Kyrgyz president on a three day visit to Russia; Kyrgyz Premier visits Astana; USA confirms not to use Manas to attack Iran; US officials negotiate new agreements with Central Asia for alternative transit route; Reshuffling of governmental posts in the Tu
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  • According to reports, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev visited Moscow as part of the three-day working visit from February 23-25, 2012 with a packed agenda aimed at bolstering business and firming up their strategic partnership1. During his visit Russia “confirmed its readiness to pay for the lease and operation of infrastructure facilities in Kyrgyzstan [about $15 million],” the Kremlin said in a statement. 2 However, the Kremlin statement noted that Kyrgyzstan owed $493 million to Russia, but that it understands the “complicated financial and economic situation” in the country and is ready to consider various payoff options. 3 The heads of two countries discussed the issue of Kyrgyz foreign debt reduction in exchange for shares of Dastan factory. 4 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told his visiting counterpart that security issues in Central Asia are a top priority in Russia. 5

    In the meanwhile, Kazakh leaders held talks this week with the visiting Kyrgyz premier Omurbek Babanov and backed a pledge to provide “all-round support” for their small southern neighbor Kyrgyzstan, while discussing energy, water, and gas projects, including the Kambarata-1 hydropower project, which Samruk-Kazyna intends to support. 6

    In another development, according to reports, the United States will not use the Manas Transit Center outside the Kyrgyz capital to attack Iran, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said in response to allegations by Russia that the base could be used for this purpose. 7 Also, the U.S. officials last week reportedly visited the capitals of all five Central Asian republics in an effort to forge new agreements to facilitate U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan with an aim to create an alternative to using transit routes through volatile Pakistan. 8 However the negotiations with Uzbekistan are stagnated, due to the high price Uzbekistan is trying to exact from U.S. officials to facilitate the distribution route. 9

    Reports noted that President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who won the recent presidential election, reshuffled key posts in the oil and gas sectors, apart from the banking sector, with an aim to increase foreign investment in the hydrocarbon sector. 10

    In the meanwhile, the Iranian press service Presstv.com reported the Tajik ambassador to Iran Dolat Ali Hatamov, welcoming the idea of purchasing more Iranian oil at a press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran. 11

    In other developments, according to reports, the official number of drug addicts in Kyrgyzstan has risen by more than one-quarter over the last four years, an increase of 26.5 percent since 2007. This was noted by the national director of the Center on Addiction, Ruslan Tokubaev. 12 Russia and Kazakhstan are in negotiations for Kazakhstan's state-owned nuclear firm Kazatomprom to increase its stakes in a Russian nuclear armament plant wherein the Kazatomprom may pay as much as $500 million to increase its share of Urals Electrochemical Combine to 49 percent, from 30 percent at the moment. 13

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