AMBASSADOR'S FIRST MEETING WITH NEW TAJIK FOREIGN MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 002229

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID ENRG TI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S FIRST MEETING WITH NEW TAJIK FOREIGN MINISTER


CLASSIFIED BY: Tracey Jacobson, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy
Dushanbe, STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador met December 20 with Hamrakhon
Zaripov in his new capacity as Tajikistan's Foreign Minister.
Zaripov agreed to "coordinate with relevant ministries and the
president" on responses to the Ambassador's requests for forward
movement on registration and visas for National Democratic
Institute (NDI) staff and registration of U.S-funded community
radio stations. When the Ambassador raised the need to improve
Tajikistan's business climate, Zaripov called for more U.S.
investment in hydropower, used China as an example of how
investment should flow into Tajikistan, and railed against U.S.
company Gerald Metals whom he said avoided official channels and
did business with criminal elements. Zaripov promised help in
establishing an American Chamber of Commerce, getting a meeting
with Security Minister Abdurahimov, and moving along the Boulder
Cyber Cafe project. He seconded the Ambassador's enthusiasm for
establishing a Peace Corps program here. In a surprise move, he
pitched Tajikistan becoming a Millennium Challenge recipient - a
subject in which the previous foreign minister and government
appeared to have little interest. End Summary


2. (C) The new Foreign Minister agreed to meet the Ambassador
first thing in the morning on December 20, a day before the
Ambassador is scheduled to depart for the holidays. The Embassy
had requested the meeting as soon as we learned of the
appointment of the former Ambassador to the United States as the
new Foreign Minister. The Tajik Parliament only confirmed the
new Cabinet appointments on December 16, and the Foreign
Minister did not want to appear overly eager to meet with us
until the formalities were concluded. Zaripov noted that
already the Russian press has been playing up his American
connections. He has just passed to President Rahmonov a
collection of 70 recent articles from the Russian internet on
this theme.

OLD ANSWERS TO OLD PROBLEMS


3. (C) NDI: The Ambassador raised the issue of registration of
the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and obtaining visitor
visas for NDI board members Sam Gejdensen and Laura Jewett, and
obtaining a work-authorization visa for NDI's newly identified
American citizen director for Dushanbe. NDI had followed the
Ministry's advice and waited to push on the registration and
visa issues until after the election and inauguration of the new
government, but is eager to move ahead. Zaripov said while he
was fully briefed on the NDI issues as Ambassador to the United
States, in his new capacity as Foreign Minister he would have to
consult with other government ministries before providing a
response. He promised to get us a reply in approximately one
week.


4. (C) Internews: In the context of free press, the Ambassador
raised the stalled registration and licensing of six community
radio stations developed by U.S.-funded NGO Internews. Zaripov
acknowledged the need in theory to expand independent media, but
he viewed that as a luxury for Tajikistan. "How can journalists
worry about reporting when they have no heat or electricity?"
The same principle applies to political parties, NGOs and
others, he insisted. He described his recent visit to his home
village to see his mother who has had no electricity or heat for
weeks. Like other residents of rural Tajikistan, she is forced
to burn garbage to heat a single room. "Tajikistan's first
priority must be to develop its hydroelectric resources. This
will help journalists, NGOs and everyone else." Note: Our
question about Internews probably caught Zaripov off guard, and
in future meetings we hope to walk back his attitude about
dealing with media and democracy issues only AFTER economic
development has taken place.

BUSINESS CLIMATE


5. (C) The Ambassador took advantage of Zaripov's abrupt change
of subject, including his pitch to the United States to fund
construction of the mega-hydroelectric station at Dasti-zhum, to

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raise the issue of business environment. American businesses
need confidence that contracts will be honored and that profits
can be made before they will invest in business in Tajikistan.
The unresolved case of Gerald Metals which lost over $20 million
in a deal with Tajikistan's TadAZ aluminum factory will scare
away potential investors. An energy company such as AES will
need to see whether it can make a profit from a smaller
investment, such as the proposed transmission line to
Afghanistan, before it would participate in a large commercial
consortium to build Dasti-zhum. Unlike the Chinese government,
the U.S. government cannot instruct U.S. firms where to invest;
Tajikistan will have to attract investments by ensuring a
suitable business climate.


6. (C) Gerald Metals: Zaripov became agitated a the mention of
Gerald Metals, and recounted his version of the deal gone bad.
Gerald Metals had refused then Ambassador Zaripov's advice to
work through official GOTI channels and instead struck a deal
directly with the then-director of TadAZ who is now known to be
a criminal. Gerald Metals is paying the price for being greedy
and hoping to get windfall profits, three times the norm, at
Tajikistan's expense. Zaripov offered some Soviet-era advice
that all U.S. companies should get the blessings of both the
Tajik Embassy in Washington and the American Embassy in Dushanbe
before launching business dealings here. As a counterexample to
Gerald Metals, he pointed to the huge investments by the
Chinese, all brokered through official channels. Zaripov
mentioned that a deal was almost struck with Gerald Metals in
May, whereby Gerald would make future purchases of aluminum at a
slight discount, eventually recouping its original $20 million
down payment to TadAZ. Zaripov said that both parties were
happy with the deal, but a World Bank advisor deemed the
discount mechanism violated anti-corruption principles (Zaripov
used the Russian word "doping"),and derailed the deal.


7. (C) AmCham: Zaripov promised his assistance in convincing
officials at the Tajik Chamber of Commerce that a newly
established American Chamber would not compete with the
state-run body. The Embassy is sponsoring the Eurasia
Foundation Central Asia's efforts to get an AmCham up and
running. Zaripov would like to see more American businesses
coming directly to Tajikistan rather than working through
middlemen. As an example he noted most Tajik aluminum reaches
the United States via Holland. (Note: He seemed to forget we
just finished discussing Gerald Metals - the one U.S. firm which
tried to make a direct deal with Tajikistan.)

FORWARD MARCH


8. (C) Peace Corps: The Ambassador did not have a hard sell
with Zaripov when it came to the benefits of establishing a
Peace Corps program in Tajikistan. He understood the enormous
benefits of English language training and immediately offered to
generate a new formal expression of interest on behalf of the
Government of Tajikistan to update the letter sent by President
Rahmonov four years ago.


9. (C) Boulder Cyber Cafe: Zaripov was familiar with the long
saga concerning the city of Boulder's efforts to build a
state-of-the-art cyber cafe in Dushanbe. The project is part of
the sister city relationship between Boulder and Dushanbe.
(Dushanbe has already bequeathed Boulder with a Tajik Tea
House.) After he recounted the long delays - many of them
caused by the City of Boulder, according to Zaripov - he
promised ot help move things along with the Dushanbe city
government.


10. (C) Millennium Challenge: At the end of the meeting,
Zaripov surprised us with an issue of his own. He would like to
see Tajikistan fully qualify for Millennium Challenge
assistance. Zaripov said he understands there will be
challenges along the way, but feels the time is right, given the
demonstrated "success of the recent election process."
Zaripov's overly positive characterization of the November 6
presidential election is based on his experience in Washington
where his embassy oversaw the polling place for resident Tajik
citizens. He boasted that in the United States, President
Rahmonov received more than 90% of the votes cast (44 Tajiks
voted) - significantly more than in Tajikistan itself. He

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pointed out that the Washington polling station met the highest
international standards, and there were no restrictions on press
or information in the United States. Zaripov is no doubt aware
the OSCE and other international observers did not give the
Tajik election such high remarks, but he seems committed to
using the election as a platform to help move his country
forward. The Embassy will encourage Zaripov's interest by
briefing his MFA staff in detail on Tajikistan's Millennium
Challenge scorecard and examining next steps.

COMMENT


11. (C) Several of Zaripov's responses struck us as "old
school": his advice that all business proceed through
government-to-government channels, his stance that development
of independent radio stations should take a back seat to
hydropower development, and his blind faith that if the USG
simply decided to build Dasti-zhum, regional peace and
prosperity would follow. However, he promised to help on a
number of fronts. Although he gave no assurances, Zaripov's
offer to coordinate a government-cleared response on NDI is at
least more straight forward than his predecessor's standard
reply: "That's a decision for the government, not for the
Foreign Ministry." And importantly, Zaripov is the first Tajik
official who has ever expressed interest in pursuing Millennium
Challenge status. The Embassy will pursue Zaripov's interest by
re-reviewing Tajikistan's Millennium Challenge scorecard with
staff at the ministry and helping the MFA craft a full program
of reforms which could lead to eventual membership. It will be
a longer road than Zaripov probably expects, but one worth
pursuing. Zaripov was generally receptive the Ambassador's
message that with the start of a new presidential term and
formation of a new government, Tajikistan has an opportunity to
demonstrate to Washington and the world which way the country is
headed. Washington will be looking for signals. For example,
will Tajikistan accept or reject the proposed NGO law, which
falls short of international standards? Will the government
register NDI? The Tajik government's actions will help
determine the approach Washington takes on such issues as the
Millennium Challenge program.
JACOBSON