ISSUE # 168, 28 June 2011
28-06-2011
Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship Takes Off to Good Start at Astana CFM
Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the world’s second largest organization took off to a good start on June 28 in Astana, where ministers and top officials from countries on the four continents met to launch the 38th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC.
As one of the first orders of business, the group decided to change its name to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerzhan Kazykhanov announced the decision following a unanimous vote of the 57 countries in the morning session. He went on to give the floor to the President of the country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who delivered to the 1,000 participants and guests a wide ranging strategic vision for the future development of the OIC and of the Muslim Ummah as a whole.
“The Ummah today is facing serious challenges in a dramatically changing world,” the Kazakh President said. “The Islamic community desperately needs peace, modernisation, scientific and technological development, and education. Combined economic potential of the Ummah is inexhaustible, and we need to unite efforts to develop effective mechanisms for cooperation, mutual aid, and promotion of development.”
The meeting takes place against the backdrop of major upheavals in several countries in North Africa and the Middle East which have been going on since the beginning of the year, the so called Arab Spring.
In his own remarks, Secretary General of the OIC Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OIC was a sign of maturity of the nation that is marking its 20th anniversary this year and expressed hope its chairmanship will strengthen the group which is timely and relevant now. “Today, the Muslim world is confronted with major trials that challenge its stability. “The Muslim world is going through a defining moment in its history,” Ihsanoglu said as he stressed that these trials highlight more than ever the importance of good governance, rule of law, human rights, and broader political participation of the people in the affairs of their states. For that, full implementation of the 10 year OIC Programme of Action, adopted in Mecca in 2005, will be important.
In his speech, Nazarbayev called for effective trade and investment, technological, social and educational programmes to move the Islamic world forward.
According to the Kazakh President, average GDP per capita at purchasing power parity in OIC countries equals 9,500 dollars, while the similar figure for European countries equals more than 24,000 dollars. OIC countries control 70 percent of global energy resources. However, they account for only 7.5 percent of global GDP and 11 percent of total volume of global trade.
“This situation is totally unacceptable,” Nazarbayev said. “We need to increase the competitiveness of every member state of our organization separately and the Ummah as a whole. That is why we propose to develop an integrated strategy for economic development of the OIC member states.”
Proposals listed by the President included the creation of a dialogue platform of the top ten Muslim economies, and the development of a system of mutual food assistance within the OIC in the form of a Regional Fund similar to FAO, which will include the possibility of creating a pool of food in the interested states.
“We are ready to locate the headquarters of the Fund in Kazakhstan,” the President said.
“The solution for problems of Muslim countries should come from within,” Nazarbayev stressed. “The Islamic world needs to move from the vector of development based on raw materials to industrial and innovative development. I propose to develop and adopt a joint Action Plan within the OIC for investment and technological cooperation in energy sector, as well as to establish an international centre for innovation.”
According to the Kazakh leader, there are several factors going for the Islamic world that may help it achieve greater development. First, the global economic crisis has shown that the Islamic financial and economical model is stable and viable. Although GDP growth rate in Islamic countries in 2007-2009 slowed from 6 percent to 3 percent per year on average, it remained positive, while the volume of GDP in developed countries decreased sharply.
One of the useful and effective products that the Ummah can offer the world is the system of Islamic financing. Kazakhstan was the first post-Soviet country that opened a bank working on the principles of Shari’a.
“We are actively promoting the Islamic financing and the creation of benchmarking in the area of Islamic finance instruments in the region,” Nazarbayev said as he proposed to hold an international conference on Islamic banking in Almaty and to develop Almaty as a regional financial centre that is actively engaged in Islamic finance.
Next, the Islamic world should enjoy its major advantage, which is the potential for demographic growth, and make it an inalienable part of stable economic development.
“International experts have estimated that by the year 2030 the population of the Muslim Ummah will account for more than 2.2 billion people, which is more than a quarter (26.4%) of the world’s population,” Nazarbayev explained. “The immense human resources require adequate level of education and science. The creation of intellectual elite capable of generating new ideas that would serve the renaissance of the Islamic civilization must be our common goal.”
According to the President, Islam in the Middle Ages gave the world its greatest achievements in mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, medicine, architecture, philosophy and poetry, and hence has the potential to see major revival. “Relying on this powerful historical foundation, we are obliged to unite our efforts to revive the intellectual role of the Islamic civilization,” Nazarbayev said.
Focusing on issues pertinent to Central Asia, the Kazakh President the OIC should consider strengthening inter-regional cooperation, a good example of which is an OIC Plan of Action for cooperation with Central Asia that is being developed now.
Calling instability in Afghanistan a matter of concern, Nazarbayev proposed the establishment of a special working group within the OIC to address the issues of assistance to that country.
In general, OIC needs an effective body to conduct forecasting and analytical work providing heads of state with possible scenarios and ways of events’ development inside the Organization as well as in the world, he said.
“Kazakhstan voluntarily renounced the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal, shut down the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, and has become an active participant in establishing the Central Asian a nuclear weapons free zone in Central Asia,” Nazarbayev said. “As the President of Kazakhstan, and on behalf of our people, I call for the establishment of a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East and, in the long term, for a world without nuclear weapons.”
“Non-implementation of the lawful rights of the Palestinians to establish their own state, the undefined status of Eastern Jerusalem, and the plight of refugees remain sources of tension not only in the Middle East but far beyond,” Nazarbayev stressed. “We support initiatives for a peaceful settlement in the region in accordance with UN resolutions.”
Nazarbayev went on to focus on one of the major issues in world politics, challenges in the Muslim world relations with the outside world, especially with the West.
“The Muslim world in the eyes of the Western society is associated primarily with its radical part and causes unwarranted fear, despite the fact that Islam preaches universal values of kindness, tolerance and justice,” Nazarbayev lamented. “The true meaning of Islam has nothing to do with the activities of extremist and terrorist groups, disguised under religious phraseology. As is known, those who suffer the most from terrorism are the citizens of the Islamic countries.”
According to the Kazakh leader, the Islamic world faces two major challenges: to learn to confront religious fundamentalism as a political ideology, and to establish an open and honest dialogue with the West.
“We must unequivocally declare that Islam has nothing to do with political violence, extremism and terrorism,” the Kazakh President said. “At the 7th World Islamic Economic Forum I proposed creating a single media Islamic project. Today there is a strong onslaught of “new media” on the Internet. In this respect, I suggest creating the e-ISLAM Internet resource, which would cover the activity of our Organisation, stimulating the interest of the youth in religion and culture of Islam and spreading the Muslim spiritual values.”
In terms of promoting dialogue with the West, the President reminded of Astana’s earlier initiatives such as the ministerial dialogue in 2008 of the Oriental and Western world and the triennial Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions as useful vehicles.
“I believe this dialogue should be continued. This is especially important at a time when extremists of various stripes seek to sow seeds of alienation in the world, to draw the world into the so-called “clash of civilizations”. Instead of the ‘clash of civilizations’, we propose to talk about an ‘alliance of civilizations’. Instead of conflict, we should loudly and publicly call for an open and honest dialogue between the Muslim and the Christian worlds. Such a step move from the Ummah would strengthen the trust and respect for Islam.”
Kazakhstan Strengthens Trust between East and West
World history has repeatedly demonstrated that the inability to coexist peacefully and conduct sound and timely dialogue brings grave political and humanitarian consequences to humankind.
The past two decades introduced drastic changes to the world. The end of the Cold War was followed by continuing ambiguity and widespread conflicts around the world. These contrasted with globalisation processes, the widening gap between the “Golden Billion” of the industrialized world and the rest of humanity. It also saw a sharp increase in new threats sheltering beneath religious slogans. International terrorism turned out to be a widespread plague in the new era.
There still exist barriers in the minds of people that divide humanity into mutually-intolerant racial, religious and cultural groups. Inter-ethnic and interfaith conflicts tend to retain their severity. Certain groups of politicians continue to propagate the alleged inevitability of the global clash of civilizations.
All this has created an urgent need to strengthen cooperation and develop effective mechanisms for the resolution of conflicts between different civilisations in the limelight of the global arena. In the context of increasing globalisation, dialogue between civilisations has gained new global intellectual and political significance.
A stable and secure future for all peoples clearly requires active and targeted efforts to prevent any religion from being used in politics to generate political, social and military conflicts, the manifestation of terrorism and extremism, ethnic and cultural hostility and hatred of other people.
Even during the most difficult years of Kazakhstan’s era of independence, when a wave of violent nationalism swept virtually all post-Soviet countries, our nation has managed to avoid the virus, and other forms of social hatred. Some states still cannot get out of this quagmire: They veer uneasily between proclaiming the shaky “friendship of peoples” and the collapse of their own statehood.
During its years of independence, Kazakhstan has established and developed its own national model of interethnic and interreligious harmony: This is fully consistent with the country’s domestic needs and meets external challenges in this very sensitive and complex area. Respect, tolerance and unity form the strong three-pronged framework that ensures the efficiency of Kazakhstan’s economy and underpin the political stability of the state.
Historically, the Kazakh people considered tolerance as not an academic, but a practical concept, defining the path to inner development and, ultimately, to survival.
Sharing the responsibility of all nation states for the fate of the world, Kazakhstan is actively involved in the development and further strengthening of constructive interaction among civilisations. This country is persistently developing foreign policy projects aimed at fostering dialogue and the partnership of all the traditional religions of the world. Kazakhstan strives to spread the values of tolerance around the globe. It recognizes that tolerance is one of the major conditions for ensuring security in the modern circumstances.
From the early days of independence, Kazakhstan has focused its efforts on its so called multi-vector foreign policy. Located in the heart of Eurasia, both geographically and politically, the country is a natural land bridge between the East and the West. Over the past two decades, Kazakhstan’s determination to embrace global ideas and cooperation for the sake of common goals has appeared to be the soundest key indicator of the country’s independent development.
It was not by chance that since 2003 Astana has become home to the internationally recognised Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which has thrice gathered representatives of dozens of denominations from more than 70 countries of the world. Kazakhstan’s contribution in promoting intercultural dialogue was commended once again following in December 2007 the United Nations General Assembly made a unanimous decision to proclaim 2010 as the International Year of Rapprochement of Cultures, having supported the initiative of the country.
In 2008, Astana hosted a forum of Foreign Ministers of Muslim and Western countries “Common World: Progress through Diversity” (“The Muslim World and the West”). The leaders of such leading Arab states as Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as well as the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) supported the forum. The meeting in Astana provided a useful platform for discussions over finding practical approaches to address such pressing issues as economic cooperation, mutual adaptation of cultures and development of interfaith dialogue.
Kazakhstan extensively uses the potential of multilateral diplomacy. As a member of many international organizations and integration associations, Kazakhstan has consistently taken practical steps to involve these organisations in dialogue between cultures and religions.
During its chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010, Kazakhstan included the issues of dialogue between cultures and religions, as well as promoting tolerance and the fight against all forms of discrimination in the agenda of this reputable assembly.
Kazakhstan’s upcoming chairmanship in the 38th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers will provide an additional international significance to the initiatives launched by the country in the field of intercultural communication. Kazakhstan’s presidency of the OIC CFM will become a unique opportunity for Kazakh diplomacy to qualitatively strengthen the policy of establishing dialogue among civilisations based on the country’s rich experience in this sphere.
The dialogue of civilisations is also important from the economic point of view. The East and the West need closer cooperation in dealing with socio-economic and humanitarian problems of the Islamic world. For the difficulties faced by Muslim communities around the world represent a serious challenge for the stability of the West itself.
The time has come to shatter the confidence, entrenched in a number of influential countries of the world, that believe their own values and the messianism that flows from them are absolute. But the East also needs to change its approaches that too often feature passive and stereotypical thinking.
It is important to understand that neither the West, nor the East has a monopoly on all the right answers. The longer it will take to get rid of these sluggish approaches, the more painful it will be to adapt to new modern realities, the harder it will be to find common ground for establishing mechanisms of cooperation, and the more serious the ideology of fascism and religious radicalism will become.
There exist no alternatives to the dialogue between the East and the West. Likewise, no alternatives exist to the inter-Islamic dialogue as well. Only through joint efforts all countries of the world will be able to solve the knotty problem of injustice in all of its aspects, gradually taking off from the global agenda the existing and potentially dangerous tensions.
The author, Yerkin Tukumov, is Chief of Analytical Department of Kazakhstan’s Security Council.
Ombudsman’s Office Has Worked to Protect Human Rights Since 2002
The establishment in Kazakhstan of an institute of the Human Rights Commissioner or Ombudsman by a presidential decree in 2002 was one of the most important democratic achievements of the country since gaining independence, the nation’s first Human Rights Ombudsman believes. Bolat Baikadamov, who occupied that position from 2002 to 2007, shared his views the history of the establishment of the institution and challenges it has faced, in a recent interview with the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda national daily.
According to Baikadamov, by ratifying the international instruments on human rights, Kazakhstan has clearly demonstrated its willingness to follow internationally and democratically accepted legal standards. The creation of the human rights ombudsman was preceded by considerable preparatory work, which has been significantly contributed by various state agencies, international organisations, public associations, mass media, scientists, and academics.
“A special feature of this new structure for our country, as opposed to law enforcement and supervisory authorities, is that it objectively and impartially evaluates the standards and quality of life, where the standards are measured not by statistics, but by humanism and care about people,” he underlined.
According to Baikadamov, the process of founding of the commissioner’s office started with establishment of Commission on Human Rights in 1994, which became the first national human rights institution in the country. The same year, in June 1994, the first human rights convention was ratified by Kazakhstan, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In January 1995, a Kazakh delegation attended a session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva for the first time.
“As a conference participant, I personally had to concentrate on building up relationships with international organisations. Addressing the Office of the High Commissioner to provide assistance to our committee in a large-scale educational effort in the field of human rights in our country, we are also asked to assist us in the creation of national human rights institutions such as the Ombudsman,” Baikadamov said.
Next came a stage of promotion of the very idea of establishing the Ombudsman institution, and then, in 1997-2000, the stage of development of an action plan together with the Commission on Human Rights and the UN Development Programme in Kazakhstan (UNDP). Organisational and legal work was in focus during 2001-02, and the culmination of the efforts was the signing of a presidential decree “On establishment of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Kazakhstan” on 19 September 2002.
According to Baikadamov, by November that, the office already developed the scheme, got it adopted, and was working on incoming messages and complaints by different categories of citizens.
“Citizens’ requests allowed us to really protect people and help restore the violated rights. We worked with cases of violations of human rights with groups of people. Such complaints were systematised and made public, proving that it was reasonable for governmental agencies to tackle them. Another positive aspect was the fact that we made proposals on improvement of legislation, changing rules and norms when searching for violations of human rights and discrimination,” Baikadamov commented.
In January 2003, a meeting to find donors for the project was organised by the UNDP in Almaty. Representatives of various foreign embassies, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Development Bank (ABD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Agency for International Development of the USA (USAID), and the UN High Commissioner were among the first to offer help. Moreover, close cooperation was established with the Ombudsman offices in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Albania, and the Baltic nations.
“The experience of these human rights institutions was undoubtedly useful for us. Through the joint work together with fellow ombudsmen, hundreds of people who left their homes during post-Soviet years, as well as some who arrived in Kazakhstan, were able to acquire rights to property, inheritance, pensions, alimony, nationality, etc,” Baikadamov emphasised. “We have also received methodological assistance from human rights institutions from the USA, Sweden, Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, and a number of other countries. We have had joint projects and exchange of experience. Our permanent partners were the European Union, the OSCE, the UNICEF, the UNHCR, the IOM, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO),” he added.
In December 2005, at Baikadamov’s initiative, a working group to develop a National Action Plan on education of human rights with the participation of representatives of central government agencies was launched under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan.
“Human rights is not just another faculty, it is a system of radically new relations. Teaching them (the human rights) must be an integral part of the educational process in any family and in each of educational institutions,” Baikadamov stressed.
“When people ask me about which sphere of human rights the Kazakh Ombudsman’s Office has achieved the most success in, I confidently reply: in the sphere of rights of children. I am convinced that in order to achieve respect for human rights, it is necessary to develop respect for rights of children on the cultural basis, and the principle which works best here is achieving human rights by protecting kids,” Baikadamov said.
Spanish Premier Zapatero Looks Forward to Closer Ties with Kazakhstan
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero visited Astana June 16-17 and spoke to The Astana Calling about his personal background, Kazakhstan-Spain bilateral relations, intercultural dialogue and the economic challenges he faces at home
Zapatero said the main goal of his visit was to explore new areas of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Spain. “The purpose of my visit is to expand Spain’s relations with Kazakhstan, the leading country in Central Asia. Over the past 20 years, we have established very good political contacts. Now we must expand our economic and trade ties,” he said.
“Kazakhstan is playing an increasingly important role on the international stage, and in relations with Spain, there is great potential for further development,” he added.
Zapatero said the two countries could mutually benefit from joint work in such promising areas as energy, engineering, infrastructure development and telecommunications and that he had discussed these issues in his talks with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Karim Massimov.
“I believe that both our countries have learned good lessons (from the latest global financial crunch),” he said. “Today, we must do everything in order to expand productive and innovative economy growth and not to allow economic indicators to be determined by financial growth only.”
“In Kazakhstan, I was accompanied by leaders of the major Spanish companies that have signed a number of important inter-ministerial agreements that open windows of contacts for new opportunities. In addition, I planted a tree in the Alley of Heads of State in Astana and must return here to check on it,” Zapatero said.
Zapatero also found time for a morning run and to visit several sites in the capital, which impressed him. “It is completely amazing to build a city like this in such a short period. It indicates the strength, energy, and power of your country,” he said.
The Spanish leader said he believed Astana could host a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations - one of his favourite initiatives. “Kazakhstan participates in the Alliance of Civilizations and is an excellent example of peaceful coexistence of peoples of different ethnicities and religions,” he said.
Zapatero also discussed the current economic crises in several European countries, in particular Portugal, Ireland and Greece. He said the state debt crisis in those countries was caused by the absence of economic constraints. “The reason is that we have allowed the economy to be self-regulating. The current problems must teach Europe that politics should be present in the future of our economies.”
“It is important that the economies did not grow on the basis of credits solely, but showed increase in productivity,” he added.
Zapatero said he believed the most important quality for a politician to have was “the ability to anticipate risks.”
Zapatero said his political career began in 1979 when he became a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE). In 2000, he assumed the position of the Party’s Secretary General. In 2004, when his party won 42.6 per cent of the vote, he became Prime Minister of Spain.
Zapatero has implemented his “New Way” strategy by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, declaring amnesty for illegal immigrants, and establishing a special court for cases of violence against women.
During his public speeches, Zapatero has often said his political convictions were strongly influenced by the memory of his grandfather Juan Rodriguez Lozano who was shot by Gen. Francisco Franco’s dictatorial regime which ruled Spain from 1936 to 1975.
Also in the News:
* On June 27, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev signed several laws, including "On ratification of the Agreement on common principles and rules for technical regulation in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia", "On ratification of the Agreement on legal status of migrant workers and members of their families", and "On amendments to some legislative acts of Kazakhstan on issues of employment and social protection", where the last one is aimed at improving the system of state guarantees for social security and social protection against unemployment.
* A Protocol on issues of air traffic linking capitals of Kazakhstan and France was signed during an official visit of Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov to France on June 27, Kazinform news agency reports. The document was signed in view of the instructions of the President of Kazakhstan regarding opening direct flights from the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana to the largest cities of the world within seven-hours of flying time.
* Setting up of a joint Kazakh-German engineering centre was agreed during a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Industry and Trade of Kazakhstan Asset Issekeshev, Bundestag Deputy Michael Glos, Kazakhstan’s Honorary Consul to Bavaria Reinhold Kremmel and Chairman of the world's largest construction materials producer HeidelbergCement Andreas Kern, Prime Minister's official website reported on June 25. According to the data, the parties also discussed the prospects for cooperation in such fields as renewable energy sources, optimisation of industrial processes in waste utilisation, effective use of energy, purification and effective use of water resources. Special attention was paid to development of clean technologies.
* An interstate exhibition devoted to the 20th anniversary of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is taking place in Moscow, Russia, from June 28 through July 3. The aim of the exhibition is to demonstrate the CIS member states’ achievements in priority areas over the two decades of independence. According to the Committee of Commerce of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Kazakhstan which is among the organisers of the event, over 30 Kazakh companies are participants of the exhibition, including such national companies as KazMunaiGas, KazAgro, Kazakhstan Railways, Nuclear Technology Park, and others.
* Air Ambulance Coordination Centre to render aid to people injured in road accidents on motorways will start functioning in the country this July, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov announced on June 25. “The practice shows that the emergency care rendered within the first hour after an accident reduces the possibility of death or future disability of people twofold,” Minister of Healthcare Salidat Kairbekova commented. According to data, four different ministries, including the Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry of Emergencies, Ministry of Transport and Communications, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will cooperate within the framework of the Centre. According to the Minister of Emergencies Vladimir Bozhko, 16 helicopters are planned to be purchased for this purpose.
* Kazakhstan has cut gas flaring associated with oil production by a third in just five years, and according to satellite estimates, reduced CO2 emissions by almost six million tonnes, Kazinform news agency cited the World Bank on June 28. According to the data, such a result has been achieved due to projects like the one undertaken by TengizChevrOil (TCO), where in 2010 the company completed a four-year US$258 million Gas Utilisation Project. The TCO, a joint venture which includes Chevron, ExxonMobil, Kazmunaigaz, and LukArco, has reduced flaring emissions by over 94 percent since 2000, while simultaneously increasing crude oil production by 147 percent.
* The Summer Tennis Championship of the Kazakhstan's Tennis Tour is taking place in Astana from June 27 till July 2, Kazakh Tennis Federation reported. The aim of the event is to promote and develop tennis in Kazakhstan, where players of Astana, Almaty, Qaraghandy, Pavlodar, Shymkent, Aktobe, Atyrau, Semey, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Taraz are competing for a US$ 10,000 prize fund.
Things to Watch:
* The Kazakh capital will host Astana Mining and Metallurgical Congress 2011 on July 4-6. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakh and foreign officials, heads of large industrial enterprises, international investors, and scientists will participate in the event. The list of official partners of the Congress includes the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Kazakhstan, the Astana City Major’s Office, ArcelorMittal, ENRC and Kazzinc.
* The 2nd International Film Festival Action Movies Astana, organised by a prominent Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov, will be held in Astana on July 1-5. The festival will feature 20 full-length films made in the USA, Europe, Asia and the CIS. Opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, while the actual viewing will take place at the Khan Shatyr entertaining centre.
* Three teams of Kazakhstan rally team Astana will take part in the third Silk Way Rally which cross Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan from July 9 till 16, Tengrinews.kz reported citing the team's representative Denis Berezovsky. According to the data, Astana team will participate in trucks and off-roaders categories, and will need to cover 4,126 kilometres.
