JAN. 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US paid Kyrgyzstan $200m last year for use of an airbase outside Bishkek to support their military in Afghanistan, US assistant secretary for Central Asia Robert Blake told media in Bishkek. The US rental fee makes the Manas airbase one of Kyrgyzstan’s biggest foreign income earners.
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(News report from Issue No. 120, published on Jan. 18 2013)
DEC. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament ratified an agreement to allow Russia’s airbase to remain for another 15 years with an option for a possible 5 year extension, media reported. Under the agreement, Russia will pay $4.5m per year for the airbase, a torpedo testing site on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul and a seismology centre.
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(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)
DEC. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – In the end, years of on-off negotiations came to nothing when Russia walked away from talks with Azerbaijan on an extension on its lease of a radar station.
Officially, the Qabala radar station in northern Afghanistan was deemed surplus to Russian military requirements. Unofficially, and perhaps more plausibly, the main reason for Russia walking away from a potential deal was its refusal to pay the $150m annual rent that the Azerbaijani government had, apparently, asked for.
That’s what Russian news agency Interfax reported. It said that Russia had been prepared to match an initial fee of $7m a year but that it considered the Azerbaijani demand excessive.
Certainly, the Qabala radar station had been important to the Russian military. It has a range of 6,000km and could detect missiles being fired across the Middle East, a useful thing when tension in the region is rising.
Now though, Russia will have to do without the Soviet-era radar system that only a few years ago it had offered to the US as an alternative to a proposed missile defence system in eastern Europe.
And if the reason touted by the Russian media is true — that Azerbaijan simply pushed up the price too high — it must be another indicator of Azerbaijan’s rising fiscal powers.
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(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)
OCT. 5 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a deal with his Tajik counterpart, Emomalii Rakhmon, to extend Russia’s lease on a military base in the Pamir mountains. The deal extends Russia’s tenure on the base until 2044. In return, media reported that Russia had agreed to supply modern weapons.
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(News report from Issue No. 108, published on Oct. 12 2012)
OCT. 4 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin flew into Tajikistan for the start of a two-day visit which is expected to culminate in a deal to extend Russia’s lease on a military base. The base is Russia’s largest overseas mission and is considered a vital component of its military strategy.
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(News report from Issue No. 107, published on Oct. 5 2012)
SEP. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Sources in Dushanbe gave Reuters new details on a deal to extend a lease on a Russian military base. The sources said Russia would lease the base for another 20 – 29 years and in return sell weapons to Tajikistan for a discounted price. The lease on the base, Russia’s biggest overseas mission, is due to expire on Jan. 1 2014.
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(News report from Issue No. 105, published on Sep. 21 2012)
SEP. 20 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will sign an extension on the lease of Russia’s air base in Kyrgyzstan during a visit to Bishkek, Russian media reported. Mr Putin started his visit on Sept. 20. The Russian air base outside Bishkek is considered strategically important, particularly as a counter-balance to the US base at Manas airport.
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(News report from Issue No. 105, published on Sep. 21 2012)
AUG. 16 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – After months of negotiations, Russian and Kyrgyz officials have agreed a deal to allow Russia to keep its bases in Kyrgyzstan, media quoted officials as saying. Russia maintains an airbase outside Bishkek, a communication station and torpedo testing site near Lake Issyk-Kul and a seismologist centre in the south of the country.
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(News report from Issue No. 101, published on Aug. 17 2012)
JULY 18 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Sources in the Tajik government told Reuters news agency that Tajikistan and Russia were on the brink of agreeing a new 49-year lease on Russia’s military base in the Pamirs. The source said Russia would not have to pay the $250m that Tajikistan had asked for and would instead pay with arms.
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(News report from Issue No. 097, published on July 20 2012)
JULY 12 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The long-running saga over extending the lease on the Russian military base in Tajikistan may have entered its end-game. Tajikistan demanded an annual lease of $250m from Russia for the base, one of its biggest overseas outposts, media reported. Under the current contract Russia pays with military assistance.
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(News report from Issue No. 096, published on July 13 2012)
