas pipeline Turkmenistan - China, will be successful," Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan said. (Kazakhstan Today)

Armenian foreign minister: We have no intentions to use Kosovo as precedent for Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement

4 October

The Armenian foreign minister while speaking at the UN General Assembly session presented Yerevan’s position on an initiative to propose for discussion at the UN General Assembly the subject of frozen conflicts. “The Nagorno Karabakh conflict is on the agenda of the UN General Assembly on frozen conflicts. However, any resolution that covers all conflicts is not comprehensive from the start, as all of them are different,” Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan announced yesterday. As REGNUM was told at the Armenian foreign ministry press office, Vardan Oskanyan that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict must not be discussed at the UN, as the negotiation process on its settlement is held within frameworks of the OSCE. “It is not the place for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” the minister concluded.

KAZAKH MINISTER MEETS WITH EU ENERGY COMMISSIONER OVER OIL FIELD DISPUTE
20 September
Kazakh Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sauat Mynbaev met on September 20 in Brussels with visiting European Union Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to discuss the dispute between the Kazakh authorities and an Italian-led consortium over operations at the offshore Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea. Piebalgs called on the Kazakh government to continue negotiations with the consortium, adding that "successful cooperation in the energy sector" requires "mutual respect, transparency, and predictability." The meeting follows Mynbaev's recent call for "an open dialogue" to resolve the dispute, which culminated in Kazakhstan's suspension of operations at the Kashagan oil field for three months due to alleged violations of environmental-protection laws and consistent delays and cost overruns by Eni, the consortium in charge of operations. Relations between Kazakhstan and the consortium have also been strained by Eni's decision to push back the start of production at the oil field from 2008 to late 2010. The total projected cost for operating the Kashagan field has more than doubled from initial estimates of $57 billion to $136 billion. The Kashagan field holds between 7 billion and 9 billion tons of proven reserves, making it the single-largest oil field discovered in the last three decades and the fourth- or fifth-largest in the world. (Interfax-Kazakhstan)

Turkmen schoolchildren banned from cotton harvesting
10 September

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has banned sending schoolchildren to work as cotton pickers. Schoolchildren should not be involved in field harvesting, the Turkmen president said in his speech at a meeting of the Turkmen government that discussed the situation in respect to cotton harvesting. The president's speech has been published by Turkmen newspapers on Monday. Turkmen law and the international conventions prohibit use of adolescents' labour, the Turkmen president declared in connection with a harvesting campaign that began in Turkmenistan. The former Turkmen president, Saparmurat Niyazov, also banned schoolchildren from harvesting cotton, but local administrations did use children's labour. Workers of regional enterprises and servicemen have been regularly sent to cotton harvesting fields. The Turkmen president underlined that beginning from 2008 servicemen and workers of law enforcement bodies would be doing agricultural work on their own farms only. According to official statistics, a total of 152,000 tons of cotton have been harvested in Turkmenistan. By September 9, 2007 the cotton harvest has grown by 14, 600 tons, including 728 tons harvested by agricultural machinery.  (Itar-Tass)

OMON convoy attacked in Dagestan; 2 killed, 7 wounded - police
23 August
Two police officers were killed and seven others wounded in an assault on a police convoy in the Buinaksk district of Dagestan, a duty officer of the Buinaksk district police department told Interfax. "Unknown gunmen opened fire on a OMON convoy returning from the Untsukul district. Two OMON officers were killed and seven others wounded. Five of them are in serious condition. The wounded were taken to the Buinaksk district hospital. Additional police units have arrived on the scene. They are combing the area looking for the attackers," the office said. The incident happened at about 3.30 p.m. Moscow time near the Gimri tunnel, which connects the mountainous and lowland districts of Dagestan, the officer said. (Interfax)