Re housing construction under Soviet Union
August 20th, 2008
Marat posts some statistical figures about housing construction and affordability of housing in Kazakhstan in the Soviet times (ENG, RUS).
Food crisis
August 20th, 2008
Shannon reports about the sriking numbers of food crisis in Tajikistan (ENG).
Restriction Of Use of Electric Power Will Start Soon
August 19th, 2008
Elena announces that the limitation of the usage of the electric power will start on 21th August (RUS).
Kazakh business abroad
August 19th, 2008
Adam reports that the Russia-based business structures controlled by Kazakhstani banker Mukhtar Ablyazov are consolidated in the largest Russian developing company (RUS).
Astana Impressions
August 19th, 2008
Ben shares his impressions from Astana, the growing new capital city of Kazakhstan (ENG).
Kazakh perspectives on the Russian-Georgian War
August 19th, 2008
Ben opines on the implications of the new Caucasus conflict for Kazakhstan and says that Kazakhstan’s president Nazarbayev has been the first CIS leader to make a statement on the conflict during a meeting with Putin in Beijing (ENG).
American Basketball Players to Visit Kyrgyzstan
August 19th, 2008
Elena reports that American basketball players will visit Kyrgyzstan to participate in a series of sporting events (ENG).
Friday Photo: Kustanai
August 17th, 2008
Nurgeldy posts a picture of a new small sculpture erected in Kustanai (RUS, ENG).
Hadj-2008 Will Cost 2400 USD
August 17th, 2008
Elena reports that the cost of Hadj-2008 for Kyrgyz citizens is 2400 USD (RUS).
Official Information About Prison Incident
August 17th, 2008
Elena publishes official information about the incident in a prison where 2 prison officials were killed by convicts (ENG).
Inmates Killed Two Prison Officials
August 15th, 2008
Elena reports that inmates at a prison have staged a riot and killed two prison officials (RUS).
iPod in Jailoo
August 14th, 2008
Ben presents an interesting photo of a Kyrgyz woman with an iPod in jailoo (ENG).
Kyrgyz Deputies Leave for Tskhinvali
August 14th, 2008
Elena writes about the Kyrgyz deputies who have left for Tshinvali to offer peacekeeping negotiation services in the ongoing Georgia conflict (ENG).
Fund in the name of Olympic medalist
August 14th, 2008
Vadim reports that a Tajik businessman decided to establish a fund in the name of first Tajik Olympic medalist (ENG).
First Olympic Medal Ever
August 14th, 2008
Vadim and Ravshan report that a Tajik judoka secured for Tajikistan its first Olympic medal (ENG) and (RUS).
Uzbek government silent on conflict in South Ossetia
August 14th, 2008
Libertad translates a post about the Uzbek government’s silence on the developments in South Ossetia (ENG).
Uzbek language TV channels are at a risk of closure in Kyrgyzstan
August 13th, 2008
Tolkun writes about the new language regulations for broadcast mass media in Kyrgyzstan and its possible effects on Uzbek language media of the country (ENG).
Uzbek government still keeps low profile on South Ossetia
August 13th, 2008
Musafirbek writes that the Uzbek government prefers not comment on conflicts of international importance, and gives cases of South Ossetia and Kosovo (RUS).
Kyrgyzstan Received Military Technical Aid from China
August 13th, 2008
Elena tells that China provided the military technical aid 4 million yuan to Kyrgyzstan (ENG).
Kyrgyzstan Got Olympic Silver
August 13th, 2008
Elena reports about the second medal for the wrestling in Kyrgyzstan team (ENG).
Kazakh Olympic sportsmen’s style
August 13th, 2008
The Kazakh Olympic sportsmen’s style is a hot topic among American bloggers, and Askhat has noticed that Americans often mention Borat when Kazakh sportsmen win a prize (KAZ)
Memoral Evening in Honour of Chingiz Aitmatov to be Held in Astana
August 13th, 2008
Elena reports that there will be a memorial event in the honour of Chingiz Aitmatov during the V International Film Festival “Eurasia” in Astana (RUS).
British ex-premier’s son served Kazakh oilmen
August 13th, 2008
Zhanna Zhukova reviews allegations that Sir Mark Thatcher, son of the British ex-prime-minister Margaret Thatcher, was hired by a private Kazakh oil company to lobby for its interests and to enhance Kazakhstan’s image abroad (ENG).
Mark Thatcher loves Kazakhs, too
August 13th, 2008
Adam translates the article in the British Times, which reports that Margareth Thatcher’s son allegedly was hired by Kazakh oilmen to promote Kazakhstan’s image abroad (RUS).
New Fines for the Traffic Violation
August 12th, 2008
Elena writes about the new fines for the traffic violation (RUS).
South Ossetia: Russian Commentators Attacked Kyrgyz Blogs
August 12th, 2008
Mirsulzhan writes about his experience discussing the events in South Ossetia on his personal blog and describes the rapid appearance of more than 100 comments to the post, most of whcih were against his position (KYR).
Uzbek government silent on Georgia
August 12th, 2008
Alisher Taksanov writes about the Uzbek government’s silence on the developments between Russia and Georgia — long tongue lives short? (RUS)
Tashkent 2200 - #1
August 12th, 2008
Libertad and Musafirbek upload the first pictures of Tashkent from the call for pictures to celebrate the 2200th anniversary of the capital (ENG, RUS).
No more Kyrgyz electricity to Ferghana valley
August 12th, 2008
Libertad writes about a new high-voltage electricity line from Angren to the Ferghana Valley that will enable the Uzbek government to secure its energy independence (ENG).
First Totals of the Kyrgyz Team at the Olympic Games in Beijing
August 11th, 2008
Elena reports on the first totals for the Kyrgyz team at the Olympic Games in Beijing (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.