Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

House Tells Russia to Get Out of Georgia, While Quietly Building Up UAE Presence

 
The U.S. House of Representatives this week condemned the Russian Federation's occupation of disputed land in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which the Russians bombed in 2008 and whose Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions remain occupied (see the above video statement from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-FL).

What the U.S. government is playing down, however, is the fact that the Obama administration simultaneously is helping to finance power infrastructure projects in Georgia that directly benefit U.S. ally United Arab Emirates, whose Ras al-Khaimah monarchy controls a sprawling industrial complex undergoing expansion on the Black Sea coast.

As this writer reported this week via WND:

Although the Obama administration claims U.S.-funded power infrastructure projects in the nation of Georgia will boost energy security and stability in the former Soviet republic, WND has uncovered corollary beneficiaries of this foreign assistance: Arab royals...

However, the agency is not advertising the fact that one of the United Arab Emirates monarchies manages the zone. Indeed, Poti FIZ is an investment project of the Ras al-Khaimah Investment Authority, also known as RAKIA...

The latest USAID action undertaken under the GIPT program was an $18 million contract awarded earlier this month to rebuild a stretch of power lines and substations that ultimately will benefit the zone... USAID additionally intends to provide an unspecified level of financial support to build a 47-kilometer natural-gas pipeline [See: "Arab royals profit from U.S. power project"].

It must be noted that the UAE's presence is made possible under a business agreement with the Government of Georgia, whereas the Russian presence is by military aggression.

Ros-Lehtinen also said of the Russo-Georgian controversy, "“Russia’s aggression against Georgia poses a threat to the security of the entire region.  This resolution sends a strong message that Russian actions and continued military presence in these areas are unacceptable and must end immediately.”

The House approved H.Res. 526 by voice vote.

U.S. Crafting New Economic Recovery Plan

The damage caused by the global financial crisis requires additional federal intervention, according to the Obama Administration, which is launching a new program to “foster growth and stability at a time of increasing economic turmoil.” This particular endeavor, however, will focus its efforts on improving conditions in Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, and the “newly independent states,” or NIS, of the former Soviet Union.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is designing this Europe & Eurasia (E&E) regional project in order to “promote trade, investment and regulatory integration; enhance regional competitiveness, and support financial sector stability.”

The agency did not disclose an estimated cost of the program, which remains under development. It is conducting market research of potential contractors capable of carrying out services in the region. USAID may—or may not—release a more detailed solicitation at a later date.

If indeed it executes this project, USAID will target thirteen nations where USAID already has established a presence, “including the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia), Western NIS (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus), Russia, and the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan).

(RELATED: U.S.-Financed Pipeline Benefiting UAE Royal Family Moves Forward)

According to a Sources Sought Notice that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research:

Despite the tremendous progress made over the years, many of these countries are still struggling to regain the living standards that they enjoyed under communism and to integrate themselves into the ever more competitive world economy.  Furthermore, the region has been disproportionately adversely affected by the 2008-2009 global economic crisis and, now, by the ongoing Eurozone financial crisis… Several countries in the region have unemployment rates above 20%, labor productivity remains well below the EU standards, and export growth rates have stagnated. 

The four “principal technical areas” for which contractors may provide services include:

            1. Regional Trade Facilitation;  

            2. Private Sector Competitiveness and Enterprise Development;

            3. Business Enabling Environment (meaning, support of “legal and regulatory reform and rule of law issues”); and:

            4. Financial Sector Stability, Growth & Inclusion.

USAID will accept capability statements from interested providers until June 11 at 2 p.m.

Source document: Solicitation #M-OAA-GRO-LMA-12-1002

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

FOR FURTHER REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S EUROPE PAGE.

OTHER NATION-SPECIFIC MONITOR PAGES ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE ABOVE ARTICLE.

U.S.-Financed Pipeline Benefiting UAE Royal Family Moves Forward

The U.S has taken the next step in carrying out plans to help finance a gas pipeline-extension benefiting royals of the United Arab Emirates.

As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor reported late last year, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) intends to provide an unspecified level of financial support to build the 47 kilometer natural-gas pipeline in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The agency claims that the Kutaisi-Abasha project, as it is known, will provide “energy security” in the region.

The  endeavor as originally described was to promote the development of the Poti Free Industrial Zone on the Black Sea coast, “and secure power exports through reliability related infrastructure improvements," USAID said in the initial solicitation.

Despite releasing some details about the infrastructure project, additional research was needed to discover that the Poti FIZ is owned by UAE’s Ras al-Khaimah monarchy.

USAID today issued a Special Notice to potential contractors alerting them to the project—which now has a different solicitation number (#KUAB47-GW07) and instead refers to the construction of a the “Abasha-Senaki” pipeline extension.

The notice refers interested parties to a link leading to the website of the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation.

Contractors must submit their bids to the company from June 18-22.

RELATED: "USAID-Georgia Pipeline Project to Benefit Arab Royals" (Monitor, Nov. 26, 2011).

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S GEORGIA PAGE.

FOR FURTHER REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVLEOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

USAID-Georgia Pipeline Project to Benefit Arab Royals

The U.S.-backed construction of a 47 kilometer natural-gas pipeline is being touted as a means of promoting "energy security" in the former Soviet republic of Georgia; the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), however, is not advertising the fact that a corollary beneficiary of this assistance package includes the Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) monarchy, rulers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) principality that owns the Poti Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) in Western Georgia.

USAID, on behalf of the Government of Georgia, this past week issued a Request for Proposals (Solicitation #KUAB47-GW07-PU-BID-00001) to provide tens of thousands of pipes, caps, and related infrastructure for the Kutaisi-Abasha project. The RFP did not state whether U.S. taxpayers partially or entirely will shoulder the cost of the equipment, nor did it disclose the estimated price tag of the assistance package.

The endeavor directly will benefit the Georgian Oil & Gas Corporation (GOGC), a limited liability company that the Georgian government formed in 2006. GOGC in recent months legally was changed into a joint stock company.

GOGC plans to "replace the existing undersized and leaking pipeline sections, thereby improving natural gas deliveries to the Western Georgia," according to a USAID/Georgia "Energy and Environment" projects summary. The USAID solicitation, which U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor discovered had been posted to the FedBizOpps database on Thanksgiving (Nov. 25) -- a federal holiday -- points out that the project will help promote "the development of [Poti FIZ] on the Black Sea coast, and secure power exports through reliability related infrastructure improvements."

While USAID did not hide its goal to give a boost to the Poti FIZ, deeper digging was necessary to reveal that the Zone is an investment project of the RAK government-owned RAKIA-Georgia.

 Photo caption: His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasmi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah

U.S. Seeks New Means of Predicting Internet Growth Overseas, from Albania to Zimbabwe

The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is looking for a contractor capable of developing a new analytical model to predict Internet usage and growth in thirty-two foreign nations, from "A" (Albania) to "Z" (Zimbabwe).

The agency, which runs U.S. government-funded international broadcasting systems such as Voice of America and Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, said in a Statement of Work (Solicitation #BBG50-R-11-0020) that existing models for predicting growth are inadequate. The SOW said those models solely focus on specific technology sectors rather than the Internet in its entirety:

The ultimate goal is to estimate, using empirical data, the expansion of the number of unique individuals using the Internet on a weekly basis in these markets over the next five years. While various organizations have produced such estimates and prejections for sub-segments of the Internet market, such as mobile Internet use or fixed line broadband, BBG requires estimates of the growth of the entire Internet market, regardless of platform, including use via public access facilities.

Although the BBG attempted to justifiy why it wants a new predictive model, it did not specify why it needs -- nor what it intends to do -- with such a new mode of analysis. The agency said it would apply the model to Internet usage in the following nations: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam,  Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The BBG said the selected contractor should be able to complete the work within an eight-week period. It did not offer an estimated cost of the project.

USAID to Fund Power-Line Restoration Project in Georgia

An estimated $10 million project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was launched today to rebuild destroyed power lines and related infrastructure in the nation of Georgia. The agency will help the state utility Georgian State Electrosystem, Ltd. (GSE)  to "reestablish" a 37-mile transmission system linking the Menji and Tskaltubo substations. The endeavor also will rebuild utility support structures ("Of a total of 212 original structures only 3 are still in place.") and bus terminals, according to the solicitation (#SOL-114-11-000010). Although the document did not specify the source of the power system's destruction, it should be noted that the country sustained significant damage during a 2008 conflict with Russia, a situation that remains precarious, according to a recent AP report via the Washington Post.

Other Monitor articles on Georgia: See "In Other USAID Business" segment of 4/27/2011  news briefs regarding a $22 million contract that USAID awarded to Chemonics International.

U.S. Contractor to Help Colombia Establish 'Presence' in Former Coca-Eradication Zones

A $115 million contract was awarded yesterday to a group tasked with helping the government of Colombia (GOC) establish a “presence” in “priority municipalities” across the nation (Contract Award #AID-514-C-11-00002). Associates in Rural Development, the Burlington, Vermont subsidiary of TetraTech, Inc., will attempt to “create thousands of licit economic opportunities” while promoting citizen participation and strengthening links between public and private organizations. “In transition zones where the GOC has only recently established minimum security, the contractor will emphasize immediate, short-term activities to meet urgent economic and social needs with the goal of demonstrating presence of the state and to help the target areas recover quickly from the effects of the conflict and [coca crop] eradication,” USAID says in its original solicitation (#SOL-514-10-000001).

IN OTHER USAID BUSINESS

A $22 million contract aimed at improving rural incomes, reducing poverty levels; improving food security; and addressing “critical, small-scale household and agricultural water constraints” in the nation of Georgia was awarded to Chemonics International Inc. (Contract Award #AID-114-C-11-00001). Although USAID awarded the contract April 21, the award document was not uploaded into the federal business database until today (April 27). Chemonics will help carry out USAID’s New Economic Opportunities (NEO) project, which seeks to help targeted communities of “internally displaced persons” in household rehabilitation and maintenance as well as to “assist communities distressed by natural or other disasters.” (Solicitation #SOL-114-10-000002).

USTDA NEWS BRIEF

The U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) is funding a “definitional mission” to Romania to assess whether the agency should help fund airport modernization efforts in that nation. USTDA on April 25 awarded the $50,000 contract to the South Carolina-based consulting firm KED Group LLC, who will assess the project on behalf of a Romanian air-traffic control agency. (Solicitation #RFQ-CO201121123)