TURKMENISTAN: BERDIMUHAMEDOV ALLEGEDLY FURIOUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000673 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINR ELTN ETRD TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: BERDIMUHAMEDOV ALLEGEDLY FURIOUS OVER DELAYED DELIVERY OF NEW BENTLEY Classified By: Charge Richard Miles, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: According the general manager of Turkmenistan's official Mercedes-Benz importer, President Berdimuhamedov is a big fan of automobiles. He claims that the President told the Deputy Chairman of Trade and Textiles that he would put a new Bentley -- whose delivery has been delayed twice from a U.S. exporter which promised a fast delivery -- "up his ass" if it didn't arrive on time. The Presidential Apparat doesn't trust any other mechanics in Ashgabat with its vehicles and thus, the Mercedes garage also works on presidential Rolls-Royces and golf carts. The locally-engaged Mercedes manager reported experiencing health problems as a result of the stress, no doubt an unexpected consequence of doing business with the President. END SUMMARY. DILEMMA OVER DELAYED DELIVERY OF THE PRESIDENT'S NEW BENTLEY ¶2. (C) Shamamed Annayev (please protect),the General Manager of official distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Turkmenistan Mercedes-Benz Turkmen Awto Merkezi for 14 years, asked Post in a hastily-called meeting on June 1 to help expedite the delayed delivery of a Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed to the President's office. He said that he contracted Saitco, an official distributor of new and used Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep vehicles and spare parts in Central Asia, to export this armored vehicle to Turkmenistan because Saitco promised delivery in about six months. Other contacts from all over the world had promised delivery in about 18 months. However, after delaying delivery of the vehicle twice, Saitco announced to Annayev that the vehicle would not arrive on June 5 as promised because of some U.S. Customs paperwork that Saitco said may take up to 72 hours to prepare and submit, according to U.S. regulations. Annayev is under tremendous pressure from Deputy Chairman for Trade and Textiles, Hojamuhammet Muhammedov, to deliver this vehicle on time. Muhammedov told Annayev that the President said that if the car wasn't delivered on time, he would "put the car up his ass" and then Muhammedov passed the sentiment on to Annayev. Muhammedov begged Annayev to do whatever was necessary to deliver the car to the President on time, even if it meant going to the U.S. to ensure timely delivery. Annayev said that Saitco was thus far unmoved to make extra efforts to deliver the vehicle on June 5 and doubted that a personal visit would make any difference. Annayev offered to put Economic Officer in contact with the Presidential Apparat to confirm that this order was indeed for the president himself. BERDIMUHAMEDOV: NOT JUST A PRESIDENT, BUT ALSO A GREAT FAN OF MOTOR VEHICLES ¶3. (C) Annayev said that the Presidential Apparat does not trust any other automobile mechanical service providers in Ashgabat and that Annayev's mechanics have to service every vehicle in the presidential fleet, such as Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Land Rovers, and even golf carts used at the presidential residence. He said that President Berdimuhamedov is a great fan of automobiles and is influenced by all of the different cars he has seen during his international travels. Berdimuhamedov considered buying the same Cadillac limousine used by U.S. presidents, but lost interest when he found out that it was too long for his taste. Annayev said that the President pays attention to all manner of small details regarding his vehicles, and he once took notice that someone smoked in his car. This event led Annayev to ban smoking in the service station. DETAILS ON THE GOVERNMENT'S FLEET OF BLACK MERCEDES AND CORTEGE VEHICLES ¶4. (C) Annayev said that the government's fleet of black Mercedes-Benz sedans used to transport officials in Ashgabat ASHGABAT 00000673 002 OF 002 and in the provinces will soon top 1,500, once 270 E-class vehicles are delivered later this year. He added that most of the cars in the fleet are E- and S-class, although some are C-class and some are armored -- "not small," he added. Annayev said that the government owns about 35 GMC sport utility vehicles, such as the Yukon XL, used in corteges that provide protection to the president's vehicle. In addition, there is one cortege consisting of five Land Rovers, one cortege consisting of five Cadillac Escalades, two or three corteges consisting of 10-15 Mercedes G-class sports utility vehicles, and one cortege of five Volkswagen Touregs. Annayev said that the president selects which cortege to use every day according to his mood. UNIQUE METHOD OF IDENTIFYING PRESIDENTIAL VEHICLES ¶5. (C) Annayev said that Turkmenistan's practice of identifying presidential vehicles with an image of the national coat of arms on the grille is unique in the world. In addition, the license plates of Turkmenistan's presidential vehicles carry the numbers "001" and depict the five traditional carpet designs representing Turkmenistan's five provinces, also found on Turkmenistan's flag. STRESS AFFECTS HIS HEALTH ¶6. (C) Annayev said that he will henceforth always pad estimated delivery times for presidential orders because of the extreme pressure. He added that the stress is manifesting itself physically -- on the skin of his hands and in his heart -- and that his doctors in Germany advised him to take a long break from work. ¶7. (C) COMMENT: While prestigious, working in any capacity for the President's office is taxing -- and risky. One would think that a head of state would have better things to worry about than the delivery of yet another luxury vehicle, but perhaps this is yet one more example of Berdimuhamedov filling a role that everyone expects him to -- or else he would be considered a weak leader. Or, perhaps he really is just that crazy about cars. END COMMENT. MILES