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U.S. starts relocation from Manas transit center

24 October 2013 11:25 (UTC+04:00)
U.S. starts relocation from Manas transit center

By Aynur Jafarova

The U.S. Department of Defense has begun the process of relocation from the transit center at Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan.

The U.S. plans to complete the transfer of areas and facilities to the Kyrgyz Government by July 2014.

"The U.S. appreciates the support provided by the Kyrgyz people to U.S. forces and coalition efforts to counter the threat of terrorism and to achieve security and stability in Afghanistan and the region and respects the decision of the Kyrgyz Government to end hosting the transit center after more than 12 years," the Pentagon said on October 18.

Given that the 2014 withdrawal of the NATO troops from Afghanistan is getting closer, it is in the U.S.'s interest to use its existing facility rather than to set up a new facility. From this viewpoint Romania has been playing an increasingly significant role in this case.

Thus, the U.S. and Romanian defense ministers agreed on October 18 to transfer the Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan to Romanian military base located not far from Konstanz on the Black Sea shore.

The transit center, formerly called a military base, was opened at the Manas airport in late 2001. The center is a major logistics hub for transportation of goods and the anti-terror coalition forces to Afghanistan. According to Pentagon statistics, the base handles up to 15,000 coalition servicemen and 500 tons of cargo a month.

The Kyrgyz parliament has supported a bill on the denunciation of the agreement between the governments of the Kyrgyzstan and U.S. on Manas transit center. According to the bill, the transit center halts its activity in Kyrgyzstan on July 11, 2014.

This is not the first case that Bishkek has decided to close the U.S. base in the region. In February 2009, Kyrgyzstan's thenth president Kurmanbek Bakiev renegotiated the agreement with the U.S. side. Under the new agreement the airbase was restructured in the transit centre and the annual rent was increased from $17 million to $60 million.

According to the reports published by experts, the first main reason for Kyrgyzstan's such a decision was primarily a response to Russia's decision to write off $500 million of Kyrgyzstan's debt. The second reason was the promise to build two giant hydropower stations on the Naryn River. The last why is the Washington's decision to dismiss criminal charges against former president's son Maksim Bakiyev who was indicted on crime of defraud.

Difficulties caused by transit center's closure in Kyrgyzstan

Given the fact that the U.S. transit center annually invests some $145 million on Kyrgyz economy and pays $60 million to the country's budget for the lease of the territory, it is obvious that the closure of the transit center will have an economic damage for Kyrgyzstan.

In particular, Kyrgyzstan's $1.7 billion national budget will lose $60 million annually. The economy as a whole will lose another $200 million of its expenditure of the budget associated with Manas.

International Monetary Fund's (IMF) official Christian Beddis believes that the closure of Manas transit center in 2014 will create financial problems in Kyrgyz.

Joomart Otorbayev, Kyrgyzstan's First vice Prime Minister also said that Kyrgyz's budget will lose $200 million after Manas transit center agreement denunciation. A significant loss of tax volume would consequently be ensued.

Civil hub desirable

Following the withdrawal of the U.S. military, Kyrgyzstan intends to make the airport an entirely civilian facility.

However, service and cheap aviation fuel are needed for the hub. Kyrgyzstan is not able to supply the aviation fuel; therefore, negotiations are underway with potential investors.
Negotiations on creating a hub in the transit center are underway with China, Turkey, Russia and other countries.

China, which has great interests in the Central Asian region, has the intention of creating a civil hub in the Manas airport.

Turkey is also ready to assist Kyrgyzstan to transform the Manas airport to a civil hub. Tayyip Erdogan Recep, Turkish Prime Minister, confirmed his country's intension during his last visit to the country.

Meanwhile, the U.S. diplomats are still hopeful that if Washington ups the rent, they might be able to keep Manas again.

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