Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT190
2008-02-06 12:52:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: UPDATE ON ADB'S PLANS FOR A
how-toVZCZCXRO0723 PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHAH #0190 0371252 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 061252Z FEB 08 FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0221 INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0238 RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3345 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 1161 RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR PRIORITY 0047 RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 0058 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1029 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1598 RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000190
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ECON EPET EINV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: UPDATE ON ADB'S PLANS FOR A
TRANS-AFGHAN PIPELINE
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000190
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ECON EPET EINV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: UPDATE ON ADB'S PLANS FOR A
TRANS-AFGHAN PIPELINE
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) Ayna Kekilova, the Asian Development Bank's (ADB's)
liaison officer in Turkmenistan, told EmbOff February 6 that
the ADB partners in the proposed Trans-Afghan pipeline (TAPI)
project are proceeding with the work for the project even
though the stability situation in Afghanistan argues against
breaking ground on the project any time soon. The ADB and
partners are unwilling to drop the project because it already
has gone so far, and the partner countries (especially
Pakistan and India) recognize that their natural gas needs
will only increase in coming years.
3. (SBU) In the meantime, according to Kekilova, the work is
proceeding at a crawl. The steering committee meeting for
the project, which was to have considered and signed
proposals developed during a technical experts meeting held
in early 2007, has been postponed multiple times from its
first proposed date in April 2007. Recently, the ADB has
proposed a new date for the meeting: April 21-24, 2008. In
the meantime, the ADB has requested that the company that
carried out the original feasibility study for the project
five years ago, Penspen, update the study, and has given it
two months -- until April -- to do so.
4. (SBU) COMMENT: While Kekilova tried to put the best
possible face on the TAPI project's status, most experts here
see the project as a pipedream. They point to the ongoing
difficulties in Afghanistan and concerns about Turkmenistan's
production capabilities -- particularly if the government
maintains its current ban on foreign production in the
gas-rich fields in the country's East. However, ADB has much
to gain by keeping the project alive -- not least, the
prospect of gaining back more of a foothold in Ashgabat.
With plans on the table to establish a five-person country
office in Turkmenistan, it needs to find some projects that
would offer the government an incentive to agree to a more
robust presence. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ECON EPET EINV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: UPDATE ON ADB'S PLANS FOR A
TRANS-AFGHAN PIPELINE
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) Ayna Kekilova, the Asian Development Bank's (ADB's)
liaison officer in Turkmenistan, told EmbOff February 6 that
the ADB partners in the proposed Trans-Afghan pipeline (TAPI)
project are proceeding with the work for the project even
though the stability situation in Afghanistan argues against
breaking ground on the project any time soon. The ADB and
partners are unwilling to drop the project because it already
has gone so far, and the partner countries (especially
Pakistan and India) recognize that their natural gas needs
will only increase in coming years.
3. (SBU) In the meantime, according to Kekilova, the work is
proceeding at a crawl. The steering committee meeting for
the project, which was to have considered and signed
proposals developed during a technical experts meeting held
in early 2007, has been postponed multiple times from its
first proposed date in April 2007. Recently, the ADB has
proposed a new date for the meeting: April 21-24, 2008. In
the meantime, the ADB has requested that the company that
carried out the original feasibility study for the project
five years ago, Penspen, update the study, and has given it
two months -- until April -- to do so.
4. (SBU) COMMENT: While Kekilova tried to put the best
possible face on the TAPI project's status, most experts here
see the project as a pipedream. They point to the ongoing
difficulties in Afghanistan and concerns about Turkmenistan's
production capabilities -- particularly if the government
maintains its current ban on foreign production in the
gas-rich fields in the country's East. However, ADB has much
to gain by keeping the project alive -- not least, the
prospect of gaining back more of a foothold in Ashgabat.
With plans on the table to establish a five-person country
office in Turkmenistan, it needs to find some projects that
would offer the government an incentive to agree to a more
robust presence. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND