Kyrgyzstan: Secretive Manas Fuel Supplier Lobbied Bishkek to Keep Base -- Report
Maxim Bakiyev claimed the idea to re-name the US air base at Manas near Bishkek a “Transit Center” was his, according to a recently WikiLeaked diplomatic cable.
But a US Congressional report released December 21 reveals the bright spark behind the semantic slight of hand as none other than a Kyrgyz citizen with a vested interest in keeping the base open -- Erkin Bekbolotov of Mina Corp.
According to the report, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s February 2009 announcement that the air base would close prompted Bekbolotov to call his “social acquaintance” Maxim. Bekbolotov’s novel solution to his potential loss of business involved re-defining the base and using “pressure from Russia” to gain more rent.
The report “Mystery at Manas” explains:
In light of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia’s agreements to permit NATO’s use of their territory and airspace to transit non-military goods, Mr. Bekbolotov suggested to Mr. [Maxim] Bakiyev that instead of expelling the United States from Manas, the Bakiyev administration could require the United States to downgrade its status from a military installation to a logistical and transport hub while using the pressure from Russia to substantially increase their rental payments.
Mr. Bakiyev was receptive to his proposal, and the two men met to discuss details. During their meeting, according to Mr. Bekbolotov, the President’s son told him that the administration could be satisfied with the changing of the base’s status provided that the United States also doubled the yearly rent to $35 million a year and that US military personnel who traveled off of the base were stripped of their diplomatic immunity and right to carry weapons.
Mina Corp wasted no time dealing with the threat to their business. President Bakiyev made the closure announcement on February 3. Just two weeks later Bekbolotov was emailing the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to discuss “options and solutions.”
With Mr. Bakiyev’s unofficial blessing, Mr. Bekbolotov e-mailed Mark Iden, Director of Operations for DLA-Energy, on February 19, 2009, and requested a meeting between Mr. Iden, Mr. Bekbolotov, Mr. Edelman, Mr. Squires, and DLA-Energy Director Kim Huntley in order “to discuss the Manas situation including options and solutions for keeping the base.”
The report adds:
The meeting was delayed for roughly three weeks, but Mr. Iden recalls that, in the meantime, Mr. Bekbolotov called him and outlined the agreement he had brokered with Maxim Bakiyev. According to Mr. Iden, Mr. Bekbolotov sounded as if he had someone with him who was instructing him on what to say. Mr. Iden assumed Mr. Bekbolotov was with a member of the Bakiyev family.
At this point who is the puppet and who is the puppet master is unclear. But neither Bakiyev nor Bekbolotov needed sweat much. Late that February DLA awarded Mina a $600 million follow on contract for fuel to Manas.
In March, Bekbolotov, and Mina’s other head honchos – director of operations Chuck “Cold Warrior” Squires, and de facto owner Douglas Edelman, met with Iden and talked about whether or not it might be beneficial for military officials to meet with Maxim Bakiyev.
“Shortly after that” Bekbolotov got what one must presume was a pleasing call from Maxim.
The President’s son informed him that the US Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Tatiana Gfoeller, had contacted the Kyrgyz foreign minister and made a proposal largely similar to the one they had outlined to DLA-Energy.
Bekbolotov continued to keep “back-door channels” open even though negotiations had moved to an official inter-governmental level. What Ambassador Gfoeller knew about the high level negotiations that were going on between Max, Mina and DLA, we can’t be sure. As the report notes:
In her view, it was not the Chief-of-Mission’s responsibility to know about the Department of Defense’s fuel supply arrangements at Manas.
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