Presidents Nursultan Nazarbaev and Vladimir Putin have changed the outlines of the states they head exclusively for the better.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Vladimir Putin Gives Up Northern Territories for a Gas Field
// Protocol
Russian President Vladimir Putin met yesterday with Nursultan Nazarbaev, President of Kazakhstan, and signed a long-awaited boundary delimitation treaty with him under which Russia bit off the juiciest piece of a gas field for itself. Special Kommersant correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov has the details.
The day before there was a lot of talk about whether the treaty on delimitation of the Kazakhstan–Russian border would be signed at all. The point is that almost the entire Imashevskoe gas field, which is mainly what the dispute was about, still belonged to Kazakhstan. Russia only owned a small piece of it in the north (the extreme edge).
However, high-ranking Russians had pretensions of owning the field at least fifty-fifty with the Kazakhs and using it together with them. In the existing situation, this was a task of the utmost importance. But news leaked out from certain sources that Vladimir Putin had apparently been able to convince the President of Kazakhstan several days before in Almaty that it made sense to give up part of the gas field in order to gain something whole in exchange. Specifically, the northern territories signed over to Kazakhstan, albeit under Soviet rule by a decision of the Politburo. Obviously, no one was planning to recover them by force (like the Crimea, for example). But a formal renunciation of any claims to these immemorial Russian lands (Good Lord! After yesterday's delimitation treaty, you can't utter these words any more!) would suit the Kazakhs. And as shown by yesterday's events, they were willing to pay for this.
Nursultan Nazarbaev brought a very impressive delegation to the talks. For example, according to the list of members, besides the president himself, it included Dariga Nazarbaeva. Her job title was listed simply and completely as “daughter of the President of Kazakhstan”. Only after this, in full compliance with the highest levels of the state hierarchy, came Kasymzhomart Tokaev, Kazakhstan's Minister of Foreign Affairs; Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, the head of the President of Kazakhstan's administration… When gathered together, these people could have moved mountains, not just shift boundaries.
But Russia also sent its best complement to the talks: besides Vladimir Putin, the “foundation” of our team included German Gref, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade; Viktor Khristenko, the Minister of Industry and Energy; Arkady Dvorkovich, the head of Russia's board of experts…
All of these people were introduced to the President of Kazakhstan. Nursultan Nazarbaev paused no more than a few seconds near each of the Russian negotiators until finally he reached Arkady Dvorkovich. Mr. Nazarbaev halted next to him as if planted and remained there for some time, no less than five minutes according to the estimates of jealous observers. They spoke quietly, so that no one else besides them understood clearly what mutual feeling had suddenly sprung up between these two, who at first glance were such different people. Maybe the President of Kazakhstan was simply won over by Arkady Dvorkovich's youth, sincerity, and sort of childlike purity. Or non-childlike – what difference does it make? The main thing was that he stood and talked.
Of course, there is no certainty that it was through Mr. Dvorkovich's efforts that Mr. Nazarbaev was convinced that Russia needed half of the Imashevskoe field. Needed, period. And now haggling was irrelevant.
The important thing is that they agreed. And Russia and Kazakhstan would also use it together. In the estimation of the observers, who had finally stopped being jealous and had returned to carrying out their immediate duties at the expanded talks, the field was not really so inexhaustible and the need for joint use would not be all that prolonged.
In addition, Kazakhstan gave up one more piece of its territory to Astrakhan Region. Large flocks of sheep had grazed on this bit of land since time immemorial and their Russian shepherds had always lived there. In the words of Aleksandr Zhilkin, the Governor of Astrakhan Region, they also gave us this territory – without formality in a neighborly sort of way.
Vladimir Putin seemed very pleased with the talks.
– Our boundary will become a boundary of friendship, and any talk about Russia dominating anyone in any way will end here, “ he said confidently.
Was this boundary really any other kind of boundary before this? What a pity if it was!
When both presidents had signed the boundary delimitation treaty, the members of the Kazakh delegation rose from their seats and began applauding wildly. It seems they didn't believe the Russians would get their own way until the very last moment.
Nursultan Nazarbaev spoke of how Russia was Kazakhstan's eternal partner and neighbor. Personally, I heard a note of impending doom in his voice.
– We were given to one another by God,” he said, looking down (was he reading?). “And we must hand down what we have received to our children and grandchildren.”
Judging from the list of Kazakh participants in the talks (see above), the handing down of what was received was in full swing.
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A Production-Sharing Joint Venture Will Bet Set Up
The proven reserves of the Imashevskoe gas condensate field located on the boundary of Atyrau Region (Kazakhstan) and Astrakhan Region (Russia) amount to 128.7 billion cu. m of gas and 20.7 million tons of gas condensate. The Imashevskoe field was considered to be the second-largest gas condensate field in Kazakhstan in spite of the unsettled question of its state ownership. In December 1997, Kazakhstan's Munaigas obtained a license to explore and produce it for a 40-year period. However, in January 2003, a court in Almaty revoked Munaigaz's right to resource use and, according to Kommersant's information, transferred the right to the state company Kazmunaigaz. Last year, Gazprom and Kazmunaigaz held talks on production rights at the field. Igor Volobuev, the head of Gazprom's press service, told Kommersant yesterday that the company was still interested in the Imashevkoe field. After the signing of the boundary delimitation treaty, information appeared that a Russian–Kazakh joint venture would carry out production on a parity basis.
Andrey Kolesnikov
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 19, 2005
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