KAZAKH PRESIDENT CONSIDERS OIL PIPELINE TO PERSIAN GULF VIA IRAN
His comments came shortly after Kazakhstan agreed details of pipeline links eastwards into China to meet growing energy demands by the Chinese, and he stressed the historical challenges of a landlocked country that had been closely tied to the Soviet Union. Nazarbayev said one of Kazakhstan's principal demands in the creation of a planned economic zone with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus was also related to natural resources: it sought a reduction in the tariffs charged by Russia for its oil pipelines and railway freight.
He said he thought that the four-country zone - which he said accounted for 80 percent of the Soviet-era economy - could begin operations by as soon as next year, which he described as a "pragmatic initiative for economic development". He defended its benefits both for the region and the rest of the world against suggestions that it represented a re-creation of a Soviet-style political bloc.
"Why does the West and the U.S. regard with skepticism and even criticism the fact that the post-Soviet region tries to promote integration?" he said. In spite of criticism of bureaucracy and corruption in Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev stressed his efforts at liberal economic reform and openness to foreign investment. He also reaffirmed his ambition to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2008.
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