Kyrgyz Pupils Took Part in Festival of National Cultures in Moscow
July 19th, 2008
Elena tells that pupils-winners of school olympiads from Kyrgyzstan took part in the festival of national cultures (ENG).
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan Don’t Pass the Kyrgyz Water to Kazakhstan
July 19th, 2008
Elena reports that Uzbekistan and Tajikistan don’t pass through water from Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan (RUS).
Friday Photo: Horses
July 18th, 2008
MissLuckyAndCrazy posts beautiful pictures of the horses pastured high in the mountains in southern Kazakhstan (ENG, RUS)
The Kyrgyz Taigan As a New Brand of Kyrgyzstan
July 18th, 2008
Elena tells that the Kyrgyz breed of dog Taigan (the Kyrgyz Greyhound) could become a new brand of Kyrgyzstan (RUS).
Bakiev Met Medvedev
July 18th, 2008
Elena reports about recent meeting of the Presidents of Russia and Kyrgyzstan (ENG).
The Rise of Kazakh Military
July 17th, 2008
Adam tells that new types of ammunition, designed in Israel, but made in Kazakhstan, comply with the world trends in the sphere of design of high-precision weaponry (ENG).
How to support corruption
July 17th, 2008
Adam Kesher tells about new traffic regulation in Kazakhstan, which are to make the rules stricter, but hardly will eliminate corruption in traffic police (RUS).
Unpack the National Fund
July 17th, 2008
Zhanna Zhukova reports that the business association of Kazakhstan came out with the demand to use money from the National Fund to solve urgent problems in the crediting sector of economy (RUS).
Google Earth pictures of Kagan, Bukhara
July 17th, 2008
Libertad uploads Google Earth photos of blast-torn city Kagan (ENG).
Kagan residents are being evacuated again
July 17th, 2008
Libertad informs readers about Kagan residents being evacuated again and puts photos of the evacuation (ENG).
Central Asia strategy
July 16th, 2008
Phillip posts his impressions of a panel discussion of the German Association for Eastern European Studies about the Central Asia strategy of the European Union (ENG).
9 People Were Confirmed to Have Anthrax
July 16th, 2008
Elena reports that nine people were confirmed to have anthrax and one person died from anthrax (RUS).
Mittal’s Business Still Under Risk in Kazakhstan
July 16th, 2008
Adam Kesher reflects on the recent developments around Arcelor Mittal’s enterprise in Kazakhstan against the background of evolving resource nationalism trends in Kazakhstan and consolidation of major industries in hands of the state (ENG).
Social Fund Needs to Increase Pensions Minimum
July 15th, 2008
Elena reports that President set a task before social fund to increase pensions minimum by 15% (ENG).
The young Kazakh journalists get united
July 15th, 2008
The Kostanay (North Kazakhstan) regional administration supported the forum of young journalists and promotes improvement of quality of journalistic works in the city media (KAZ)
Astana as a tool for nationalization
July 15th, 2008
Askhat writes that after the Astana anniversary celebrations, a foreign web-site published an article which raised the view that the holiday was used as an instrument for showcase of the new national identity (KAZ)
Double Standards Exposed
July 15th, 2008
Adam reviews the article in London’s Sunday Times about a Kazakh odious politician’s participation in the journalists investigation into lobbying patterns (RUS).
Restriction Of Use of Electric Power Will Start in August
July 14th, 2008
Elena writes about the begining of the limitations of electric power in August (RUS).
Young Talents Devote Their Works to Chingiz Aitmatov
July 14th, 2008
Elena announces about a future exhibition of young talents devoted to writer Chingiz Aitmatov’s (ENG).
Dispute on money for Whitney’s performance on Astana bithday
July 14th, 2008
Askhat reviews the internet posts after the Astana holiday and writes that the audience was dissatisfied with Whitney Houston concert at the celebration of Astana, and American readers are wondering where the money for new buildings in Astana come from (KAZ)
Mega Media Holding
July 14th, 2008
Adam reports on creation of a new Kazakh media holding company, made up of state-owned and - of course - pro-government outlets (ENG).
Friday Photo: Bayterek, Almaty-Style
July 14th, 2008
Adam posts a picture of the copy of Bayterek tower in Almaty. As believed, the similar copies are to be installed in all major cities of Kazakhstan (ENG, RUS).
Podcast: Eyewitness story about the explosions in Kagan
July 12th, 2008
Rashid uploads a podcast where eyewitness tells about the explosions in Kagan town in Bukhara region of Uzbekistan (RUS).
Joys of traveling to Uzbekistan or…
July 12th, 2008
Mansurhon links to a blog that shares its authors good and bad experiences as a tourist in Bukhara (ENG).
Pictures of Kagan, Bukhara
July 12th, 2008
Libertad writes about the explosions in Kagan town near Bukhara city, and uploads its Google Earth pictures (ENG).
Bauhaus Photography Exhibition Opened in Bishkek
July 10th, 2008
Elena reflects on the exhibition Bauhaus Photography in Bishkek (ENG).
Site of the Opposition Party Hacked
July 10th, 2008
Elena reports about a hacker’s attack on the site of the opposition party “Ata-Meken” (RUS).
Explosions in Bukhara
July 10th, 2008
Libertad writes about the night explosions in Bukhara and uploads its first video (ENG).
Missing the old Kazakh capital
July 10th, 2008
Erbol writes that many Kazakh bright scientist was born in Kyzylorda which was the second capital of Kazakh Republic (Kaz).
Any Chance for Democratization?
July 10th, 2008
Adam reflects on the political developments in Kazakhstan in light of its future OSCE chairmanship (ENG).
on April 26th, 2006 at 8:46 am
Yes, the EU supports a number of strange projects and the processes have to be reviewed to avoid corruption and missuse of funds. Nevertheless there is a number of good approaches with TACIS that further should be supported, especially the “Institutions Building Partnership Program” which by times is politicised.
on April 26th, 2006 at 10:04 am
IMHO, a major handicap for this kind of technical assistance programmes with a lot of money involved is the de facto, if not contractual, obligation to work via a local government counterpart. Which is normal when you work on, say, a capacity building programme for this or that ministry; yet, once you get into that, be certain that you’re screwed.
IOM, it’s largely a cultural/mentality thing. They – the local regime counterparts – don’t see it as a contractual partnership with reciprocal rights and duties but basically as a cash cow, some sort of continuation of Moscow’s subsidies in the Soviet era; as long as the results look good on paper and the money comes in, everything is pod kontrol – just like in the Soviet time.
Besides, the fact that structures like Tacis don’t seem to have the best of reputations among wider public opinion in ‘our’ region, is also due to the attitude of some of its international personnel. I mean, I’m sure several of us know examples of the flashy, several-100€-a-day ‘experts’ and other ‘team leaders’ about whom no-one knows what they’re actually experting on save Wein, Weib und Gesang.
on April 29th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
Athman, sorry to say this but not all TACIS is relying on local govs collaboration. You also should be aware of political dimension of TACIS IBPP that CANNOT be controlled by local governments. And also to say this for the benefit of the EC, they show some kind of humor with the calls for project proposals. The EC just had a call for proposal for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan where they especially ask for projects promoting the freedom of independent media and grassroot/democrativ development. Well I had a good laugh at it but will now have to sit down and to come up with some ideas…
on May 1st, 2006 at 9:16 am
Not ‘all Tacis’ indeed and not always de jure, but de facto: yes. Right, I know that Tacis/the EC pushed through some reforms lately; also, mishaps were often more a matter of individuals rather than the institution; yet for years this was the situation and impact can still be felt.
on May 4th, 2006 at 4:35 am
I can only speak of Turkmenistan.
If EU doesn’t suspend the program before this generation comes to power, we will do a service to European taxpayers by kicking TACIS out of the country. Which probably means that Europeans should take care of their tax money without waiting for others to do this for them.