Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Baku Drives Russia Into Bushehr Impasse

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Baku Drives Russia Into Bushehr Impasse

    Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Russia
    April 23 2008

    Baku Drives Russia Into Bushehr Impasse.

    Azerbaijani Customs Detain Russian Equipment To Complete Construction
    of Iranian Nuclear Electric Power Station

    by Sergey Kulikov


    Russia's plans to complete construction of the nuclear electric power
    station in Bushehr, Iran, by September 2008 are in jeopardy. For
    almost a month now - since 29 March - the Azerbaijani customs have not
    been letting through a Russian truck convoy with a load of
    heat-insulation equipment for the power station, referring to the
    absence of a special permit. In an attempt to resolve the situation
    the general contractor for construction - the Atomstroyeksport ZAO
    [Closed Joint-Stock Company] - is holding talks with the Azerbaijani
    side and declares that all the necessary formalities were
    observed. Experts do not rule out a political undercurrent to the
    events and ascribe Baku's position to a desire to display loyalty to
    the United States and to demonstrate its strength in relations with
    Moscow.

    Russia's Atomstroyeksport ZAO must produce a special permit for the
    transit across Azerbaijani territory to Iran of equipment needed to
    complete construction of the nuclear power station in Bushehr, Natik
    Akhundov, head of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee Press
    Service, declared yesterday when commenting on the Russian equipment's
    almost month-long stay on the border. "This freight is on the list of
    special commodities - a list approved by decision of the Azerbaijani
    Cabinet of Ministers - and for its transit across the territory of
    Azerbaijan, according to Decision No 230 of the Cabinet of Ministers,
    the Russian side must produce a special permit," the official
    declared. "However, the appropriate permit was not presented to the
    Azerbaijani side, for which reason the freight was detained at the
    Astara border checkpoint." Anzhela Matiyeva, press attache at the
    Russian Federation Embassy in Azerbaijan, in turn reported that
    "discussion of this issue is proceeding" at the present time. At the
    same time she did not specify on what level the sides are holding
    talks.

    Representatives of the Russian contractor express total bewilderment
    at the problem that has arisen. "The reason for the freight's
    detention surprised us," Irina Yesipova, press secretary of the
    Atomstroyeksport ZAO, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "The point is that the
    freight was documented in accordance with all the necessary Russian
    and international customs requirements. It is heat-insulation
    equipment which is required to complete construction of the station
    and to commission it. At the same time it is wrong in principle to say
    that the Atomstroyeksport ZAO did not see to it in good time that all
    the formalities were observed: All the appropriate documents were
    drawn up in advance and, I will repeat, in accordance with
    international standards."

    Atomstroyeksport still hopes that the delay over the freight's transit
    will in no way affect the deadline now being stated for commissioning
    the Bushehr nuclear electric power station. "All necessary measures
    are now being taken to resolve the problem," Yesipova pointed
    out. However, experts do not rule out the possibility that the new
    problem may lead to further slippage of the deadline for commissioning
    the first Iranian nuclear electric power station. Let us recall that
    initially, in the mid-nineties, Russia promised Tehran that the
    Bushehr power station would be commissioned as early as 1999. Then the
    handover deadline was put back several times. Last summer the schedule
    was revised once again because of problems that had arisen with fuel
    deliveries from Russia and because of delays over the Iranian side
    paying for work already done. The deadlock was overcome this year, and
    in February Atomstroyeksport delivered nuclear fuel for the first
    charging of the reactor. It was then that it was announced that in
    July-August this year it is planned to begin tests with the fuel
    within the framework of carrying out start-up and adjustment work at
    the station so as to make the station ready for commissioning by
    September.

    "Of course, Atomstroyeksport was not planning for a delay over
    transportation, and consequently the deadline for implementing the
    Bushehr project may be put back in connection with the freight's
    detention in Azerbaijan," Natalya Sviridova, director of the lawsuits
    department of the 2K Audit-Delovyye Konsultatsii Company, believes. In
    her opinion, however, the freight's detention was caused by purely
    technical reasons. "Judging from the fact that the freight has now
    been stuck on the border for more than three weeks, Atomstroyeksport
    simply did not understand the reasons for the delay, since the freight
    had gone through the entire export control procedure," Sviridova
    explained. "Now that the Azerbaijani authorities have given the
    specific reason and it is clear in just what direction it is necessary
    to act to resolve the situation, the question will probably be
    resolved very quickly."

    However, a number of analysts also do not rule out the existence of
    political motives in Baku's decision to detain the freight for Bushehr
    on the border. "I believe that there are at least two aspects here,"
    Agvan Mikayelyan, general director of the FinEkspertiza Company, told
    Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "Despite membership of GUAM, which includes
    Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova, Baku takes the most
    conservative stand in this organization on Russia and is in no hurry
    to support anti-Russian demarches. However, the recent lifting of the
    Russian sanctions in respect of Abkhazia and South Ossetia cannot fail
    to make official Baku wary, for it has its own headache in the form of
    Nagorno-Karabakh. Thus, by detaining freight that is politically
    important to Russia, Azerbaijan is trying to show what consequences
    may result from a change in Russia's stance on the Karabakh question."
    In addition, Mikayelyan believes that Azerbaijan is displaying at the
    same time definite loyalty to the United States, which regards the
    Iranian nuclear programme with extreme pain.
Working...
X