Tashkent

This November is remarkable for abundance of formal events and occasions of multilateral and bilateral character that were held in the framework or under the aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In his exclusive interview to a Kazinform correspondent < b>SCO Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliyev told about one of these events, namely the session of the SCO prime ministerial council in Tashkent.

Russia wants to use the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a mechanism to regulate Central Asian energy exports. It remains to be seen whether China, the other power in the SCO, shares Russia’s energy vision. At a meeting of SCO prime ministers, held November 2 in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, Russian Premier Viktor Zubkov reiterated Moscow’s desire to forge a Central Asian energy ‘club’ within the SCO, which comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The SCO energy club could be set up as soon as 2008, Russian Deputy Industry and Energy Minister Ivan Materov announced in Tashkent. However, he insisted that the club would not amount to a sort of mini-OPEC within the SCO. Political and economic analysts in Moscow believe the Kremlin is keen to establish an energy club as a means to prevent a possible clash with China over Central Asia’s energy resources.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is holding a four-day meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, starting Friday. While the summit will doubtless end with the usual flurry of statements emphasizing peace and prosperity for member states, the gathering will be most notable for what is absent from the declarations, a vision of what the grouping actually entails, particularly as regards energy exports.