by Heather Clark

ALMATY, Jan 21 (AFP)

Unlike many of his fellow Russians, Vladislav Panfilov decided to remain in Kazakhstan after it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, and carve out a place for himself and his family.

Today, Panfilov encourages his six-year-old daughter to learn Kazakh in kindergarten so she can better adapt to life in an increasingly Kazakh society, but Panfilov, the vice-president of the Independent Confederation of Labour Unions, doesn�t have much hope for his own future.

�As a Russian, naturally I understand that for me there is no future in Kazakhstan, but maybe for my children there will be,� he said.

Despite Russians� complaints of being passed over for jobs in favor of Kazakhs, the increasing use of the Kazakh language and the dominance of Kazakhs in government, ethnic Russians � a significant proportion if official election results are to be believed � helped return President Nursultan Nazarbayev to office on January 10.

Throughout the campaign, Nazarbayev hailed the stability between Kazakhs and Russians as one of his great achievements.

Even his opponents agree that he has successfully walked a fine line between rising Kazakh nationalism and neighboring Russia�s concerns for Kazakhstan�s ethnic Russians, who made up 32.2 percent of the population in 1997.

For the first time since 1991, Kazakhs became a majority � 50.6 percent � of the population in 1997. Germans, Koreans, Uighurs and other nationalities make up the remaining 17.2 percent.

Since 1991, inter-ethnic tensions have fluctuated and may be on the upswing again as the country�s economic situation worsens, said Sabit Zhusupov, director of the Kazakhstani Institute for Social Economic Information and prognosis.

However, right now, tension between Kazakhs and Russians simmers below the surface, while the population concentrates more on social problems and surviving economic hard times, he said.

Kazakh nationalism first boiled to the surface in December 1986, when Kazakhs took to the streets to protest Moscow�s decision to replace the first secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party, Dinmukhamed Kunayev, a Kazakh, with an ethnic Russian, Gennady Kolbin.

In the Almaty uprising, more than a dozen people were killed and hundreds injured when Soviet troops moved in to suppress the protesters.

Today, Kazakhs still gather annually to mark the anniversary on Almaty�s Republican Square.

Since Kazakhstan�s independence, an estimated 1.5 million Russians have emigrated with most leaving between 1993-94, Zhusupov said, but the exodus was caused more by economic than political considerations.

Compared to other Central Asian republics, Kazakhstan has been successful in balancing the use of the native language and Russian, a necessary policy choice since many urban Kazakhs do not speak their native language fluently.

In neighboring Turkmenistan, Russian-language television programming has been cut to only several hours per day and imports of Russian-language publications are severely restricted.

But Kazakhstan, like its Central Asian neighbors, has not maintained representation of ethnic Russians and other minorities in government.

Kazakhs, many through family and clan ties, have risen to top government positions and leading jobs in business.

At the national ministerial level, only two Russians � a deputy prime minister and the minister of labour and social protection � remain in office.

So far, there have been no major complaints of official discrimination against Russians.

Part of the reason may be that �all Kazakhs are extremely afraid of violating inter-ethnic relations,� said Pyotr Svoik, an ethnic Russian and former minister who is co-chairman of the Azamat opposition movement.

Like many Russians, Svoik accepts the rise in Kazakh nationalism as a natural consequence of new-found independence.