Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has proposed transforming his post-Soviet republic's form of government "from presidential to presidential-parliamentary" through draft constitutional amendments that he presented to parliament today, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported.

Azerbaijan's industry and energy minister has said that, despite Kazakhstan's recent pledges to continue to export most of its oil through Russia, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is still available to transit Kazakh oil.

Kazakhstan will soon start negotiations on joining a planned pipeline that will pump Russian oil to Europe via Bulgaria and Greece in order to increase Caspian oil exports to Europe, the energy minister said.

The presidents of Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to build a natural gas pipeline along the Caspian sea coast. The landmark deak was agreed today during three-way talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev in the coastal Turkmen city of Turkmenbashi.

From 20 countries of Emerging Europe, assigned Fitch ratings, only Armenia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have positive outlook.

Kazakh Oil Will Soon Reach the Mediterranean Sea via the CPC (Caspian Pipeline Consortium), Then Via the Burgas-Alexandroupolis Pipeline

Kazakhstan's foreign minister says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised concerns about political reform in the country during a meeting in Washington.

The presidents of Kazakhstan and Russia have agreed to set up a joint uranium enrichment center in Siberia. The document was signed during a visit to Astana by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The center is envisioned as being made available for use by foreign countries that want to process nuclear fuel for peaceful energy generation.

Plans to create a common market for oil and gas within the Eurasian Economic Community, Eurasec, will be held back by disagreements between member states and fears that Russia would dominate such a market, say NBCentralAsia observers.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev and Kyrgyzstan's President Kurmanbek Bakiev held talks in Bishkek today aimed at improving bilateral ties, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev today urged international organizations to adapt to modern realities, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Nazarbaev said organizations such as the United Nations, NATO, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe fail to settle international conflicts and crises, reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, and fight terrorism and extremism.

A high-level European Union delegation held meetings in Kazakhstan with representatives from the foreign ministries of the five Central Asian states in an effort to get energy resources sent toward EU countries and to press the Central Asian countries to improve their human rights records.