Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DUSHANBE607
2006-04-05 10:52:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Dushanbe
Cable title:
TAJIKISTAN'S SERENA HOTEL: "OH, ALL RIGHT, WE'LL DO IT YOUR
how-toVZCZCXRO2777 PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHDBU #0607 0951052 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 051052Z APR 06 FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7113 INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 1499 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 1523 RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 1508 RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 1479 RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 1425 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1463 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1348 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0038 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1436 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1279 RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY 0088 RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RHMFISS/HQ USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 1499 RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1544 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1063 RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 0856 RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 8289
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000607
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/RUS, EB
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EINV RS TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN'S SERENA HOTEL: "OH, ALL RIGHT, WE'LL DO IT YOUR
WAY"
REF: DUSHANBE 0402
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000607
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/RUS, EB
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EINV RS TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN'S SERENA HOTEL: "OH, ALL RIGHT, WE'LL DO IT YOUR
WAY"
REF: DUSHANBE 0402
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please handle accordingly.
Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) At an Aga Khan lunch March 31 for Deputy Prime
Minister Gulomov, Aga Khan Resident Representative Munir Merali
told the Ambassador senior levels at Aga Khan offices in Geneva
have reconsidered their first reaction (ref) and have decided to
comply with Dushanbe Mayor Obaidulloyev's and President
Rahmonov's demand to tear down the historic building on the site
of the new Serena Hotel in Dushanbe rather than use it as the
basis for their new hotel. They will replace it with an
ultra-modern steel-and-glass mid-rise structure. Merali said
initial razing at the site had already begun, and he expected
the mayor to issue the edict that supposedly required to destroy
a historic building sometime during the week of April 3.
3. (U) Apart from the Serena, two other five-star hotels are in
the works, and a third, though long-stalled, is not yet counted
out. The RusAl-financed Hyatt Regency has started preliminary
site work in Komsomolskiy Park, and the temporary
construction-office buildings are going up quickly. The land
has been cleared on Rudaki Avenue, a block from the current U.S.
Embassy, for a 10-story, neo-Soviet-style hotel co-financed by
the First Family's Orien Bank and the Turkish group, Kaynak.
Further, city officials continue to insist the Indian-invested
Crowne Plaza Hotel will begin construction this spring, although
two-thirds of the land originally allotted for it has been
reallocated to RusAl to build its new Dushanbe business
headquarters.
4. (SBU) COMMENT. Given Tajikistan's current state of economic
development, and the enormous difficulty for international
travelers to get to Dushanbe, there is absolutely no way that
four -- yes, four -- five-star hotels can be economically
profitable. If they all survive, it could only be through
generous economic subsidies, from whatever sources, for the
foreseeable future. END COMMENT.
MORE TO COME
5. (U) During a government meeting on March 30, President
Rahmonov gave orders to start plans for a new Parliament, new
National Library, and new National Museum. All are currently
housed in historic buildings on Rudaki Avenue.
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/RUS, EB
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EINV RS TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN'S SERENA HOTEL: "OH, ALL RIGHT, WE'LL DO IT YOUR
WAY"
REF: DUSHANBE 0402
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please handle accordingly.
Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) At an Aga Khan lunch March 31 for Deputy Prime
Minister Gulomov, Aga Khan Resident Representative Munir Merali
told the Ambassador senior levels at Aga Khan offices in Geneva
have reconsidered their first reaction (ref) and have decided to
comply with Dushanbe Mayor Obaidulloyev's and President
Rahmonov's demand to tear down the historic building on the site
of the new Serena Hotel in Dushanbe rather than use it as the
basis for their new hotel. They will replace it with an
ultra-modern steel-and-glass mid-rise structure. Merali said
initial razing at the site had already begun, and he expected
the mayor to issue the edict that supposedly required to destroy
a historic building sometime during the week of April 3.
3. (U) Apart from the Serena, two other five-star hotels are in
the works, and a third, though long-stalled, is not yet counted
out. The RusAl-financed Hyatt Regency has started preliminary
site work in Komsomolskiy Park, and the temporary
construction-office buildings are going up quickly. The land
has been cleared on Rudaki Avenue, a block from the current U.S.
Embassy, for a 10-story, neo-Soviet-style hotel co-financed by
the First Family's Orien Bank and the Turkish group, Kaynak.
Further, city officials continue to insist the Indian-invested
Crowne Plaza Hotel will begin construction this spring, although
two-thirds of the land originally allotted for it has been
reallocated to RusAl to build its new Dushanbe business
headquarters.
4. (SBU) COMMENT. Given Tajikistan's current state of economic
development, and the enormous difficulty for international
travelers to get to Dushanbe, there is absolutely no way that
four -- yes, four -- five-star hotels can be economically
profitable. If they all survive, it could only be through
generous economic subsidies, from whatever sources, for the
foreseeable future. END COMMENT.
MORE TO COME
5. (U) During a government meeting on March 30, President
Rahmonov gave orders to start plans for a new Parliament, new
National Library, and new National Museum. All are currently
housed in historic buildings on Rudaki Avenue.
HOAGLAND