Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ASHGABAT1036
2007-09-26 13:34:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: RUSSIAN BAZAAR BURNS, BUT NO TAPE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001036
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: RUSSIAN BAZAAR BURNS, BUT NO TAPE
AT TEN
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001036
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: RUSSIAN BAZAAR BURNS, BUT NO TAPE
AT TEN
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: An early morning fire on September 24
destroyed temporary kiosks as well as badly damaging two
permanent retail areas of Ashgabat's Russian Bazaar in the
center of downtown. Although there is no information
regarding possible casualties or the cost of the damage to
the complex, there is plenty of speculation regarding the
fire's cause and the mystery of its rapid spread. The fire's
impact on affected shop owners, some of whom may have lost
everything, underscores the risky nature of engaging in
private business here. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) Post heard from residents about a fire that torched
the western edge of the Russian Bazaar in the early hours of
September 24. (NOTE: The name of the bazaar is a carry-over
from the Soviet period when each major bazaar in Ashgabat was
named for a primary ethnic group. END NOTE.) Though there
were no official news reports, residents who depend on the
bazaar and locally-employed staff were buzzing about the
scale and damage of the fire. One Ashgabat resident who
visited the bazaar the morning of the 24th reported that one
of the commercial vendors claimed to know of two fire-related
deaths and possibly several injuries, but post cannot confirm
this information. (COMMENT: Some of the vendors, having
gotten frantic calls in the middle of the night about their
shops, may have entered their establishments in an attempt to
rescue inventory, and been trapped by the burning wreckage.
END COMMENT.) Once the fire was put out, local authorities
barred vendors from entering the damaged area to salvage
their surviving goods, and began to quickly to clear away
evidence of the fire. Police in previous similar fires had
allowed vendors to try to salvage their goods, according to
locally-employed staff.
3. (U) Examining the remains of shops and the repairs
already fully underway, the fire appeared to be centered on
the southwest side of the bazaar, where vendors had set up a
makeshift labyrinth of wooden semi-permanent structures
underneath a row of permanent, post-Soviet shading
structures. The fire had also spread to clothing and
accessory boutiques housed in the bazaar's permanent
structure, as well a medium-sized retail building just south
of the bazaar. Residents were perplexed by the fire's rapid
spread, given the local fire department's location just 500
meters from the bazaar.
4. (U) One Turkmen opposition website is reporting that half
of the bazaar's commercial vendors were affected by the fire,
but post assesses that the fire destroyed about one-fifth of
the retail space there, most notably the more unattractive,
makeshift structures that had expanded west of the complex
over the last several years. Locals speculated that wreckage
was carted away and repairs were speeding along to put
everything in shape before the president returns from his
trip to the United States at the end of the week. About a
week ago, locals reported city authorities notified the shop
owners in the semi-permanent kiosks that they would soon have
to move because of city plans to build a new fountain. Some
had already made arrangements to move into a new nearby
retail building.
5. (SBU) Rumors are already circulating that the shops were
burned because of unpaid debts to a loan shark, or because
the bazaar's manager had failed to pay necessary bribes
(NOTE: Locals postulated that the bazaar's manager would be
the person most hurt by the fire, because he would have been
ASHGABAT 00001036 002 OF 002
responsible for the security of the shops on bazaar property
and at a minimum would lose his job. END NOTE.). There are
stories emerging about the fire's tragic effect on some of
the owners. One resident had a friend who had just rented a
space in the now-burned section of the bazaar. She had
borrowed money from the Central Bank, using her apartment as
collateral, and purchased an inventory of new cell phones in
Dubai. Her business had been open for a week when it was
destroyed in the fire. Because commercial and property
insurance is non-existent for the average citizen, she has
likely lost everything, including her home.
6. COMMENT: Given the ramshackle nature of these
semi-permanent kiosks, all of which were jerry-rigged for
electricity and overstuffed with flammable merchandise, it is
also possible that this was an accident waiting to happen.
Post knows of no other cases where vendors have been burned
out to force them to move because of city beautification
efforts. In previous cases where city officials or property
owners wanted to oust vendors, they were given the
opportunity to move to new locations. That said, there is
much local suspicion about the fire, given its occurrence in
the middle of the night and its rapid spread. The quickstep
pace of the cleanup and white wash of the smoke damage also
suggests that authorities prefer the tidier look of the place
now. Regardless, this tragedy serves to underscore the risks
that small-business owners face in doing business here.
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: RUSSIAN BAZAAR BURNS, BUT NO TAPE
AT TEN
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: An early morning fire on September 24
destroyed temporary kiosks as well as badly damaging two
permanent retail areas of Ashgabat's Russian Bazaar in the
center of downtown. Although there is no information
regarding possible casualties or the cost of the damage to
the complex, there is plenty of speculation regarding the
fire's cause and the mystery of its rapid spread. The fire's
impact on affected shop owners, some of whom may have lost
everything, underscores the risky nature of engaging in
private business here. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) Post heard from residents about a fire that torched
the western edge of the Russian Bazaar in the early hours of
September 24. (NOTE: The name of the bazaar is a carry-over
from the Soviet period when each major bazaar in Ashgabat was
named for a primary ethnic group. END NOTE.) Though there
were no official news reports, residents who depend on the
bazaar and locally-employed staff were buzzing about the
scale and damage of the fire. One Ashgabat resident who
visited the bazaar the morning of the 24th reported that one
of the commercial vendors claimed to know of two fire-related
deaths and possibly several injuries, but post cannot confirm
this information. (COMMENT: Some of the vendors, having
gotten frantic calls in the middle of the night about their
shops, may have entered their establishments in an attempt to
rescue inventory, and been trapped by the burning wreckage.
END COMMENT.) Once the fire was put out, local authorities
barred vendors from entering the damaged area to salvage
their surviving goods, and began to quickly to clear away
evidence of the fire. Police in previous similar fires had
allowed vendors to try to salvage their goods, according to
locally-employed staff.
3. (U) Examining the remains of shops and the repairs
already fully underway, the fire appeared to be centered on
the southwest side of the bazaar, where vendors had set up a
makeshift labyrinth of wooden semi-permanent structures
underneath a row of permanent, post-Soviet shading
structures. The fire had also spread to clothing and
accessory boutiques housed in the bazaar's permanent
structure, as well a medium-sized retail building just south
of the bazaar. Residents were perplexed by the fire's rapid
spread, given the local fire department's location just 500
meters from the bazaar.
4. (U) One Turkmen opposition website is reporting that half
of the bazaar's commercial vendors were affected by the fire,
but post assesses that the fire destroyed about one-fifth of
the retail space there, most notably the more unattractive,
makeshift structures that had expanded west of the complex
over the last several years. Locals speculated that wreckage
was carted away and repairs were speeding along to put
everything in shape before the president returns from his
trip to the United States at the end of the week. About a
week ago, locals reported city authorities notified the shop
owners in the semi-permanent kiosks that they would soon have
to move because of city plans to build a new fountain. Some
had already made arrangements to move into a new nearby
retail building.
5. (SBU) Rumors are already circulating that the shops were
burned because of unpaid debts to a loan shark, or because
the bazaar's manager had failed to pay necessary bribes
(NOTE: Locals postulated that the bazaar's manager would be
the person most hurt by the fire, because he would have been
ASHGABAT 00001036 002 OF 002
responsible for the security of the shops on bazaar property
and at a minimum would lose his job. END NOTE.). There are
stories emerging about the fire's tragic effect on some of
the owners. One resident had a friend who had just rented a
space in the now-burned section of the bazaar. She had
borrowed money from the Central Bank, using her apartment as
collateral, and purchased an inventory of new cell phones in
Dubai. Her business had been open for a week when it was
destroyed in the fire. Because commercial and property
insurance is non-existent for the average citizen, she has
likely lost everything, including her home.
6. COMMENT: Given the ramshackle nature of these
semi-permanent kiosks, all of which were jerry-rigged for
electricity and overstuffed with flammable merchandise, it is
also possible that this was an accident waiting to happen.
Post knows of no other cases where vendors have been burned
out to force them to move because of city beautification
efforts. In previous cases where city officials or property
owners wanted to oust vendors, they were given the
opportunity to move to new locations. That said, there is
much local suspicion about the fire, given its occurrence in
the middle of the night and its rapid spread. The quickstep
pace of the cleanup and white wash of the smoke damage also
suggests that authorities prefer the tidier look of the place
now. Regardless, this tragedy serves to underscore the risks
that small-business owners face in doing business here.
HOAGLAND