KAZAKHSTAN: ASTANA MAYOR TASMAGAMBETOV DETAILS PLANS FOR

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TAGS: PGOV ECON SOCI KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: ASTANA MAYOR TASMAGAMBETOV DETAILS PLANS FOR
CITY, ARGUES KAZAKHSTAN HAS COME A LONG WAY


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Astana Akim (Mayor) Imangali Tasmagambetov told
the Ambassador on January 28 that government assistance is
facilitating a recovery of Astana's construction sector. He
maintained that signature projects in the city's government quarter
remain on track for completion. Tasmagambetov argued that utilities
and transport are actually a bigger concern than construction, with
plans underway to improve the city's supply of electricity and water
and build a light rail system. He later turned the conversation
toward broader horizons, stressing how far Kazakhstan has come
during its 17 years of independence and praising President
Nazarbayev's leadership. END SUMMARY.

GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE HELPS CONSTRUCTION SECTOR


3. (SBU) Astana Akim (Mayor) Imangali Tasmagambetov opened a January
28 meeting with the Ambassador by offering congratulations on the
inauguration of President Obama. He told the Ambassador that Astana
has come a long way during the 10 years it has been the country's
capital. When he first came to Astana (which was then known as
Aqmola),it was little more than a provincial town, with no evidence
that it could be transformed into a capital. Now it is a modern
city that meets international standards. Tasmagambetov said that
government assistance is facilitating a recovery of Astana's
construction sector -- which crashed in August 2007, when the global
financial crisis first hit Kazakhstan. According to Tasmagambetov,
the most serious problems have already been overcome, with 50% of
frozen projects finished off last year. (NOTE: In fact, a certain
number of buildings were "finished" only on the outside so that
they'd look better for Astana's 10th anniversary celebration on July
6, 2008. END NOTE.) As far as he is concerned, there were many
positive aspects to the construction crash. Artificially high real
estate prices have already fallen by 40 percent, and the government
has undertaken steps to protect the rights of investors and ensure
that construction companies are financially viable and that
construction is high quality.

SIGNATURE PROJECTS ON TRACK


4. (SBU) Tasmagambetov maintained that signature projects in
Astana's government quarter remain on track. He said work is
continuing on the privately-financed Khan Shatyry -- a 500-foot-tall
translucent tent designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster.
While the high-tech tent material can only be put up in the spring,
when the weather is warmer, Tasmagambetov nevertheless expected the
project to be completed by July (presumably for Astana's July 6
"city day"),through he maintained it would be better to finish the
project late, rather than rush the work and sacrifice quality. He
said Astana's new concert hall, designed by the Italian-Kosovar
architect Piccoli with seating for 3,500 people, should also be
completed by July. He alluded to certain engineering problems, but
insisted work is continuing on the interior. (NOTE: Later the same
day, the Italian Ambassador told the Ambassador the project is a
"migraine headache." The engineering problem Tasmagambetov alluded
to was, in fact, the recent collapse of one section of the
avant-garde, technologically complex design. END NOTE.)

PLANS TO IMPROVE UTILITIES, TRANSPORT


5. (SBU) According to Tasmagambetov, utilities and transport are a
bigger concern for the city government than construction projects.
He explained that the original plan was for Astana's population to
top off at 450,000 people, but because of unexpectedly high internal
migration, the city has already grown to almost 700,000 residents,
with the population expected to reach one million by 2012. From his
perspective, this is a positive development, because the higher
population makes Astana more economically viable, especially for the
development of small- and medium-sized enterprises. However, the
rapid population grow has put a strain on existing utilities and
transport capacity. Plans are thus underway to significantly
increase the city's electricity supply. Two power plants have been
renovated, and construction will begin on a third one -- a one
billion dollar project -- in mid-2009. The Japanese have provided

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loans for a water supply project, which includes construction of
pumping and filtration stations and 100 kilometers of new water
mains. On the transport side, the government will issue a tender
in March for a light-rail system that is expected to cost about one
billion dollars.

KAZAKHSTAN HAS COME A LONG WAY


6. (SBU) Tasmagambetov later turned the conversation toward broader
horizons, stressing how far Kazakhstan has come during its 17 years
of independence and praising President Nazarbayev's leadership.
According to Tasmagambetov, the country carries heavy historical
baggage -- ranging from gulags to atmospheric nuclear tests to an
older generation that still doesn't understand today's values and
harkens back to a period when the government guaranteed everything
-- yet it has still managed to take remarkable strides forward. He
pointed in particular to Nazarbayev's decision to give up the
country's nuclear weapons -- a decision more difficult, he claimed,
than Ukraine's, because the Kazakhstanis had all the elements
necessary to continue a nuclear program, including a test site, a
nuclear-scientific city (Kurchatov),and an indigenous uranium
supply, and were being encouraged by the Russians to keep the test
site open for several years. Tasmagambetov also singled out
Nazarbayev's decision to sign a 1992 agreement with Chevron to
develop the Tengiz oil field. In hindsight, it's easy to criticize
Nazarbayev for offering very favorable terms to Chevron, but the
company was taking a big risk, not knowing what would happen with
the future of the country, he argued. The situation in Kazakhstan
is more complicated than in some of the other Central Asian states,
because Kazakhstan has a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional society.
On a particularly encouraging note, Kazakhstan has managed
generational change, with a new post-Soviet generation, positively
disposed toward the West, taking over top-level government positions
from the old Communist Party leadership, Tasmagambetov pointed out.



7. (SBU) COMMENT: Tasmagambetov is a trusted Nazarbayev lieutenant
whose career has tracked closely with the President's for several
decades. In 1989, when Nazarbayev was named First Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR, Tasmagambetov was appointed to
head the Party's Komsomol youth wing. In the post-Soviet period,
Tasmagambetov has served stints as Prime Minister, State Secretary,
and Presidential Administration head. He has a reputation as a man
who can get things done. In April 2008, Nazarbayev brought
Tasmagambetov back from Almaty, where he had been Akim since 2004,
to make him Astana Akim. Tasmagambetov then kick-started a
breakneck effort to whip the city into shape for its 10th
anniversary celebration, finishing off a number of long-stalled
construction projects (and repaving virtually every major road in
the city simultaneously). The 52-year-old Tasmagambetov is often
considered a potential successor to Nazarbayev, and his foray into
broader issues during his meeting with the Ambassador is an
indication that he has an eye on national-level politics. Some
public opinion polling indicates that Tasmagambetov is the second
most respected political figure in the country after Nazarbayev
(though a distant second, of course). At the same time, he has no
shortage of detractors. During his tenure as Almaty Akim,
Tasmagambetov was consistently pilloried by the opposition press for
his and his family's alleged corruption, and for the callous way he
dealt with migrants to Almaty who built dwellings without
appropriate legal documentation. On the issue of Astana's
construction sector, we are less sanguine than Tasmagambetov. From
what we have heard from other sources, a lot of unfinished
residential construction projects could remain idle for several
years or longer. END COMMENT.

HOAGLAND