EURO-ECO 2010 Hanover 2 - 3 Dezember 2010	Environmental, Engineering - Economic and Legal Aspects for Sustainable Living
	European Academy of Natural Sciences, Hanover European Scientific Society, Hanover University of Bremen, Bremen

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Kazakhstan is located on the border of two continents - Europe and Asia - and occupies area of 2724,9 thousand sq.km (1052,1 thousand sq.miles). Kazakhstan is the ninth biggest country of the world that is it is among ten biggest states. Total length of its frontiers equals 12,2 thousand km, including 600 km of frontier passing across the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan borders upon Russia in the east, north and north-west (frontier 6467 km long), upon countries of Central Asia – Uzbekistan (frontier length 2300 km), Kyrgystan (frontier length 980 km) and Turkmenistan (frontier length 380 km) in the south and upon China in the south-east (frontier length 1460 km).

One of the most important medicoecological problems of Kazakhstan are 40-year nuclear weapon tests on the proving ground of Semipalatinsk which have caused irredeemable damage to people’s health and environment and provoked growth of morbidity and mortality rates.

The whole territory of Semipalatinsk region and adjoining to the proving ground regions – Pavlodar region, East-Kazakhstan region and Karaganda region – are recognized as environmental disaster area. Currently, long-term fatal consequences of the nuclear weapon tests are showing up more and more and are inherited by next following generations.

A special meeting dedicated to the problem of the Aral Sea has been recently held in the European Parliament in Brussels within the bounds of chairmanship of Kazakhstan in Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The meeting was organized by Struan Stevenson, representative for environmental protection of OSCE chairman.

As Konstantin Zhigalov, deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and special representative of OSCE chairman, said, “We are very glad that the subject was properly descanted upon in the European Parliament, and this is no coincidence. Kazakhstan and European Union as well as Central Asia collaborate actively in the field of environmental problems”.

K. Zhigalov reminded that in 2007 the strategy of European Union in relation to the countries of Central Asia was approved. The strategy is focused upon environmental problems. Later Berlin water initiative was put forward and it is being rapidly developed. Italy attaches special importance to the subject and European Union pays a lot of attention to water problem and ecological situation in general. That is why S. Stevenson, a famous member of the European Parliament, who organized the above-mentioned special meeting, was commissioned representative of OSCE chairman.

One of the gravest problems is negative impact of missile carriers launched from the spaceport “Baykonur” on the environment and people’s health which spreads along the launch lanes. Launching is done on the basis of joint research conducted by Russia and Kazakhstan.

Thus, ecological situation in Kazakhstan remains difficult. Semipalatinsk and Aral areas of ecological disaster, historical pollutions scattered all over the country, including radioactive ones, billions of tons of accumulated industrial and domestic wastes, above-standard pollution of water bodies and air in the cities – all these are ecological safety hazards relevant for Kazakhstan. The situation is being aggravated with technogeneous breakages risk due to increasing oil production on the shelf of the Caspian Sea, expansion of other minerals extraction, reconstruction of environment-damaging metallurgical and chemical productions.

Environmental problems of Kazakhstan are not just those of national scale, but of regional and global scales, too. That is why they claim attention of the whole world community.

The principal strategic document of the state environmental policy has become the new Concept of environmental safety for the period from 2004 till 2015 approved by N.A. Nazarbayev, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which takes into account peculiarities of the contemporary level of development of the country and its long-term priorities.