IN THIS ISSUE:

CEP & REGIONAL NEWS

COUNTRY NEWS

• AZERBAIJAN
• I.R. IRAN
• RUSSIA
• TURKMENISTAN

PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

CEP & REGIONAL NEWS

1. RUSSIA, INDIA, IRAN TO DECIDE ON WAYS OF DEVELOPING NORTH-SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR
2. CASPIAN SEA LEVEL DOWN 50 CENTIMETERS IN FIVE YEARS

1. RUSSIA, INDIA, IRAN TO DECIDE ON WAYS OF DEVELOPING NORTH-SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR
The Russian, Indian and Iranian transport ministries are holding a conference in New Delhi this week to determine ways of developing the North-South international transport corridor, running from India to Northern Europe through Iran and Russia, in 2002.

The Russian delegation is led by Deputy Transport Minister Chingiz Izmailov, the Transport Ministry press service told Interfax. The delegations have agreed to set up a special working agency in charge of issues related to customs, financial and legal regulations. They also discussed other countries' possible membership in the project, including Bahrain, Kazakhstan and Lithuania. Transport Ministry sources said that an agreement on laying out a North-South international transport corridor was signed by Russia, India and Iran in St. Petersburg in September 2000. Its annual handling capacity could exceed 15 million tones for the next few years. Experimental container freightage from India to the Scandinavian countries through Iran and Russia showed that the new transport route "will effectively compete with the sea route going through the Suez Canal," ministry experts think.
Containers transported along the South-North route reach the consignee 2-3 times faster than by sea. Moreover, the consignor saves $400 on each container. In 2001, the international transport corridor handled over 500,000 tones of transit containers. Russia's Caspian shipping companies are actively participating in transport operations.
Source: INTERFAX

2. CASPIAN SEA LEVEL DOWN 50 CENTIMETERS IN FIVE YEARS
The Caspian Sea level has dropped fifty centimeters (20 inches) in the last five
years, the Russian emergencies ministry said Wednesday, according to Interfax. The Caspian Sea level began to decrease in 1996, and had dropped by 46 centimeters by the end of 2000. 

According to estimates by Russian scientists, the sea level will have dropped by a further three to five centimeters in 2001. However, during the first few months of 2002, the Caspian Sea level is expected to rise by four to ten centimeters, the scientists said.

The Caspian Sea, the world's largest enclosed sea, is rich in oil and surrounded by Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. All five neighbors have been unable to agree on how to share the Caspian wealth since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. The sea level had dropped regularly until 1978
Source:AgenceFrance-Presse

AZERBAIJAN

1. TIPS FOR ELEMENTARY ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION
2. WORLD BANK IS DELAYING ITS OWN ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT IN AZERBAIJAN

1. TIPS FOR ELEMENTARY ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION
The Azerbaijan Society for Protection of Animals (ASPA) held a two-day seminar at the Ecological Center of the Ministry of Education as part of the Caspian Ecological Program project "Improvement of the ecological situation in Khatai district of Baku by means of ecological education of schoolchildren".

"The objective of the project is to seek ways of improving elementary ecological education at school", ASPA President Azer Garayev told AssA-Irada. According to him, ecological subjects are taught using various teaching methods, with textbooks in Azeri, Russian or translated from Russian. The quality of the textbooks leaves much to be desired for its contents, design, etc., he underscored.
The textbooks fail to accommodate the local ecological system, as they have no data on the Caspian, its fauna, flora and problems.

According to Azeri scholars, the lack of a common doctrine in teaching ecological subjects leads to overall ecological illiteracy in the country and eventually to inhuman treatment of the environment.
The seminar developed recommendations for the improvement of the situation to be forwarded to the Ministry of Education, the Milli Majlis and other entities.*
Source: AssA-Irada
 
2. WORLD BANK IS DELAYING ITS OWN ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT IN AZERBAIJAN
'The approach that the World Bank has adopted towards construction of the fish-breeding farm in Neftchala is not quite accurate, we think', says Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Hussein Baghirov. Construction of the fishery is financed from the project of urgent environmental protection investments, and the credit agreement for $20 mn was signed by the World Bank and the Government on 7 August 1998. Only $1.64 mn has been spent of the total budget to date, even though assimilation of the allocated resources began on 2 February 1999 and the project should be closed on 31 December 2003.

According to Minister Baghirov, the delayed start-up of the construction work is caused by the problems at the World Bank itself. 'We signed the agreement with the contractor only following the approval of the World Bank, and now they seem to be having some problems', Hussein Baghirov remarked.

The contract was signed with the alliance formed between the Azeri company Azerenerjitikintigurasdima and Germany's Ferrostaal. The allocation towards construction of the fishery equals $5.95 mn. The total credit that the bank allocated towards the whole project equals $9.1 mn. Ten months will pass from the moment the work begins and the moment of the turn-key completion. The annual breeding capacity of the fishery should equal 15 mn fish-fry. It will be built in Khilly locality near Neftchala, 20 km upstream from the mouth of Kura and 150 km away from Baku.
Right now, nothing can stop the World Bank from beginning to finance the project to ensure that construction work begins, and this will be 10% of the contract sum. All the tasks we had to carry out we have carried out. There are no problems. The ball is on their side now. As far as I am concerned, the bank is about to settle all the issues very soon', said Hussein Baghirov.

Azerbaijan's sturgeon fishing and caviar quotas set by the Caspian Sea Biological Resources Commission are subject to the future productivity of the new fishery.
The World Bank avoids making comments on the project's progress.
Source: AZER-PRESS.

1. CASPIAN TELECOMS CONFERENCE
2. IRANIAN CYCLISTS TO PEDAL PARSABAD-BAKU ROUTE

1. CASPIAN TELECOMS CONFERENCE
Caspian Telecommunications Conference featuring Government participation from 9 countries of the Caspian, Central Asian and Caucasus regions including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Iran and Turkey will take place on 22nd - 24th May 2002 at the Hilton Hotel and will feature the participation of Ministers of Communication, Directors of National Telecom Corporations, senior executives of local and International Telecoms corporations and representatives of International Telecom Associations.
Source: Email: Ingram@bemltd.com Website www.bemltd.com

2. IRANIAN CYCLISTS TO PEDAL PARSABAD-BAKU ROUTE
An Iranian cycling group from Fajr-e Moghan Club, Ardebil province, is to pedal the 275-km distance between Parsabad and Baku, announced head of Azerbaijan Physical Education Dpartment, Monday.

Talking to IRNA, Aydin Mamadov added the group is to start its tour on January 18, aiming to attend the commemoration ceremony for the Azeri martyrs of January 20, 1990 to be held in Baku. Acording to him, the Azeri physical education officials and athletes will welcome the 12-member cycling group in the border town of Bil-e Savar, Azerbaijan, on January 19. During their four-day stay, the Iranian cyclists will also visit the tourist attractions and historical sites of Republic of Azerbaijan. On Jan 20, 1990, the troops of former Soviet Union made an attack on the Azeri demonstrators, leaving 132 killed and 612 wounded.
Source: IRNA

RUSSIA

1. RUSSIAN OFFICIALS ARE DETERMINED TO FOCUS MORE ATTENTION AT THE HEALTH OF THE NATION
2. A NUMBER OF AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL LAW "ON FISHING AND CONSERVATION OF AQUATIC BIORESOURCES"
3. MID-JANUARY, 2002, CASPIAN FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE (ASTRAKHAN, RUSSIA) HELD ITS ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC SESSION

1. RUSSIAN OFFICIALS ARE DETERMINED TO FOCUS MORE ATTENTION AT THE HEALTH OF THE NATION
The first step will be estimating health status of the population and physical development of the youth. In particular, annual monitoring will be conducted in the Astrakhan region. This analysis is expected to reveal original causes of diseases in the population, specify impacts of environment on human physical status, define factors of negative impact, etc. All data will be included in special Federal information database. According to obtained results, experts will be able to predict health status of the citizens, prevent and eliminate negative factors. This information is open, medical officers intend to inform the public on the results of examinations and undertaken measures.
Source: News Agency AVERS, 9 January, 2002
 
CEP Comments: 2 projects related to environmental human health ("The Health of Children in the Astrakhan area: challenges, ways for preservation and improvement", project leader - Prof. Anver Djumagaziev, and "Rehabilitation/ Establishing 2 Health Centres in the Astrakhan region", leader - Prof. Dina Nikulina) were approved for implementation and initiated under Caspian Environment Programme Small Grants Program, Public Awareness/Public Participation component.
Source: PPA Russia
 
2. A NUMBER OF AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL LAW "ON FISHING AND CONSERVATION OF AQUATIC BIORESOURCES" will be forwarded to the Government of Russian Federation by the Astrakhan Region Administration. These amendments regard primarily the issues related to commercial fishing and licensing activities of fisheries enterprises.
Deputy Director CaspNIRKh Anatoly Vlasenko informed that Astrakhan scientists made numerous proposals, among them, the following:
· introduce definition "spawning grounds" into the Law, and
· acknowledge priority in sturgeon fishing for the states where sturgeons' spawning occur.
Last year, Draft Law on fishing was rejected by the President RF as inconsistent with the Constitution RF and certain acting federal laws. It neglected interests of RF at the Caspian; moreover, regional authorities were not empowered to deal with fisheries and protection of bio-resources.
Source: News Agency AVERS, 11 January, 2002
 
3. MID-JANUARY, 2002, CASPIAN FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE (ASTRAKHAN, RUSSIA) HELD ITS ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC SESSION on results of the previous year. The majority of research was undertaken in the field of bioresources. Data were collected in the course of 8 expeditions, including 3 cruises to the North Caspian (stock assessment of sturgeons, shads and semianadromous fish species), 4 - to the Middle and South Caspian (population status of the Caspian kilkas and distribution of Mnemiopsis) and 1 international cruise with participation of littoral states (stock assessment of commercial fish species).

In 2001, hydrological conditions in the lower Volga river were favorable for generating stocks of sturgeons, semianadromous and riverine fish. Salinity and oxygen conditions in the North Caspian (significant freshening) as well as development of benthic food items there either contributed to efficient feeding of commercial fish species in the North Caspian.

In spring, a large-scale natural phenomenon occurred at the Middle Caspian, which caused anomalous decline of the water temperature, abrupt rising of deep water layers, increase of pollutants' concentrations, and sharp drop of oxygen contents at depths 400-100 m. This phenomenon coincided with kilka die-off, and significant concentrations of toxic substances were identified in the sampled specimens.

Trophic conditions for planktivorous species were strained due to wide distribution of Mnemiopsis, which spread up to the northern parts of the sea by the end of the summer. Its maximum abundance was registered in the central and western regions of the South Caspian.

Distressed status of Caspian sturgeons is still of great concern. Results of the Caspian marine expedition show that sturgeons' abundance in the Caspian (exclusive of Iran) remains at the level corresponding to that of the 1999; decrease of age-weight parameters persists in population trends. Commercial stocks of sevryuga and Russian sturgeon declined due to illegal harvest of senior age groups. The number of spawners predicted to enter the rivers in 2002 is at the low level.

Breeding conditions in the year of 2001 were unfavorable for the Caspian seal, as mild winter had an adverse effect to the pupping period. Low level of Caspian seal reproduction was registered, and relapse of epidemic diseases may probably occur.

Summarizing results of the works a number of decisions were adopted; these were concerned with more precise assessment of the Caspian commercial bioresources, estimation of marine environmental impacts on bioresources, increased reliability of TPC (Total Permissible Catches) forecasts.
Source: PPA Russia

TURKMENISTAN

1. Turkmenistan demolishes the exit visa
2. The Mayor of Turkmenbashy City dismissed

1. Turkmenistan demolishes the exit visa
 The President of Turkmenistan issued a decree effective January 1, 2002 on exit requirements for the citizens of the country. According to the new policy there will be no exit visa required to leave the country only an entry visa to the country of destination will be required to depart Turkmenistan.
Source: Turkmen TV

2. The Mayor of Turkmenbashy City dismissed
The Presidnet of Turkmenistan issued a decree on dismissing Halmamed Durdyev, Mayor of Turkmenbashy from his post.
Source: Turkmen TV

PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Astrakhan Region Public Council on Ecology
Chairman of the Presidium: Director of KaspNIRKh, Dr. of Biology, Vladimir P. Ivanov
Postal address: KaspNIRKh, 1, Savushkina str., Astrakhan 414056, Russia
Tel.: (8 8512) 25-86-36 (receptionist)
E-mail: kaspiy@astranet.ru