CIS Daily Bulletin, February 3

Below is a summary of events in the Commonwealth of Independent States on February 3:

Azerbaijan:

* Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company GNKAR said in January it exported via the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline some 167,200 metric tons of crude, which is a 34.7% decline against the same period last year

Belarus:

* Moscow and Minsk signed an agreement on the joint protection of the Russia-Belarus Union State's airspace and the creation of a joint regional air defense network

* Russia is prepared to give Belarus an additional loan of several dozen billion rubles after its terms and purpose have been discussed, Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko said

Kyrgyzstan:

* Kyrgyzstan will demand the closure of a U.S. military base on its territory, used to support antiterrorism operations in neighboring Afghanistan, the Central Asian state's president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, said

* Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed a deal to settle a Kyrgyz debt to Russia

* Kyrgyzstan's government has decided to close a U.S. military airbase in Manas, President Bakiyev said

* The Kyrgyz parliament has no plans to discuss the termination of an agreement with the U.S. on the lease of an airbase in the Central Asian country, a lawmaker said

Tajikistan:

* President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon will attend the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) and Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summits in Moscow, a Tajik Foreign Ministry spokesman said

Ukraine:

* Ukraine's Foreign Ministry confirmed that eight Ukrainian crewmembers on board a Turkish-owned ship, captured in the Gulf of Aden on December 16, have been released

* Naftogaz of Ukraine intends to borrow 23 billion hryvnias ($2.8 billion) to buy imported gas and pump it into underground storage facilities, the Ukrainian fuel and energy minister said