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Kazakh Report: December 6, 2001


6 December 2001

KYRGYZ PRESIDENT TO VISIT KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakh Premier Qasymzhomart Toqayev told members of Kazakh Parliament's Lower Chamber on 6 December that Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev plans to visit Astana on December 15. Akayev and Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev will reportedly sign a number of bilateral agreements and other documents, including one finalizing the delineation of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border.

WOMEN OF SOUTH KAZAKHSTAN COMPLAIN
Aysulu Izbasarova and Raifa Seidakhmetova, who represent a large group of women of South Kazakhstan Oblast's Baidibek region, visited RFE/RL's Bureau in Astana on 6 December and said that the Astana municipal authorities have rejected their request for permission to stage a protest action in front of parliament building later this month to demand their overdue social allowances to be paid off. They have been repeating that demand since January of this year, and vowed they will stage an "extraordinary action" if their demands are not met. They did not explain what sort of "extraordinary action" they have in mind.

ADILBEKMOLA OIL FIELD SENDS FIRST SHIPMENT OF CRUDE OIL TO ATYRAU REFINERY
The first shipment of crude oil was sent from Adilbekmola oil field in Aqtobe Oblast to the oil refinery in Atyrau, Western Kazakhstan on 5 December. Exploitation of the Adilbekmola oil field began in in 1987. In 1999 Canadian Nelson Resources and KazakhOil Companies established joint venture called KazakhOil-Aqtobe, which is the main operator in the Adilbekmola and Qozhasay oil fields in Aqtobe Oblast.

31 CHANNEL CLAIMS BEN LADEN GROUP CONSTRUCTS NEW BUILDINGS IN ASTANA
31 Channel, which is one of the main Almaty TV channels, reported late on 5 December that the Cardiology Center complex along the Esil River in Astana is being built by the Ben Laden Group Company. The district along the river has the status of a Free Economic Zone, and all the companies working there are exempt from paying taxes. It was also reported that the Ben Laden Group is owned not by wanted terrorist Osama Ben Laden, but by other members of his extended family.

DUSHANBE-ASTRAKHAN TRAIN TO RESUME OPERATIONS ON 7 DECEMBER
Train services between the Tajik capital, Dushanbe and Russia's Astrakhan Oblast will resume on December 7. They were suspended by Kazakhstan's Qazaqstan Temir-Zholy Company in October in the wake of U.S.-led anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan. At that time Kazakh officials explained the move in terms of the need to prevent an upsurge in illegal immigration from Afghanistan and other Central Asian states.

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