By Fariz Ismailzade (11/19/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

\"The EBRD financing will be used for portions of the pipeline in Azerbaijan and Georgia; Part of the EBRD loan for BTC will help the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) fund its 25 per cent stake in the pipeline\", said the bank\'s press release on November 11. Along with BP and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), other pipeline sponsors are TPAO (Turkey), Statoil (Norway), Unocal (USA), Itochu (Japan), Amerada Hess (USA), Eni (Italy), TOTAL (France), INPEX (Japan) and ConocoPhillips (USA). Ex-President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev last year signed a decree on allocating money from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan to finance the SOCAR\'s share in the pipeline.

By Botagoz Kassymbekova (11/19/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

With the proclamation on February 7th 2003 this year by the Cabinet of Ministers as \"The Year of the Mahalla,\" the government of Uzbekistan incorporated Uzbekistani communal structure, which has also been called the basis for civil society in the country by many international observers, into the official state discourse. Furthermore, with the demonstration of the Erk opposition party on October 15th 2003, the government had to uphold at least some appearances of efforts towards democracy. Thus, the elections of oqsoqol (elders) of mahallas during November and December this year will inaugurate about 10 000 oqsoqols to be chosen by the members of these mahallas.

By Aisha Aslanbekova (11/5/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Media Council, which was first proposed by President Askar Akaev at a public gathering this summer and announced on September 13, consists of six journalists and three well-known public figures. Its clause says: “The Media council is a voluntary corporate body created for the purpose of regulating the work of the mass media”. The council, which is described as a regulatory body, aims to deal with the press disputes and to arbitrate in conflicts involving media.