Kalmykia Update

It's time for a Kalmykia update. Jotman previously reported on Kalmykian involvement in oil and gas exploration in Myanmar. Recently, Britain's Independent newspaper probed the personality of Kalmykia's leader:

Mr Ilyumzhinov's office set three interview dates but cancelled them all at the last minute. As a substitute, it provided a copy of his 1998 autobiography,The President's Crown of Thorns, a strange mix of cod philosophy and stream-of-consciousness reminiscences. One chapter is entitled "Without me, the people are incomplete". Another is charmingly headed "It only takes two weeks to have a man killed".

Among the stranger claims of Mr Ilyumzhinov is his insistence that he was abducted by aliens in September 1997. "I was taken from my apartment in Moscow to this spaceship," he said in a recent television interview. "We went to some star. After that I said, 'Please bring me back' because the next day I had to go to Kalmykia and then to Ukraine, and they said 'No problem, Kirsan, you have time'." He rejects the idea that these claims make him appear to be a few pieces short of a full chess set. "I'm not a crazy man. From the United States every year more than 4,000 people are contacted in such a way. It's an official statistic."

Where is Kalmykia?

In the previous post, a Russian reader reported that the leader of the Kalmykia Republic was spearheading oil and gas exploration in Burma. Geographically, Kalmykia is an autonomous republic in SW Russia on the Caspian Sea. It's population is something under half a million. Social geography is one thing. But where is Kalmykia situated, speaking politically and economically? That Russia reader of Jotman explains:

Kalmykia is one very obscure part of Russia. Not precisely Russian equivalent of North Korea, but close. Kirsan has been in power ever since the Soviet Union collapsed. It's one of the least economically developed areas - although its conditions are pretty close to those Tatarstan, Buryatia, Bashkortostan, Yakutia etc, its at the lowest end of the scope - even Altay and Tuva are far more prosperous.

The Russian Jotman reader suggests that whereas Kalmykia is remote economically, politically it would appear more familiar to the West than some other Russian republics:

But all these lands (even Kalmykia) will appear heaven on Earth if you look deeper at the Northern Caucasus region: Chechnya, Dagestan, Northern Ossetia (Alania), Ingushetia, Karachaev-Cherkes republic (KCR) etc. Concentration of corrpution, nepotism and violent crime is striking even by Russian standards. A few days ago, two local branches of major political parties in Dagestan (both supported from Kremlin) were shooting at each other. Some time ago, in KCR inlaws of the local president murdered six people at once. . .

Russian Leader Spearheads Myanmar Oil and Gas Project

A Russian reader of Jotman.com has compiled an interesting report from the Kalmyk Republic (Kalmykia) -- it's a story with implications for Southeast Asia:

A Russian oil and gas company "Kalmneftegaz" controlled by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, a controversial (a very moderate expression!) president of the World Chess Federation and leader of the Kalmyk Republic in the Russian Federation acquires a 50% stake in the Khukon valley oil and gas project of Myanmar state-owned MOGE energy company, the Kommersant reports. The Myanmar deal was made possible with the assistance of a Singapore-based company, Silver Way Energy, controlled by some Min Min Aun who is allegedly closely affiliated with Myanmar military circles. Details of the deal are obscure, apparently Silver Wave and the Kalmyk Rrepublic's officials created a joint stock venture registered in the British Virgin Islands. Mr. Ilyumzhinov claims the idea to enter an oil and gas project in Myanmar was inspired by the religious bonds of the Kalmyk Republic and Myanmar -- most Kalmyks are Buddhists, albeit nominally. (source: Kommersant)

Our Russian reader notes that Western media sources contain no reports about about this deal.