By Gregory Gleason (1/19/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The opening of the International Uranium Enrichment Center in Angarsk, Russia in early December 2010 was a milestone in Kazakhstan’s efforts to pursue a parallel policy of promoting peaceful nuclear energy while opposing nuclear arms proliferation. Kazakhstan’s state-controlled nuclear complex, Kazatomprom, was a co-founder of the fuel bank concept along with Russia.  Kazatomprom is likely to be a major beneficiary of the IAEA and western sponsored nuclear fuel bank idea, given that Kazatomprom has grown in just over a decade from its beginnings as a disorganized collection of inefficient and unprofitable Soviet-era mines and factories to become the world’s largest producer of uranium ore for nuclear power reactors.

By Erica Marat (1/19/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Over the past six years, Kyrgyzstan has lived through two forceful regime changes – one in March 2005 and another April 2010. Both times, the reconfiguration of political power required Kyrgyz citizens to adapt to a new reality and try to cope with the dual feelings of optimism after unpopular dictators were ousted and uncertainty about the new leaders. Kyrgyzstan’s complex and volatile criminal underworld needed to adapt to the new political conditions as well, in order to ensure continuity of the vast shadow economy and maintain their influence over government officials.

By Gulmira Rzayeva (12/22/2010 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On November 24, 2010, the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR announced the discovery of the largest gas field in Azerbaijan after the Caspian giant Shah Deniz deposit. This offshore field is named Umid, meaning “Hope”. President Ilham Aliyev met with the management of the company on that day and expressed his hope that the gas field would ultimately prove to contain more gas than the initial estimates had suggested.