Editor’s note: Two new cables from WikiLeaks reveal scathing American accounts of the interaction between business and Turkmenistan’s leadership, and most of all, of President Berdimuhammedov’s personal character. neweurasia’s Magtymguly quotes the cables and comments.

neweurasia’s Schwartz has assigned me duty of monitoring all WikiLeaks Cablegate data for Central Asia. Monday he reported on four posts from Embassy Ashgabat. Yesterday two more published. They are about huge wealth and terrible personality of President Berdimuhammedow. WikiLeaks wants us to criticize American diplomats but we should thank the Americans for their honesty instead.

08ASHGABAT1399 2008-10-23

According to expatriate sources in Ashgabat, a yacht that recently set sail on the Caspian Sea — reportedly worth 60 million euros — is actually a gift from Russian company Itera. Itera is working on signing a deal jointly with Russian state-owned companies Rosneft and Zarubezhneft and Turkmenistan’s Turkmenneft to develop blocks 29, 30, and 31 in the offshore Caspian area at some point in 2008. According to news reports, Itera is also an enthusiastic partner in the development of the Avaza free tourist zone located on the Caspian Sea, is funding the Ashgabat branch of the Gubkin Oil and Gas University, and is involved in importing farm equipment from Tatarstan, in competition with John Deere and Case New Holland equipment. In addition, the government forced a Swedish-owned shipping company to give up seven of its most valuable employees to become permanent crew on the yacht. Itera’s business activities are wide-ranging and difficult to isolate, and the reported gift of the yacht serves as a sign that the company’s willingness to go to great lengths to win business should not be underestimated.

[...] According to various open source reports, Itera officials have frequently met with President Berdimuhamedov since the end of 2007:

• On December 27, Itera Holdings Chairman of the Board Igor Makarov and Berdimuhamedov discussed projects such as development of oil and gas fields on the Caspian shelf and in the Karakum, construction of facilities for gas transportation, a carbamide plant, and creation of iodine-bromine production. The same report also said that Itera would fund the Ashgabat branch of the Russian Gubkin State Oil and Gas University in Ashgabat, implement projects in Avaza, construct an office building in Ashgabat, and participate in construction of highways and rail lines.
• At a meeting on February 18, the president said that Itera has proven itself as one of Turkmenistan’s “old and reliable partners.” Makarov submitted a project for a five-star, 110-room hotel in Avaza…
• A delegation of Itera’s top management held talks with Turkmen officials on March 9 to discuss a production sharing agreement for three blocks of the Caspian Sea shelf and to receive a license to survey and develop a new block. The article added, “If Itera gets the license, it is likely to engage Zarubezhneft and Rosneft as partners.”
• In April, Itera CEO Vladimir Makeyev announced that the company, within the framework of the Zarit joint venture, expected to sign a production sharing agreement to develop blocks 29, 30, and 31 in the offshore Caspian area at some point in 2008. Zarit was set up in 2002 and is comprised of Itera, the Russian state-owned companies Rosneft and Zarubezhneft, and Turkmenistan’s Turkmenneft. Makeyev acknowledged in the April report that issues with Iran — one of the blocks is located in a disputed area of the Caspian Sea — remain unresolved. Makeyev said that Itera was discussing working on gas extraction in inland areas as well.
• On June 11 in Ashgabat, Makarov gave the president a report on construction of a hotel in Avaza, a stadium in Turkmenabat, and progress on the carbamide plant construction project. In addition, Makarov updated Berdimuhamedov on preparation for joint activities in the Karakum Desert including development of deposits and construction of relevant infrastructure, in particular laying gas pipelines.
• The official Turkmen television news program Watan showed Makarov visiting President Berdimuhamedov at the guesthouse in Kazan where Berdimuhamedov stayed during his official visit to Tatarstan on June 28, 2008.
• On August 16, MRK Energy DMSS, an Emirati-based subsidiary of Itera, announced the sale of 400 Russian-made UAZ39629-016 ambulances worth $8 million to Turkmenistan.
• On the day of the ship’s introduction — September 29 –Berdimuhamedov discussed the construction of a carbamide plant and a spa, as well as opportunities for Itera’s participation in exploration in offshore deposits with Makarov at the Serdar Hotel in Turkmenbashy.

COMMENT: Itera has a deal to build a urea/ammonia plant, and also an $8 million deal for ambulances, but there are most likely other deals of which post is not aware. The company undoubtedly really wants a gas exploration contract, especially onshore, and the gift of the yacht is a nice enticement to move the process along. As local businessman XXXXXXXXXXXX said, “The gift of a yacht might be for an onshore gas deal, a chicken farm, or works already in progress. Nothing is free in this country.” IPC Group, official distributors of John Deere and Case New Holland equipment in Turkmenistan, have had concerns about Itera and the company’s ability to take over the farm equipment market in Turkmenistan at least since Berdimuhamedov’s visit to Tatarstan. Itera’s business activities are wide-ranging and difficult to isolate, and the reported gift of the yacht serves as a sign that the company’s willingness to go to great lengths to win business should not be underestimated.

• Re: Avaza see Annasoltan: The shimmering shadow of feigned oppulence
• Re: Business see Annasoltan: Adam Smith in Ashagabt

09ASHGABAT1633 2009-12-18

Turkmen President Berdimuhammedov is vain, fastidious, vindictive, a micro-manager, and a bit of an Ahal Teke “nationalist.” He also is the only son in a family of eight children. His father is a retired prison guard with the rank of colonel. The father, many in Turkmenistan think, is more intelligent than the son. Berdimuhamedov reportedly has a Turkmen wife and a Russian mistress. He has two daughters and a son with his Turkmen spouse and a daughter with his Russian wife. One of his sons-in-law runs the London office of the Turkmen State Agency for Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources. His other daughter lives with her husband, a diplomat, in Paris. XXXXXXXXXXXX

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is the “decider” for the state of Turkmenistan. Since his word is often law, it is beneficial to understand what makes him tick and to know something about those closest to him, his family. According to XXXXXXXXXXXX, Berdimuhamedov is vain, suspicious, guarded, strict, very conservative, a practiced liar, “a good actor,” and vindictive (reftel). XXXXXXXXXXXX said that while he usually forgets something after a few months or a year, Berdimuhamedov never forgets. Our source described Berdimuhamedov as a micromanager. He said that the president signs off on work schedules for experienced doctors.

Our source said Berdimuhamedov is very clean and neat and requires all around him to be the same. XXXXXXXXXXXX When Berdimuhamedov became the head of a dental clinic, he insisted that the other men who worked there had creases in their pants. About 30 years ago, when Berdimuhamedov owned an old Russian car, he would leave it at home if it rained and take a taxi instead.

Berdimuhamedov apparently does not think all Turkmen are the same. He once told our source that the true and first Turkmen come from the area between Kaka and Baharly in Ahal Province. Other people are not real Turkmen.

Berdimuhamedov does not like people who are smarter than he is. Since he’s not a very bright guy, our source offered, he is suspicious of a lot of people. Our source claimed Berdimuhamedov did not like America, Iran, or turkey, but likes China. (COMMENT: Berdimuhamedov probably views other countries in terms of what they can do for him and his country, rather than in terms of like or dislike. END COMMENT.) He also asserted that the president is not fond of either Uzbek President Karimov or Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov’s father, Myalikguly Berdimuhamedov, worked as a senior Interior Ministry officer in a prison guard detachment. He retired as a Colonel of Internal Troops. In local public opinion, the father is rumored to be far more intelligent than his son. The president’s mother was a housewife. The president’s parents now live with their son in the official residence in Firuza Valley, which is 19 km from Ashgabat. His grandfather Berdimuhamed Annayev was the principal of a school in his native village of Izgant.

Berdimuhammedov is married and has two daughters and one son, Serdar. The oldest daughter is married to Yhlasgeldi Amanov, who is a representative of the Turkmen Agency for Use and Management of Hydrocarbon Resources for Europe, posted in London. His other daughter lives with her husband, who works at the Turkmenistan Embassy in Paris. A local Turkmen entrepreneur claims this daughter has a villa on the Cote d’Azure in southern France. There is a rumor among Ashgabat residents that Berdimuhamedov has a mistress, in addition to his Turkmen wife, who is reportedly very conservative. The mistress is supposedly an ethnic Russian by the name of Marina. She was reportedly a nurse at a dental clinic where Berdimuhamedov worked earlier in his career, and has a 14-year old daughter with the president. Berdimuhamedov’s wife has reportedly been living in London since 2007.

Berdimuhamedov is the only son in his family of eight children. One of the younger sisters teaches at the Turkmen National Economy University; another, the youngest one, is a housewife married to a Central Bank employee. His second oldest sister, Aynabat Berdimuhamedova, actively exploits the influence of her brother.10. (SBU) COMMENT: Berdimuhamedov has gone to great lengths to conceal information about his family and personal life from the public. For a public figure who tries to project an image as a renaissance man, whether it be author, surgeon, pilot, sportsman or statesman, the failure to cultivate a “family man” image leaves a void that the public is ready to fill.

These reports are amazing to eye. They pull off curtain between the image and reality. I wonder: how can any man be so cynical to lie to his people about himself so much?